Taipei 101 Part 1 (August, 2014)

Taiwan has never been in my 'To Travel List' and it is probably because i for one don't speak fluent mandarin/hokkien (failed chinese, i know right..) so i would definitely feel mega terrified and lost if i were to gallivant without a tour guide. Secondly, Taiwan has never really appealed to me in the sense of their culture, their food (beef noodles is the only exception), scenery and atmosphere. BUT clearly my mindset about Taiwan had changed drastically after my short stay there.

What i loved most about this trip was its spontaneousness! My 3 boy friends had planned this trip many moons ago thinking it would be just a boys adventure around Taipei but i guess they couldn't do without my annoying presence! muahaha! Anyway they were quite convincing and so i took the leap of booking my flight ticket after one day of them leaving for Taipei. YES! We didn't go together because i had some obligations to fulfill, so i booked a later flight and joined them for 4 days instead of 8 :) 

It was my very first flight alone, mom and dad must have been so proud of me! But at the same time they were probably shitting their pants in all nervousness. Hehehe!

I'm quite sure that most of us get extra concern about who will be seated next to us whenever we travel alone and would be completely grateful that a decent person is put next to us throughout the entire flight. Imagine a crybaby next to you for hours or somebody who frequently emits foul odor! *faints repeatedly*

Thankfully the person next to me was a decent and friendly taiwanese man who speaks pretty good english! Coincidentally, he was the same person who saved me when my ticket accidentally slipped out of my hand while running into the departure hall. Fated much? It took approximately a good 4 and a half hours to fly from KL to Taipei.

I sent an arrival video clip to mommy! Way too much excitement in that face!

Poor Jone and Yang had to wait an hour for me to get out because i got held up at the immigration and it seemed like forever! According to my friends, people in Taiwan tend to do things much slower, i guess that explains it all. Them boys made the taxi driver wait, i felt soooooo bad but not my fault right? :( hahaha! On the bright side, OMG WAS SO SO HAPPY TO SEE THEM! All of them, especially Yang put on weight after 4 days in Taipei! Apparently they treated 7Eleven like their second home, day and night trying all sorts of instant food, bottled drinks and snacks! 

My jaw dropped when i saw their room, which was also gonna be mine! It took me awhile to digest what a mess the place was. A life of 3 couch potatoes! No worries though because Mel is here to rescue! You guys shall see light... lmao!

Taipei 101 and I

LA Cafe @ VIESHOW Cinemas
Where you can dine and have bikini girls serve you ;)
I hope that cup is only used for dogs though hahaha!



Bellavista @ Xinyi District
You'd probably want to shop here if your pocket can jingle!

swag walk, what red light?

Where we had our dinner! Don't ask me where because i really didn't know where i was lol.

while waiting to be seated.. fool around with a bottled green tea.


The restaurant was full and so we got to experience eating tai chow food in an art studio!

CHEERS! we met up with Jone's good friend Derrik
Food below screams FOODGASM IN MA MOUTH!

stir-fried bamboo shoot with salted egg

fried squid


oyster + mushroom

black pepper liver


After 5 minutes of walking...
We gave up and took a taxi back.

Got dressed and all ready to party!

We ended up at Spark @ ATT 4 Fun and for the first time we queued up to get in! It was no ordinary queue but a super long ass queue! I'm actually not gonna complain because there were hot taiwanese boys and girls everywhere and you don't get such atmosphere back home.

Sweaty us after partying hard! 

Jone, my dance partner! who knew he could groove so well ;)
 
Yang felt sick before going in but came out healthy after! HAHAHA!
Fab fab fab!

to be continued...
xx

Singapore Trip in July Part 2

Woke up the next day feeling so rejuvenated and energized for a long day out, but first... time for some cereal! What we found in the kitchen were no ordinary cornflakes but maple syrup flavored waffle crisp cereal! A touch of glucose in your system is good for you early in the morning (◦'ںˉ◦) 

and breakfast was served.... in a fancy dainty styrofoam bowl hehe ƪ(ړײ)‎ƪ​​ 

by the pool, facing nature :)

We bummed around the house enjoying its relaxed atmosphere and beautiful interior, until our tummies started growling again and it was time for lunch! According to Min, the chicken chop restaurant was a short walk way from  his place so we decided to take a walk. Who knew his short walk wasn't as short as it seemed to be ٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶

After our mini cardio session, we found out upon arrival that the place was closed for the that day! Just our luck! hahaha! We ended up at the cleanest (and most expensive too haha) mamak I've ever been to right beside the restaurant we were supposed to go. 

I'm not a mamak kinda girl so forgive me when i say i was actually so excited looking at all the different kinds of prata and yes Singaporeans calls our 'roti canai' prata if you didn't already know. I wonder whats the story behind the different names. Could it be because Singapore didn't wanna seem like copycats or maybe prata sounds more posh as it totally rhymes with Prada. I hope my attempt of making a bad joke was somewhat funny, don't lah feel offended if you are singaporean k :P

First seeing a mamak that is kept so squeaky clean ≧◡≦

Mushroom Cheese Prata

To all my dear malaysian friends out there, don't bother trying their mamak food because it's super expensive and can't match up to the ones at home unless you'd like to experience a cleaner environment with better air ventilation at a mamak then by all means hehe.

You probably can't see it but sweat was oozing from me pores! I sweat really quickly once exposed to heat :( and funny how i was wearing my gym attire paired with my TopShop high top sneakers! Such an odd combination but oh well.

I think those buns got bigger after a plate of Praaaaata

taking a tour around the residence
we barely saw people walking around the place, such peace and quiet tranquility.

visited their cozy little gym!

HAHAHAHAHA!! WOAH! That expression is for Real! please don't keel me :p

After a much needed shower and prepping, we headed out to pick up Kabby, Hailey and Tobi from the airport! It took them forever to come out, waited until our legs wanna break hahaha! They were probably held up at the immigration, it was a great relief when we saw them exiting! 

Our first touristy spot was Garden by the Bay, it wasn't my first visit but the last time there wasn't enough time to go inside the enormous domes of plant wonders. I wouldn't say I'm a huge fan of plants but what is a world without greenaries, i really can't imagine how depressing and dull our lives would be. NO COLOR NO LIFE! Whenever i look at gorgeous plants, there's only one person in mind, my Mother! 

Pictures taime!

It's unfortunate that one of the domes were closed for some major changes so we only managed to enter the Flower Dome and not Cloud Forest (doesn't that sound odd when you say it out loud? lol) anyway..

Welcome to the Flower Dome!
We were greeted by a whole family of cactuses plus its extended family too! 

No girl would be thrilled.

My handsome models with a very much inflamed tree.

purple-ish things make me happy



Introducing Hailey, Tobi and Kabby :)
love this candid!

Pollen @ Flower Dome








I feel like i'm in bollywood!

spot the Min through the colors of eden

 

 

wouldn't it be lovely to eat by this view?

Chocolate Raspberry

Red Velvet

surprise surprise!

Dinner @ DB Bistro Moderne, Marina Bay Sands

Complements from the chef, some sort of cheese pastry which was so light and delicious!

Sinful pork belly salad, the picture does not do any justice to how amazing it taste! The pork literally melts in yo mouth, MUST TRY!

accompanied with red wine :)

Took a stroll back to Gardens by the Bay as we parked the car there, it was a long walk back but who is complaining when there is great company and such beautiful lights?

It took a me several blur shots to finally capture this.. like glitters in the sky.

till next time, 

xx