Day 15 -- Running about

Went to get my coach tickets to Taipei in the afternoon with the girls. Yes I am going to spend my 228 holidays in Taipei! Woohoo! It has been 5 years since I was last there! I wonder how much had changed in the city.

Ok, in short, the earlier part of the day was just plain, running around to get things done. But I finally utilise my sports pass! Went to the gym today and it turned out to be much better than what I'd expected! Other than the equipment being a little old, it is rather well-equipped, so no complaints. And I am definitely going back to gym soon!

Day 14 -- Impromptu dinner

Just as I thought the day is going to end uneventful, my classmates decided to have an impromptu dinner after our lesson, and they're kind enough to ask me along! I was just sitting in my class (dozing off actually), when one of the very little classmates I have for this particular module, Dennis, asked if I want to have dinner with the rest. I mean, why not! I have loved this kind of gatherings all along! So after class, we went to this really atas looking restaurant for 肉脞饭, yet the price was unbelievably cheap! Like all gatherings there were small talks here and there and I'm glad I'm slowly starting to know more locals. Got to know Dennis a little as we went to Pier 2 after dinner.

Sometimes I'm really envy of the locals here. They are not afraid to show their talents. Be it Pier 2, be it the locals I'd met. They are mostly proud of their gifts and never shy away from them. This is certainly something I want to learn from them!

Day 13 -- First project discussion

Yup, this is just the first day of week 2 and I just had my first discussion for one of the group reports. Seriously speaking, it just feel so surreal having project discussion with the locals. Seems like I'm back in Singapore doing my project discussions just that this time round I don't know any of them. But it doesn't mean I felt alienated. In fact they are all so easy going and accommodating! Like all discussions, it is inevitable that we share our viewpoints and thoughts, but being a 半桶水 Chinese major, my sharing was very Singaporean style. I tried really hard to convey all my thoughts into mandarin, but in the end I gave up and was back to using mixed languages. Thank God, they didn't show any form of discern (ok, at least not in front of me), and even assured me that I can do my report in English (well, I seriously need to consider this option, for now). 

I guess this really pulled me back to reality. Yes, my modules are now on pass/fail grading but it doesn't mean I shouldn't regard my work seriously. Time to get my lousy report churning skills into system and stop idling around like a sloth. 

In all, I really enjoyed the discussion tonight and I'm really looking forward to more of such interactions in time to come!

Day 12 -- It's shopping time!

Today was shopping day at Sanduo shopping district and Ruifeng Night market. 

With 3 shopping malls at the MRT station, Sanduo should be the first choice to shop, but well, I'm just a poor student. All I can do was to admire the expensive stuff on sales and tell myself to work hard so I can afford them in the future (LOL! Can't believe I actually typed that -.-). Yup, so my verdict is Sanduo is for the richer ones who can afford it or those who can only wear branded stuff. By that, I'm including Mango and Espirit (see, this is how poor I am).

After which, we travelled to 巨蛋 station to meet some of the Japanese neighbours and went to Ruifeng Night Market in the evening. Then that we realised our group was too huge to walk through the market together, so in the end we split, and I was with Miyuki and Minyu for the rest of the night. And my I met my buddy coincidentally where she was hanging out with her friends, how cool! I must say the night is really an awesome one. Firstly it's huge! Next, there are so many cheap clothes around! Needless to say I went a little overboard spending for more clothes :p I believe they are all worth it!

To sum up, I don't think I'm going to Sanduo again, unless I really want to get branded stuff (which is highly impossible). But I am definitely going back to Rui Feng for the cheap thrills :)

Day 11 -- 旗津之我们一起去郊游！

Went to Cijin today with the NTU peeps and KT's buddy and we had so much fun! We took the ferry from Gushan ferry terminal and within minutes, we reached Cijin! The ride was so fast that I didn't even have time to register where I am for a moment (ok, perhaps I am just slow). What greeted us was good warm and sunny weather topped with strong winds, and I'm not complaining :D

First stop: Cihou fort and lighthouse
Thank goodness for the road signs around, it wasn't too hard to navigate around. But too bad, when we reach the foot of the mountain, we realised we couldn't cycle up to neither the fort nor the lighthouse, so we changed to 'hiking' up these 2 attractions instead. But the effort to go up was worth it. The views on top was breathtaking.

 The creation of our signature pose aka 招牌动作!

 Us trying to form a word. Can you guess it?

 Taking a pic of 西子湾 from the coast opposite!

Second stop: 万二正老店、六斗冰店
For lunch, we travelled a little further into Cijin because we want to try the cheap seafood recommended by some bloggers and the travel guide YY brought along. And I'm glad we went the extra mile for it because just as it was recommended, the food served were so value for money! And we only spent NTD 950 for 9 dishes! How awesome is that! Afterwards, we cycled to 六斗冰店 for old school ice cream. They are known for handmade ice cream and this particular ice cream sandwich, which is very similar to what we get from those roadside ice cream vendors. But the peanut flavored one that I got was heavenly. The fragrance of the peanut was so intense, I fell in love with it at once!

This ordinary looking ice cream which I instantly fell madly in love with!

Final stops: 风车公园、海水浴场、星光隧道

There are many parks along the way as we cycled back to the main area. But what's worth mentioning will be the 风车公园. Just as the name suggests, this park adjacent to the sea was planted with many windmills and the strong winds that accompany definitely made this park one of a must-go in Cijin! The spinning windmills with countless of kites flying in the background is certainly a view not to be missed!

We then went to the beach aka 海水浴场. The sand there was so soft that you can't feel it at all! It just seemed like I was walking on cushioned ground! As the night falls, we decided to travel to our last destination, the star tunnel, which is in my opinion, another display of how creative the Taiwanese can be; making something ordinary into something extraordinary.

 Sunset by the beach

Last group pic of the day!

Side note: 

I finally got to eat my fried smelly tofu! After trying the grilled ones (which are more popular around nowadays), my verdict is I still prefer the fried ones! Awesome yummy snack to end off my day. Now back to the books before we start another day of exploring tomorrow!

Day 10 -- 盐埕浦之行

Had an insightful trip to the Museum of History this afternoon with YY! Learnt so much about the infamous 228 incident, as well as the White Terror (which I didn't know previously). I always thought visiting museums should be done alone because not everyone will interested in the exhibitions. But today's trip with YY taught me otherwise! We had so much fun going through each gallery, and getting to know more about Kaohsiung's history. Well, the exhibitions are too much an emotional burden to recount, so I shall just post some pictures we took in the museum, so you'll have a glimpse of what was displayed.

After which, we took a walk along the Love River and we were blessed with really awesome weather! Along the way, we stopped over at the Kaohsiung Film Archive, where they have some displays on films that have their scenes taken in Kaohsiung!

Well, this pretty much sums up my afternoon at 盐埕浦. Now it's back to reality as I struggle with the cold and my readings.

Day 9 -- Cultural exchange / shock (?)

I finally get to sleep in on a school day! Nothing beats being able to wake up naturally! Anyway, I was late for the first lesson and unlike the other modules that I'd taken thus far, the class was already full b the time I walked in, what a shock. I wanted a quiet entry initially but in the end, the whole class was staring at me because the lecturer asked for my name before I can sit down. She then told me straight in the face that I may not be able to cope with this module because it's a level 4 mod for the theatre arts students. One look and I know she was judging me from my course -- Chinese. And this is all because the Chinese major here have very exposure to drama and theatre. Oh well, this only made me more determined to do well for this particular module. 

Alright, enough of ranting about school. And today marks the end of my first week of studying! I'm so happy! Had dinner with Miyuki, Minyu & the level 3 Japanese neighbours at Shark Bites and they serve such awesome waffles at really affordable prices. Now I wonder why should I even pay so much for Strictly Pancakes #justsaying It was really an amazing time spent together as we know more about each other languages. It's cool that although we don't really have a common language, yet we can still communicate and had such a great time together! I really hope that we can hangout more often in the future :)

Well, enough said, time to practice for my piece for lesson next week!

Day 8 -- New experiences, new people

I was once again rejected for another module this morning because I did not meet the pre-requisite. Oh wells, so I decided to join the girls for the singing module in the afternoon.

I was so surprised that what was initially known to be a class of only 8 people turned out to have more than 20 people. To add on, each of us was to present a song in front of the class, and I did a really BAD job. I'm not humble, I really mean BAD. I don't even know what happened, but I'm determined to do a much better job in the lessons ahead.

Coming back to this module, it's interesting because we are all free to choose which 6 songs we want to present throughout the semester, meaning to say, this is like a prolonged karaoke session for 18 weeks (I can smile in my sleep already please!). And there's a guy in this class who got into the top 20 in some singing competition that will commence in March. How cool it is to be able to learn alongside with such talents! Now, I am really looking forward to my Wednesday singing lessons.

Then during dinner time, we got to meet Ka Tat's buddy, Vounsen who had partial Netherlands heritage! How interesting. We then talked about lots of stuff, from school, to army, to life, etc. It was such an enjoyable exchange that we didn't even notice how long we'd talked. Before we knew it, it was nearing midnight and we got to part because we have some dorm stuff to do, namely laundry, shower (if not it will be hell to bathe without heater with 16 Celcius outside), etc.

Right now, I think it's some heavy downpour outside because the howling of the wind is so intense even without hearing the rain. Well, guess I got to brace myself for another few days of cold weather~

Day 7 -- It's lesson time!

So after 2 months of hiatus, I finally resumed lessons this morning! Frankly speaking, I'm not much of a morning person, hence waking up at 7.30am to prepare for lesson was a chore for me. Since it's the first week, it's only introduction, and I found myself dozing off towards the 2nd half of the lesson (uh-oh).. But thank God I have a 4 hour break between my 2 lessons today, so I decided to come back for a short nap.

As for the 2nd lesson, I don't know how to describe it. According to the lecturer, there is supposed to be 5, yes FIVE of us enrolled, but there's only 4 in the class today. So, no excuses for slipshod work in the future, guess I better buck up this semester. 

It's been so long since I sat in a classroom setting for lessons, and it's my first time learning in a classroom with chalkboard! Oh gosh, this is going to be interesting! Ok, I am suaku la.

Managed to catch the beautiful sunset after my lesson today! It's just so beautiful! Now I am really looking forward to more such days ahead! :D

Day 6 -- First day of the official start of studying week

There's no lessons for me on Mondays (thank God) but still ran around the school to get some admin done. All went well until it was time to pay the fees. I wanted to pay through credit card, but it's not accepted so, I'd to go withdraw my fees at an atm, which charge me SGD 5 for each withdrawal. Hence, I wasn't able to get my student ID today :(

Luckily, the day turned out better as I went for dinner with more new friends from NTU! We went back to 有妈妈味道的店 (I'll get the shop name soon) and took a walk to xizi bay again after dinner,  since some of the girls had not got a chance to go. We had so much laughter and stuff to talk about throughout the whole night, and I'm so thankful for this.

Well, got to sleep soon because I have a morning lesson tmr. Ciao~

Our 1st Outfit of the Week #OOTW

Day 5 -- Cycling along Banana Pier, Fishermen Wharf and Xizi Bay

Today marks the end of the first weekend in Taiwan! We decided to explore further into our district via bicycles! And the rental is so cheap NTD 50 for whole day! How cool is that, as compared to those at ECP, SGD 8 for 2 hours.

1st stop: Banana Pier / Fishermen Wharf
These 2 places are just adjacent to each other. And to my surprise, there's a mini museum within the specialties store at Banana Pier showing the relationship between Taiwan and Banana and there are some of the equipment used in the older days on display as well. I must say I had an enriching experience in the museum today!

Then we had a walk along the Fishermen Wharf, which is actually a stretch of bars and restaurants along the pier, much to my disappointment. But we saw an old school arcade and took some pictures with some of the rides we would have loved in our younger days!

We then cycled to Xizi Bay, wanting to catch the sunset over there, but we missed it on our way. But it's ok, we have 5 months to do so :) But I did managed to take a picture of the pillar with the school's name embarked on it.

And we ended our day with a picture of us with our bikes in front of the tunnel of NSYSU! Just in case you don't know, there's a tunnel that connects the school and the streets.

Nonetheless, today's trip had been an awesome one!

Day 4 -- 凯旋一日游

Started the day with brunch at a breakfast store outside NSYSU and it's so nice! Especially the 豆浆！It's so thick and flavourful.

Then we started our day at the Dream Mall, which was said to be the largest in East Asia. Perhaps there wasn't much for people on tight budget, I don't find it as appealing as the night markets. So we spent the whole afternoon in the mall trying to look for THE windbreaker, but to no avail. But it was a good experience nonetheless. 

There's a mini park right outside the mall! And it's so pretty! 

And not to forget to mention that there's an amusement park with a Ferris Wheel situated at the rooftop! This is so cool!

Then we went for Part 2 of our itinerary for the day -- to visit the 金钻夜市 & 凯旋夜市. We only heard that they are situated next to each other, but we still have no idea which was the one that we visited. Anyway, this particular night market is a shopping heaven! There's so many things to play, eat and shop! I can see myself visiting it soon :) And we saw so many interesting stuff along the way, just like this following game:

Bingo with Mahjong tiles. Taiwanese are really creative!

Right now I'm typing this post with my new heat bag in one hand, this got to be the best feeling in a cold night like this! Guess I'm going to hibernation mode soon. Ciao!

Day 3 -- 情人节游爱河；元宵节逛灯会

Today was another unexpected day again! We had orientation in the afternoon in which we were briefed on some essentials and toured around the school. It feels so surreal that after organizing orientation camp for 2 years, I'm back to being a participant of an orientation again. During the orientation, I finally got to meet my buddy, Alice, whom I'd only contacted via FB and seen only the pictures she had on FB (Yes, I'm a facebook addict).

These were taken while we were waiting for the briefing to start!

Having made some new friends during the orientation, we asked them if they wanted to join us to 爱河, aka the Love River, since there will be some performances as well as some lanterns making competition at the vicinity and 2 Japanese decided to join us! Through the trip we found out that they are here to learn Mandarin. To think they allowed themselves to be 'thrown' into a place which they can't really speak that language well, it's really courageous of them!

Before going to 爱河, my kind buddy brought us to 新倔江 to look for windbreakers, because we were freezing from the 寒流, and we didn't bring enough warm clothing :( But in the end, we spent more time in the food court at the end of the street and still didn't managed to get the windbreakers we need. But this place really looks like the 西门町 of Kaoshiung!

 爱河之旅：

According to my buddy, this works won just because it has the mayor constructed in it.

So after being on our feet for the whole day, all of us became 铁腿, which really means our feet are so sore and tense they are as hard as steel! 

Gonna crash already so I'll have enough energy for the activities tomorrow :)