Day 2 itinerary was Jiufen. Initially, we planned to take the express bus. We got it all checked – bus number, boarding place, prices. As we arrived at the boarding place, we met a tour guide who was super friendly and promoted his tour packages to us.

We thought it would be more comfortable taking the car as compared to the bus and the package wasn’t too expensive. A day tour around the North-East area cost $50 each.

So we hopped on to his car! I must say it was really brave of us to do that. I mean, he could turn out to be a bad guy?

He drove us up to Jiufen, which is high up in the mountains, to our hostel.

He explained that this place used to stay only 9 households and accessibility was inadequate back then. Therefore, the 9 households took turns to go down hill and stock on groceries each time and the people living at the foot of the mountain called them “9 servings” (literally translation) over time…

Here’s our roof for the next 2 days. MJ took back brochures from NATAS fair and we decided on Windsor Hostel. They have different rooms of different views and decor.

Stepping in to our room. We were delighted at the decor and the magnificent view. It feels so peaceful, away from the hustling of the city. Initially, we were afraid that it might be a wrong choice to stay in Jiufen for 2 nights. After seeing this, we totally want to stay on longer!

Here’s the view from our bedroom! Yes, we wake up to the beautiful scenery of mountains and the sea. (:

Lovely, isn’t it!

We all loved the bathroom, especially the bath tub!

After leaving all our luggages at the hostel, we began our tour! First stop was the Gold Ecological Park, where it used to be a gold mine before the Japanese took over Taiwan. It is located at the top of another mountain.

Houses that were built during the Japanese occupation.

Parts of the goldmine park:

As we drove down from the mountain, our second stop was the “river of gold”. Over the years, the minerals from gold and other metals flow along the river and created this:

I was pretty mesmerized by the rich golden hue. Totally beautiful piece of art done by mother nature.

Guess what’s Rebecca doing!?

The tour guide suggested that the huge rock looks like a frog and therefore, we tried to “touch” it!

The good thing about having a tour guide? He takes group photos for us!! *hehe*

Moving on, he brought us to the top of a deserted building.

It had a wonderful sea view and we stood by the edge for photo! Don’t be deceived by our smiles. We were so scared squatting there!

Now, here’s the most exciting part of our trip! See that curvy road?

You might have recognized it as a scene from the movie, Initial D. This is a hotspot for car drivers who love to drift~ Why do I say this is the most exciting part of our trip? Because our tour guide brought us drifting!!! HOW COOL IS THAT~ 4 of us plus himself in his Mazda and we went drifting all the way from the top to the end. We really wondered what have we gotten ourselves into but the experience was absoutely one of its kind! And definitely, the $50 tour fee is worth every single cent.

After such excitement, we headed to Pi Tou Jiao for a stopover and had some seafood!

Everything here for just $15? FRREAKKing cheap!! And it was so fresh and delicious. My favourite has gotta be the mini abalones. Tasty, juicy and tender. The grilled fish and crispy jade prawns were superb as well~

We went on to a suspension bridge after filling our stomachs.

Our next stop was the beach at the other end…

Walking through the soft flowy sand…. It has been a long long time since I went to the beach.

Mesmerized by the blue skies…

The usuals, a jump shot! This one was a failed shot by the way.

Jump for joy~

Wooohoooo~

The main purpose of the tour guide bringing us to the beach was not for the beach. There was a sand sculpture exhibition going on but we preferred the beach instead.

Anyway, here’s a sculpture that I’m extremely impressed with!

A group shot before leaving the beach! Our tour guide was waiting for us at the other side of the beach, therefore we resorted to self-taking.

Our final stop was the Shi Fen Train Station. The interesting thing about Taiwan train stations is that you can get to collect chops! Every train station has their unique chops and there are people who specially go around Taiwan to collect the chops in a little booklet.

After stamping them onto our postcards, we started coloring them!

Our tour guide brought us to set fireworks too! Not those that we see during NDP, it’s the smaller types. These are available in Malaysia, Taiwan and China. I have played fireworks several times in Shanghai.

Last but not least, ending off the trip with a “Heaven Lantern” (another literally translation). We got to write our wishes on it and set it off into the sky….

A photo with our awesome tour guide before he sent us back to our hostel.

We opted for budget air, Tiger (we booked the tickets way in advance and regretted cos’ Jetstar matched up the price later) and arrived at Taoyuan Aiport in the night.

Can you believe that I saw my friend when we were clearing customs!!? Little did we know that we will bump into more familiar faces over the week.

We took FeiGou Express Bus which sends us directly to our hotel, Rainbow Hotel @ XiMenDing. Pretty convenient and the journey took about 1hour.

It was close to 10pm when we reached the hotel and dinner was settled at the roadside stalls along XiMenDing.

It was an interesting sight to see how the hawkers “run away” from the police. They just simply move to another corner and return to their original spots when the police cars have left.

You definitely gotta try the Guavas in Taiwan. You can get it from any fruit stalls. They charged by weight and often, 1 packet (it’s huge) of guava cost about $7. But it’s definitely worth for the taste!

One of our favourite roadside food is this prata-look-alike. I ordered it with cheese and egg, oh boy, it’s marvelous!!

Nothing much done on the first night as we were prepping ourselves for our JiuFen trip the next day.

The jelly texture is thicker than gel-based moisturizers and it’s in a light musky rose color.

Been using it for close to 2 months and I’m close to finishing up the tub.
(photos in this post were taken when I started using it.)

You dont need to use alot, just a cherry size and it is enough to spread over the whole face.

My skin appears more moisturized in the morning and it doesnt give me any breakout but it doesn’t have a long-term effect. I don’t see any improvement in my skin over the past 2 months.

I would think that the jelly works better on people who sleep with air-condition, where it tends to dry the skin. (I don’t on my air-con in the night.)

It cost only approx. $12 when you get it in Taiwan. Definitely a worthy buy for its price. (:

A full 7-day trip and oh boy are we exhausted now.

We went to many places unexpectedly (by bumping into a very friendly tour guide) and it was an extremely fruitful holiday. So much so that we called up Tigerair to increase our luggage weight.

We checked-in a whopping 108kg!! Plus we all had hand-carry luggage..

Details and photos will be up soon! (:

I would have stayed in a really budget hotel instead of this stylish boutique hotel -
Hotel 73 新尚旅馆.

The staff were really friendly and helpful, and most importantly, they make an effort to recognize every guest. Their rooms are priced between $80-$120/night (after discount), which it’s absolutely a great deal.

The corridors.

The bedroom.

Toilet.

There is a squarish spacious bathtub which is just excellent for couples! No need to squeeze into those small traditional ones anymore~

Did I mention that I love their breakfast!? Although it is unlike the scrumptious intercontinental spread in 5-stars Hotels, it has a own good selection of delicious dishes to kick start your morning.

And one more thing, the only disadvantage would be the location – 15 minutes walk away from the nearest metro station. But jolly well take it as an exercise to burn off those calories! Because Taiwan is more or less about eating, non-stop eating.

Initially, we planned to treat ourselves to a good fine-dining dinner. However, the heavenly aroma and gorgeous looking food at Xin Guang San Yue’s food hall was just too tempting that we gave up the prior choice.

What’s smoking up in the box?

A well-toasted cod fish sandwich on-the-go.

Check out the huge chunk of deep-fried cod fish with sweet tomato and fresh lettuce.
*Thumbs up!*

We ordered a grilled fish set from the Japanese stall.
the complimentary appetizer: a very wonderful fruit salad.

Chawanmushi – doesn’t lose out to Kuriya’s.

And here’s the main dish. The portion looks disappointing.
I find the appetizers and sides better.

The last dish: Kimchi Tofu Soup.

Japanese Octopus Balls.

I know she’s gonna kill me for this unglam photo. haha.

looks yummy right? it’s super yummy, different from Tako Pachi.

Grilled Quail Eggs.

KUSO Pizza!

Pizza in a cone.

Ah Gei, a local delight. It’s basically tofu with fillings.
The sauce taste pretty special and good though.

Millie Crepe

Da Fu, red bean ice-cream wrapped in mochi.

Brown Sugar Mochi..

Fisherman’s Port

Yes, the rain is such a spoiler.

We played the ring throwing game and the shooting game. I shot 8/20 and won myself 3 lightsticks. haha.

Afterwhich, Hui Chun headed home while I went down to Wu Fen Pu, the wholesale clothes market.

Sadly, there wasn’t much interesting stuffs. And the pricing weren’t reasonable.
Only managed to bag home this lovely nautical wedges.

I always loved buying wedges but they usually end up sitting in my shoe cabinet followed by the bin. I hope I will wear this pair out!

And I got to check out LUXY with some other friends after the celebration.

I look huge. Blame the guy who took the photo, and myself for eating so much.

the dance floor. rock it baby.

host cum rapper.

I find the dancer on the left, in pink, extremely hot!

LUXY feels like Dragonfly + Butter Factory.

He did a simple analysis of my hair condition and my looks, and discussed with me on the new look. Everything sounded good, and the end product was alright.

I am just a little fussy about my fringe though, it is neither here nor there. I guess I should just be a good girl and stick to Kenaris.

Besides pampering myself to a whole lot of shopping, good yummy food and an expensive haircut (it cost me 1500NT!), I planned to paint my nails! I missed painted nails. I brought along my Jelly Beans Party Box from Ettusais, all the way from Singapore to Shanghai to Taiwan, just for my vacances.

Remember the limited edition Ettusais Vacances Nail collection last year? Now, they are back and back with a sniff~

Upon drying, these colors are scented with either yummy coconut, peach, raspberry or citrus smells! (:

Here’s my pack of vacances nail colors + gel top coat.

From L-R: Ettusais Gel Top Coat, 14 Sugar, F1 Honey Caramel, 10 Soda, F6 Pink Guava

I did a simple “diva” nails with the F1 Honey Caramel and French the tips with 14 Sugar.

And not forgetting, coating my lovely nails with Ettusais Gel Top Coat!

It has the glossy and shiny texture that makes the nails look like gel nails! At the same time, it conditions the nails with jojobar oil and it dries so quickly that you don’t have to worry about smudges!

Love my coconut scented gel-like nails~

And guess what? I spotted Ettusais counters in Taipei @ 新光三月.
Talked to the beauty advisors and they are all so friendly and smiley, just like ours in Singapore~ (:

Check out www.ettusais.sg or visit the counters to experience the jelly beans party!

ettusais BHG
. BHG Bugis 6334 7188 . BHG Bishan 6258 8698

ettusais Isetan
. Isetan Orchard 6735 1809 . Isetan Scotts 6836 1281 . Isetan Tampines 6789 1139

ettusais Metro
. Metro Woodlands (Causeway Point) 6891 1127 . Metro Paragon 6735 2236

It’s well-known for the trendy Korean/Japanese shops and their ridiculous pricing.

Saw a Korean-imported lovely satin chiffon dress and it was $80.
$80 for a Korean-imported dress in the night market!!??

We queued for the 卤味 (stewed/braised food).

Took us 10 minutes to select the ingredients and 20 minutes for the serving.

Just a couple of items and it turned out to be such a huge bag of food.
Tofu, Intestines, Pig’s Blood Rice Cake, Vegetables, etc

Excited about the pig’s blood rice cake. Although it’s rated as the world’s most disgusting food by Europeans (London, i think).

The shop was packed with customers and we seek refuge at the beancurd store.
The beancurd is slightly different from Singapore, especially with the toppings they offered.

Holding the chopsticks in one hand and the spoon in the other, she can’t decide which to start on first. =p

The store allowed graffiti and signatures on their walls.

The braised/stewed food only was enough to stuff our stomachs full. We didn’t even managed to finish them!

Again, we went shopping! Bought those that are not-so expensive. Korean/Jap – inspired clothings.

Got my Maxi Dress, 2 tops, 1 outerwear and some accessories!

Oh yeah, we saw this:
Made in Singapore!
Vrai ou Faux??