Day 6 & Post Trip!

你好！Which also means hello or a general greeting in Mandarin, the most frequent language the Taiwanese speak. We woke up to the morning call at 6.30am today, and also to the last day we're gonna be in Taiwan...  After which, we headed down for breakfast (same breakfast which we had for the past 2 days) and off we go to the National Palace Museum! It was an hour's ride to the Museum, and so guess what most of us did on the ride there? 

Yes, most of us K.O and headed back to dreamland! 

A little more information on the National Palace Museum before I start talking about our visit there. The National Palace Museum (Chinese: 國立故宮博物院) is an art museum in Taipei City. It has a permanent collection of 693,507 pieces of ancient Chinese artifacts and artworks!!! WOW, can you imagine the amount! But it's a pity because we're not supposed to snap any pictures of any artifacts there. However, here's some pictures of the more famous artifacts we found on the net for you! (Credits: Wikipedia)

The Zong Zhou Zhong (Bell of Zhou)

 

Jadeite Cabbage

 

Meat-shaped pork!

Yes, although we're not allow to take any photos of the artifacts in the Museum,  here's some picture of the exterior of the Museum and some corners of it! Oh and also one unique and special point that the Museum has is that we are not suppose to make noise in the museum. Thus, all of us will be given a headphone which we will be able to hear our tour-guide explaining the artifacts to us through the headphone itself! What a brilliant idea isn't it. Probably RP should adapt to that learning method too ;)  P/S: We tried our best to snap as many pictures as possible, forgive us!

See how crowded it is!

 

Up next was a visit to the Memorial hall where we had a chance to witness the soldiers changing shift! It was indeed very eye-opening as they were very strict and the way they march is just... wow you will be impressed! Pictures will definitely do the talking better! 

 

 

Look at how straight they are!!!

Group photo of us at the memorial hall! 

Yes, we made the memorial hall filled with more memories, HAHAHA.

Can you hear that? Yes... It's our stomach growling. Lunch time was next!!! We had our lunch at a restaurant near to the airport, for our own convenience since we will be leaving Taiwan soon... (spams sad face) The dishes were YUM YUM, and I must say Taiwan food is rather similar to Singapore food so we didn't had problem adapting to it. Warning, the next photo might cause your stomach to growl!

 

Ok... maybe the picture doesn't look that appetizing.

BUT trust me, it taste like 10 times better than it looks. Don't judge!

 After that, we made our way to the Taiwan Tao Yuan International Airport and did our group check in and weighing of our luggage! Indeed, there was a huge difference in our luggage weight. Shows how much everyone loves shopping! Having mixed feelings when we bid good-bye to our tour guides and entered the boarding gate..... The feeling of not wanting to leave Taiwan, yet wanting to be back in Singapore. Argh. Can someone get me back to Taiwan already?!

After 4.5 hours of flight, HOME SWEET HOME!

We bid goodbye to our facilitators, to our friends, and back to the embrace of our family members.

Nothing feels better than being home, but surely, Taiwan will be missed!

x

-

I'm sure initially, all of us felt very worried about the trip. Perhaps it could be over different things (eg: Will the food be nice? Will I be home-sick? Can I clique with this different group of friends? Will the attraction I visit be interesting?) But I believe everyone threw their worries away after 6D5N of fun with each other! I believe everyone enjoyed themselves be it by making new friends, trying to live in different accommodation, trying out different kind of food that Singapore does not offer, learning the Taiwan culture and comparing it with Singapore. Who else misses Taiwan like I do? Please raise your hand! Ok that was lame HAHAH kidding! 

Back to being serious.

Indeed, the trip not only allowed us to learn more about their local culture, but also allowed us to experience different life like how we do back here in Singapore. Let me recap you with the different things that we experience that is soooooooooo different as compared to life here in Singapore!

• We stayed in a leisure farm resort! (Tell me, do you stay in a farm in SG?!?!)
• We made our own Sky Lantern and release them to the Sky! (You probably will get fine for this)
• We set our own fireworks!! (Something that you will NEVER be able to do in SG)
• We learn how to do kilning and how to cook sweet potato without charcoal!  
• We experienced hot spring VIA bath tub there!

See how much we've experienced? I'm sure though some of us felt a little awkward with each other at the start, we gradually grew to become closer and closer. I dare to say, each of us made at least 5 friends in this trip! So we not only learn, we gain friends, we widen our circle of friends, and we bond! To wrap up the entire trip, it was indeed a awesome one! Of course, we have to thank our facilitators, the tour company and everyone else who made this possible!

So thank you Ms Irene Low, Mr Lee Wei, Mr Chris Quah, Ms Karen Wong & Transinex!

And thank you to each and everyone of us who attended the DCRSM SOT Taiwan Trip 2012!

You guys are greatly missed!

Let's keep in contact with each other and meet up often!

-

I guess that wraps up our entire Taiwan trip!

If you want to find out more about our trip and more interesting juicy news,

keep a look out for your email as we will be doing a presentation in school when school reopens!

WE'LL SEE YOU TILL THEN! :)

Team 6 signing off!

Taipei Trip Day 5

Today's weather was perfectly awesome, so perfectly awesome that it made us so regretful. Why? Because...

The weather forecast showed that it would rain today, and it had been raining for the past few days as well. And because of that, our THEME PARK TRIP WAS CANCELLED. CANCELLED I TELL YOU, SIGH SO MUCH SIGH. And along with a change in the itinerary. HOWEVER, we had longer time to sleep in, having morning call at 8.30 am instead of the usual 6.30 am. 

So we got up at 8.30 am, had breakfast at Ferrary Restaurant, okay no it's just the hotel's restaurant on the second floor. We had the same breakfast as yesterday.

Breakfast for the day

Moving on, we left the hotel at about 10.30 am, and off we went to 御品轩 (Yu Pin Xuan) Bakery. The Sun Biscuits there, are delicious and many people purchased it. It's a must buy local delicacy when you come to Taiwan. You will not regret and it is definitely worth the buy. 

Sun biscuit on the right

We had something new and different for lunch today as compared to the past few days as we went to a Halal restaurant named Yunus Halal Restaurant. It was yet another feast, serving up to 11 dishes which contained with dishes such as seafood, veggies, meat and soup along with a dessert, Bubur Hitam.

Mr Chris Quah after a filling lunch

A picture of team 5 with the friendly manager

 After that, we set for Tamsui and it is a peaceful part of Taiwan, where the breathtaking scenery is accompanied by squally wind, along with a little sunshine, such a perfect place for couples to go to. We heard that it's even more romantic at night due the the lights on the bridge in the darkness. Crossing the bridge together as a couple, and taking pictures at the huge "love sign" at the start of the Tamsui's bridge.

Lover's bridge scenary

After which, we went to Tamsui's village. At Tamsui's village, there are 2 local delicacies that are a must try there, one black and one white. the back one is called iron egg where chicken/quail eggs are being cooked for a very long time till it shrinks and all the taste had been absorbed and kept in. It is very chewy and special, nothing like in Singapore. The white one would be fish balls as Tamsui is a fishing port, hence their captures are fresh to make a good fish ball. There are also many other stuff to buy there, such as the Jumbo Ice-Cream and the Tornado Potato on a stick.

Jumbo ice-cream stall

As for dinner, we went to another Halal restaurant that's just 2 shops down from the place that we had lunch at for this afternoon, called Bismilla Restaurant. Serving up to 11 dishes along with LOBSTERSSSSSSSS!!! Mmmmm... Delicious! What a meal to end with to start for our 2nd trip to Shilin Night Market, this time we had 2 hours to shop! 

Lastly, we headed back to the hotel and had a good rest. However, before we rest, we still have to pack all our hauls into our luggage (hopefully everybody is able to fit their buys nicely into their luggage). It's time to check out tomorrow and soon enough, we'll be heading back to Singapore around noon of the next day!

Taipei Trip Day 4

We woke up to a rainy morning, reluctant to leave bed. The weather was cool and that probably cause some students to oversleep. By the way, if you haven't been following the blog, we checked into Taipei's Ferrary Hotel the night before and the hotel is 7 minutes drive to Xi Men Ting (known for the wide variety of fashion apparels).

Breakfast was great at the hotel. Taiwanese food at its best with the tender minced meat, poached eggs, succulent noodles, toasted bread and many more delicious food.

A sneak peak of the breakfast I had, and this was only the first round!

Next on the itinerary was to Jinwen University of Science and Technology. We were welcomed by an opening speech and exciting tour around their hospitality faculty. 

Just look at one of their facilities there! A simulation of a plane on board. There were many other facilities as well such as the different accommodations and suites which are used to train their hospitality students. A vision for SOH to consider.

A group photo with all the professors, facilitators and students. An inquisitive trip indeed!

We set for lunch with a hour of bus ride and HELLO to Hello Kitty Theme Cafe.

 

  

Presentation of food: Excellent (Unique)
Food Quality: Excellent (Served warmed with fulfilling taste)
Ambiance: Excellent (Design, backdrop & culinary all suited to Hello Kitty Theme)

Overall Grade: A

It was satisfying and great experience!

Thanks to Ms Irene Low, Mr Lee Wei, Mr Chris Quah and Ms Karen Wong for the dessert! If not for them, you wouldn't see that pink Hello Kitty on our plate! 

Coincidentally, it's teachers' day in Taiwan and some students did cards for the facilitators.

Headed to Chuifen Village after lunch.

Similar to our Chinatown but even more things to offer. Taiwanese food, cakes, ornaments and apparels. Unfortunately, in the midst of exploring, we were overwhelmed by a mini typhoon. Strong winds and drizzles were blowing our skin and hair off as though we were jumping from a 100th floor building. Of course, we frantically met up and headed back to the bus.

Finally, our last stop before heading back for a night rest, Shi Lin Night Market (known for the famous deep fried juicy chicken breast, smelly tofu, pearl milk tea and many affordable up to date fashion apparels). Sadly to say, we couldn't capture the moments because the beating rain deterred many to bring our their cameras. No one came back empty handed and were seeking opportunities to further explore the market. Who knows, there might be another trip back tomorrow night?

Till then, stay tuned for more updates!

Tight schedule day.

Day 3:
Morning breakfast at 730am at Minsu before checking out from the Inn. The food was well prepared before we arrived at the multi-purpose hall. The food was delicious and healthy for us.

Porridge of the day.

The dishes of our breakfast.

The drinks: Coffee and Soy Milk

Facilitator enjoying the food.

Enjoying the breakfast..

After checking out from the Inn, we proceed for our next stop which is the National centre for Traditional Art. We tour around the National centre and saw a few hand-made accessories and some snacks that are popular in Taiwan. We went to see the golden ants made of pure gold and it was really amazing. After which we attened DIY workshop which teaches us how to make handphone accessories, candles, braclets, necklaces etc. It was fun and memorable experience for us. There was show put up by the staff that attract a lot of tourists there and it was funny and nice that caught our attention after the DIY workshop.

Students enjoying the DIY workshop.

 Taipei 101 is the tallest building in Asia. A tour in Taipei 101 gives us the outside view of Taipei at floor 89.

The dinner that we had at one of the restraunt in Xin Men Ding. After dinner, we had our shopping time and which we check in at the hotel. The end of the day, It was enjoyable but also a tiring day.

Blog by: Team 3