hellochloe has moved!: hellochloe's Trip To Taiwan (Part I)

Hello guys! It's been about a week since I last blogged and as I'm typing now, the sensation of my fingers on the keyboard feels kind of foreign. Anyway, how are my OTPs from SG, IADD, MP, Dream High and Sign (is there one?) doing? Good? Bad? So-so? Stagnant?

Taiwan, The Land Of Cuties

Sadly, I didn't get to take pictures of hotties I spotted on the streets. Will this do?

As for my latest trip, I found out a lot of things about Taiwan. Firstly (and most importantly), if you wanna see shuai ge (i.e. hot guys), this is the place to go, peeps. Contrary to popular belief, I think Korea is a no-no since the hotties have all gone into the k-ent industry. So remember: Taiwan, the land of cuties. Hehehe.

Tee Vee in Taiwan

Lee Seung Gi and Kang Ho Dong for Strong Heart.

And I'm having a major TV envy here: Taiwan has approx 100 plus channels! (eeek! Compared to Malaysia, we only have a paltry six channels, and even then only three of are watchable; others are sleeping pills). I got to check out famous ones like SETTV and CTS; for some reason, every time I tuned in they would be airing Cinderella Man. The intro looks interesting enough to tempt me into watching it, but unfortunately the every time I tune in there was only the mother-in-law and the woman. No Kwon Sang Woo or Song Chang Eui in sight. *Sigh*

They are also repeats of Full House (how nostalgic!). Rain has fallen for Song Hye Kyo and is now working hard to get back into her good graces, hehe. Prosecutor Princess has just aired too (currently in the ahjumma's illegal gambling part). I also managed to catch tw drama Summer Desire (to sum it up: it was a painful experience). The material is makjang-ish, thus it could have been potentially addictive, but it's awful no thanks to the OTP. Can someone upload expressions.exe into Peter Ho and Barbie Hsu? Could they be any more robotic in their acting? Urgh.

Oh yeah, I caught ads of Love Buffet too. Now I'm interested in watching it.

Day One
Arrived at KLIA at 11.00 AM for a 2.10 PM flight. Hang out at the "mini-forest" smack right in the middle of the airport. Suddenly I'm reminded of Secret Garden.

I did went into the internet with one of the pc booths provided by the airport, I went to hellochloe and read the comments posted by you guys; tried to reply but unfortunately it was a browser-only pc DX

Finally boarded the airplane. It took forever to take off; I Zzzz even before it flew.

I heart airline meals. There's just something about a meal at 30 000 feet above the ground.

When we landed at Taoyuan, we immediately sat for the MRT headed towards Taipei.

The first place we went to when we arrived at Taipei was the Shilin Night Market.

It was a Tues night and surprisingly there weren't many people around.

A stall selling white bitter gourd juice.

After the night market it was straight to the hotel for some well deserved rest.

At the hotel, I watched Assorted Gems (got jealous of the Western actor fluent in Korean) and Entertainment 100%, a TW-ent show hosted by Show Luo a.k.a. Xiao Zhu and some other guy whats-his-name. Funny, funny man. I think I get his appeal now.

Day Two

After breakfast at the hotel, we went to Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall, and there we have a Chiang Kai-shek statue which totally reminds me of the Abraham Lincoln one.

Among the attractions are the soldiers keeping guard, and they are the selected few among the Taiwanese men who're currently undergoing their compulsory national service.

Later we went to Yehliu Geopark to witness first hand some of the most amazing rock formations, entirely the work of Mother Nature.

See those funny shaped rocks? They're the result of years and years of sea and wind erosion.

The terrain is spotted with crater-like holes, not unlike the moon. I wonder if this is what it's like to be walking on the moon?

Grilled escargots at Chiufen, an array of stalls located up in the hills of Northeast Taiwan.

Later on, we caught the train to Hualian and before boarding we bought a NTD 60 bento to enjoy while riding along the east coast; too bad both the view and the bento were mediocre.

Later at night we ventured out of our hotel and stumbled upon a bakery called 85 degree Celsius (actually we hunted for it, after recommendation by the tour guide).

Look at how cute this Tiramisu cup is!!!

Day Three
After breakfast, I went back to my room and watched some more TV (ooh yes I'm addicted); I stumbled upon a very very cute CF featuring Xiao Xiao Bin and his real life dad featuring Kobayashi's Kool Fever. What a great way to start the day! :D

Day Three has got to be my favorite day out of the seven-day trip. We went to Taroko Gorge, located high in the mountains.

But I have a feeling Joo Won won't like it (I think of SG's JW everytime I go through a tunnel), for all the roads have many tunnels, one after another :/

Like this:

This:

And this:

Also this:

The view from the tunnel:

What's even more amazing is that the tunnel roads are entirely built by man, no machine whatsoever (or as JW would say: "(The rock is) Chiseled off piece by piece." Yup, it's pretty obvious I'm suffering from SG withdrawal.

Work first started in 1956 and is completed three years and nine months later. During the construction, 226 men were killed. To commemorate the lives lost, a shrine was built in one of the tunnels leading to the waterfall (out of respect for the dead, no photos can be taken in the shrine).