30.12.2009
08:30 Walked to the nearby shop for a typical Taiwanese breakfast.
Set 1 (NT50) ：Fried Egg 煎蛋, fried dumpling 锅贴, ham 火腿 and a cup of milk tea 奶茶.
Set 2 (NT45) ：Fried Egg 煎蛋, hash brown, hot dog 热狗, and a cup of red tea 红茶.
10:30
After checking out from hotel ‘幸福之旅‘, the hotel guy was again kind enough to drop us off at 朝马 bus station. On the way there, he also offered to help us get a local prepaid phone number registered at the nearby 7-eleven. Again, friendly and helpful people in Taiwan.
11:00
We took a free shuttle from 朝马 bus station to the High Speed Railway (HSR) station, where we could get bus tickets to our destination of the day. We took a bus from 台中 HSR to 日月潭（新社）. The journey took 90 minutes. Round trip tickets: NT330 x 2 pax.
13:30
Great scenery along the way. Our destination is called Sun Moon Lake 日月潭. It is a huge lake, surrounded by picturesque mountains. People come here to see the view, the temples, the nature and get some fresh air. We bought 2 all day bus passes that enable unlimited bus rides 日月潭环湖游园车 to tour the lake (NT80 x 2 pax). We thought of renting bicycles, but the rental people discouraged us due to the slippery roads from the rain in the morning. Anyway, if you happened to be there on a good day, these are the charges for bicycle rental - They charge different rates for different bicycle models, ranging from NT200/400/800 per hour, maximum charge up to 4 hours.
While waiting for the next bus, we had lunch at a nearby noodle shop. Nothing to shout about the noodle (NT145 for 2), but in the cold weather like that, hot soup is always good.
FOOD: Boar sausage 山猪大肠包小肠 (NT50)
Souvenir: Fridge magnet 文武庙磁铁 (NT100)
16:00
After lots of walking in the freezing wind, we decided to grab some coffee and snacks, and just chill by the lake. Ahh....... :)
17:15
Return to 台中. The bus stopped at 朝马, so we walked about 15 minutes to Feng Jia night market 逢甲夜市 for more local delicacies. Instead of food, T bought a pair of Mizuno Wave 4 running shoes (NT2050).
21:00
Our Taiwanese friend, Charline, took us out for dinner - Ginger soup 姜母鸭汤 steamboat. One of the special things in the soup was called 'Blood Rice' 米血. The name is pretty gross, and being a not so adventurous person, I dared not try it initially. Our Taiwanese friend insisted that we try because local people like it a lot. Those are actually sticky rice mixed with chicken blood, then frozen into sticks of rice before being boiled in the ginger soup. I did try. It does not taste like blood at all, and it's quite chewy. I ended up eating 2 sticks hehe.
23:00
Being a great host, Charline had offered for us to stay over at her place. She lives in Qing Shui Town 清水镇, and her place is simply cute and lovely. We stayed at her guess room, where she hosted many other friends from other countries. We cannot thank her enough for the great hospitality.
29.12.200915:25
Eva Air BR228 departs from KLIA, arriving Taipei at 20:00.
21:00 Took the 和欣汽车客运 (bus) to Tai Chung 台中 on the same day. 桃园机场 to 彰化站 (NT200 x 2 pax)。The journey took around 90 minutes. We took a slightly upgraded bus because it was a promotion price. There are only 2 big seats per row, complete with a personal touch screen monitor, video game console that you could watch movie or play video games. The seat can be adjusted by pressing buttons, and I think it usually comes with a massager, but it was not working that day. How cool is that?
23:00
Reached 彰化 and checked-into a hotel called ‘幸福之旅’ (NT950)。A hotel guy picked us up at the station and drove us to the hotel.
23:30
We are not done! As you could imagine, we were starving already because the food on the plane sucks, as usual. We met up with a friend that T met online through something called 'Couch Surfing'. She picked us up at the Hotel and drove us to the nearby night market called Feng Jia 逢甲夜市。It's 'THE' night market in Tai Chung 台中 I guess. It opens till 1:30am usually. This girl is so friendly that it is hard not to like her :) We ate a lot.
FOOD: Hot soup 热汤, grilled shrimp 烤虾, the famous fried chicken chop 炸鸡排+密汁, fried tofu balls with pickled salad 炸豆腐配泡菜, fried sweet potato 炸土豆.
Today we come across an individual who behaves like an automaton,
who does not know or understand himself,
and the only person that he knows is the person that he is supposed to be,
whose meaningless chatter has replaced communicative speech,
whose synthetic smile has replaced genuine laughter,
and whose sense of dull despair has taken the place of genuine pain.
Two statements may be said concerning this individual.
One is that he suffers from defects of spontaneity and individuality which may seem to be incurable.
At the same time it may be said of him he does not differ essentially from the millions of the rest of us who walk upon this earth.
Erich Fromm
Nowadays, people are so obsessed in becoming the person they are 'supposed to be'. We often take shortcuts to establish quick relationships. Friendships have become so convenient that we often just take things for granted. We laugh when we are 'supposed to' laugh. We say things we think are appropriate and smart.
Genuine souls are hard to come by these days.
My dearest friends,
When was the last time you see a person as the person that he/she is and speak from your heart?
Have you seen or experienced genuine laughter, genuine pain and pure spontaneity lately?
Always smile from your heart.
Miss you lots! ;)
Meaning
Meaning is not something you stumble across, like the answer to a riddle or the prize in a treasure hunt.
Meaning is something you build into your life. You build it out of your own past, out of your affections and loyalties, out of the experience of humankind as it is passed on to you, out of your own talent and understanding, out of the things you believe in, out of the things and people you love, out of the values for which you are willing to sacrifice something.
The ingredients are there. You are the only one who can put them together into that pattern that will be your life.Let it be a life that has dignity and meaning for you. If it doesn't, then the particular balance of success or failure is of less account.
John Gardner You are your past, your affections, your loyalties, your talent, your understanding, your beliefs, your love, your values, your sacrifice.
You are the one to shape the pattern of your life because you have a choice, always.
Live a meaningful life. So true.
Take time to realize, That your warmth is. Crashing down on in.Take time to realize, That I am on your side Didn't I, Didn't I tell you.But I can't spell it out for you, No it's never gonna be that simple No I cant spell it out for youIf you just realize what I just realized, Then we'd be perfect for each other And will never find anotherJust realized what I just realized We'd never have to wonder if We missed out on each other now.Take time to realize Oh-oh I'm on your side Didn't I, didn't I tell you.Take time to realize This all can pass you by.. Didn't I tell youBut I can't spell it out for you, No its never gonna be that simple No I can't spell it out for you.If you just realized what I just realized Then we'd be perfect for each other Then we'd never find another Just realized what I just realized We'd never have to wonder if We missed out on each other now.
It's not always the same
No it's never the same
If you don't feel it too.If you meet me half way If you would meet me half way. It could be the same for you.If you just realized what I just realized Then we'd be perfect for each other Then we'd never find another Just realized what I just realized We'd never have to wonder if We missed out on each other now.Missed out on each other now Missed out on each other nowColbie Caillat
30.12.2009
