Our Second Date

10 July 2016, Sunny, Marina Bay Sands

The day was started by ZhuEn going for her soka meeting and me going to my grandparents', both located around the same vicinity. After her meeting, her aunt fetched her over to my grandparents' and I met her at the void deck. We greeted each other with our arms. Coincidentally, we were wearing the same shirt and dress as the day we went to eat at Kiseki months ago before we became an item. Small things like these reminds us that our fate is cheering us on. I brought her up and introduced her to my aunt and my grandfather. We sat and talked for a bit, then we went down to the round market to have our lunch, where we met my grandmother. My aunt treated us Bualonglong juice. A light-hearted and enjoyable lunch despite the heat of the noon. After lunch, we bid farewell to my relatives and we went to Tampines One to check out the couple lab. There, we KIV'ed a couple keychain. I personally like that keychain a lot. We then made our way to Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay. This time, we came equipped with sun protection and umbrella.

Our tour of the gardens started with us walking on the boardwalk over the water. I whipped out the umbrella as it was really sunny. Here, we took pictures of the bench, the lake, and our unforgettable shadow shot. Since it was really hot, we did not waste time. Took some pictures and went for shelter. Soon, we were walking in the air conditioned cloud forest. Here, we were greeted by an amazingly tall waterfall. Here, I taught her how to take a waterfall shot. It turns out that her waterfall picture is better than mine! This was her shot, unedited.

She sure has talent for photography as well. We really took or time here, exploring the place and making turns that other people did not. I really enjoyed the cheerful company of hers. We took a lot of pictures here while walking around the route. Time flew quickly while we were having fun and we didn't realize it was already four. We schemed quickly through the climate change part because we want to make time for the flower dome. We went outside for a short rest. Gave her some neck massage to perk her up a little. At the flower dome, we first walked to the cactuses, then to the different gardens of the world. Today was Lilytopia, so there were a lot of different coloured lilies on display. I find the white lilies the most beautiful. White represents purity. We walked around and took many macro pictures. I must say, ZhuEn is pretty good with my camera! This is my favourite picture today, taken using timer, as usual.

As we walked, our stomachs grumbled. We still wanted to walk around the free gardens, and so we did. Took a few more beautiful shots of the outdoor garden and Marina Bay Sands. At the lake, we took a picture of us walking on water. We finally arrived at Marina Bay Sands shoppes. We went down to TWG for fine dining. We ordered Barramundi and Black cod, both of which tasted simply amazing. It was really really awesome. The flavour leaves a lasting impression on the palate, and the mixture of the ingredients used goes very well with each other. We had sweet moments feeding each other fish. I love the food, but I love the company of the beautiful girl even more. We however, did not know how to enjoy the tea. The food here inspired us to infuse tea into our cooking, and also motivated me to become even better in cooking. I really wish to achieve their standard, but one step at a time. I need a kitchen.

After dinner, I brought her up to the ground level. We walked past the light and water show, towards the rows of trees, to the viewing gallery in the vicinity of the Arts Science Museum. Here, we soaked ourselves in Singapore's quiet and peaceful night scenery. Every magical moment here was treasured and will be remembered.

It was getting late and I had to send her home. When we reached Bishan, we went up the overhead bridge and relived the moment ten days ago. I spent almost the entire day with her, but yet I still want more of her company. Time and time again, I remind myself how lucky I am to have met her, how strong our fate is intertwined together. I wish these moments last forever...

Our First Date

2 July 2016, Overcast > Sunny, East Coast Park

It was an overcast morning, but my mood was not dull. In the morning, I was so excited that I woke up early in the morning. We met at Bedok MRT station. I was early, so I went around to hunt for flowers. It is a first date after all, so I want it to be memorable. After looking around, I decided I shall save the money for a better use. When ZhuEn arrived, we went to the Yakun at Bedok Mall for a simple traditional breakfast. I ate my favourite half boiled eggs. We then took a bus to my Junior College. We glanced into VJC, because entrance was no longer permitted. I shared with ZhuEn how I always walked to school, just like how she shared with me when I was in Chaah. We then entered East Coast Park after that. I took her to the beach for a walk by the beach first. I was enjoying every single second of it. I have been dreaming of beach walks with a loved one. We finally decided to go to the rental. We cycled all the way from the bike shop to my secondary school. There, I described again how I used to go to school, and imagined how it is like, when we're both at that age, we were attending secondary school, though at a different school. After the short detour, we resumed our journey to Marina Barrage. We created a really loving scene when we cycled near to each other and held hands while moving on two wheels. I really couldn't have enough of that, though it was slightly dangerous. The sun slowly peeked out of the clouds as afternoon passes. We are getting a lot of sun, but at those moments, nothing seemed to matter. We took many selfies and pictures along the way to Marina Barrage. When we reached, we took a long rest. There, I learnt about the history of her black watch when I took a picture of us holding hands. I also taught her the pose for a beautiful picture. I love that picture I took of her. After a few more pictures and a good rest, we drank up and began our journey back, where we took my favourite picture, a bench shot.

At this point, the sun is becoming really hot. I was worried about sun exposure, but we had to ride back, and we couldn't ride that fast. As a result, we still got pretty sunburnt. Note to self: we need sun protection next time we want to go under the sun. We finally reached the place to return our bikes. I suggested to walk to the hawker centre nearby. I THOUGHT it was nearby, in the end, I think we walked for about 45 minutes. Though we were having very nice conversations, it bothered me that I had to make her walk for so long, even after a long cycle, and be exposed to more sun. Thankfully, she was a kampong girl, and she really didn't mind at all. We finally found the hawker, and I bought a large cup of sugar cane, each. We then sat at the hawker and continued our long conversations. Spending time with each other really never made me sick of her. Time passes fast when we're having fun. I realized I need to go back. Before we left the place, we walked to the wavebreaker to remove a bad memory. After a long moment of consideration, she allowed me to help her, to throw the black watch away, to throw it into the sea, ridding herself of good and bad memories. With all my might, I threw it in the direction of the water. We watched it fly and enter the water, disappearing from sight. I held her hand tightly. She told me I am the one... This moment reinforced my notion that my decision is correct, now and forever. She accompanied me to go back to Pasir Ris. That was when a whole strange of unfortunate (or fortunate) change of plans happened, allowing us to spend a whole lot of time together, taking buses back to Pasir Ris, and then to Bishan, while keep changing bus services. Originally, ZhuEn needed to go Boon Keng, and I needed to go Serangoon, but in the end, it was me who needed to go to Boon Keng, and she needed to go back home. It was strange, and we kept laughing at our fate. The bus rides just allowed us to spend more quality time with each other. In the end, I bid her farewell when Bus 88 reached her home. I kissed her hands goodbye.

As I was going home today, I received a text invitation for dinner. I immediately agreed to go, but she seemed to withdraw the offer. I was pretty adamant to go, and had actually stepped out of the train to go to the opposite platform to take the train back to the city. The sisters have invited me to eat Chir Chir Chicken fusion at 313 Somerset. Since I went there early, I can queue for the sisters. We ordered two different flavours of chicken and two different drinks. The sisters seemed to like the garlic flavour a lot more. I really did want to treat all the sisters, but since she insisted that I should not treat, I became unsure. At the end of the meal, I took the receipt, and looked at the sister's reaction. They were reacting and asking their elder sister to quickly go pay, and were awkward. I guess it was right to let her pay so that the rest of the sisters won't be too awkward. Again, I insisted on sending her home. She told me to go take train, but I really wanted to send her home. While walking to the bus stop, she told me she had a gift for me, and also, a reply for my question yesterday. Feeling super nervous, I opened the letter containing her reply. I held my breath and flipped open. There was a large YES! printed on the paper, in a handwriting so beautiful, so familiar. Happiness filled me in overwhelming amounts. There was a large crowd at the bus stop, but I didn't care, and flung my arms around her. Time seemed to stop as we enjoyed that moment. It really was fate that I got to know her. After I released, I held her hand for the rest of the journey home. On the way back to my home, I couldn't resist and opened her present for me. It was a cup, a gift of a cup that carries a strong meaning. Thinking back, she really planned everything very well, and understands me very well. From today onwards, I will not address her as 'she' or 'her' in my blog. She has a beautiful name for her beautiful personality. Her name is Chan Zhu En.

Chaah, Malaysia, a Home Visit

This trip was decided in the spurt of the moment, when I gave a comment on how I wanted to go home with a special friend. Permissions were then granted from both sides quickly and off I go! Special thanks to her and her family for making this entire trip possible, and helping with the extra housework when I was there. It was indeed a memorable trip. A heartwarming trip full of strong feelings and emotions. Memories were shared and shall be kept with us forever.

26 June 2016, Sunny, Singapore > Chaah

Spent the morning at home listening to my brother and parents helping me decide how to go over to Malaysia. After packing my bag, I embarked on the long journey towards her home. I listened to my brother's advise and took the train over the causeway, then followed her instructions to find the bus that will take me to Larkin Bus Terminal. Special thanks to her detailed instructions and her attentiveness on the phone that allowed me to find the correct way to Larkin, then to Chaah. At Larkin, I had to wait for an hour before the earliest bus leaves for Segamat (passing Chaah), so I went into MacDonald's and bought an interesting flavour of sundae. It didn't fail to impress. Larkin bus terminal was a messy and noisy place, but my adventurous spirit was active and I enjoyed the trip to and away from there. Finally, I got up the correct Malaysia coach. One look inside the coach and was reminded how the coaches here are always super comfortable and spacious. It was exactly like how it always was in the past when me and my family sat in one to go to Genting. After a 2 hour ride (was too excited to fall asleep), I finally reached Chaah. Chaah is a small town of Malaysia in Johor. It is not very well developed, the population is quite low and it is smaller than Pasir Ris. It however has a very quaint and peaceful feeling to it. She drove out with a manual car to fetch me. It was a happy moment when I saw her. When we reached her house, I met her parents for the very first time. It was a bit awkward as I was quite shy, but slowly, I began to have a normal chat with her mother. My friend showed me around the house and I slowly began to feel at home. I was allowed to sleep on the second floor, something like an attic. In the evening, her father drove the entire family to the only hawker centre in Chaah for a nice complete dinner of pig stomach, vegetables and fish, all for a very economical price. We then drove around town a bit so that I could know the town a little better, before returning to her home. Before I slept, she came up to the attic, which caught me a little by surprise. We had our very first pillow talk, and I enjoyed every second of it.

27 June 2016, Sunny, Chaah

Today was a day of cooking. After eating breakfast brought back by her father, I began first to make cheese baked rice for lunch. Together with my wonderful assistant (who to my delight, was a super great help), I made the fried rice and the two different coloured sauces with much less difficulty than when I did it alone in Australia. The bechamel sauce failed once, but the second time was the charm. It was a semi-success. I was really rusty with my cooking skills, but thanks to my assistant, we managed to make pretty good dishes of baked rice, which I think the pictures impressed her sisters. After lunch and a short nap, I began to put my family's secret recipe on the line, because I was going to make our chicken rice! I let my assistant sleep a while more and I began on the chicken rice. Using pandan from the backyard and ingredients her mother bought yesterday, we started on the chicken rice. After spending the entire afternoon in the kitchen, we successfully cooked everything, the chicken soup, the black sauce, the chilli and of course, the rice. To me, it was a major success because I replicated the taste of the chilli and the black sauce exactly like how my aunt made it. The only drawback was that there was not enough pandan flavour, but that is totally fine. Her youngest sister returned with two of her friends for dinner with the family. Combined with her mother's vegetables and pig stomach soup, we had a super awesome (and very full) dinner!

We then watched the last episode of the drama that she have been watching the past few weeks. I watched while having the baby by my side. Her father went out and bought satay for all of us, an action full of fatherly love. At night before I slept, she came up to the attic again and we had a really really long pillow talk, until we forgot the time.

28 June 2016, Sunny, Chaah > Bekok > Chaah

It was only until about 1:30 AM in the night before we realized we need to sleep. Due to the fatigue, I slept in until 9 plus. When I went down, her family and friends were already busy preparing LeiCha. Breakfast was buns bought by her father. It was just a lazy morning spent doing almost nothing. I learnt how to bathe the baby from her. Don't know why, but I still cannot forget her two word instruction when I was sitting in front of the baby while I stared at her. I got the fortune to try her mother's famous LeiCha. It tasted very different from how I expected it to taste, but it was really yummy and healthy. It is a hakka dish consists of many different vegetables chopped into small pieces, and topped with the special LeiCha sauce. It does not taste like tea, but I cannot really describe the taste either. I just like it a lot. In the afternoon, we drove around a bit for graduation pictures for her. Places we visited include her childhood village clinic, a small town called Bekok, and the waterfall. Her youngest sister drove us around. The name of the waterfall place is Hutan Lipur Sungai Bantang Bekok.

Okay, it isn't exactly a waterfall, but more like small rapids, where people can listen to the peaceful sounds of water flowing over rocks and falling slightly, and play inside the water. We took an extremely dangerous graduation picture where she was standing on a large rock surrounded by fast flowing water! However, that few pictures didn't turn out that well. After the pictures, we then threw off our slippers, and went into the water! Being super cheeky, I distracted the sisters with a comment about the surroundings, then took the chance to splash them first when they were not looking at me. Mischievous me hahaha. Then the water barrage came. I lost because it was two against one and I had no extra protection (I lost my glasses after ReLeX Smile!). The water greeted out skin very well. We had a super extremely soothing and relaxing time soaking ourselves in the mountain water. We moved around the place, trying to find a comfortable spot. I just love nature. Even her sister, who was a little more reluctant, began to enjoy the mountain water. I was also extremely happy to see how playful she is, and how much she loves nature. When we had enough, we just changed clothes and went back home to bathe. At night, I helped to bathe the baby. I tried my best to be as gentle, but yet firm and protective as I could. We rode a motorcycle out to buy ice cream before I began to make caramel. She was so impressed with the caramel (and I have got my past to thank for this). At night, we did our pillow talk as usual, and I fell asleep immediately after that, due to the combined fatigue of travelling and playing.

29 June 2016, Sunny, Chaah

We basically did nothing today, but also did so many things today. A simple text message sent in the wee hours of 00:53 changed everything. I only read it in the morning, and I knew she saw that I saw it. Shortly after, she brought the little baby up to the attic. We just lied there, and admittedly, I have no idea what to do. Many things were going right through my mind although the attic was quiet. I just played with the baby a little, who was in between us. After a while, she brought the baby down. Looking at her go down, I realized something. It could be a combination of everything, I am not sure, but at that moment, I made up my decision. A life decision.

I went down the attic. Entering the kitchen, I helped to make Yong Tau Foo pieces. With guidance, I made pumpkin sago dessert. The atmosphere was a little tense between me and her. No matter how I try to tell myself it is going to be alright, it won't. With my own empathy, I can tell that she is troubled, and the longer I drag, the more horrible she will feel...

While we were seated on the sofa while I attempted to take a nap (of course I can't), she sat beside me. She asked me if I saw the message. Gathering all my courage, I confessed my feelings. She immediately smiled. It was then, I know my decision is not wrong.The awkwardness went away quickly. Shortly after, we went out for a second round of graduation picture taking, this time just nearby her house within Chaah. We went to the swing, and her secondary school. I told her to do jump shots and pictures of her throwing her square hat. Shortly after, we returned home and went for a ride on the motorcycle to drive around the village. She was my pillion on the bike. Although the bike was old and could only go till about 30 km/h, we enjoyed it a lot. We rode to a small playground to play the swing. She must have a lot of childhood memories here. There, I held her hand for the very first time. I could feel my heart race as I grabbed her hand. It was a moment that I will never ever forget.

We then rode back, this time with her hugging me from the back (I told her to). It was sweet how she can just speak normally and I can hear her giving me instructions where to turn to go back. At night, we had our usual pillow talk again. We just lied on the bed and kept looking at each other. While gazing into her eyes, I saw there was a lot of things going through her mind, but I don't know how to reassure her that everything will be alright. The occassional smile did not hide the troubles that is bugging her. After she left the room, I know that she is still extremely troubled. Later, I found her still reading a book in the living room, and consulting her mother. I really want to help to reassure her, but I just didn't know how.

30 July 2016, Chaah > Yong Peng > Johor Bahru > Singapore

Today was actually a leave that was extended. I was fortunate and thankful to be able to extend the leave while applying while overseas. I woke up early to wait for her so that we can start making breakfast, which is dumplings and siew mai. We took quite a while, and it did not turn out like how I wanted it to... but her family ate them anyway. I helped to clean up the place a bit. We set off out at about 2 PM. One thing I noticed was the large amount of baby items on board. Moving around with a baby sure isn't easy, but she fell asleep so easily while inside the car (Science: A lower oxygen concentration induces drowsiness). A short drive by her sister brought us to Yong Peng. There, we ate a famous fishball noodle and bought some local snacks for my mother before continuing the trip down to Johor Bahru to find her other sisters who are living at her aunt's place. At her aunt's place, all four of them sisters were reunited. It was a very family scene. All the sisters were very close with each other and they do not hide their personalities at all. We just rested for a while and had some fruit. After the short break, we decided to go to EcoSpring, a condominium project that aims to create a high standard living community in Johor Bahru. We were after pictures for her graduation. We drove there, but to our disappointment, the guard did not allow us in because the weather is bad and they are closing. What luck, what pity. We then drove back a little to find Palladium Cafe. The surroundings of this place is simply a charm.

We then decided to have Japanese food for dinner. The sisters then brought us to Warakuya Japanese Restaurant. The food here was super awesome. I tried the salmon don, and the salmon was super good! After the meal, it was time to go home. I was glad that she chose to go back to Singapore. This allowed me to do many things. Her sisters are really kind to send us back to the customs. Before we crossed it however, we went into City Square mall so that I can buy something for her. We then crossed the border together and I insisted on sending back to her home in Bishan. There was a lot of awkward tension on the way home as I tried to find a topic to chat with her. She says she is troubled, which made me nervous and question myself. Finally, at the bus stop near the void deck of her Singapore house, I took out my gift for her, showed it to her, and asked her. I was filled with strong emotions as I asked, and I actually teared a little. She did not give me the answer straight, but requested for more time to consider. I granted her that because I am willing to wait. She offered to wait for the bus with me, so I held her hand and crossed the overhead bridge. In the middle of the overhead bridge in the white box, I hugged her, really really tightly. For me, it was a magical moment. Feeling her in my arms, all my instincts tell me that she is the one, and I need to protect her. The bus finally came (which I half hoped it didn't come). I waved goodbye in the bus, and the bus took me home.

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!