Taiwan

After planning for a family trip with my parents for so long, we finally managed to find a time when all four of us are free, and it happened in Taiwan! Special thanks to my father for taking leave to fly back, and my brother who was the main planner and coordinator for this trip! Taiwan is the perfect blend of natural sceneries, urban and traditional architecture, and delicious food! It also doesn't lack couple spots, for couples who are interested in travelling Taiwan together.

25 May 2016, Cloudy, Singapore

After coming back from work, my brother and I did some final edits to the itinerary, and then we left home for the airport. We ate burger king for supper before boarding. My mum seems to be really hungry! We were pretty early, so we did a lot of window shopping hehe. Flight got delayed, ah, what's new.

26 May 2016, Cloudy and rain, Taipei City

We arrived at TaoYuan airport in the morning hours. We cleared the customs and went to terminal 2 via skytrain, where the phone shop opens earlier at 7. I tried some bottled milk tea bought from a 7-11. It was extremely sweet haha, but nevertheless nice. We then took bus 1819 and left the airport. The bus ride there provided the first urban impression of Taiwan. The highways are built high above ground, such that they are literally high ways, very impressive. Upon arriving at Taipei Main Station, I had my second awe. The train station is really huge! It is the interchange station for the high speed rail and the city metro. We had to walk for 5 minutes in the train station before actually reaching the boarding place for the metro. We took a ride to XiMen, where we had our breakfast. I had LuRouFan. It is really soft and fragrant. The rice that they use are the short grained pearl rice, and they serve wasabi with soy sauce. This is noteworthy: Japanese influence! We topped up our breakfast with AhZong MianXian. I bought my first real milk tea here, but it was a disappointment! (Ps: It is called Pen Land, probably not a good idea to buy from them.) We explored the area for a bit before checking into our BnB. After throwing down our main luggage, we made our way to LongShanSi, a very traditional Chinese temple. Nothing much to see here, to be honest, just here for a picture or two. Next, we went to ChiangKaiShek Memorial Hall. This place really should be visited. The scale of everything here is just crazy! The area is so insanely huge! 

You'll never find a place at this scale in Singapore! The traditional Chinese architecture is simply classy and beautiful. Our next destination is Taipei 101. After eating a light lunch in the food court, we went up to the viewing gallery at the top. The view is magnificent, but since the air is not exactly clean and we are looking through the glass, the pictures did not turn out to be impressive. Nevertheless, it is still pretty good to see all of Taipei by walking round the viewing gallery. Something interesting to note is that this tall tower has a large circular damper somewhere near the top of the tower, open to public for viewing. When the tower is hit by strong winds, the damper serves to reduce the shake experienced at the top of the tower. Engineering at its finest! It rained at this point, and we had to cancel our Elephant Mountain hiking trip. We simply rested at the food court since our legs are already very tired at this point. Next, we went to Q-square and the underground shopping street. Q-square is just like another mall in Singapore, but the underground street is very interesting. It is really really long. Imagine Orchard road, but underground, away from the sun (in summer) and the cold (in winter). An underground shopping street is really a good idea. Singapore should have more places like Citylink. After my brother added some Tomica cars to his collection, we exited the shopping street and hitched a ride on a taxi to NingXia night market. This is also our very first Taiwan night market experience.

The smell of the smelly tofu is quite a turn off. However, we still bought a lot of food from the night market! Our loot included Taiwan sausages, meat kebab, random sorts of kuehs, muah chee, thick fish soup, some oysters and fruits. We entered one of the shop there to sit down and enjoy all the food. After finishing the food, we bought even more food (glutton us, the food is too tempting not to try), and went back to our BnB to finish them up and rest for the night.

27 May 2016, Cloudy and rain, Taipei outskirts

We booked a taxi to travel around the outskirts of Taipei today. It was simply awesome and totally worth it! After eating a simple western breakfast at XiMen, we went to meet up with the taxi driver. Our first destination is YeLiu. We made a few stops as recommended by the taxi driver. One of them is the large rock near YeLiu, and looks like a turtle. We climbed to the top for some daredevil pictures. After that, we went inside the Geopark. The rock formations here are very unique indeed. The combination of large alternating tides, strong typhoon winds, the salty waves and atmosphere created the most amazing landforms indeed! Not just the queen's rock, but the entire natural landscape here is beautiful! You can choose to walk all the way to the end of the cape for an awesome scenic lookout (and get some beautiful pictures), but we turned back because it was too hot in summer. You can find a cover photo worthy shot down here. We went to Keelong city for lunch. The driver recommended a seafood restaurant to us, which charges more reasonable prices. My dad chose a fresh fish, which made him very pleased since the freshness of the fish cannot be found easily now. After lunch, we drove down to ShiFen. Here, we visited the widest waterfall in Taiwan, ShiFen Waterfall. In Chinese language, ShiFen means ten marks, or 'very', so this waterfall has many many nicknames such as 10 mark waterfall or 'Very Waterfall'. Enough of the naming! This waterfall is extremely beautiful, amazing, awe-inspiring, and everything!

This is probably the first time I am able to see a large waterfall up close. Too bad we are not allowed to go into the water. Next on the bucket list in ShiFen is releasing sky lanterns. We made our way to the old street along railway tracks. It is so classic! For the sky lanterns, I wished for world peace, good health for my family, and a successful PhD (very standard stuff I think), though most Singaporeans will wish for $$$ by drawing a huge dollar sign. I wonder if the locals will draw a huge NTD, haha. After writing up our well wishes in Chinese, we got the staff to help us light the lantern and take pictures as we rotated the lantern so that all 4 sides are captured. It was a heart touching moment, as all our well wishes rise up and disappear into the sky. We then took more pictures of the train and the old street before going to the next destination: YinYangHai and JinGuaShi. YinYangHai was supposed to be beautiful, a beach where the golden waters (due to mineral deposits) mix into the blue sea. We only saw greyish blue waters. Not wasting time, we went to the Golden Waterfall. It was named because of the shiny mineral deposits on the rock, which will reflect the sunlight, creating a sparkling waterfall. However, it was not as impressive as 10 mark waterfall because there was too little water. JinGuaShi was not very impressive as well. We took a stroll around the area and tried the lunch box that the miners will eat during their work shifts. The lunch box is very Japanese, metal container wrapped in cloth, but the food inside is Chinese. Didn't touch the large rock of pure gold. Funny that nobody was worried people will steal it because it was simply too heavy to carry away. Our next destination is JiuFen Old Street, the place which inspired the setting of anime cartoon 'Spirited Away'. Our driver was very nice and he walked the streets with us, telling us about street and shop histories, and which are the stalls that we should go to. He recommended a dessert shop, where we sat for a while to eat hand made rice balls, very chewy and yummy! He also recommended a place where we should buy pineapple pastries because they make it and sell it on the spot. We tested it ourselves and it was true to its reputation. Price was a little expensive, but it was so good that even the locals buy it! (Unfortunately or fortunately, they don't add preservatives and the quality deteriorated quickly.) We saw the Ocarina shop. The owner was playing 'Always With Me', one of my favourite pieces. His hairstyle really looked like the dragon boy in the cartoon. As night fell, the red lanterns along the streets began to lit up one by one. We walked on until a familiar building came into sight.

AhMei ChaLou, the building which the bath house in the cartoon was drawn after! The building architecture totally stands out from the rest, and was truly beautiful with the iconic red lanterns of JiuFen! There was no suspension bridge and bath house in the area though. This is one place where I actually enjoyed the entire feel of the place despite it being crowded. With the many stuff we bought along the streets, we left JiuFen for Keelong night market in front of a temple. We had more of the night market street food. Rain made it a little difficult, but it didn't completely stop us. We sat down in front of a seafood shop and ordered crabs, oysters and sea urchin, which I was extremely excited to try. The butter crabs were pretty good, but the other seafood was not as fresh as we expected them to be. After buying more food for supper, we headed back to our BnB, bidded farewell to our excellent tour guide driver, put down our loot, and headed out to XiMenDing for another round of walking and shopping. Bought a few more snacks here despite being pretty full.

28 May 2016, Cloudy, Taipei (YangMingShan > DanShui)

Today was an exceptionally tiring and damaging day. After eating Taiwan instant noodles for breakfast, we set off to YangMingShan. We took public transport all the way there and began our light hearted bush walk along the nature trial. This is my style of travelling, and I enjoyed it. Unfortunately, the sun was already out and has caused a lot of skin damage to my family. The next destination is ZhuZiHu. We waited for the public bus at the bus stop. There was a LED display that claimed that the bus (small 8, small 9) will come in 25 mins. It was a long wait, but we decided that we can save money by taking that bus. When the timer slowly dropped to 5 min, it suddenly says that the service no longer operate! Most likely, this was caused by bad frequency combined with too many people wanting to board a small bus. Cursing our luck, we decided to get a taxi up instead. After waiting for so long, we were hoping to find something nice at ZhuZiHu, but it was actually a slight disappointment. It is a beautiful mountainous farming area nonetheless.

We just walked around to look at the natural mountainous scenery and bought some food from the shops. There is a section where people can pay to enter a place with LOTS of ball-shaped hydrangea. The flowers were really pretty, but there were too many people inside. My family didn't enter because we think it wasn't worth it. Many people, tourists and locals alike, came here to take their graduation and cosplay pictures, with the mountainous and flowery scene as backdrop. This place would be a lot better to appreciate if there was an orderly way to walk around, like a nature trail. Getting out of the place was another nightmare (crowd and bad bus frequency). We just called the previous taxi driver to fetch us to the nearest metro station, BeiTou. Since we skipped lunch, we needed some food, so I bought some cheap sushi at the metro station. The salmon sushi was pretty decent :). We then took the metro and went to DanShui. We went to the old street and settled for a late lunch, trying the two famous food there, the TieDan (iron egg) and the AhGei (arcade). To me, TieDan is just very extremely overcooked tea leaf egg and AhGei is just beancurd skin with more special filling. We then walked down the old street and bought some stuff, including the famous egg cake. We missed the park walk along the river side, and I regretted this because I think it would be a lovely walk. Slowly, we found ourselves at the pier, so we decided to buy tickets to take the ferry to fisherman's wharf. It was a good decision, other than the fact that the ferry ride there was like a mini roller coaster ride. The fisherman's wharf and Lovers' bridge is an excellent place to chill out. The entire pier is 2 storeys, with shops on the first and open air walkway on the second, connecting to the Lovers' bridge. We caught the sunset here. It was simply, beautifully amazing.

Our last destination of the day is the all famous ShiLin night market, the most famous and commercialized night market of Taipei. It sure lives up to its name! The food here is really nice and the entire street is very long, not to mention it having a basement section (which is a rather bad idea since all the oil fumes stay indoors). The air quality here is not good, and the entire atmosphere is loud, smoky, messy and fast paced. Nevertheless, we bought a lot of food and sat down at the basement, ordering coffin bread to go with the multitude of other yummy snacks we bought. I really like the fried milk cubes, and the coffin bread! The milk is frozen, then rolled over batter before frying. The coffin bread is thick fried bread with additional fillings, covered by a thin piece of bread cut from itself, making a... coffin. Really enjoyed the food here. After eating, we continued to walk around the area, looking at the games that the locals play. Apparently, bursting balloons carnival style is very popular in Taiwan, because their weapons can range from guns to darts to arrows. After being really beat up from today's itinerary, we went back to our BnB, stopping by XiMen's red house, only open during weekends for a cultural exhibition.

29 May 2016, Cloudy, Taipei

Since we had a rough day the day before, we decided to sleep till a bit later. We first visited the very first Din Tai Fung in the world for brunch. It is a 4 storey building along YongKang street. We ordered XiaoLongBao, which is a must, along with other food such as noodles, GuoTie (pot stickers), noodles, chicken soup. The quality of the food is roughly similar to the one that we have in Singapore, but what made this main branch stand out is the hospitality. Even before you order your food, the waitress would bring a whole tray of appetizers for you to choose from, and they keep refilling your tea. The quality of the service here is just unparalleled! We then walked along YongKang street to find the famous mango dessert shop. It was too crowded, so we settled for an air-conditioned mango dessert shop nearby. We made the right choice because the quality of the mango ice dessert is not all that different. The ice cream and the mango ice are all extremely flavourful. Then, we just spent our whole afternoon hopping around shopping malls. We took the train around to go to different malls to find that all their malls have a common and interesting similarity. All of them are pretty small in area, but very very tall. Ten storeys of shopping, all served by escalator! It is unique because nearly all the malls are like that. There are lifts, but people usually don't use it. The toilets were also very clean. We went back to the Taipei main station to walk the rest of the underground shopping street, partly to escape the hot weather too. We went to RaoHe night market early. RaoHe night market turned out to be one of my favourites. The stalls are arranged orderly in 2 lines and is close to a river park and the rainbow bridge of Taipei. You will not get lost.

You can imagine how wonderful it would be like to eat good food while strolling down the river park or walking across the bridge. My top favourites in this night market were the fried squid and some cheese prata thingy. Just really like this night market. We then made our way back to the BnB to have a final shower. My mum was still not satisfied and she urged us to take her down to XiMenDing for a final round of shopping, haha! And so we did. We bought our very last JiPa fried chicken, bubble milk tea and AhZong MianXian. We walked around the area, then reluctantly went back to our BnB to take our luggage, then meet up with the prearranged taxi driver to take us to the airport. Flight was past midnight, and most of the duty free were already closed by the time we were there. Very reluctant to leave Taiwan, really, but every thing good still comes to an end. Taiwan, I will be back to visit you again, this time to explore your entire island from north to south!

ReLEx SMILE

I started wearing glasses since the age of 8. Basically, everyone who knows me remembers me as wearing glasses all my life. All the pictures of me has me with glasses on, even this...

This was me when I was in Korea, so young and already having myopia of around -6.25 diopters both eyes. It is now that I have decided that I would take a huge step to correct my eyes, and to get rid of the need to wear glasses, at least for the next 30 years before presbyopia kicks in.

With our current technology, there are many eye refractive surgeries available. Ever since 2 months ago, I have been doing tons of research to find out the best and most non-damaging surgery that can help correct myopia. After a long search, I narrowed down to 2: epilasik and relex smile, both of which do not require the need to cut a cornea flap. I booked my first appointment to Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) for an eye check up and also to talk to an eye doctor. There was a whole series of tests, requiring you to stare at hypnotic machines, bright lights and have air pushed against your eye. Unfortunately for me, I was assigned a doctor that was not trained to do relex smile, so he was not the best person to ask about questions regarding relex smile. The eye test at SNEC requires the administration of a kind of eye drop that dilates your pupils so that the doctor can see inside your eye. This eye drop causes temporary presbyopia and increased light sensitivity, which rendered my eyes pretty useless for the rest of the day. The results of the test showed that my eyes are perfectly healthy; I have thick corneas and I can do any kind of refractive surgery I want. Over the next few days I was so stressed as to which surgery to go for. After looking at others' blogs and their experiences, I have finally decided to change clinic to The Lasik Surgery Clinic at Paragon Medical. Just for your information, there are only 2 clinics in Singapore (note date) that offers relex smile, which was these 2 that I visited.

I did the test all over again at Paragon Medical, with the same results. The nurses at Paragon Medical are a lot more friendly. They really treat you like family. The overall feel of having the same nurse following you throughout all the tests was a lot better than visiting different rooms that does different tests. It made me feel that I was safe and in the right hands. The eye drops to dilate the pupils were also weaker and I can look at nearby objects after 6 hours. I was assigned to Dr. Marc Tay, senior consultant. He is really nice because he answered all my questions very frankly and honestly. Admittedly, I was asking questions that was impossible to answer since you can't know the long term effects of relex when it is only out for 5 years. Although he is a senior consultant, he charges no fees for consultation at Paragon Medical and even told me to email him over the weekend if I had more questions regarding the surgery. I really, really recommend this doctor. He just has this aura of calmness and coolness in him. And for the ladies, he is pretty handsome too... So after talking to him, I scheduled the surgery to be on 12 April 2016.

Everyone gets nervous on the surgery day and I was no exception. The nurses here were really kind and friendly, which made me really more comfortable. They were also extremely efficient. 10 minutes after I checked in, I was already sitting on a comfy chair and going through all the preparation procedures, which include alcohol swabbing of the the eye area, gowning up, swallowing a pill, which was supposed to be an muscle relaxant, and dripping numbing eye drops.

Was trying to smile for my selfie although I was super nervous. Not long after, I was told to come into the surgery room. I can't see the doctor because I was almost blind without my glasses. All I did was follow instructions given by the nurse and doctor. Right eye was first. I lied down on the bed, which moved me towards the doctor (I presume). Everything happened really fast. He taped back my eyelashes, inserted some metal grips (all of which I can't see and barely feel). I could then barely make out a machine moving horrendously close to my eye. I could look into the machine and see a green light, after which I can hear the female voice of the machine saying suction on. I barely felt the machine sucking my eyeball. Due to my own reflex, I kept trying to blink, and I felt I did, although I most probably didn't because the metal holders are in place. The next few moments was the most important, and all I did was to stare at the green light with all my might, and see the green light slowly get covered by white misty cloud. After 'suction off', the next step was for the surgeon to remove the lenticule that the machine had made in my eye. For those of you with itchy hands who went to watch youtube how this actually looks like in real (not the advertising videos), you will be horrified. But I will reassure you, you won't feel anything, and you can only see shadows of stuff moving around, and then very rapidly, the white misty thing is removed. I told the doctor "Wow, that was pretty fast!" That made him chuckle a bit and gave a remark "Yea, it really is, isn't it." The same procedure happens on the other eye. I don't know why I became slightly panicky again for my left eye. I can still remember the doctor saying in a reassuring way: "Calm down Alan, you're moving too much."

After a quick 15 minutes or so, everything ended. I was told to sit up. I immediately realized that far objects are a lot clearer than it used to be, which was truly amazing. The doctor had a look into my eyes using another machine and then said "Alright Alan, the operation went perfect!" I heaved a sigh of relief as I went out of the room to degown. My eyes did not tear after the surgery, and were not red. This was the best part about ReLEx SMILE. You would usually tear less, there won't be much eye redness reducing discomfort to the minimum. After the numbing eye drops wore off, I can feel some stinging in the eyes, but it was not unbearable. While waiting for my mum to arrive, the very nice nurses kept asking me if I need food and water, which I am really grateful. They offered me biscuits and Char Siew bun from their own pantry and kept me entertained with their jokes. I really enjoyed their company. On the way home, I was wearing glass goggles to protect my eyes from accidental hits. I could see nearly everything, except it was like walking around in psi 400 air, minus the smell. What fascinated me the most was that I can see far objects pretty clearly. At night, I put on the eye shields myself and went to sleep. I advise to take the sleeping pills they give you only if you are still tearing, or is too uncomfortable to sleep normally.

When I woke up the next day, everything was a little clearer than before, maybe psi 100. This of course made me super excited and grateful. I met Dr. Tay again for the post operation check up. Everything was perfect, no infections and everything, and I am well on the way to recovery. Things are really looking good (literally!), as I can even sit down here and write this blog. Special mention goes to my new friend, who was praying for me throughout the operation even though we are about 200 km away from each other.

Over the net few days, my vision was described to be about 75%. Things are slightly blurry, no matter whether far or near. My vision actually fluctuates, and is not consistently becoming better. For the prescription on the next checkup, the nurse said that I have 6/6 vision, which was faster than most people. The results from the machine showed 25, 75 degrees however. I had dry eyes, which does not feel uncomfortable, but affects vision.

One month after the surgery, the whitish mist cleared up. All that bugs my eyes now is dry eyes when I stare at books or the computer screen for too long without blinking. My night vision has already recovered. Really hope this dry eye issue will go away soon!

[To be continued]

New Zealand

This trip was mainly done for my aunts who wanted to visit New Zealand. The entire itinerary and most of the bookings were done by me. I drove them around too. Hopefully, they have enjoyed themselves to the fullest. As usual, the beautiful scenery of New Zealand never fails to capture my interest.

11 March 2016, Cloudy, Singapore

I left my house and headed for the airport. Brenda, Jamie and Jerom came to send us off, which was a surprise! The dinner on the plane was pretty good, chicken with apple sauce. I topped it up with red wine before attempting to sleep.

12 March 2016, Clear, Sydney > Auckland > Pokeno

While in transit, I had the chance to look at Sydney International Airport and recollect my fond memories of travels which happened in this very same airport. On the Qantas flight to Auckland, my family was commenting on the accents of the people on board. Since I was more widely travelled, listening to different English accents did not bother me at all. In fact, I miss Australian accent. We reached Auckland and got our car from Jucy. It was the purple green one, which was to my dismay. After doing some warming up, we headed to do groceries before heading to our very first BnB in Pokeno. The first BnB was perfect. The host was very nice to us and her home was very gorgeous! She brought us around her garden of fruit trees and showed us her plants, which included apples, crab-apples, passion fruit, granny smith and even walnut.

This is their crab-apple. My personal favourite is still the walnut. I have never tasted such fresh apples off the tree. We drove out a little to Pukekohe for dinnerm finally settling for Carl's Junior burgers haha. Played pool despite the tiredness. A short 19 hour day.

13 March 2016, Clear, Pokeno > Whangamata > Tauranga

After breakfast, we packed up to leave. We were a bit sad to leave this BnB. We took pictures with the host before we left for Whangamata, a 1 hour drive. We checked out some of the shops in town before heading to El Barrio for lunch. This is the place where I finally got to drink real coffee again. I really miss my flat white. I finally got to drink it again! The food at El Barrio was awesome. We had a very satisfying lunch. After lunch we went to check out the beach. Combining the open sea and deep blue clear sky, the view was perfect.

We then made our way to Tauranga. We made a stop at another nearby beach, which  might me Whiritoa, but I am not sure. After reaching Tauranga, we took a stroll along the coastline. Caught sight of some of the local kids playing at the playground. I sat down on the grass and lied down, thinking how I always used to do this in Australia since the soil is dryer and cleaner. Bought a really large bag of fish and chips from Bobby's. Satisfying meal. We went to our next BnB, but had difficulty trying to get into the house. The neighbours finally advised me to climb in through the window to unlock the door from the inside. I later found the keys. Had a relaxing bath and rested for the night.

14 March 2016, Cloudy, Tauranga > Mount Maunganui > Rotorua

It was an eventful day indeed. We woke up, had our breakfast, then went to Mount Maunganui for the hike. All of us made it to the top, which I made me very glad. All of my family were very satisfied with themselves. The view however, was not as nice as I expected it to be.

After the hike, we drove down to Rotorua for lunch. My family, being tired after the hike, had cravings for meat. We went to Oppie's in Rotorua and ordered some meat. The meal was very tasty indeed. The owner of the shop was very nice to us and recommended some dishes, very friendly indeed. Next on the list was skyline Rotorua. We took the gondola up and went for the luge rides. It was really awesome! I manage to try all three different tracks ranging from beginner to expert, and I must say, the expert track was the most exhilarating. I did all the tracks at the maximum speed possible, braking very little. There was a part where we could literally fly a little. Being a little early, we went to the BnB, the cleanest BnB, and unloaded our luggage before heading to Te Puia. I liked their peace greeting and performance. Since we were already here, I also decided to try my hand at some of their dance moves! After that, we went to try their traditional hangi, which was the way they cook the food over hot rocks. To my surprise, they taste really good, exceeding all the expectations. We also checked out the Pohutu geyser when it was erupting. It was an awesome sight.

15 March 2016, Cloudy/Rain, Rotorua > Taupo > Napier/Hastings

We woke up early so as to visit Hellsgate Mud and Sulphur spa. My family was so amazed by the geothermal activities in the area, especially the mudpools. The smell did not turn them off, to my surprise. After one small round of exploration around the place, we decided to try the mud and sulphur spa. We had a fun time applying mud onto each other. It was therapeutic indeed. I think our skin rejuvenated 5 years in 10 minutes. After the mud dries up on your skin, it leaves a very smooth touch. Sulphur spa was nice at the start, however, it stings the eyes and after soaking in the spa for a while, the sulphur gets into your pores and will be slowly released out for about a week. Because of this, nearly all my clothes have the sulphur stink! After feeling refreshed, we went back to Oppies for another round of Asian lunch. We tried the dishes recommended by the chef: Fish and lamb soup. It was pretty awesome. We then set off for a drive to Taupo, following the scenic attractions along route. The first stop was kerosene creek.

This was perhaps one of the nicest pictures that I have taken in the trip. The creek has warm water in it, attracting some people to actually go inside the water for a bath. Next is Aratiatia rapids. We were very lucky to catch the opening of the floodgates and we witnessed the huge downpour of the water over the boulders, exactly how rapids are meant to be seen! Next was Huka Falls, a suspension bridge over the river. Nothing too exciting here. Next was the spa thermal park, since it was raining, we did not walk all the way to the spa pools. When the rain died down, I took a jump shot for my family. We then made a final stop at Lake Taupo town area for a quick recharge, and last few photographs of the lake. We then set off for a long drive to Napier. Reached Napier, then Hastings, a very chill and relaxed twin city. Did some groceries and cooked our own dinner, companied by some wine from the very nice host of this large house.

16 March 2016, Cloudy, Napier/Hastings

We woke up late so as to rest. After breakfast, we went to Cape Kidnappers gannet reserve. This was a bad move. As the tides were rising and it was off season, we did not manage to get to the gannet reserve. We spotted some adult gannets and enjoyed the coastal walk along the way. Lunch was at a random burger place, which was decent. We then went to do groceries to prepare for a big meal. In the afternoon, we went to Ash Ridge Wineries since there were good reviews. Tours were not available to us and it was disappointing. We did some wine tasting and decided to buy some Merlot and Syrah back. One comment however, is that the staff had a very stuck-up attitude. Yes, the red wine there indeed taste excellent, but the staff gave an attitude as if his red wine is too good for us. Not allowing that to dampen our spirits, we then went to Rush Munro's Ice cream, probably the best ice cream in New Zealand. True to its word, the ice cream here tastes extra creamy, and the choices of flavours available is just unimaginable. Being the usual me, I tried the coffee and the chocolate. It was simply awesome. We then went back to our BnB and cooked up a storm! Our own cooked feast, complimented with both red and white wines made this meal the most perfect meal we had in New Zealand.

17 March 2016, Cloudy/Rain, Hastings > Mount Bruce > Wellington

After breakfast, we left Hastings straight since the weather is bad. Our destination was Pukaha Mount Bruce Wildlife park, but we stopped midway at a bakery cafe in Dannevirke for another round of awesome coffee. The chocolate caramel fudge was sweet to most, but awesome for my sweet tooth. We reached the wildlife park at around 12:30. The wildlife park is home to many amazing species of birds, not to mention the endangered kiwi. We also witnessed the feeding of long-finned eels. The rain made the visit a cold one, but nevertheless interesting. The staff here are very friendly and warm to us, alleviating the cold weather to some extent. When we are about to leave, I realized I forgot to switch off the lights, causing my car battery to go dead! Fortunately for the staff at the wildlife park, we managed to borrow jumper cables and another lorry to quick start our vehicle. Thank them so much for helping out of this fix! I really appreciate their nice gesture! We reached Masterton for a late and horrible lunch. If you're an asian, you will be unimpressed by their Chinese takeaway (except the one in Rotorua). After a dangerous drive on the mountains, we finally reached New Zealand's beautiful capital city, Wellington. We visited the supermarket and cooked ourselves a sumptuous dinner again. Another day without beautiful pictures and the weather is to be blamed.

18 March 2016, Sunny, Wellington

Today was a day of relaxation in the capital city. We woke up late and cooked our own brunch, which was yummy. My fried rice was well-liked, and my marinated chicken finally succeeded. After lazing around for a bit, we decided that our first destination will be the Botanic Gardens. My cousin took the wheel today. The botanic gardens is filled with greenery. It lacks beautiful flowers. The view at the top is amazing however.

We got some souvenirs at the shop on top of the hill, and then we left. Our next destination was Johnsonville shopping centre. This was our attempt at shopping in Wellington. To our dismay, the shopping centre was only a single storey, and is very small. We just bought some food and left. Next, we visited Princess Bay. The views were simply stunning! I risked my life (according to my family) and went down the rocks near to the sea. Don't you agree that there is this strange rule that the more risk you take, the better you'll perceive the rewards? In this case, it is the pictures that I took.

After Princess Bay, we also had a look at Houghton Bay before going back to our BnB, cooked our own dinner again, and rested.

19 March 2016, Sunny, Wellington > Whanganui > New Plymouth

Drove a lot today. There was a traffic jam just when we leave Wellington. One thing that is common about all cities I guess, even New Zealand is no exception. Rather than just waiting around, we just tried to make the mood better by taking random pictures and blasting music. The jam alleviated after about half an hour. On the way, we made a stop at Foxton, and checked out Foxton's amazing beach. It was pretty large and awesome, I would say. Ate our own packed lunch as planned. We decided to check out the Virginia Lake in Whanganui.

It was a very pretty lake, complete with ducks and swans of different breeds and colours. I came into close encounter with the black swans. They were a bit less shy, or rather, more hungry for our food. We ate the rest of our packed lunch here as we relaxed away staring at the lake. When I wandered off the lake to find the toilet, I chanced upon a beautiful sanctuary. The entire place was filled with blooming flowers, it was so romantic! After snapping some pictures of this awesome find, I went back to the car and drove my family to New Plymouth. Our dinner was at Marbles Buffet, very nice buffet at a reasonable price. The seafood were not extremely fresh, and the dessert was too much on the sweet side, but overall, we were very satisfied. We had to eat a lot today because the next day...

20 March 2016, Cloudy/Rain, New Plymouth

is a hiking day. We woke up early and prepared our lunch for the hike up Mount Taranaki. Apparently, it was not early enough. We reached the visitor centre at about 9, asked about the route and immediately started the hike. I went up ahead so as to try to hike to the summit and come down before nightfall, however, it was already slightly late. I picked up the pace and tried anyway. My family split into two groups, one taking the bush walk, while the other tried to climb into the clouds. They made it. As for my climb, the starting part was easy, but once past the Tahurangi lodge, it became difficult. Firstly, it began to rain, with strong winds, making it cold for hiking. Secondly, the terrain was difficult. I reached the part without proper pathways and only had large boulders. The only guide was red sticks anchored into the ground. I passed this point with difficulty. Next is the stairs, it was easy. After the stairs, I arrived at the place with only loose sand and gravel. Every 20 cm step I take, I will roll back 8 cm. It was slippery, the rain is falling hard and cold, and the wind keeps trying to knock me down. Moreover, I was alone. I met a few people descending the mountain, and they told me the peak is probably obscured by clouds right now. This made me decided it was not worth the risk. I can always come back another day with proper equipment to transverse this loose gravel steep terrain. According to the locals, I made it to about 2000 metres, which was already pretty good. I was pretty disappointed with the weather, but oh well, it is what it is. I returned to my waiting family and drove back to the BnB for a short rest. Our evening was spent by taking a relaxing coastal walk. Yes, our legs are breaking. We saw Te Rewa Rewa Bridge. Back in the BnB, we had an awesome home cooked meal. I then had a super relaxing bath to recharge from today's demanding activities.

21 March 2016, Sunny, New Plymouth > Waitomo > Auckland


Today was the day where I did the most driving in the trip. After having a good breakfast and packing food for lunch, we set off for Waitomo. We stopped at Mokau and tried hot chocolate at a local cafe. It was below expectations. We were fooled by the queue. Truth is, they got so much business because everyone was stopping by in this cafe: Whitebait Inn. We got caught in a jam when we continued our journey, causing us to be late for the caves. In the end, we can only do 2 caves: Ruakuri and Glow worm main cave. The glow worm cave was short. However, the guide was very detailed in explaining everything about the glow worms. There's a part where you can see the worms up pretty close, but due to poor lighting, it was still difficult to see. No pictures are allowed in this cave. At the end of the cave was a short boat ride out, allowing you to enjoy the vast ceiling of glow worms. It was a dreamy and awesome sight if we pretend that those are just stars in the night sky. In this blog, I shall not describe the truths of what is happening to the glow worms. Next was the Ruakuri cave. In Maori language, Rua means two and kuri means dogs. This cave is a lot larger and in my opinion, was more worth the money than the main cave. It had more to see, ranging from stalagtites, stalagmites, to many other cave formations: cave popcorn, cave potato chip and cave bacon. There was also some glow worm areas for us to see. Best of all, photos are allowed.

After the caves, we did a super long drive back to Auckland. We went to try Jervois steakhouse, one of the
 most recommended places that we wanted to try on day 1, but gave a miss. After an extremely long wait, the steaks finally arrived. They were grilled perjectly, and all the juices were still locked in the steak. It was an awesome meal. After that, we went to do some late night shopping at a nearby Countdown which opens till midnight. I bought lots of chocolates to give away. We then arrived at our last BnB late, when the hosts were already asleep.

22 March 2016, Sunny, Auckland > Sydney > Singapore

We were awakened by a perfectly made New Zealand breakfast, complete with cereal, milk, bread, fruit. The host was really nice to us, to the point I actually feel pretty bad. Her house is beautiful and yet it feels cosy and home-like. This is perhaps the most recommended BnB in Auckland! After a short talk with the host over breakfast, we parted ways. We returned the car and started the journey back home to Singapore. Till the next trip, which isn't so far off!

Not everyone is worth your love. Not everyone will appreciate your care for them. Most of them will take you for granted because they are used to you giving them. Recognize your own worth. Dare to move on.

Thinking back about recent events, I realized that I have done stupid things and have hurt a lot of people. A word of sorry would never be enough since the hurt was already done. Strong anticipations leads to disappointment and setbacks.

We are humans and humans make mistakes after all. Sometimes I think I have the situation under control and I can manage the people. Sometimes I think I should make decisions for others so as to protect their emotions. But is that always the case? Will they like it if they know they're being manipulated? What if multiple people gets affected in one decision?

I know I am supposed to act in a way, but I just didn't manage it well. Worse, I am slow to think, and cannot act in the moment. This has greatly affected me as a person for a very long time. Yet, no matter how hard I try, I cannot correct this.

For someone who tries so hard, it sometimes is so difficult to forgive yourself. Can I blame it on my personality? Sometimes I think I am a walking emotionless zombie incapable of empathy. Am I really going to be destined to be a person like that forever? You can learn and try to apply it in your life. However, it never really becomes part of you. When you're tired, you bounce back.

I have always wanted to be a nice gentleman, I really do, but I end up either not doing things right, or doing inappropriate things that make people disappointed or sad. Would my friends accept me for who I am and forgive me for my mistakes? (and... would someone understand why I sometimes make bad decisions at the moment, and then regret later...? Would someone finally accept me for who I really am, a broken and weird person who only tries to be nice?)

These are such great regrets. 2015 brought so much set backs and realizations. Hopefully, the realizations and lessons stay with me. May I be a better, stronger and emotionally wise person in 2016.

Guang Zhou

Guang Zhou is said to be China's most tourist friendly city to visit, and this trip proves it to be true. However, it's not exactly English friendly, so if you can't read Chinese, you should get a guide. It is a city of delicious authentic Chinese food, night views and traditional Chinese shopping streets. Not so much on the sight-seeing however, This trip was inspired and planned in most parts by my almost sister-like friend. A trip inspired by roasted geese. Also a trip of realization.

19 December 2015, Clear, Lychee Bay > Chen Clan Academy > Beijing Road > Zhujiang

Arrived at Guang Zhou Baiyun Airport in the wee hours, so I had to 'willingly' get scammed by taxi to arrive at my rented place. Rested for 3 hours before meeting with Joyce. A happy reunion. Our first stop was Lychee Bay and a very famous yum cha restaurant with a long history in China: Pan Xi Restaurant, where we had super excellent dim sum with tea, a typical 'yum cha' style brunch. Dim sums were one of the best I have ever had, but according to Joyce, this is only just above average.

After being full, we walked around Lychee Bay park to look at old people do old people things... Fishing, water calligraphy, dancing, etc.

Next, we went to eat fish skin. Not my favourite food, but is one of her favourites. Next, we ate the Cantonese version of 'Hong Dou Bing'. I was surprised it came in a cup and was meant as a drink. Ours was topped with coconut ice-cream, which was a great compliment to the red bean drink. We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant which serves steam chicken. We ordered their chicken, plus some veggies. I still like the steam chicken of Singapore more. In the afternoon, we visited Chen Clan Academy. If you know the Chinese name, you would find that it is translated wrongly. This place was constructed with funds raised from many families with the family name of Chen. Over time, it became a repository for books, and hence its name. The roofs were all carved extremely intricately to the maximum detail. It was truly a spectacular sight.

Our next destination was Beijing Road, where we only walked past to take a look at ancient paths and roads that was preserved. We walked on to have dessert at a famous sweet soup restaurant. We ordered tang yuan since it Winter Solistice is coming. I ordered an additional almond pudding. They all taste awesome. The soup was sweet, but my tour guide was sweeter (only you'll read this!). In the evening, we walked around ZhuJiang New Town area and took a few shots of the modern city scenery of Guang Zhou.

After resting for a bit on a cup of Gong Cha, we went to take the Pearl River Night Cruise. When you are on top of the cruise, you get to see the CBD from a different perspective. I was enjoying every part of it, soaking up the night cruise atmosphere.

20 December 2015, Cloudy, Huang Pu Old Harbour > Shamian Island > TianHe

My tour guide was sleepy today. Perhaps visiting when she needs to work isn't that good an idea. We went to take a tram and walked to Huang Pu Old Harbour. The area around the harbour is less developed. Many make-shift shops were set up on the side of the road, selling stuff from vegetables to pets, fish, meat, etc. Our destination was a shop that sells good porridge. We ordered Lotus Root Cake and sweet potato leaves to go with the porridge. The porridge tastes really authentic, nothing like what I had before. We then went to the remains of the harbour and took some pictures. Next, we went to eat the ginger milk curd, known in Chinese as 'jiang zhuang nai'. The chemistry behind this dessert is interesting: when hot milk is added to the ginger juice, the milk curdles into a solid after about a minute. My best guess is that there must be an enzyme in the ginger that can denature the protein in the milk. This is the softest 'curd' style dessert I have ever ate in my life! We passed by a post shop and Joyce helped me to prepare post cards. You wish to escape from my mailing list. In the afternoon, we took a ferry to Shamian Island. We visited Sun Yat Sen University for a bit since the ferry only operate at half an hour interval. Shamian Island has a mystic aura around it. The island features old colonial style buildings and cafes. Joyce said this used to be her favourite place until it became so popular that it's so crowded now.

True enough, I can imagine it to be a quietly peaceful and charming place for coffee or tea when there's less people. So many couples take their wedding shots here. Nevertheless, we sat down in Lucy's Cafe for coffee, tea and chips. Dinner was at Wu Xi Hong Kong Restaurant in TianHe district. This is the place where I tried goose meat for the first time (I think). It really tastes like duck, but with an extra flavour to it. Really yummy. The restaurant's polo bun was also way better than the one I had in Hong Kong. After dinner, we went for a shot window shopping before going back because TianHe is a shopping district. With a tinge of sadness, we parted ways again. Hate the feeling of good byes. Felt that this was the end of the good part of the trip.

21 December 2015, Rain/Cloudy, Guang Zhou various areas.

Without my tour guide, and with my luggage, I travelled to many places around Guang Zhou like a lost sheep (my typical solo travel day, a day of spiritual relaxation). Total mileage today was 13 km. My first destination was decided spontaneously: Dong Hu. This destination was chosen because one of my friends recommended it, and because the weather isn't suitable for Baiyun Mountain. Dong Hu makes a place for a good stress release, only I was like the youngest person there...

Being adventurous, I tried to walk all the way from Dong Hu to BeiJing Road. This walk is really crazy and long. I walked past some of the less developed areas of Guang Zhou, which was also a sight. Ate at a Chao Zhou noodle restaurant near BeiJing Road, which is decent. I then find a shop that sells Guang Zhou made snacks. This will be the souvenirs for my colleagues and family. I then decided to travel to Shang Xia Jiu (Up Down 9 Street) to have a look at the place. Before reaching the place, I passed by cultural garden, where there were cartoons on display.

Shang Xia Jiu turned out it looks remarkably similar in style to BeiJing Road, except with a little difference in flavour, due to the shop signs and building designs. Deposited my post cards here, and got more snacks. At this moment in time, I was lost for places to go. I decided to go to Bai Yun Garden Station to take a look. This expedition paid off, because the garden that is next to the station was made into a Children's Garden. I entered as a tourist and observed many mums and dads and their children play in the complex. This place also featured traditional Chinese style architecture, which till today, I find it strangely beautiful and appealing. I like the Chinese style concrete bridge spanning over the lake, just like what a Chinese poem paints.

After a short rest, I decided to walk over to Lantian Road. Just because of the road name, and the affiliation to a little joke that me and Joyce has. Turns out I can't even take a picture of the road name because there was no road sign for it. Disappointment. In the evening, I decided to go to HuiFu East Road. On the way there, I passed by People's Park, so I decided to enter. Many old folks are gambling in the area. Pictures turned out bad since it's night time. After I walk to HuiFu East Road, I realized that this road connects itself to BeiJing road, so I found myself back in BeiJing road! Should have stared at google maps more often before actually flying here like a lost lamb! At least at night, the ancient street was lighted, allowing me to take this.

After having dumplings for dinner, I decided to head to the airport early for my flight back. On the way back, I walked past XiHu Road and saw a beautiful palace, though I don't know what it is!

I hope I won't miss Guang Zhou too much.

Batam, A Short Getaway

This trip was planned solely by me, but the presence of my dad made everything a whole lot easier. Kudos to him for picking up Indon after working there. Being able to communicate with the locals really helped us get the best deals and getting to places! Resort lifestyle by the beach refreshes both the mind and spirit. In this trip, we enjoyed fresh local seafood and I got to enjoy exhilarating sea sports. Mosquitoes annoyed us throughout the trip. Nonetheless, another trip succeeded!

7 December 2015, Sunny, Singapore > Batam Turi Beach Resort
We woke up early in the morning to travel to Batam. Things dragged a bit because I am travelling with my mum! Moreover, I forgot to bring our Groupon tickets, so we had to go back home, then cab to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal. The ferry ride gave us a headache. Note: Sitting on the lower deck will prevent this problem. We arrived at Turi after a short bus ride, then ate at the only restaurant available before checking in. I decided to test the pool in the resort. It is quite dirty! In the end, I did some suntanning. Late in the evening, I went to the gazebo by the sea. We then ate our steamboat dinner and retired for the night.

8 December 2015, Sunny, Turi > Nagoya Hill Shopping Centre >Turi 

We consumed our free breakfast in the resort. It was reasonable. We then took a taxi and went all the way to Nagoya Hill Shopping Centre. We then did a lot of shopping. I bought a set of clothes. Too bad no shoes caught my attention. Had our lunch in this restaurant called ZA Cafe. The Ayam Penyet that I had only cost $1.20 in Singapore dollars, and it tasted nice! After lunch, I went to try the arcade. Since smoking is allowed, the entire arcade is full of cigarette smoke. I only played a few rhythm games before leaving. Really cannot stand the smoke and poor ventilation although the arcade is really cheap. A token costs 10 cents! After that, I found another arcade by the cinema where smoking is not allowed. Spent a long part of my afternoon playing Time Crisis 4 there since one credit only costs 37 cents. Really enjoyed the arcade session, played till my heart's content! Dinner was at Reseki Seafood Restaurant, one of the recommendations by TripAdvisor. The seafood here is really fresh since all of them are live. My dad commented that their cooking skills are actually not that good, but I am contented. We had a large variety of seafood: Indonesian crab, groupers, gong-gong, small prawn, scallop and crayfish! This meal costed us a million dollars! (in rupiah)

9 December 2015, Sunny, Turi Beach Resort > Singapore

Today is the day where I did sea sports. I finally got the chance to try para-sailing, and at a reasonable price. After being all harnessed, the instructor counted down from 3, then I ran towards the sea and jumped. I was immediately lifted off the ground and ascended together with the kite. It was simply exhilarating. The view of the resort when you're up in the air is just different. Staring down, you can see your own shadow cruising over the sea at great speeds. The landing is a bit stupid however, just land into the water and get fetched back on a jet-ski. I then rode around the area on my rented jet-ski. After fumbling around with the balance, I finally got used to the machine. In no time, I start to speed around the waters at max throttle. This particular jet-ski was faster than the one that I tried in Gold Coast. Every max speed I achieved is a lot of adrenaline released. I then did some standing-speeding in the sea haha! The feeling is just great! Makes me forget all my troubles and woes temporarily. After a small lunch of fish and chips, we took the ferry back to Singapore.

Till the next trip, which actually isn't so far away from this one.