random friday post

slept for 10 hrs last nite.. the longest in like a week.. feels good not to haf lessons on fridays.. why dun i get that back in cs? and speaking of cs, division chosen: EBM.. well it took me a lot of self-convincing to make that choice.. for one job prospects and then it's a matter of interest vs capabilities.. does it always haf to be a conflict btw practicality and interest?

well i am interested in EBM stuff but i'm not sure i can excel in it.. but then and again no one is born to know everything rite? so i shall go wif my heart and choose EBM.. learn along the way and hope that i can excel and hopefully *cross fingers* find myself a job when i grad.. but seriously speaking, i'm still not so sure where i wanna be.. sigh cos i dun really see myself being in EBM line in the long run.. but well it's juz division selection, it's not like it's for life..

seems like lotsa ppl chose CR this time round.. are ppl getting more practical? i dun mean that CR is not good.. juz that it's such a reversal in trend.. but i muz admit the faculty in CR is indeed better..

here's juz sth fun.. signs in taiwan sent to me by someone who's been here.. haha.. well i must say their english can be pretty weird!

Spring break is here!

this has been the most hectic week i've had in a long long time.. 3 presentations and 1 written report to complete.. altho in the end one of the presentation was postponed.. but the good thing is it's over and i can enjoy my spring break!

spring break means that half the sem is over.. can say that it's fast.. been here for like 7 weeks? of course feel a lot more settled down and now that lotsa work is piling in i guess i feel less restless and also brood less abt being home.. things are happening too fast for me to think too much i guess.. and well i am starting to appreciate taipei..

act it's interesting the kind of things we talk abt when we are with the exchange students.. inevitably we'll start to compare things with wat it's like back home.. realised we and the hk students do haf quite a bit in common.. culture and ideology wise..

1 thing we really cannot understand abt taiwanese：they are civic-minded enough to always give up their seats for elderly on the buses and trains, stand to one side of the escalator to let ppl pass if they're in a rush... but they dun say excuse me or sorry when they force their way thru the crowd or bang into u... hmmm

1 presentation down.. 2 more to go this week!

wow.. finally 1 down.. and it's the one i'm most worried about.. 2 more to go and i'm off to play for spring break.. yeah!

anyway despite having like 3 presentations n 1 assignment due this week me n hanyu went to 高雄over the weekend! well it's quite a last min thing but oh well since i wanna go back knowing that i've had fun here and not tat i've done work here so heck the presentations n off to 高雄 we went!

the uni had a weird sign smack in btw shop houses and we tot it was really juz that big.. haha

but this was wat's behind the sign.. a long tunnel leading to the uni.. and right after the uni it's 西子灣, the place that we wanna go to..

the black sand beach at 西子灣.. i believe they are volcanic sand so it's grey in colour.. 1st time i saw them tho i rem reading abt it while i was doing my speech abt coasta rica in speech class.. haha.. the sand is really fine and it's all natural! act the place is more famous for the sunset but we were there at like noon.. well, this is wat happens when u dun do enough research b4 going.. :P

wif hanyu n her fren who was in 高雄 for training rite b4 he ord.. another 'famous' place in 高雄 called 愛河.. act it juz looks like a bigger version of Singapore river.. perhaps we came at the wrong time again (prob looks better at night) but we tot it was nothing very spectacular..

at the jetty off to 旗津， an off shore island juz minutes away from 高雄市... a really nice a tranquil little jetty..

it was a nice sunny morning and there we were at 旗津 beach! it's a much bigger stretch of beach than at 西子灣 and there's lotsa ppl fishing along the coast.. was thinking abt collecting the sand but i dun haf any containers wif me.. picked some seashells tho tiny ones..

it's a seafood heaven.. stalls like this everywhere along the road.. crab, prawns, sotong and many unidentifiable seafood.. pretty cheap too! the place reminds me of phuket where there'll be a whole roll of stalls opp the beach side..

generally tot that 高雄 is a much less bustling place than 台北.. like wat hanyu's fren said, half the shops are closed at any one pt.. plus the public transport is quite bad so we ended up walking most of the time or cabbing.. onli took the bus once.. n cos of that we onli managed to cover the area near out hotel.. heard the tranport is even worse in other parts of taiwan cos 高雄 is considered quite city already.. that's why scooters are the prefered mode of transport here and it seems pretty cheap to rent a scooter here.. sigh maybe i shld go learn to ride a scooter ah.. but then the traffic here is quite chaotic too.. scared!

worse thing is we decided to take a coach back cos it's cheaper than taking the train and it took us 7 hrs!! the guy who sold us the tix said it'll be 5 plus hrs.. kena cheated..

passed my first test in nccu!

haha juz took a radio studio equipment test for my radio production module.. we were made to undergo 2 weeks of training on how to use the equipment and then haf to be tested b4 they'll give us a pass to use the equipment for our assignments.. act the equipments here are quite similar to back in cs lah.. juz that they dun really digitise their stuff and they still record into casette tapes.. the other day i still see a 周慧敏 album in casette.. haha classic.. but best thing is dun need to patch.. they juz made some recordable and others not.. so it's straight forward not like those in cs..

and everyone was so nervous for the test when we were actually tested by seniors.. well i also quite malu cos at the end of the test i couldn't find the eject button for the md deck.. bleah.. but not as bad as the poor guy b4 me who had to retake cos he caused a feedback on the system..

maybe cs should make ppl take these tests too ah.. then maybe we'll haf better pride in being able to use the studios and ppl will actually know how to patch the system!

晴天出遊記

haf been a good gal and was doing work the whole day today.. International Relations report.. now do understand a lot more abt Sg-My cross straits relations.. and suddenly i feel a greater sense of pride for being a Singaporean.. haha..

the last 2 days haf been unusually sunny.. reached a high of 29 degrees on friday.. but today the temp fell to 16 degrees again.. (why do i keep dwelling abt the weather.. hmmm)

but cos of the nice weather, it feels really good to be out! hehe.. yesterday went to 淡水... well wanted to watch the sunset but did not make it in time since the sun here sets by 6pm.. sigh.. but it was still nice to go to 漁人碼頭 again.. it's quite a diff feel from when i went there last july.. and we all agreed that 情人橋 doesn't feel romantic at all cos of the sheer no. of ppl and the buskers singing their throats out to unearthly tunes..

nice view of the 情人橋 behind.. hehe.. anyway the guy's Iris' fren from Hong Kong who's here for holiday..

view of 情人橋 from the boat... took a boat there this time rather than the bus..

same bridge from another view..

eating sth called 阿給.. it's like taupok with 冬粉 as filling...

the buggy that i actually rode on the last time i was here.. haha.. shall not be so childish this time..

wat is gentle?? haha it's the toilet sign there.. dun need to be man to go in.. juz need to be gentle.. :P

and anyway on friday i was at 小巨蛋 (akin to Sg Indoor Stadium) watching HBL (High School Basketball League) finals.. wasn't so keen to watch bb match for 6 hrs so i only went for the last match which was the male finals.. boy is it a huge event.. they haf hundreds of supporters not onli from their own sch but also public in general.. the bb-lers are basically mini celebrities.. they apparently haf their own 家族 (ie fan site).. the atmosphere is quite crazy but pretty exciting as well.. haha i got pretty excited watching them play.. too bad they are but high sch guys.. 小弟弟

The supporters for each of the school.. they make damn huge a din but also created a very gd atmosphere for watching matches.. well if only we had so many ppl going for match support in jc.. haha

The bb-lers in action.. Can u spot the ball?

The 3 of us watching the match.. I'm the onli non-bb player but well it was still an exciting match..

Half time filler.. Dance item from aborigine students from one of the schs.. quite exciting sia.. they also had performance by their sch's cheerleading which i tot was really good.. notice the sponsors' logos ard.. they haf lots and lots of sponsors from energizer, nike, pocari sweat to some banks and handphone maker.. it's a high school basketball league onli ok..

weather

think i'm obsessed abt the weather condition here.. in a way it dictates our mood.. i'll be really lazy when it comes to rainy days.. hanyu will be depressed on rainy and cloudy days.. but today is a nice and sunny day!! to our surprise it is 26 degrees.. this is taipei's weather.

guess weather is one big thing that is different from singapore.. i nv had the habit to check the weather.. juz bring an umbrella and u're prepared for all weather changes in singapore.. the worse scenario is but getting stuck in the rain or having ur clothes drenched in the rain.. here i've got yahoo weather widget installed so that i can keep track of the weather changes all the time..

cos the weather dictates wat to wear, wat to eat, how you feel for the day..

heard that it was 37 degrees back in Singapore a couple of days ago.. prob the highest temp ever back home.. and tat was prob when it was like 12 degrees here..

what an irony.. but i still prefer sunshine cos it does lifts spirits!

白色情人節快樂！

Today is White Valentine's or White Day! never heard of it? dun fret cos it's only celebrated in Japan, Taiwan and Korea apparently.. it's in response to Valentine's Day where girls give guys chocolates.. so on White Valentine's the guys are suppose to return the gifts to the girls..

and if u're wondering abt the origins of White Valentine's, there's no 'long ago' story.. it's actually a marketing strategy by Lotte, this Japanese choc maker in 1965, to spread consumerism!! and they've done it so well that it became acknowledged as a festival! according to my fren the sales of their chocs on Valentine's and White Valentine's is half of their annual choc sales...

Hail consumerism ppl...

More info on White Valentine's...

白色情人節 白色情人節2 White Day

十一度的台北！

Weather Forecast (Taipei)

friday: 16 to 26 degrees
saturday: 19 to 25 degrees
sunday: 13 to 18 degrees
monday: 11 to 13 degrees?!
tuesday: 13 to 15 degrees

can it get colder? 11 degrees plus the rain yesterday.. the weather here is SO unpredictable.. it was bright and sunny for almost a week last week.. then rain and low temp... hate the weather here.. makes me sleepy and hungry and dun feel like going out.. going to be a hermit soon... i want the sun in Singapore!! can someone please send me some?

新竹出遊記

As mentioned, we've decided to juz go down to 新竹 on friday and stay in to do work for the weekend.. yesh work.. we are model students here ok.. haha.. the students here pon newswriting class till the teacher got mad last week and decided to lock the door and welcome one by one whoever comes late.. and cos we were always one of the first few to arrive he kinda thinks we are good students.. haha.. anyway that's besides the pt..

so yupz, we went to this place called 薰衣草森林 Lavender Forest in 内灣 which is in 新竹縣... it's some distance from the city so we had to change trains after we reach 新竹。 and even after we reach 内灣 we still had to take a shuttle bus up to the Lavender Forest which is apperently 400+ metres above sea level.. so all in all took us abt 3 plus hrs before we got there.. erm i must say the place is not as spectacular as i tot it would be.. esp since it's such a hassle to get there and after so much hype.. but it's a tranquil place with pretty good view.. nice to relax on a lazy afternoon.. but the best part is they have good ice cream.. of cos muz eat lavender ice cream rite.. haha.. and i was expecting to see much more lavender...










yummmy yummy lavender ice cream at lavender farm.. haha


and well it was more of a food tour there than anything.. well we tried 臭豆腐 for the 1st time at the 内灣老街... i felt it was alright but the 2 of them cannot stand the taste.. haha.. but i think we can definitely find nicer 臭豆腐 around.. and there was the muah chees, all sorts of 餅 and 畺花粽子that we ate at 内灣 before proceeding to 新竹city to eat more..

maybe it's cos we did not visit the correct places but i thot that there's actually nothing very special or unique about 新竹。 The city is well, juz like any other city, with Sogo shopping centre and all sorts of shops for shopping and eating nearby.. but actually i also dunno wat to expect lah.. well at least now i can say i've been to another city in taiwan..

next stop.. prob 九份、基隆 or juz 淡水.. next few weeks gonna be busy so will juz haf to be somewhere near i guess..



=sights from 内灣 and 新竹=

新 竹火車站, me and Adrian on 内灣 bound train, 内灣戲院（landmark of 内灣 area), Lavender Farms and the Lavender flowers ( the workers there are all dressed in purple!), the 3 of us on yet another outing, 新竹火車站 at night.

thank god it's thursday!

haha.. end of sch week for me.. going to 新竹 tml.. so looking forward to it.. hehe.. 薰衣草森林sounds good doesn't it.. :P feels so good to haf 4 day week.. can go havoc on friday when ppl are still in sch.. heheheh... but then that shall be the only place we're going this weekend cos we've got lotsa assignments due in the next 3 weeks.. and i even haf a exam to take for radio production before they'll grant us a pass to the studios.. sigh.. now i'm starting to miss DAWS and Protools.. they dun digitise their stuff here.. and they record into casette tapes and md.. primitive technology.. ppl in ntu, pls feel blessed..

anyway, today had 資訊社會again.. starting to really like this lesson cos it's very interactive and the content is fun! as usual there're lotsa websites as examples and our discussion topic today is if there'll be an absolute owner of the internet in view of the mergers and horizontal integration we see.. here's an interesting video abt the future of Google and Amazon and also internet as a whole all the way to 2015.. seems to be ard for a couple of years already.. interesting perception,take a look is u haf the time..

EPIC 2015 - Evolving Personalised Information Construct

new hairdo!

me and my roomie in our new hairdo... nice? haha feel refreshed to have my hair trimmed.. the stylist was really nice and explain everything that he did.. like why he trim here, why he layer there.. haha.. and even teach us how to style and said if we haf prob wif styling can go back to him and he'll teach us again..

hail the sun!! weekend adventure..

finally.. sunny days in Taipei!! it's been sunny for 3 consecutive days.. and yesterday was the first day i could walk around in t-shirt and today actually reached 25 degrees.. so happy!

anyway, weekends were spent exploring the city as usual.. haha.. getting sick of Taipei City so we've decided to go to 新竹 this weekend.. excited! and i might make a trip down to 六福村主題遊樂園 which is a theme park.. hehe..

decide to haf a lazy lazy friday so we ended up juz catching a movie at Warner Village, the biggest cinema in Taipei. Caught Rent and it cost me nt$265 which is equivalent to abt S$13+.. and tat is already concession for students.. man it's expensive to watch movies here.. but i tot it was a good show.. one of the best movie-musical.. powerful singing and acting.. strongly encourage u all to catch it if u haven.. wonder wat's its ratinf in Singapore.. hmmm..

but it's actually cheaper elsewhere cos me and hanyu watched Munich on 228 at a cinema in 西門町 and it was nt$230 (which is still abt S$11.50).. sigh.. now you know why piracy is a big prob..

anyway the highlight is not here yet.. after watching Rent, the 3 of us went to eat 鼎泰丰！it was uber crowded and there were damn a lot of Japanese there.. like from tour grp or sth.. anyway we had a good feast...

Adrian and all the food we had.. the xiao long bao was good.. tho i dunno how it compares to S'pore's since i nv ate in Sg b4.. :P

And.. we were off to 楊明山 on Sunday to see flowers with our new found frens from Hong Kong.. thought there would be lotsa Sakura but was a bit disappointed cos we could hardly find a Sakura tree in full bloom.. but it was nice to be back in 楊明山 after like 5 mths and in a diff season.. *memories*

Group photo at our 1st stop.. t-shirt and jeans plus nice sun! the guy on the right is a student from Macau.. at NCCU for degree course.. Christine and Iris' fren..

Me and one of the few Sakura trees in bloom there..

Did not haf enough of flowers so we went to this place called 竹子湖 where there are rows and rows of this while flowers called 海芋 (yu4)... much like those sunflower farms.. nice.. and we can actually pluck them for free..

The grp again at 小油坑.. it's spouting sulphur behind us.. the smell is quite horrible.. I'm sure XP and the rest would remember this place...

2 cute kids there.. haha.. the boy was actually trying to jio the gal.. kids in taipei are cute.. dunno why.. and they tok and respond to strangers.. sg babies seem so dao1...

our last stop, 擎天崗... another place i've been to b4.. but i quite like all the greenary here.. fyi this is where the self shot on the blog banner took place.. see the throngs of ppl there...

inspired by the kids.. we decided to play scissors paper stone and the loser had to roll down the slope.. well obviously i lost! but it was fun.. haha.. felt like a kid again.. they actually took a video of me rolling down.. omg..

p.s. took lotsa photos in 楊明山.. too many to post here.. maybe will find somewhere to upload...

new links on my blog...

I'm taking this module called Information Society 資訊社會 and the teacher will show us interesting websites each week.. there're entertaining yet informative so thot maybe ppl out there might be interested..

ITV / ITV Taiwan :
They are basically Web TV where you can stream programs and watch them off the net.. They are programs from exisiting TV channels redistributed if I'm not wrong.

Beeline TV:
Offers programs from lotsa different channels around the world. But they are usually community networks i.e. non-commercialised channels so prob might not haf heard of most of them..

Current TV:
It's a national cable and satellite channel. Provides hosting of videos that are created by viewers and internet users.. the videos are quite pro and journalistic in nature.. so people like us can also be gatekeepers and decide wat is impt and needs reporting..

Vidblog:
Another one that hosts videos.. set out to be a purely video blog.. can be too personal for us to appreciate.

happy belated birthday to Si Wei!

My 1st birthday celebration in Taiwan.. On the rooftop at 2am under temp of 12 degrees.. it was cold! haha.. My roomie's senior wanted to give her a surprise celebration so she roped us in to plan.. haha and cos my roomie happily went to 泡湯 and came back at 1 plus almost 2, we had to keep ourselves awake despite me having lessons at 9 the next morn! But it was fun! haha we played sparklers (it's called 仙女棒 here by the way) and well, sang birthday song and ate cake loh..

Si Wei and whatever remains of her birthday cake..

The 4 of us at the rooftop at 2 am... notice I had 4 layers on.. it's cold, cold, cold these few days...

Anyway we also met up with 2 Hong Kong exchange students for dinner.. They are from Chinese University of Hong Kong and here for 1 year exchange. Very nice ppl and guess being exchange students we haf this special affinity and can start chatting abt wat's good and bad abt Taipei freely.. haha.. Hanyu knew them from her Basic Photography class (which i decide not to take and took Production Management instead.. but the teacher for the photog class strangely reminds us of Kay Chin.) Anyway, they approached Hanyu during the photog class when they heard her trying to help do translation for this girl from Panama who's actually studying for a degree here.. Must be hard for her.. But the point being that they realised Hanyu must be an exchange student since she could speak good English.. haha..



Hanyu, Iris, Christine, me. We had dinner at this Mexican restaurant which took us really long to locate. But food was good.. Christine actually interned at Hong Kong's Apple Daily before.. cool..