ok i m back from taiwan!! had loads of fun and it was such a rewarding trip. learnt alot from the members over in taiwan although i didnt really understood what they were speaking>.< wont be blogging too long cause i m really lazy. just some highlights(:

thumbs up for the trip. its really like the one to hokkaido back in 2005. good tour guide, nice hotels, good food.. everything is wonderful except the air over in taipei and kaoshiong! the air is super polluted, thanks to the large amount of vehicles present, industries along highways, and the smokers around. i swear there are alot of smokers aroudn taiwan and the govt there dont know how to do proper urban planning. everywhere you go there will be people smoking!! grr.. cant stand it! i really appreciate the clean air that singapore have and the good urban planning that the govt did. the taiwan govt actually had all the industries along their highways and incinerators just beside the highways too. the best thing was that there was even a revolving restaurant at the incinerator. how wodnerful is that... anyway now to the fun part of the trip((:

hualien - taroko gorge 太鲁阁(:





it is a really beautiful place. a place where you can get in touch with nature and experience fresh air. love the lakes, marble formations and mountains in that area. i was so refreshed after the walk along a small portion of taroko gorge=D

taipei - shilin night market 士林夜市
night market = shopping and food!! it was super crowded. like super super. you just cant stop moving in there. people will push you if you dont. you cant even cut across the street. people just keep flowing in. and the really cool thing there is that when the police come to chase those illegal vendors in the middle of the street. the stall vendors will hold on the cart in front of them and move away. really untied bunch of people. so you will see chains of carts trying to run when a whistle is blown to warn the vendors! did a bit of shopping there but cause its winter over there so didnt get to buy much too.

nantou - formosan aboriginal cultural village 九族文化村

its the better amusement park that we went out of the two. love the rides there. sat the UFO which was about 15 odd storey high. my heart almost dropped out when i was up there. and i was so stupid and insane cause immediately after that i went to join the kids on mayan adventure which was a roller coaster that went 360 degress round. kept my eyes shut and when it ended, i just dropped dead on the ground. my leges were jelly and when we saw the folks on the roller coaster, we all went "i didnt just take that ride, did i?"


UFO with us on it(:

hsienchu - leo foo village 六福村
another amusement park. not as fun as the other one but there are some good rides. there is this aladdin one that goes 360 degress in a circle (diameter about 2 storeys high) and it will hang at the top for about 3secs. not as bad as i thought so ya. there was another inverter there which was surprisingly good.

taipei - 五角船板
this is a damn cool restaurant and a lovely place to be in. the design is really nice. photos shall do the talking for this(:












my table mates for the whole trip((:

food!!
the food there is freaking good(: heres a list of the good food there:

beef noodles
white steam chicken with blue blacks
rice with soya minced meat thing
soya milk
steam rice! (super nice)
chou toufu(:
salad fried bun thing
and the list goes on and on...

SGI taiwan
went to visit the kaikans there too and got to attend 2 of their general meetings. it was really meaningful. got to learn from the members there through their testimonials even though some were speaking in hokkien=/ the second general meeting over at 板桥会馆 was really good. there was this girl in high school who played a piece by mozart. it was really spectacular. everyone was so memerised when she was playing. then a ywd shared about the obstacles she met during her admission to uni and during her final exam in her last year in high school. was really touched and inspired. she was down with chicken pox just 2 wks before her final year exam and she had to play a piece on her changqin cause she in a music course. but cause of faith and the surpport she had fromher parents, she managed to pull through it and get into a uni that she is currently enjoying studying in. was tearing during the end of the meeting but managed to hold back while aunty youlian burst into tears. it was really a wonderful experience and i m grateful for such a wonderful oppopruntiy. being able to attend this general meeting is the best gift from the trip(:

so here are some of the other random photos(:


jumpshot outside 五角船板


me and daddy at train station


me and mummy at taroko gorge


MDs plus tour guide and coach captain


WDs(:


YMDs and YWDs with tour guide being extra=D


family at fisherman's whart


group shot at the chiangkai-shek memorial hall. (the thing at the back looks like shrek!)


another with mr chung, a sgi taiwan member at the airport(: