New Discovery

I thought I should write a post here, just to leave a footprint since 29/2 only happens once every 4 years. How rare~

On this “auspicious” day, I think I should write something happy, something positive. After all, we only get to live this day once every 4 years.

The week before CNY, it rained EVERYDAY in Taipei. Although it’s inconvenient especially when we had to bring the whole house with us.  What to do when there is an 11 month old nephew with us?

We told my sister that may be she should create a fan page for YY. He attracted sOOooo much attention! Even strangers stopped and looked at him and told my sister how handsome and adorable YY is haha….  Too bad we did not meet any Star rearcher or else YY could star in some baby commercials in Taipei and make some money to subsidize our vacation :P

2 days before CNY, it suddenly stopped raining. Could you imagine how happy we were! It was a breezy afternoon with a bit of sunshine, Jane and I decided to cycle around. We went to the nearest MRT station to hire U-bikes. Then, we cycled EVERYWHERE aimlessly. It was great fun! We even cycled to the eatery my parents like when they were there 2 years ago.... just to see whether they would be opened the next day. Too bad they were close for CNY preparation. What to do? it's a big event after all.

We had come to Taipei countless of time. Every part of it feels familiar to us. Somehow, Taipei feels different when we cycle around. I don’t know why but I like the feeling.  I discovered nice places which I didn’t see before when walking. I cycled in a big city full of crowds and cars and high rise buildings, somehow I felt like I was cycling in a park! It’s strangely amazing!

On the first day of CNY, the city was practically empty. We cycled on 忠孝东路 like we owned the street! We cycled back and forth and sang 忠孝东路"骑车‘9遍 at the same time.. I know, we were over-excited haha... 

Discover Taipei via U-bike

The weather during CNY has been great. Jane and I went cycling at every chance we had but we still have a lot to cover. The next time we cycle, we plan to explore this little old place located in the heart of the modern city called 四四南村。Oh, i can't wait~ 

感恩好天氣~

過年時我們'半家'到台灣旅遊~ 說半家而不是'全家'因為只有我爸媽，我，Jane和我小弟~ 兄弟姐妹分散在世界各地不同的城市，要來個大團圓真的不是件容易的事~

因為難得去台灣過年，當然希望有個好天氣。我爸爸最怕冷，我們去台北前，他每天都看天氣預測。台灣天氣冬天很潮濕，幾乎每天都下雨，溫度也很低。我爸還說如果天氣太冷，他不想去了~ @_@ 我爸是出了名的任性，說到真的會做到的~ 

我和Jane愛去台灣，因好吃好住好玩好熱情好多好朋友！我們希望爸爸也跟我們一樣（話說我媽早就愛上台灣了，呵呵)。因為我們想每年都去台灣過年！呵呵~

因為是春節，飯店超難訂的！吃年夜菜的餐廳也訂不到！Jane打了10個餐廳但都没位子了。不是說經濟不景氣嗎，怎麼到處都爆滿呢？>__<  難到真的要睡天橋下，除夕晚要喝西北風了？我們一封求救的email, 台灣朋友們大力幫忙，結果訂到了東區的一間大飯店，年夜飯還吃到了好吃的潮洲料理的醉紅樓。我爸媽對年夜菜贊不絕口。他們愛死台灣了~ 還說要再去！耶！

醉蝦，醉鴨，醉臘味，金玉滿堂等+好酒+家人= 馬上幸福！

朋友們告知說春節期間的台北通常很濕冷。至少過去的幾十年都是這樣。他們還幫忙準備了很多暖暖包~ 我和Jane一直默默地祈願，希望在台灣的那段日子溫度不要太低。應該是上天感受到孩子們的真誠，在台灣的一個星期，竟是台灣這幾十年來的好天氣！天氣預測的冷氣團突然消失了，爸媽帶了一箱冷衣和暖暖包沒派上用場。每天都 22度以上！超幸運的！

因好天氣，我們在新北投的小溪泡脚；有幸看到路上開的滿满都是美美的櫻花樹；在冬天的台北里，我們穿著短袖衣服趴趴走；在九份，淡水老街和夜市開心的從街頭吃到街尾再吃到街頭；在十分放天燈為大家許下願望和看到火車從身邊經過十分幸福；到深坑老街吃吃喝喝，這果然是臭豆腐的小國。老街的空氣全都是臭豆腐的味道！我們還到新竹有名的護城河邊的特色餐廳享用美食和好酒；到台中探望媽媽的太極老師等等~ 

快樂的时光~ 

快樂的一星期就這樣過了~ 满满美好的回忆，也带了胖胖的身材和60公斤的行李回家！

一部份的行李~ 

打包时快崩溃了~ 

东西太多，行李箱装不下！哈哈

我們離開後，台北的溫度立刻下降~ 現在每天下雨，才8度10度呢！我們好幸運，遇到了好天氣！我爸媽這次很滿意，下次還要來環島呢！呵呵~ 開心呢！

Bloody scene

Was in KL the other day. Stayed with my friend and found out that she was into scary movies called Saw. There are 7 parts to the movies and she watched one part every night before she went to bed. I didn't watch it with her as there are too many bloody scenes. I can't handle blood and violence *weak heart*

Are u the same? If you are afraid of bloody scenes, u should stop here.

If you are against bears eating, u definitely should stop here~

BUT if you are hungry, just keep scrolling down for more!

Honestly speaking, i didn't know bears could taste so good. OK, i can't believe I'm saying this, because bears are so cute and I love teddy bears! Many years ago, I even went to a Teddy bear cafe in Taipei city to have afternoon tea with teddy bears! I never thought I would eat bears until i had one and fell in love with it.

Having tea with teddy bears!

The other day, my colleague brought some bear samples for us to try. I took one, examined it coz it just looked so adorable and without further thoughts, i popped it into my mouth and instantly, i placed my order. One week later, i got my very own bears to eat! yayeeee~~~

They look so cute and innocent in there!! I think they scream "Get me out of here!!!" haha...

Bear Family

We loved to watch Disney cartoons when we were small. And we kids like to assign cartoon characters among us. Somehow I always ended up with the 'funny' characters.... Jane is Donald Duck, the grumpy one and I'm Goofy, the blur one; She is the smart chipmunk called Chip while i'm the not-so-smart Dale etc.... Coincidently, the bears have black nose and red nose which kinda reminded me of Chip and Dale, aka Jane and I....

Twin Bears

I like to play with food... haha, not that i always play with food la. just that it's fun to eat it in different ways..So how did i eat my bears?

1) Too cute to eat! So just put it there as a decoration!

2) Headless bear! 

3) Eat half of the body

4) Break the legs first, so teddy can't run away

5) OMG! I lost my body!

6) Now you see it, now u don't!

OK, am childish! (haha... what's new?)

Dare to try?

Visiting a new country has never been easier these days... Just a few clicks, u could read almost anything about the place.... CooL!

When Jane i first visited Taipei in 2000 for a 1.5 months study course,  all we knew about Taipei is that they have many funny TV shows, famous celebrities, which we learned from the TV programs rented from the video shop in China Town.... now you know which dinosaur age i came from haha...

We were very lucky to live near to the infamous Shilin Night Market. Everyday after our class, we would visit the night market with our course mates. To me, Shilin is a totally new world... i had never seen sooOoo many people and so many stalls selling things beyond my imagination in my life! And the colourful signboards sticking out and overlapping each other made my head spun... Gosh! this is so vibrant! I love this place! 

Everytime we went to Shilin, we discovered something new! AMAZING! I remember our first night there, we discovered smelly tofu. The smell (fragrant?) was new to my nose... When the smell hit me, I thought one of us had accidentally stepped on wet dog poo! All of us stopped in the middle of the street and started checking our shoes... to find nothing... so we concluded that, the smell must be from the blocked and dirty drain or rubbish bins nearby and we cursed the inconsiderate people for polluting the world.... 

Then suddenly, we saw a yellow sign with 3 red Chinese characters - 臭豆腐(Smelly Tofu)…. People were actually queuing up for what smells like rotten food to me... Being curious and adventurous, we decided to try it... just to find out why people actually like it.. Why people are willing to handover their hard-earned money for something that smells awful! When we received the fried tofu in our hands, we took turns to smell it.. OMG, it smelled just like SHIT. What's more, we actually paid NT30 to eat shit! No way we were letting our money go down the drain! so we ate it! 

Hehe, i must say, smelly tofu is just like durian  ~ smells awful but tasty!

Fried Smelly Tofu

~ Look ordinary, smell awful but yummo!

So the moral of the story? Never judge a book by its cover.. Sometimes you will be surprised when u look "inside"... 

However, I absolutely cannot swallow Steamed smelly Tofu... it's 753904820495 times smellier and it tastes  53904820495 worse than the fried one... I couldn't even let it sit in my mouth for 1 second more. Yup, i spitted it out in disgust... Sorry to those who love steam smelly tofu... I tried my best.... And for that effort, it's OK for me to judge :P

Jungle durians

Not everyone's favourite but it's OK coz that means

We can have them all to ourselves! Yaye~  

我家的媽媽

有天難得和媽媽一起到處逛逛。逛著逛著，我被其中一間精品店櫥窗所掛的衣服吸引了。全都是我之前在網站上看到，想要的衣服耶！馬上二話不說，到裡面選購！

短短的五分鐘，我成交了3件上衣！有沒有很豪爽? 哈哈~ 對，當想做一件事，沒有什麼是可以阻礙的！

那種買到自己心裡想要的東西真的很讓人開心！我腦海中一直出現我穿著這些衣服的畫面了。哇，光想就好興奮了！呵呵~

Photo stolen from my favourite Benshee's blog :P

後來因為我的行李箱滿的快爆開了，所以就請媽媽幫我把衣服帶回國。那天我媽回國後，一下班回到家，我媽跟我說他第二天為了找我們那天去的小店，他走了很多很多路，走到腳很痛很痛。我問他幹嘛找那間店呢。難道他又回去買更多衣服嗎？我這麼想是因為我媽真的很愛買也很能買。他可以一個行李箱去，3個行李箱回。每次他去旅行，我都被他的戰利品嚇倒。好，不離題，你們猜猜發生了什麼事？

哈~猜不到吧？對！我媽就是那麼難預測！

我媽說因為我沒把衣服帶走，他以為我不要那些衣服，所以就把我一見鍾情的3件衣服拿去換了其它的衣服 T___T

我媽媽怎麼那麼強啊？我真的敗給我媽! 哈哈~~

只能說，我和夢想中的衣服無緣....

my determination

那天終於有機會去不羅嗦逛。其實很久很久以前就在網絡上發現了這間店。一直很想去，但每次去到台北都來去匆匆。而且這間店也不容易去。它隱藏在一 條鬧區的冷區...

那天晚上，天氣很冷，風也超強的。我們決定無論如何，一定要到不羅嗦大賣場報到！哈~ 人的毅力很惊人。當你下定決心時，再困難都不會是阻力。幸好這種毅志力是用在好的地方。要是用在不好的地方，這種力量就會讓你墮落再墮落.... 就像服用panadol一樣。如果照著指示服用就能止痛的作用，但如果亂服用，就能自殺的道理一樣！

我記得那晚真的不是外出的好天氣。這種天氣，在室內和朋友相聚喝杯熱拿鐵吃個小蛋糕會比較溫暖。所以我說毅力很惊人，在這樣的時候，我們竟然在外頭！風雨無阻哦。我們乘捷運到最靠近的捷運站，然後步行到不羅嗦。因為不是很確定地點，感覺好像永遠都到不了目的地。

從人山人海到沒有人煙的地方，我們開始懷疑自己是不是走錯路了。雖然心裡那麼想，但還是繼續前進。很慶幸我們有這種打破沙鍋'找'到底的精神，因為我們根本就沒有迷路！當我們看見不羅嗦的招牌在眼前時，我們忘了自己有多冷，腿有多酸，口有多渴，頭髮有多亂！之前的困難都是值得的！

一進到不羅嗦賣場，整個人活過來了！琳瑯滿路的商品讓我超興奮的！我們在地下室逛到打烊時間。哈哈~女生就是那麽爱逛！

這是我一部份的戰利品！

其實一個人的心態真的能決定他的人生。要不是我們堅持走下去，就不會成功找到目的地了。 唯有堅持向前走才能曉得自己有否走錯路！

人生的過程原本就不可能是天天風調雨順的。如果每每遇到困境就往後退，那我想我永遠都不會有什麼成就的，最終就只能在一旁的角落哀怨自己有多不幸。

其實不幸的不是你的人生，而是你自己自我放棄。放棄真的很容易! 有位朋友問說，大家都說放棄很容易，那為何很多人就是沒辦法放棄煩惱呢？然後他自己說不放棄煩惱也是一種放棄，因為他放棄了快樂自在的生活。很妙的回答！

我想，只要有顆堅定的心，天下根本没有什麽困難的事！原来這就是“天下無難事，只怕有心人”的真正含義！啊，怎麽那多年後才真的懂了？ @_@

哈～ 遲來的領悟好過永遠不懂啦，你說對不對？*自我安慰*

別認命! 這樣就能運命喔!

i want this!

How come we don't get this at McD here????

Bagel with philadephia cheese & Pork + egg muffin

We can't have pork here but at least the bagel leh.... *drool*

One of the reasons why I rather DIY at home.... :P

My breakfast = fresh avocado bagel

Why i drink coffee...

I like to drink coffee but I'm not a coffee drinker. Coffee gives meracing heart & dizziness and sometimes sleepless nights. I still drink coffee despite the effects i get though *不怕死* simply because, coffee tastes gooOoood....

I like my coffee with lots of milk. I knooowww... why not just drink pure milk instead right? But it's differeeeent coz milk by itself sometimes doesn't give me the satisfaction *hard to please* and because i am lousy at taking caffeine but still like to consume caffeine. And after years of experiments (ok, i exaggerate but I did do that), I finally found the perfect combo, that is by increasing the milk:coffee ratio. And I take my white coffee with no sugar *劲叻？* simply because I love the original taste. A bit bitter, a bit sweet, a bit like life....

That day, i was sOOooo sleep deprived @.@ <--- Panda Jenn that I worried I would fall asleep during a very important course. So I bought a big cup of black coffee to fight Sleep Devil. No milk added coz warm milk is like sleeping pill (u do know that right? hehe...). Wah, i was wide awake like an owl for the 8 hours of the course! 0.0 <---- Owl Jenn

Then the other day, i was freezing in a seminar hall. That place was like the freezer at my home. So darn cold!! Even my layers of fat couldn't keep me warm! :( Now i know the pain Rose and Jack went thru when Titanic sank! I think I would not get a sunstroke even if I put on my winter coat, hat, stocking, gloves, boots and scarf... Too bad I didn't have all these with me at that time T__T So I drank a cup of my super white coffee. Oooo, I instantly felt as if i'd put on all my winter stuff! Coffee is sOOOo powerful mannn...!

Just one side effect though - I was wide awake like an owl that night T______T

love this coffee shop. So cozy!

But... who's that crazy dude behind me?

That's my bro. He totally spoils the lovely picture in my head lah!

But he is funny haha...

Can't get enough of .....

Strawberries!





I think no girls in the universe could resist the cute little red thing. Even if you don't like the taste, you will like its vibrant red look. It has the colour of happiness... *la la la....*

It was dark and rainy that day. The cold and gloomy weather must have affected everyone as ppl seemed to be in grey mood... Then something bright like a shining star in the dark sky caught our attention. Wooo, the strawberry shop we'd been looking for! It was like sunshine to us, except that the sunray is PINK! Waahhh... strawberries! Many many strawberries! There were strawberries everywhere. In and on every sinful cakes! *drooling* And even strawberry candies, soft toys, hair accessories etc....



Woohahaha.. Me became alived instantly.. Hmmm.. which one to buy??? There are all sOOOooo pretty and yummy looking... Buy all? cannot.. I just ate 94738540 things just now... *burp* After a long fight between my right brain and left brain, we finally agreed on this...



Delicious! I was in heaven for about 10 mins!

.... and i get to keep the beautiful glass as well! Wuhooo, so value for money! hehe...

Cake anyone?

May i offer you a .....

BLOODY cake?

Haha, am not being insulting. Besides, it's CNY. We are supposed to be nice to each other :P More importantly, I'm such a kind-hearted person. I don't scold ppl unless they step on my 'invisible tail' :P

We spotted this stall in the night mkt in Taichung. Funny name. Imagine the taokeh (boss) telling his customer 'Here, your BLOODY cake!" and the customer happily pays for the 'insult'. Interesting hey?

I remember having a bloody cake in Shiling night mkt back in year 2000. I saw ppl q-ing up for something that looked like an ice cream, dipped in crushed peanuts. yum... looked tasty.

Being curious, I just had to try it! so i joined the Q and was happy as a butterfly when i finally got my very own bloody cake! yayeee... one bite into the cake and my face, nose and mouth all shut down. In the cartoon world, my face would be green in colour!

It tasted, well, like the name says, BLOODY! Bloody disgusting to me! yucks.... that's vampire's food!

May I still interest u with a piece of bloody cake?

Customer's waiting for her bloody cake

BTW, bloody cake is actually pig blood jelly LOL

Where has it GONE....?

How unpredictable is life.

We had lunch at a all-you-can-eat steamboat restaurant 4 months ago. I spotted the signboard of a shop opposite where we sat and thought the name was cute and unique, so i took a picture of it.

I didn't know that Jellyfish eats Cheese :P

4 months later, we went back to the same restaurant and coincidently, we were sitting at the same place we sat 4 months ago. When I looked at the shops opposite, i spotted a different signboard this time.

Jellyfish's GONE!
Even the 24hr family store next door's gone

Isn't that like the way life is? One could be well now and then suddenly left the world without saying goodbye. Life is so full of uncertainties that you never know what will happen next...

Why were we born? Do u have an answer for me?

Oppps, we did it again!

Even before the start of our trip, we've already harvested many things. It's all our fingers' fault. Just click here and there and suddenly... luggage is half full & purse shrinks....

"Accidentally" bought too much
Our online purchases...

We always get the same comment no matter who is behind the pick up counter. "噢，Jane! 买超多的!!"

Hehe, good thing that we make our purchases in Jane's name. But the thing is, Jane and I.... what's the difference? That's the downside of being twins :P

Sick in Taipei

Fever. flu. nausea. coughing. Weak.

Hide my sickly face behind mask

Am still sick. So tired of coughing. Cough too hard. Found blood in mucus. Feels like I'm dying...... have to sleep... bye bye [hope not forever :P ]

感動拉麵

What happens when u put 3 gals together? Play til dawn; Talk til sleep; Shop til drop; Eat til explode... that's basically our lives for the week in Taipei.

Food in Taiwan are absolutely tasty! Well, to me anyway. There are so so so much to eat that I could have different food every single meal (hour)! Even on my 2nd visit to Taipei, i still didn't manage to sample all the delicious goodies... hmmm.. That should be a valid reason for me to visit Taipei again ;p

One thing about food in Taiwan is that people really cook with their hearts. They use the best quality ingredients and they don't do shortcuts.

We discovered a Japanese restaurant that serves very (times infinity) delicious Ramen by accident. We were gonna eat at the other Ramen restaurant but it was closed.

We weren't expecting much coz the place looks just like any other ordinary Japanese restaurant. My Pork Ramen in Beef soup looked pretty ordinary too. Just a couple of slices of pork on top of the handmade noodles, a poached egg by the side, all covered in soup.

It was until I had my first bite that I broke down and cried. Hehe, not really, but almost. It was soOOooo good that I had tears in my eyes! I am not exaggerating! It was THAT good!

The owner stews the cow bones for hours til the soup turns milky white. It is the sweetest soup I've ever drunk! No MSG btw. And the pork slices are full of flavour, which MELT in your mouth. YES, you read it right and again, I'm not exaggerating. They really melt the moment they touch my tongue, just like good quality dark chocolate. No chewing necessary. Oh my gosh, I'm drooling all over my laptop as I type!




We left wonderful comments in the owner's Little Book of Compliments. He deserves them. The ramen really touches my heart :) We were gonna return for another bowl of 感動拉麵 ('sincere' ramen) but there are just too many other food to try during our limited stay. The only place we repeatedly visited is.....

My Mashed Taro ball in hot jelly!

I think I could live in Taipei...

All In One

Life is heavenly when u get everything u like in one place...

I love, absolutely love taro, pork, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, onions etc. So much that I think I'd die without them! Hehe, may be not that serious. Just that my life would be very miserable.

The other day, I decided to cook everything I like.... in a pot. Not something my mum would do unless she is cooking bu bu cha cha. With these ingredients, She would be able to create many dishes. Not me though. I didn't inherit any of mum's talents :( Hence, a pot of everything-porridge with my all my favourites :P Simple yet delicious.

My everything-in-one-pot Porridge

My 'inspiration' (craving?) came from the sweet potatoes porridge I had on my final night in Taipei. I had FOUR (or was it five? aww, too many that I lost count!) bowls of that porridge! I wonder what went through the waitress' mind when we asked for re-fill again and again and again and etc.... ;p

I have no idea why I love sweet potatoes so much. Even the beautiful sea view of Tan Shui 淡水 couldn't keep me interested. As soon as I saw a cart full of sweet potatoes, I ran over and bought TWO. Naturally sweet and very creamy! Love it!

The potatoes were HUGE!

We must have made the charcoal-baked sweet potatoes look extra-tasty for the couple behind us got attracted too

Hmmm... I couldn't help wondering why I like sweet potatoes so much though - was I a couch 'sweet potato' in my previous life? oh, I think I must have been a SWEET couch potato lah hehe...

高人一等的心聲

終於不用低頭鞠躬說話了! Y(^V^)Y *Yayeeee*

高mei mei - Jane, Sandy and Jennifer at 淡水