Hello peeps! Have you been to Taipei? I plan to go there for a short holiday at the end of this March. I would like to visit a few places but I am not really sure how much time is needed to travel from one place to another and if I have time for all these places:

1. Hello Kitty Sweets Cafe + + + +
2. Taipei 101 + + +
3. Ximending + + +
4. Jioufen + +
5. Beitou Hot Spring +
6. Shilin Night Market +
7. National Palace Museum
8. Marty’s Shrine
9. Chiang-Kai-Shek Memorial Hall

Am I missing anything in the list of places that are not to be missed? We will be staying at Cosmos Hotel.

[Updated at 2:00AM 07 March 2009] I have decided for us to go ahead with the 4D3N semi-free & easy holiday package that includes an air ticket, an accommodation and a half-day (Day 2) complimentary tour of Chiang-Kai-Shek Memorial Hall [9], Martyrs Shrine [8], National Palace Museum [7], Jioufen [4], Beitou Hot Spring [5] and Shilin Night Market [6].

Before today, I was tempted to drop this package and go for a true blue free & easy-styled holiday because the package is more expensive and I did not know if a half-day tour of all the stated destinations would give us enough time to enjoy each of the visits.

So I did a little research in the evening and came to realize that destinations like Chiang-Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, Martyrs Shrine and National Palace Museum are ‘compulsory’ to visit and probably nothing very special to keep us for too long. I always believe that we should not miss the country’s famous places of attractions when we visit the country. Hence, I want to go these places without the fuss of us traveling on our own and wasting too much time on each trip. Destinations like Jioufen, Beitou Hot Spring and Shilin Night Market are loves, especially Jioufen which is a mountain town. I want to go there but I think it is quite far for us to go on our own given a limited amount of time.

Hence, I have done up a little plan:

Day 1: Visit Hello Kitty Sweets Cafe and Taipei 101, since they are on the same (east) side of Taipei City. Our flight will arrive at Taipei at around 12 noon so we have half a day of Day 1 to cover this side of Taipei.

Day 2: Have a long & lazy breakfast. We could go for a short walk near our hotel, and get prepared for the half day complimentary tour.

Day 3: Have a long but not lazy breakfast. Visit Ximending on the west side of Taipei City.

Day 4: Have a long & semi-lazy breakfast. Prepare for departure flight at noon.

Two weeks ago, the bf bought a travel book on Paris but I have yet to look through it thoroughly so I do not know any other popular attractions in Paris other than Eiffel Towel, Musee du Louvre and Arc de Triomphe.

Then yesterday, I was told to look out for the places that I would like to visit. From the first few websites I visited, I gathered that the six attractions that are not to miss are Eiffel Tower, Musee du Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, Centre Pompidou, Cite des Sciences at de l’Industrie and Musee d’Orsay.

With more findings, other well-known places of interest are:
–> Palais des Congres
–> Champs Elysees
–> Champs Elysees Cinema District
–> Musée du Quai Branly
–> Bois de Boulogne
–> Palais de la Decouverte
–> Notre Dame
–> Botanical gardens Jardin des Plantes
–> Eurodisney

Frankly speaking, I do not know how to pronounce any of the above attraction names other than Eurodisney and ironically, we are not going to Eurodisney and that is for sure. Hmpf.

Talking about hmpf, I really hate this. I have been looking for cashmere/wool tops for the past few weeks but nothing of that sort came up. Then less than 3 days before I leave, I chanced upon these on some online website:

The prices are reasonable and I do not even mind paying the small delivery fee but guess what?! It would take 3-7 working days for the goods to be delivered to my place! Sigh, never mind.

Can you believe it? It has been more than a week since I last wrote a post. I deserve to be caned by the sexiest man alive scolded! I am not exceptionally busy, really! I am just too involved with something else, not the sexiest man of course! I have been spending too much time with my Facebook pet. Have you heard of the application Pet Society in Facebook? With this application, you get to create your own pet and design the interior of your pet’s house. After doing so, you get to take care of your pet by feeding it, dressing it up, playing with it and many more! You can get food from the food shop, accessories from the clothes shop, etc. It is so, so fun! Try it some day, my dear sanriotown friends.

I was at the Chinese Garden last Sunday evening and it was so, so sweet. The theme for this year’s lantern festival celebration at the Chinese Garden is Hello Kitty Go Races. There are just so many Hello Kitty and friends everywhere at the Chinese Garden. Now now, let’s see the pictures!

Badtzies alert!!!

Can you believe it? Our Flyer was ready since 9 months ago, and I just went on it last weekend. Am I slow or am I slow? And in that brain of mine, I still think that I am an up-to-date blogger. Anyway, because of F1, most of the major roads near the Flyer were fenced up or grand-stand’ed and there were still a lot of nonsense going on to prepare for F1. Stupid F1. I am glad that I will be out of town when they are all here in two weeks’ time.

Okay, back to the Flyer. Each ride is about 30 minutes and each capsule is big and spacious, and could easily accomodate 20 to 30 people. The good thing about this is you get to sit, stand or walk around during the 30 minutes. The downside of this is you have to share the capsule with many other people and sharing a capsule with screaming kids isnt exactly something you call mood-enhancing. There were about 10 adults and EXACTLY 3 kids. The three of them screamed non-stop and one of them at the top of his voice throughout. If only I could…

Anyway, pictures!

Oh, you may skip the following picture!

A nice day does not end without a nice dinner. So we went to Oosters. I think we go there like once a year! HAHA

This is probably one of the smartest things I have ever done, taking picture of the menu, that is.

So now I can tell you what we had.

-> Belgian Sausage Platter (A selection of cold sausages and cheese with dipping sauces)

-> Pot of Mussels (Moules Mariniere ~ White wine, celery and carrots)

I love the mussels in white wine! I could eat those every day!

WOAH! My Hello Babe has a cafe in Taipei and she says, “tingal! When are you coming to eat my head, I mean, my cake?!”

Hello Kitty Sweets Cafe, Taipei, Taiwan
台北市大安路一段90號 (90 Da An Road)

For more information on Hello Kitty Sweets Cafe, click here. I am sorry if you are able to read Chinese fluently, I have no challenge for you.

Hello Kitty Sweets Cafe has been in business since January 2008, and I read on some blog that the business is so good that you have to make reservation before going just to make sure that you get a table! Awww! I am going crazy! This is so, so SWEET!! Awww! And, and the backrest of the sofa-seat is a HELLO KITTY HEAD WITH A RIBBON!! Awww! And, and they serve really nice desserts with Hello Kitty shaped chocolate fudge and other sweets stuff! Awww!

Since my Hello Babe is waiting for me, will someone kindly take me there?

…you so very soon! Hiaks, in less than 2 weeks’ time, I will be flying to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Steffi’s fake hometown and the number One neighbour of my tiny island. Steffi, see you in KLCC, let’s say, somewhere near Isetan, and then we go to Aquaria together! How about that? LOL, actually I dont even know if Steffi is still in Malaysia. For all we know, she is sipping some juice with some hunk on some Bali beach now. BOO.

I will be staying in Traders Hotel, one of the coolest hotels in Kuala Lumpur. It faces the Petronas Twin Towers:

The Petronas Twin Towers were the tallest buildings in the world before Taipei 101 took over the title, but the Petronas Twin Towers are still the tallest TWIN buildings. Other pictures of Traders Hotel:

Traders Hotel

Deluxe Park View room

Skybar

Gobo Chit Chat

Gobo Upstairs Lounge & Grill

I really like the skybar, which has a swimming pool by the side and is facing the towers. The skybar is on the 33rd floor of the hotel. I think I will be spending all my evenings there because it is too cool a place to be missed, and I like the towers. Actually, the room that I will be having is supposed to face the towers because according to the hotel’s website, the Deluxe Park View rooms face the towers.

Look at that bridge! It is a hanging bridge! Anyone went on it before?

I cant stand myself. I know I keep saying that but sometimes I really mean it. Sometimes like now. In three weeks’ time, I will be having a three weeks’ break. Yes, break again. I am so looking forward to a good break. That is why I cant stand myself. I mean, is there anything else in my head other than looking forward to breaks? It is not as if I didnt have a single good break in a long, long time or that I have a good reason to need one that badly. My job is nothing and the last break I had was only like a month ago. That break was well-spent but well…

I miss the good old times.

We will stay in Kowloon Hotel for three nights (8Jun-10Jun). This hotel was recommended by Fairlady, and it is also one of the selected hotels on the itinerary that I had wanted to go for a few weeks back. Well, I waited too long and there were no more tickets left by the time I decided to go for it. Anyway, I booked the room directly from Kowloon Hotel, and I am flying Cathay. My first time on Cathay. I am excited.

Kowloon Hotel

The Middle Row Bar

The Window Cafe

Loong Yat Heen

Am I losing it?! My life is all about food?!

The places that I would like to visit are TST, Mongkok, and Causeway Bay. I hope to take a lot of nice pictures, really! After the third night in Kowloon Hotel, we will move to Disneyland, Lantau Island. Move as in, MOVE. Yes, we will not go back to Kowloon Hotel after Disneyland. We will stay in Disney’s Hollywood Hotel for a night (11Jun) before going to the Airport the next day for our flight back to SG. I came out with this plan after I learnt from the map that Disneyland is so much nearer to the Airport than Kowloon is from the Airport so it doesnt make sense to go back to Kowloon and then to Airport.

My friend is mad about Disneyland. She is a big fan of that blue donkey, whatsthename. She told me that she is planning to take a lot of pictures with whatsthename but I remembered that there are no four-legged mascots in Disneyland or in any land so I told her to forget it.

It is evening again and as usual, a lot is going through my mind. Work has been great, all time at work can be considered well-spent! I feel like indulging myself in work all day until I find people who can occupy me when I am not at work! HAHA, my little fat hope, that is. Currently, everyone seems too busy for me.

I fell asleep after writing this first paragraph! The rest of this post was written in the following morning.

Well, I think the more I have to do, the more energetic I am. Yesterday, I cleared all that I have to do for the next few days. I woke up this morning, with very little energy for work. I have this strong urge to skip work and spend the entire day taking pictures of interesting buildings, yummy food, and nice sceneries, and then blogging about them. The other side of my brain is calling. I think work kills my creativity, not that there is a lot to start of with. After a day at work, I really couldnt think of what to write on my blog or what to do with my life. But in the morning, yes, I have a lot of plans, big and small, only to be forgotten by evening.

I love these pictures. They are taken from the article, World’s Wildest Architecture.

Residential Car-House, Salzburg, Austria. It was built in 2004 by a German architect Markus Voglreiter, who spent 1 million euros to build it. The house is made of wood and and thermal-insulated.

Casa Batllo, Barcelona, Spain. It was designed by architect Antoni Gaudi for owner Josep Batllo in 1877, and completed in 1904. The house has a façade covered in colorful mosaics, with balconies that resemble skulls and first-floor columns that look like human bones.

Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis. It was designed by architect Frank Gehry. It is located at the University of Minnesota. On the campus side, the brick façade mixes easily with nearby brick and sandstone buildings. On the other side, the museum boasts curvy and angular brushed steel surfaces.

The Haines Shoe House, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1948, and was shoe entrepreneur Mahlon Haines’ most outrageous advertising gimmick. It was sold after Haines’ death and was briefly an ice cream parlor before reverting to family ownership. Today, it is a museum that honors the “Shoe Wizard”.

Ideal Palace of Ferdinand Cheval, Hauterives, France. In 1879, French mail carrier Ferdinand Cheval began building a structure that was inspired by the shape of a stone he tripped over one day. After thirty-three years, Cheval’s “Ideal Palace” was completed. It is made of stones, lime, mortar and cement.

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain. It was designed by architect Frank Gehry, and completed in 1997 at a cost of $100 million. It features Gehry’s signature curvy, free-form sculptural style. Located in the port city of Bilbao, it was built to resemble a ship with its reflective titanium panels mimicking fish scales.

Longaberger Co, Ohio. Completed in 1997 after two years of construction, the seven-story headquarter building is a replica of the company, Longaberger Co’s medium market basket. It is especially spectacular at night when light glows from the building’s 84 windows.

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Tennessee. It is constructed in the shape of a treble clef and has an exterior that resembles a piano keyboard, right down to the piano-key-shaped windows. Built at a cost of $37 million, the museum opened in 2001 and houses a vast collection of country-music video clips, recorded music, dynamic exhibits and more.

Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia. It was designed by Danish architect Jorn Utzon. It has a roof in the shape of a ship at full sail. It opened in October 1973, and belongs to the Sydney Theatre Company and Sydney Symphony.

Torre Galatea, Figueras, Spain. It is a tower belonging to Salvador Dali Theater Museum. It has giant egg sculptures along the roofline. It belonged to surrealist artist, Dali, and he named the tower after his deceased wife. He lived there until his death in 1989.

Saturday! The best day of the week!

I woke up at 11AM in the morning, had nothing else for breakfast except a coffee, and spent the next hour hating myself for not having a proper diet. I really need better food and a healthier lifestyle. Then I made myself some plain porridge for lunch. In between ‘breakfast’ and lunch, I checked emails and replied to some, attempted to work but failed, and read some blogs. At about 2PM, I decided to make an appointment with Aramsa Spa, some award-winning spa place that I got to know of from a colleague of mine.

Manz, it has to be the best thing on earth! It is such a nice place. The ambience is perfect and the service is excellent. I had a 30 mins stress relief massage. It was just heavenly.

I would love to go there every week but that is just a ‘love’. You dont always get to go to the place you love to go, or get to do what you love to do, at least not for me. After the massage, I had a light dinner at their Green Room Cafe which serves healthy food and drink.

This is the best day of the week. My life from Monday to Friday PLUS Sunday (today) sux to the core. I wish people around me can be frank enough to say what they have on their minds instead of beating around some bush.