Who: The 3366 Taipei group
(Secondary school pals - Evelyn, Huizhen, Justina, Ling Yang, Ronnie, Guanwei)
Where: Taipei
When: 23rd November 2008 (Sunday) - 28th November 2008 (Friday)
The idea for us to go on a holiday came as early as May this year. It was during a small lunch gathering among Zhen, Ling Yang, Chee Teck and Eve. We were eating while browsing through the photos that Chee Teck had snapped during his Taiwan trip, when Ling Yang mentioned that the guys had plans to go to Taiwan at the end of the year. That was when Zhen and Eve excitedly jumped in and proclaimed that THEY WANTED TO GO TOOOOOO!!!
Hahaha.
And so, our planning and sourcing started. By the end of August (26th August, to be exact), we had booked our air tickets and accomodation!
Fast forward to less than 3 months later.
23rd November 2008 (Sunday).
The first day of our long-awaited Taiwan holiday!!! Yippeeee!!!
We met up at 8.30am on that day, at Boon Lay MRT. All lugging our luggages and barang barang. Heheh. But nothing could dampen our spirits! We were darn excited to be leaving Singapore lah!
First things first, the distribution of our itinerary in a 'brochure' form. The itinerary was planned by the guys and Eve (with initial brainstorming done by everyone), and Justina came up with the idea of the brochure! Haha. So Eve created it and Justina printed copies for everyone.
Our masterpiece! ;)
Our luggages... the 3 big ones belong to the 3 girls. Hahahahaha expected right?
While Eve was seriously discussing something (can't remember what) with the guys...
... they were taking photos lor! Hrmphhhh
Don't care, we also must take!
I snap you, you snap me...
The besties.
Throughout the trip, we kept coming up with ingenious ways to take group shots (other than the most obvious way out, i.e. asking someone to take it for us). This is an example:
Using the reflection on the MRT train window. Haha!
All 6 of us are in the photo!
We reached Changi Airport at about 10am, and proceeded to Terminal 3's Popeye's for breakfast.
Fried chicken for breakfast? We like...
Yummers!
After filling our stomachs with greasy chicken and fries, we proceeded to Terminal 1 to check-in for our flight.
The 6 voyagers from the back. Cool eh?
Wondering who helped us take that photo?
The two thoughtful guys who came to send us off - Eve's Gordon and a buddy of the 3366 group, Mond! *touched*
We took the Skytrain!
Wheeee!
Dunno what they were doing... Haha
The ones on the other side were much more coordinated!
The guys of 3366: Guanwei, Ronnie and Ling Yang!
The girls of 3366: Huizhen, Justina and Eve!
We queued up at the counter, and weighed our luggages for check-in individually.
Justina first!
Followed by Zhen!
Then Eve!
Guys' turn! Ron...
Guanwei...
and Ling Yang!
Ron, Zhen and Justina went in first coz' they wanted to shop around in the duty-free area, leaving LY, GW and Eve to snap one last shot before saying goodbye.
Bye friends!!! Too bad you can't join us... Haha
These 2 girls had to head over to Terminal 2 in the end coz' Justina wanted to buy a Coach bag and the shop was at T2.
Ron, meanwhile, was missing in action! So Eve and Guanwei had no choice but to entertain Ling Yang in his quest to snap as many photos as possible! Wahahaha...
All aboard!!!
The 3 Musketeers?
BOOM!!!
Wah very heavy ah!!!
Tsk tsk tiko pek!
Ling Yang made a very reluctant Eve imitate the girl's pose...
Cactus garden!
We finally found Ron! Be careful there!
No prizes for guessing who made Eve pose like that... hahaha
We finally decided to walk to our boarding gate coz' it was almost time.
Shuai wor!
Our resident camera-man/Director then decided to make Eve a superstar. Out came the sunglasses! :P
Sorry no comments!
Shooooo paparazzi!
Go away!
It was a longgggg walk to gate C18.
Eve making a call to Zhen, asking for help. Haha she was tired of entertaining the guys!
Finally, Ling Yang's turn to be in the spotlight! He was trying this foot massager...
AT LONG LAST!!! WE REACHED C18!!!
After what seemed like forever, Zhen and Justina finally returned!
As you can see, Eve was really glad to see her besties again. Heheh.
Zhen and Eve
Look at all the silly goose pretending to be asleep. All pass except Huizhen! :P
Our Jetstar plane!!!
While in the waiting area, we snapped more photos!
Eve and Zhen...
... again and again. Haha.
Self-taken group shot #1! (Alamak Justina's face blocked!)
Self-taken group shot #2! (Alamak now Zhen's face is blocked)
These two never get tired of snapping themselves ;)
The ladies...
With passports in hand, we were ready to go!
Look at how excited the guys were too!
Wahhhh the girls so kiasu... all walk in front!
Making ourselves comfortable in the seats.
Same for the guys!
Peekaboo at Eve!
Tadaahhhh it's us again!
Sadly, the guys changed seats not long after. They were offered another row of seats with more legroom, which were originally allocated to these 3 kids. Children aren't allowed to sit there though (think it's the emergency exit row), so the guys were more than happy to change with them! Their legs are very long mah...
Without them around, the girls occupied themselves with...
... more photo-taking...
... an instant 'manicure' (Zhen brought her set of fake acrylic nails to beautify Eve's fingers)...
... and more photo-taking!
The guys were even more power lor!
Pretending to be asleep AGAIN! Hurhur.
Ermmmm Justina was really asleep though.
It was a 4 hours flight to Taipei, and we got hungry/thirsty after a while. Had to succumb to the ridiculous food prices...
Guess how much for the drinks? Haha.
Zhen and Eve paid $7 for this sandwich (Eve's friend Meizhen recommended it so they die die also must try!)... expensive but so delicious!!!
The guys got so bored... and out came the poker cards!
We were on a bed of clouds...
After slightly more than four hours, WE FINALLY REACHED TAIPEI!!!!!! :D
The girls were raring to go!
5.41pm.
Why so serious guys?!
Look at how happy the girls were!
So happy that they don't mind taking photos on a moving travellator! Haha
Our first stop was to get the Youth Cards (for discounts into several attractions)...
Yay we're young!
We didn't arrange for any private transfer to our hotel, but it was easy buying tickets for the bus to take us there. Much cheaper too!
Posing in front of our freego bus.
The excited travellers.
Eve and her fake nails.
See the two 'ghosts' behind? Wahahahaha
Justina and Ling Yang, who had to sit in individual seats.
The only (slight) disadvantage to sitting on the freego bus was that we had to transfer to another smaller bus midway through. But still, the buses were just beside each other so it wasn't that troublesome!
In the second bus:
Zhen, Eve and LY on one side.
GW, Ron and Justina on the other!
And finally, we reached PARADISE HOTEL!
The funny thing was that we didn't even know which was the hotel entrance. There were no signages indicating the hotel name! We just chose the most likely looking one, and went in... Hahaha.
We made it to our hotel!
Starting to get crazy, due to a mixture of fatigue and excitement...
Enough time to snap another shot on the way up to the tenth floor.
We settled down in our respective rooms (one for the guys, one for the girls!), changed and freshened up before meeting again in the corridor.
Time to go for dinner!
It was our first time in Xi Men Ding (with the exception of Zhen and Ron, who have been to Taipei before), and it was such a great delight for everyone to take in the sights, smells and sounds of the vibrant shopping area.
The 6 of us were SOOOOOO famished that we settled for our late dinner in one of the little shops selling Ru rou fan and the likes. (All the shops looked the same actually...)
Writing our orders.
What was Justina complaining to Eve about?
Soon, our piping hot bowls of ru rou fan arrived!!!
The guys couldn't wait to tuck in...
Such a small bowl of rice, but it was the BEST ru rou fan we ate in our six days there. Maybe coz' we were exceptionally hungry? ;)
Eve, who is a big fan of zhen zhu nai cha (bubble milk tea), was elated to drink her first cup of authentic Taiwan bubble tea!
That little bowl of rice wasn't enough to quell our hunger, of course! Time for Ah Zong Mian Xian!
The famous shop selling mee sua.
Zhen and Eve weren't exactly interested in eating mee sua, but the other four bravely took on the challenge!
The challenge was actually to hold the bowl of hot mee sua, and stand while eating! Not easy k!
While the four of them were busy eating, Zhen and Eve occupied themselves with the video camera... Teehee.
After a long long time, they finally finished eating! So full!
I see feet!
More food coming up!
Some sausage...
Ling Yang eyeing Guanwei's sausage.... Haha
Finally getting a bite of it.
Aaaahhhhhh
Justina and Eve... fortune cats?
Next dish: fried mushrooms! So delicious!
The guys then ordered some roti prata-lookalike with special fillings...
Nice ah?
Yummy!
Eve decided to take a shot of Ling Yang and Justina...
... dunno why they ended up looking like a squabbling couple!
Much better!
All full now?
Calling home? Heheh
Hello hello hello?
Xi Men Ding!
Our next activity for the first night was karaoke! We headed to the Partyworld building (yes, the WHOLE building is dedicated to karaoke... OMG).
Proof that we were there!
We were amazed by the grandness of the Partyworld there...
Look at the chandelier lights!
There was some time to go before the night package started, so we were given this 'time bomb' which would sound when it was time for us to go back to the counter.
Does it give you magical powers?!?
Very cool gadget eh?
Yay we're gonna start singing soon!
We got so excited when the gadget lit up and rang. Teehee.
We were led to our private room shortly after... and were even MORE AMAZED when we saw the inside.
(1) Bar counter with high-seats.
(2) Special area for solo performances
(3) Comfortable leather sofa
AND BEST OF ALL...
(4) A PRIVATE TOILET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YES! There was a personal toilet in our room! OMG... We were so amazed by it that we were practically screaming lah!
The room was basically so huge that we could sit and stand anywhere we wanted to. None of the restrictedness we feel in Singapore's Kbox/Partyworld.
The guys (especially LY and GW) were more than happy to slack around in the comfy room... coz' they don't sing!
Justina and Zhen choosing songs.
Eve giving her first solo performance.
Zhen forcing Guanwei to sing. Hahaha... Personal microphone-holder huh?
Justina and her crazy fans!
Wahhhh Ling Yang very cool ah?
The 3 girls singing their favourite Ti Amo song.
And there was more food to come!
Sinking their teeth into the crispy chicken chop.
Boo!
Our Xing Guang Da Dao contestant... Teeheehee
Stoning already.
They were super high!
We had so much crazy fun in the confines of the room, singing songs aloud and doing totally embarrassing stuff like flailing our arms wildly in the air (what is commonly known as "dancing"). Didn't even have to leave the room in the 3 over hours that we were there, coz' of the private toilet! The food was all included in the package too, and we only paid less than SGD$20 per person for everything! Woohoo!
We left Partyworld at 2plus in the morning, and walked through deserted Xi Men Ding back to our hotel.
Ron used the video camera to record our entire journey back, and Ling Yang took over halfway... Watch as he starts speaking in this weird accent... Hahaha.
We reached our hotel after a short walk and went to bed... ready for a long but fun day ahead! :D
( Click here to read about Day 2 of our trip, where we went to National Palace Museum, Miramar and Shih Lin! :D )
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