Hello! Am in KL now, but flying off this afternoon back to Singapore for the weekend as I didn't want to stay here alone by myself, lol! Work trip with 2 other colleagues, so we'll have company on the way back to SG even though we landed on different days for this trip. Another busy weekend awaits for me, so I'm grabbing whatever time I have to update on this lil space :)
The last entry for our TW journey, woohoo! *fireworks and crackers popping in the background, lol* As I looked at the pictures (taken 2 years ago), I noticed a significance difference in Leecher's waistline! (I'm sure some of you do too, haha!) The mid-age crisis ~ will the same thing happen to me next time? Gosh, I don't even want to think about it. Perhaps, I better start my exercise regime soon ~ been procrastinating for the longest time ever. Anyway, we have a full day to explore Taiwan before heading back to Singapore, so we did some sight-seeing around the area.
A sunny day at last! The weather has been kinda gloomy for the time when we were there, with the occasional drizzle.
A visit to Longshan Temple,which was actually built by the Fujian immigrants as a branch of the original Longshan Temple in Fujian Province.
Lots of devotees praying within the compound. You can also purchase good-luck charms within the temple compound, which I did purchased one for health & happiness.
Devotees praying behind the gates that fenced up the worship hall, which is quite different from the temples in Singapore.
Longshan Temple 龍山寺No. 211, Guǎngzhōu St, Wanhua District,Taipei City, Taiwan 108
Had lunch at a nearby stall, trying out 蚵仔肉粥. Felt pretty much like in BKK, eating along the roadside, with cars & motorbikes zooming away just inches away from you.
A bowl of porridge filled with oysters. You can either order the 古早味 or 香菇 version.
Headed to Maokong (貓空) & conveniently forgotten that the Maokong Gondola is closed every Monday for maintenance, so we had to take the bus up. The place was literally like a ghost town!
貓空 literally means cat-empty & cats are the symbols of this place. In the beginning, the name Maokong comes from " jiâu-khang" (皺空, also similar 皺孔) in Taiwanese Hokkien, which means "crease aperture" and refers to pothole formations. During the Japanese rule, it was changed to a similar sounding Maokong 貓空, which remained till now.
In case you're wondering, this place is not a cats' paradise. The area used to be the biggest tea growing area of Taipei, with many intertwining footpaths which are used for tea transportation. Now, it has become a popular place for tea culture and to view the skyline of Taipei City.
Lunch @ 大茶壶茶栈, which began its humble origins selling tea leaf eggs, cold drinks and instant noodles. Now, it has grown to a full-fledged tea place selling all sorts of dishes.
Check out this large insect! We couldn't capture its front view as it was moving too fast.
Big pot of tea before starting the meal.
Simple dishes, with a few of the in-house specialties. Overall, the taste was slightly bland as I figured not much flavouring was used during cooking.
The view when looking out from the balcony, where we sat in the sunlight enjoying the warmth rays of sunshine.
Spot Taipei 101 from where we sat.
Complimentary tea-flavoured ice cream as desserts, perfect for the scorching hot weather!
大茶壶茶栈 Big Tea pot Cafe
台北市文山區指南路三段38巷37號
Opening Hours: 10.30am till 10pm
Passed by a temple located around the area, but there wasn't anyone inside.
It was a pity that we couldn't ride on the Maokong Gondola, but we did get a decent view as we strolled along the pathway, looking at the tea plantation and breathing in fresh air!
Say hello to Babe! Saw this lil pig (or wild boar) curling up and looking at passers-by from its den, I almost got a shock to find it next to me for I wasn't paying attention to its make-shift den, which blended in perfectly with the surrounding.
Back to Ximending area & spotted the gingerbreadman. Just had to take pictures with it.
Another visit to my fave donut shop to buy breakfast for next morning. Can they please come to Singapore?
Eat-all-you-can-buffet for dinner, which daddy-in-law loved :)
Meat, meat and more meat. Bring it on!
When I was younger, I used to love buffets, since it was value-for-money. However, I seldom go for buffets nowadays, which prevents me from gorging myself silly just to get the money worth. As we grow older, must really pay more attention to health, since health is wealth.
Headed to the bus terminal early morning to catch the Freego bus heading to the airport. We bought round trip tickets when we arrived, but you can always buy for the tickets from the hotels reception or on-board (if I remember correctly).
******
Loots to lug home!
Heading home after 7 days of holidaying ~ back to face reality and earn bucks for the next trip!
Checking in!
Our last pictures in Taiwan before boarding the transit flight to Hong Kong. Interestingly, as I'm typing this, I was checking tickets to go Taiwan and I'm really tempted to visit this one place that I've been wanting to go ~ need to work out our schedules before committing to the trip. *fingers crossed*
Interesting fact found on Carlsberg can.
Small-kid having fun inside the model plane.
Resting my poor legs after intensive walking for 7 days.
Caught in action! Hor hor!
We were just taking pictures to pass time when Leecher commented that none of the above pictures showed that we were in Hong Kong.
Looked HK-ish enough?
And before we knew it, it was time to head back to Singapore, marking the end of our TW journey :)
We celebrated
his birthday in Nov & I was tasked to go pick up the cake for
the occasion. Mummy dearest & her siblings each took charge of 1
item to bring for the gathering. 
Since got celebrate grand-dad's birthday, how can don't celebrate grand-ma's birthday right? Must be fair, so we celebrated grandma's birthday the following month. Again, I was tasked to go collect the cake. Easy peasy. 
