3 days 2 nights on Royal Carribean

I was away for a short cruise trip overseas - which was also my first. The trip was meant to clear my mind from the hustle and bustle of life but ended up at a place that was more crowded than I had expected. Met a guy who could make hearts flutter. It was a pity that the fleeting encounter ended distastefully when I exposed his lies. To those who had similar encounters, I would like to share this quote:

"Be grateful that certain things didn't work out. Sometimes you don't even know what you're being protected from or where you're being guided to. That's why you just have to trust that greater things are aligning for you. Let go gracefully."

A little side-tracked, but here is a good read about trust (although the title says Money and Movement).

Trust, once broken, would be hard to rebuild.

Affaire de coeur back to work and my new found interest - cooking!

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Sydney Day 1

Here's my itinerary - 12th Nov 2016-

Day 1

Reached sydney airport at 6.50am (train from airport to central about takes around 20mins).

Put luggages at Metro Hotel Marlow Sydney Central near Central Station and head to Sydney Sky tower via bus.

We have pre-purchased this package online:

Sydney Tower Eye + SKYWALK + SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium + WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo + Madame Tussauds + Manly SEA LIFE Sanctuary

Source: Expedia

The day started with visiting Sydney tower eye which we had pre-booked the timing for Sky Walk (yes the package stated Sky WALK and not just go up the Sky tower, I didn't notice). Funny thing that there was this clause about having to do the Sky Walk first before we can use the pass for other attractions. 

It's my first time doing a sky walk that outside a city tallest tower (too bad we are not allowed to bring camera out there). I missed that at Macau tower. Participants had to wear blue overall suits and harness so that we were hooked to the railing by rope and carabiner. Everything looks so miniature under our feet like toy figures from up high. Wind wasn't very strong that day and thank goodness for the sunny weather.

There is one section where we stood on a glass pane which can move outwards mechanically. How cool! Definitely not for the acrophobic and faint-hearted. I managed to take photo at the galleria.

Our next stop was Madame Tussauds (closes at 5:30pm, last entry 4:30pm). Sama sama to the Hong Kong Madame Tussauds. I have not been to the Singapore one. Well, I guess just differ in their sets of wax celebrities.

Next was Sydney Sealife which is located right next to Madame Tussauds. The queue for the boat ride to see penguins for 5 minutes was looong, there's some boat malfunction. Many sharks, nemo and dory (I am sure kids would be thrilled).

We went sight-seeing at Darling Harbour, which is walking distance away, and had Pancake on the Rock for dinner. If you like pancakes in assorted variety, whether sweet or salty, here's the place. I didn't know where my pictures of the pancakes go - opps. 

There is supposed to be fireworks display at the quay that night but as we had to get up really early the next morning to go Port Stephens and were tired from whole day walking, we decided to give that a miss. The walk to the bus stops in Sydney can be really long even from places of attractions. Now I appreciate Singapore's SBS much more.

Stay tune for Day 2~

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The Must-buys in Australia

• Health supplements made in Australia (miA) e.g. Blackmores, Swisse
• Lanopearl, Sukins, paw paw ointment... the miA skincare brands of course!
• Medicines e.g. difflam, telfast, nurofen - the prices are almost half compared to SG!
• Tidbits e.g. Tim tam, Tiny Teddy, Red Rock Deli, crackers (I like their not-too-salty rice crackers -Peckish)
• miA's honey
• miA's liquor (I don't drink but some of the brands are really cheap there, like the Lehmann moscato)

Shopping on budget:
Coles, Chemist Warehouse, Paddy's market (fresh fruit, factory outlets), DFS Galleria @The Rocks

Cheap seafood:

Sydney Fish Market (cheap oysters and sashimi!)

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Many Pharmacy-only / Prescription medicines are selling OTC there at the pharmacies like nurofen, buscopan, zantac, nasonex, hydroquinone cream, difflam. And there is so many more generics and choices, I am going like "Woah..." O.o

Before finalizing your itinerary

Before you finalize your itinerary for a free-and-easy tour time, here are some must-dos so that you won't go 'ah, why didn't I think of that?'. The moment sounds familiar doesn't it?

• Find out the distance between the places you plan to go and how long it would take on your preferred mode of transportation. Especially if you intend to go cross county or out of town. You wouldn't want to under-estimate your needed travel time and having to push back the entire itinerary as a result. See illustration of what I meant below.

• Calculate the expected expenditures and throw in some spare budget for the unforeseen circumstances.
• Do the places you want to visit e.g. museums open on the days you planned to go? Open-sesame does not work here.
• Have the names of locations ready in the native language just in case you need to ask around (in case at the places you go to people don't speak English well).
• Find out how and how long it takes to get from your last-day-stay hotel to the airport. Plan your set off time. Missing a flight is no fun at all.
• Write down a list of things that you would need to bring along, e.g. universal adapter.
• Plan those days with most shopping till the last. So you won't have to lug a refrigerator around. 

Have fun!

Taiwan trip [15-22 April 2016]

10 years after my trip to Taiwan by tour agency, this round I went on free and easy. Main places of attraction include Tai Chung, Sun Moon Lake, Cing Jing Farm, Taipei. Scoot airfare on promo at $327 (return), meal not included. Hotel bookings were made on Expedia. Although the places covered were much fewer than on tour, at least I have got the flexibility to choose my routes and timings. Complex chinese characters are no daunt.

My detailed itinerary as follow:

Date	Places	Descriptions / Plans
Day 1 Fri 15/4/16	Taoyuan airport --> Tai Chung Hotel in Xitun: Le Parker Check in to hotel then go Feng Jia night market	Buy a ticket from Ubus counter to take it to High speed rail (HSR) stn, Ubus #705 Book HSR pass online 8-28 days in advance to get early bird promo! http://www.thsrc.com.tw/index.html Get local SIM card (the 5-day package). Buy unlimited internet data prepaid card from Taoyuan Airport (at T1, exit arrival gate, turn right, walk down the hall). Counter opens from 8AM to 10PM. Pick a suitable plan from different telcos which provide the best value. Buy Easycard (悠遊卡like our exlink) from 7-11 stores Buy light dinner from 7-11 to eat on the HSR train. Can take shuttle bus 160 from HSR TaiChung Station (高鐵臺中站) towards Chinese Overseas University (僑光科技大學), alight at Feng Chia University (逢甲大学). It is free for HSR passengers with HSR receipt, so do remember to keep your HSR receipts to enjoy the free service. Walking distance from fengjia mkt in Taichung 16, Lane 234, Chih Shan Road, Taichung Taiwan ·                            (Itinerary #128014121204)
Day 2 Sat	Tai Chung to SML (Nantou county) Stay at YuChi: Harbor elite hotel	Take南投客運 bus from Taichung / HSR railway stn to Sun-Moon lake http://www.ntbus.com.tw/en-sml.html http://www.ntbus.com.tw/tour-sml.html Bus every 20 mins from HSR. If want to drop by Puli, take nan tou ke yun either 7.50am (depart) - 9.45am (arrive) OR 8.50am - 10.45am 南投客運高鐵站位於第 5 出入口第 3 月台，請依序上車 Formosan operating hours 9.00-5.30: http://www.nine.com.tw/webe/html/information/ Can take cable car or ferry across the lake to themepark if we want to. No need package. Take bus tour Wenwu Temple (文武廟), Itashao (伊達邵), Chaowu Wharf (朝霧碼頭) , Dragon and Phoenix Temple – Matchmaker God(龍鳳宮月老廟) & Shuishe Pier (buy from Shuishe Visitor Centre, see timetable http://www.ntbus.com.tw/s03.html Purchase at Shuishe visitor centre Other attractions: 日月潭孔雀園 http://www.sunmoonhotel.com.tw/hotel/spots/index.php B/fast included next morning. No.113, Jhongshan Rd., Yuchih Township, Nantou County 555
Day 3 Sun	Cing Jing Green green grassland Carton King + Swiss garden Stayover at Ching jing homeland resort	From SML take NT bus to Cingjing (transfer at Puli) Can get a bus + shuttle + discount to Green green grassland package from the Puli interchange  Sheepshearing show at 2.30pm Dine there and can get free admission to Small Swiss garden :) 清境家園景觀山莊  No.206-2, Renhe Rd, 南投縣 Taiwan 886 (49) 2803988 B/fast included. Can check out at 11am
Day 4 Mon	He Huan Shan - Taichung - Taipei Check out from Cing Jing--> Tai Chung -> Taipei Hotel TBC	Sunrise viewing (book with minsu or Okbus) Take NT shuttle from Cingjing to Taichung. Timings: 9.10/9.55/10.40am http://www.ntbus.com.tw/en-cjfm.html OR book bus Beitou hotspring
Day 5-7 Tue to Thu	Alight at Xi Men stn Stayover: Diary of Taipei No 152 Zhong Hua Road, Wanhua district, Taipei City 5th floor.	Check in to Diary of Taipei, Xi Men station exit 6. Can go around via subway in Taipei. Attractions to visit around Taipei: Yehliu National Park Viewing gallery @taipei 101 Sun Yat Sen Memorial, then walk to Taipei 101 Shopping at Xi Men Ding Shihlin night mkt Shida night mkt Raohe night mkt Shifen waterfall Jiufen Wufenpu clothes shopping
Day 8 Fri	Taipei--->Taoyuan airport --> Home	Check out of hotel in morning Have lunch at Taoyuan airport before flying off

***

Summary:

Day 1 - Taoyuan to Taichung, Fengjia night market
Day 2 - Nantou, Sun Moon Lake
Day 3 - Cingjing, He Huan Shan sunrise
Day 4 - Taipei, Shilin/ Jiantan, Fisherman's wharf
Day 5 - Taipei, Ximending, Jiu Fen, Shi Fen, Sun Yat Sun's memorial
Day 6 - Taipei, Yeh Liu, CKS memorial, Taipei 101, Yong Kang Street
Day 7 - Taipei main station underground shops, Wufenpu, Raohe night market
Day 8 - Ximending, Taoyuan Airport back to SG

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My observations from this Taiwan trip:

• Taiwanese love dogs and doggies are everywhere. Just that this time round I don't see people shopping around with pet digs in their handbag as compared to 10 years back.
• Motorcycles are still driving all over the walkways, no difference from 10 years back.
• Cannot throw toilet papers into the toilet bowls.
• Temperatures at mountainous terrains are significantly different from Taipei. I have been to places as cold as below 10 deg and to places as hot as 30+ deg within my short stay last week.
• You can get to almost anywhere on buses with a youyou card. Cabs are freakin expensive to take.
• Taiwan chilli are not hot but Ah Zong mee sua's one is the chilli king.
• Street stores shoes and clothes are relatively cheap. The clothes are mostly imported from Korea, shoes are made in Taiwan.