My Travel Express 2

Welcome aboard My Travel Express where we shall resume our journey of exploring the beautiful island of Taiwan with yours truly as your guide in this trip. Hope you will enjoy the ride as we cruise down the freeway to the heart of Taiwan, its capital Taipei where there are a lot to offer for all. Sit back relax & enjoy the view.
Shihlin Presidential Palace is the 1st place that I wish to cover in this posting. This is a residence of Taiwan's former President namely Chiang Kai Shek. Previously this place wasnt open to public but in these recent years the government decided to open up a portion of this palace which is its beautiful garden. Also on display is a Cadillac that was the official car of Chiang Kai Shek & his family.

Guard yang terpaksa tahan dikacau

As we walk down the memory lane & remembers those who have perished in the wars, Martyr Shrine is our next stop. You can watch a change of guards performance every hour. Some people thinks that those guards are 'patung', so some 'tangan amai' decided to kacau the guards but impressively they still stand still. Not even a fly or mosquito would make them move a single bit! These guards bukan calang-calang orang, as you need to fulfill certain conditions such as meeting its height requirements & of course bertahan with 'hands'. Nearby the Martyr Shrine, the famous red Grand Hotel can be seen.

Feeling hungry? Yongkang is the place you should be. Here you can find the world famous Din Tai Fung which was rated as one of the world's best restaurant by The New York Times. Its mouth-watering xiao long bao is its signature dish & be warned that you may need to wait a long time just to get a seat/table. Harap Sabar! Still have space for desserts after your meal? Yongkang is the home of the famous Ice Monster shop which sells iced mixed fruits. However due to certain 'technical problems' with the husband & wife owner it closes down in January. No worries as according to an advertorial in TODAY newspaper, its owner had emerged as an advisor to Yongkang 15, a newly opened dessert shop. Even though Yongkang 15 isnt your choice, there are still plenty of other dessert stores around the area.

After makan, you will need to burn your fats so the next stop is shopping locations. Get ready to burn your 'plastic money' & hard cold cash, lets go shopping, I mean retail therapy to burn fats, LOL!

Wufenpu Wholesale Area is a must visit as there are tons of stores selling clothes at wholesale prices. The trendiest clothes from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong & Taiwan is available here. Not forgetting that some of the stores are selling ORIGINAL branded goods at low prices but there maybe 'cacat' somewhere in the clothing e,g, Adidas 3 stripes jadi 2 stripes. No it isnt fake its factory reject. The best time for shopping in Taiwan is when the season change e.g. July & if you come on cold season memang ada baju boleh dibeli 'baju sejuk' maukah?

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Ximending At Nite

The famous Ah Chung mee sua yang terpaksa berdiri makan

Ximending is the most hippest & coolest place in Taiwan. This shopping area have a lot to see even if you dont wish to spend your money here. If you come on the right time you can see people doing Cosplay. If you are 'lucky' you can even get free hugs so if you dont want then jalan jauh jauh sikit. There are also a lot of eyecandies as the penjual are all very good looking as they are young guys & gals. While here dont forget to try the famous Ah Chung Mian Xian but you have to makan berdiri. Feeling a bit naughty? Get a tattoo, last time while I am at Ximending entah kenapa termasuk dalam 'lorong gelap' where all of the stores are kedai buat tattoo. Lastly, dont miss to take a look inside Eslite 116 for its hippest clothes which are mostly imported brands from Japan but harganya 'lawa' jua.   

Taipei 101

Eslite Xinyi

Xinyi is the latest addition to the 'shopping hotspots'. With its main attraction being Taipei 101, which is once the world's tallest building. You can travel up to Level 91 for a view of Taipei & also to see the doppler ball. If shopping is your cup of tea then Taipei 101 Mall is the place to be for branded goods. Lovebirds? Why not go & take photograph of the LOVE words near Taipei 101 entrance. Bookworm? No worries Eslite Xinyi is a 8 floor bookstore to satisfy your love for books.    

We cruise back to Shihlin on the busy roads of Taipei city to visit its Shihlin Night Market. Recommended to try its fried chicken breasts. Its huge & easy on the pocket too. Aiyu ping jelly is also a must try. An advice;The longer the que the stall have the better the food taste. You can also try your hand at bargaining at many of the stalls here but dont bargain too much, just start at 70% of the marked price.

Still awake after 10pm? Eslite Dun-HuaEslite allows you to read/browse through its books & magazines there even if you dont want to buy. Eslite have the largest collection of English books & largest range of magazines in Taiwan. Outside Eslite Dun-Hua, there are a lot of penjual trying to sell their creative goodies. 

After all those 'money burning', your legs & hands must be tired so lets have some R&R in the many hotsprings in Peitou area.

As an added bonus for couples, may I suggest going up to Yangmingshan which is just a little farther away from Peitou to enjoy a view of Taipei from the hill. Its the hotspot for young couples but please control yourself because there are plenty of CCTVs to monitor Taipei.

Lastly, outskirts of Taipei, the port of Keelung is the place to be if you wish to taste ikan bilis ice-cream or udang ice cream. Its really rare your know

Before we end our trip today, some pictures of the various attractions described.

Hope you have enjoyed yourself & see you again in our next trip where its going to be exploring more shopping areas outside Taipei & another R&R in Yilan.

As a community message: Halal food is very difficult to find in Taipei but there are options. Please check with your travel agent. Taipei Floral Expo is coming in a few months time so Anthony Tours had offered a package to visit the expo.

P.S. All images are from Google Images search

LOVE from Taipei & My Travel Express
Thank You

CONFIRMED or maybe NOT

SAH ! ITS CONFIRMED! TAK PAYAH SAKSI. I have FAILED in my quest to break the barriers of entry into NUS.
In Business Studies, there is a concept known as 'barriers of entry' which is used by manufacturers to prevent rival companies to eat into their lucrative 'exclusive' product market. Tak faham? In easy terms its like gate yang berkunci. Tak faham lagi? Pergi tanya cikgu Business Studies kamu.
I understand that NUS sets such as high 'barriers of entry' to prevent 'low quality goods' (macam me) to spoilt their reputation as Asia's TOP UNI! I just can only blame myself for getting only 2As, which is the root of this problem! Lets me up with another friend of mine meet 'opportunity cost'. NUS received more than beribu2 application to enter their uni thus there will be shattered heart like mine. So if they decide to take me the 'opportunity cost' is the chance of getting a better well-rounded student rather than me who just sits at home & 'ketuk papan kekunci' & plays basketball very badly!
Dahlah yang dah lepas FORGET ABOUT IT, lets look forward to the future. As some1 said 'Maybe its fated God dont want you to study in NUS & want you to study in a better place'. 
Hence the ONLY option is Monash but there is another problem where am I going to stay in KL? The hostel dept. told me that there are STILL VACANCY ON 1st COME 1st SERVE BASIS which is not a really good news to my ears. You dont expect me to be like 'Silly Kor' (pengemis in a movie) & sleep in the roads right? If there are NO VACANCY then masalah lagi WAIT TILL FEBRUARY 2011 which is another 7 months away! Adoi lamanya cuti aku!
Itulah akibat 2A ditambah 'last minute work'. Hence I would like to advice you guys out there who are currently having exam get 3As & dont apply uni last minute its going to spin your head 360 degree macam orang yang buat 'head spinning dance'.
Thats it Im outta here 'GERAMNYA AKU" Stay tune for the next edition of My Travel Express which is coming in about 2hours time, after I had go to cool myself down!

This blogger thinks that more troubles are coming. Mei Na Me Jian Tan Yao Du UNI Fan Shi Wo Le! (Uni Is not so easy & it makes me crazy).

My Travel Express

Well hey people, I am finally admitted to NUS! Yeah right, in my dreams! So far no news yet so just wait & wait & wait.
Welcome aboard My Travel Express a new concept in My Life, My Expression blog. I am your tour guide for the duration of your stay in this Travel Express & hope you will enjoy your stay here. Kindly offer some tip$ comments before you leave. I will bring you on a trip to Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand,  Taiwan, & not forgetting Brunei. Its departing right about now!
1st station of the Travel Express will be Taiwan. A brief intro on Taiwan:

• Capital - Taipei
• Also known as Republic of China
• Currency - New Taiwan Dollar (NTD) Approx B$1=NTD$25
• Famous for Taipei 101, bullet train, xiao chieh (snacks) & bubble tea
• People mostly speaks Mandarin or Minnan/Hokkien but English could be understood in cities & commercial areas

Some interesting facts on Taiwan

• When 'lori sampah' comes there is a music, not like our Bandaran 'lori sampah'
• There are more than 10,000 convenience stores across Taiwan, 7,000 of them are 7-11 & the rest are smaller brands like Family Mart, OK, Hi-Life

From Taiwan, we travel back to Brunei a Kingdom of Expected Treasures where the Royal Birthday celebratory mood is still on till August. Some of the very interesting events that had been anticipated by citizens, residents & tourists are the 'bersama rakyat' session in all the 4 districts in Brunei as well as the 'night market' or locally known as 'Perayaan'.

Before I end this posting, I leave you with pictures from Taiwan as well as Brunei. Our jouney shall continues in the next blog posting of My Travel Express where we will explore Taipei.

HM The Sultan of Brunei in one of the 'bersama rakyat' session (google images)

Kaya aku kalau ada duit sebanyak ini stacks of NTD$1000 (google images)

Taiwan famous bullet orange train (google images)

Sotong tutuk $1 Pakcik LOL! Suasana di gerai perayaan (google images)

Since, this is my 1st time posting a travel blogpost I do apologise should this posting may annoy any of you directly or indirectly. In addition, I do welcome any suggestions & criticisms on my new concept thru my Cbox on the right hand side of this blog.

Till, next time Happy Travelling & Thank You For Boarding My Travel Express

Is it Clementi or Bandar Sunway?

As I had said in my last posting, this blog will be changing its approach NOW. However, due to unforeseen circumstances (masalah teknikal), it would have to be delayed to the next posting. No worries though, I am going to give you some idea of what the 'new approach' is.
As I writes this post, those of you applying to ITB will be biting your nails, waiting anxiously as its understood that the list of those successfully entered ITB will be released before lunchtime (or had been released). There will be sad faces & happy faces seen, so to those who got in CONGRATS YOUR HARDWORK HAD PAID OFF & to those who didnt get in TRY AGAIN MAYBE ITS NOT YOUR LUCK THIS TIME. While in other places, students are starting their university orientations so HAVE FUN & ENJOY UNI LIFE!
Last Saturday, I received my 'conditional offer' letter from Monash University Sunway. On the other hand, NUS hasnt given me any news regarding my appeal as its appeal only closes on July 22th. Excitingly, I went online to search for more info on Monash & I found a few 'shocking' points that could make me think twice of my decision, that I wasnt anticipate to find. There had been conflicting info on the hostel. YIKES OH OH! . However, these seems to be baseless claims!
Should I go to Monash in the end, there maybe chance to experience Aussie lifestyle as I could transfer to Monash's Australia campus (subject to financial capabilitilies of course). Since the Sunway campus is said to be having a lot of Indon-Chinese, the tone of this blog may change to include Bahasa Indon like 'kantor', 'polisi', etc.
Should I get into NUS in the end, there will be chance to see whether NUS lives up to its nickname of 'National University of Stress'! And this blog will change its tone to include Singlish words like 'sotong', '404', 'suaku', etc
At the moment it seems Monash Bandar Sunway have more chance than NUS Clementi as I still try to make up my mind!
Regarding this blog 'new approach', its going to be more travel-oriented where I will share my stories & tips on travelling to places that I have travelled to. As well as MORE PICTURES! Some people say that since my travel brochures on places are so extensive, why dont I open a travel agent. So, hence this brings the idea for 'new approach'!
Till, next time dont get into trouble with 'polisi' & dont be a 'suaku' or '404' LOL!
P.S. There seems to be a movie titled LOL, why there isnt a movie named LMAO or ROTFL!

Its Celebration Month Or Maybe Not

Its time for ‘sotong tutuk’, Perayaan, ‘tanglung’, etc again. What time is it? Its July 15 the birthday of our beloved caring monarch aka in Brunei we call it start of Perayaan. It’s also time of the year that had been awaited by the citizens & residents in Brunei as well as tourists from abroad who find this culture unique.


*change to BM* Selaku salah seorang dari berpuluh ribu Pendatang Asing Dengan Izin (PADI) di Brunei, hamba Kebawah Duli Tuan Patik ingin berterima kasih & merakamkan penghargaan kepada Kebawah Duli Paduka Sultan kerana patik dapat tinggal disini sejak 1997 (atas ihsan Imigresen kerana memberi permit masuk), menikmati kemudahan-kemudahan yang disediakan untuk rakyat & penduduk Brunei seperti subsidi barangan harian: minyak & beras, pendidikan pada kos yang rendah untuk pendatang asing (2 tahun Sekolah Kerajaan peringkat Pra-U), serta khidmat kesihatan pada kadar yang rendah & subsidi elektrik, air & gas. Manakala rakyat mendapat perumahan, pencen tua & sebagainya. Di kala negara-negara lain-lain di ambang ‘masalah kewangan’, ‘pemotongan subsidi’, Kerajaan Kebawah Duli masih lagi mengekalkan pelbagai subsidi & bantuan kepada rakyat & penduduk Brunei walaupun ‘menekan poket’ Kerajaan kerana ingin melihat orang-orang disini juga dapat menikmati hasil khazanah ‘emas hitam’ dengan hidup selesa. Saya amat tertarik apabila ada kenaikkan harga minyak di negara asal saya, Malaysia, orang sering mempersoalkan kenapa Brunei dapat mengekalkan harga rendah tetapi Malaysia gagal walaupun kedua-duanya pengeluar minyak. Pastinya orang-orang Brunei dapat merasa ‘tekanan poket’ harga minyak tinggi di Malaysia bila mereka perlu mengisi minyak di Malaysia, bayangkan sebegitu jauh bezanya.

*change to BI* I remembered 1 of the Nov 09 AS General Paper P1 question is about how your country government spend its tax revenue. I made a ‘calculated bet’ by choosing this question & wrote extensively on Brunei government’s spending in education & development, SPN21. The result that I get was within my expectation a B. I also remembered last December when my cousin’s uncle family asked about Brunei, they were impressed with the bilingual education system here & the meritocracy in awarding of scholarship rather than race-based.

Let us all be a part of nation-building partner to contribute towards realising His Majesty’s Vision 2035 for Brunei

Lastly, a bit of my life update even though it’s the Royal Birthday mood. So far, I am still in ‘situasi 50:50’ regarding whether I will be going to NUS or Monash KL to further my studies as everything the status is: STILL PROCESSING. So I can only hope for the best & prepare for the worst case scenario! To make the matter worst my astrological sign prediction for the month of July isnt good either.

DAULAT KEBAWAH DULI TUAN PATIK SELAMAT HARI KEPUTERAAN KE-64 KEPADA RAJA BRUNEI YANG MESRA RAKYAT SEMOGA KEKAL KARAR MEMERINTAH DIATAS TAKHTA KERAJAAN BRUNEI

This blogger thinks that ‘sotong tutuk’ at gerai Perayaan will not be very laku as they may want to refrain from eating squids as a respect to ‘Paul The Octopus’ The real Winner of World Cup.


This blogger also thinks that ‘If you are in China do like the Chinese’, it means pandai-pandailah menyesuaikan diri dengan tempat yang anda berada


P.S. Next week/next post starting it will be a new approach to this blog. Wait For IT!

The Reality (update July 14th)

NOTE:This posting do not reflect the views of this blogger, as it is just a collection of quoted infos from the cyberspace & TV show

Korean wave (Hallyu) is storming Asia & the world these few years. Names such as Rain, Super Junior, 2PM, SS501, Girls Generation, just to mention a few are fast becoming household names. However, these few years the Korean entertainment industry Hallyu wave have been hit by another wave: Suicide. The latest was the June 30 suicide of Park Yong Ha, a 33 years old actor-singer who starred in the drama Winter Sonata. We shall divulge into the reality!


You think that your idol/fav artists are very rich, well I tell you they aren’t as rich as you thought even they are very popular. The TV show, Chan & Liang On Time offers an outlook into the reality of the Korean entertainment industry which is described as a ‘scary hell’! 4 main things are discussed in the show: strict, perfection, manager & antifans group.

Antifans group/sentiments in Korea influence the artists there a lot. They do not only post up negative comments (unconstructive) on artists in blogs/forums (cyberspace), but also did a lot of scary actions in real life. Once, a Super Junior member was sent supposedly a ‘gift’ from fans but inside the box was a blood-stained puppet. Scary isn’t it?

Korean artists are under extreme pressure as we the fans expect a lot from them. Hence, behind all the perfect dance steps & singing that we see on TV, hours & hours of rigorous training are put by these artists! It was reported that Rain had only 2 hours of sleep a day just because he wanted to practice his dance moves. In addition, it was also reported that Super Junior members had only hamburgers for their meals in order to have more time to train their singing & dancing.

Korean artists’ management companies are said to be strict to their artists. It was said that artists have to show their best form/look to the fans. Hence if they did anything wrong & it was discovered by paparazzi which eventually will make its way to the papers/magazines, they will be punished harshly. 1 such example is if a band member of a group was found drunk, he/she maybe expelled from the group. On the other hand, if artists make mistake in their trainings they were said to be beaten (didn’t know how true this is though as it was disclosed in the show by an oversea Korean who ever enters Korean entertainment industry but was ‘spooked’ by it, thus eventually exits it). In the cyberspace, it was said that ‘strict management’ was 1 of the reason that Jaebom leaves 2PM (sorry 2PM fans in case this is wrong, I stand to be corrected). Eventually, from an article that I have read, there are other reasons why Jaebom leaves 2PM. Too much conflicting infos from different sources make my head spin on which is right & which is wrong, so I leave it for you guys out there to judge it!
Did you know that group artists members would live together in a quarters? According to an oversea Korean who was about to make the lineup for Super Junior but eventually didn’t because he was already too old, in the early days Super Junior lives in a quarters that was very basic. As time passes & their popularity grew, they still lives in a quarters in the form of an apartment but very luxurious. Whatever they wanted was fulfilled by their management. Even though these group lives in quarters but they are free to go out anytime they like.

Last but not least, the ‘scary’ managers. It was said that TVXQ broke up due to unfair contract terms & recently SS501 also ended their contract with their current management believed to be caused by the same reason as that of TVXQ. In the show, it was revealed that the revenue sharing ratio between artists & management is as low as 1:9 for new artists or some well known ones can get only either 2:8 or 3:7. To put it simply for every $10 of revenue they get the most the artists can get is only $1/2/3 while the management gets as much as $9/8/7. After so much hard work that’s all the artists get? The managers are really reaping a lot of fruits from their managed artists hard labour

In conclusion, its really hoped that the ‘harsh’ punishments can be relaxed as this kind of things cant be tolerated anymore while that of the sharing ratios can be further improved.

KOREAN ARTISTS FIGHTING!!!!!!! WE ARE SUPPORTING YOU & BEHIND YOUR BACKS

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND & LISTEN TO KPOP MUSIC

This blogger is addicted to the song Love by CN Blue that he makes it his alarm tone