Day 1 - All around Taipei

Date: 13th September 2019

The important rule that we learned over previous family holiday trips is  a meeting of mind. Holiday is supposedly to be in a happy environment where everyone are smiling joyfully even when at times, encountered difficulties along the trip. Since it is not a guided tour, arranged within 2 weeks time before departure, it's fairly expected of the hick-ups along the way. Yes we took an oath that we will not be distress with each other, quarreling over small issue, showing long faces, being selfish etc etc. Patience is a key word here and God bless we truly had an enjoyable trip. As a result,  the 4 of us are now looking forward to our next adventures.

Mini Temple at 288 Peace Park, Taipei

The Eldest and the Youngest - my happiness

The apartment that Syahirah chose is neither bad nor good. It is a small apartment with 2 bedrooms, a toilet/shower, a balcony and a pantry with no cooking facilities. Suffice for us to make coffee and a cup of noodles. The Seven Eleven is just at the ground floor of the building and the morning market seated along the road behind. Very convenience to those who wishes to prepare their own meal. But what I like most is it's too conveniences to get a public transport. No problems in getting around the city in 1 day at all. After a light breakfast we took a cab heading to Zhongzheng Distric for halal meal. It's a local Taiwanese food which in our opinion is healthy, less salt added with lots of herbs to nourish your health. The place was full with crowds considering its lunch time. For the record, the holiday was free from cooking our own meal. We did not even bring a maggie mee like we usually did in all of our holidays abroad.

The taxi driver earlier on had advised us to walk through the district to see the nearby attraction as its not too hard to find your way by foot. We walked slowly using the google map to discover that Zhongzheng district is seated so closely with the old street district and indeed it's true, zhongzeng is best explored by foot. We found Futai Street Mansion without difficulties and at a huge intersection we saw one of Taipei’s historic landmarks, Beimen or the North Gate. This beautiful gate was built in the 19th century during the Qing dynasty rule and is today one of the few buildings still standing from that era. The 2 interesting buildings from the Japanese times; the old Beimen Post Office and the Futai Street Mansion are excellent examples of early 20th century architecture that was heavily influenced by European classical styles. 

Futai Street Mansion

Beimen - North Gate & Post Office Building next to it

There was a line of camera shops on the left and right of the Beimen Photographic Supply street. We opted to take that route as Nasrul started pestering me to buy him the phone stabilizer for him to record his video shoot. After walking ahead and with google map as a guide, we were able to reach the 228 Peace Memorial Park without difficulties. Before reaching the park, we bump into so many attractive places, shops and temples but we did not spent much time lingering inside as we had many other places waiting ahead of us. You may see of what I'm referring to in below 2 photos.

Floor arts that I wish I had at an entrance hall of our house

The 228 Peace Memorial Park is a historic site and municipal park located at 3 Ketagalan Boulevard, Zhongzheng District. The park contains memorials to victims of the February 28 Incident of 1947, including the Taipei 228 Memorial that stands at the center of the park and the Taipei 228 Memorial Museum. The National Taiwan Museum stands at the park's north entrance, in a neoclassical palace. While 228 Peace Park is one of the oldest and most famous parks in Taipei city. After much persuasion, my family agreed to enter the museum that shows Taiwan’s achievements in botany and zoology, as well as in education, anthropology and earth sciences. But firstly and highly recommended that is to take a walk in the park and rest in one of the beautiful Chinese pavilions with the friendly animals as an entertainer.

Nasrul and Syahirah were capturing the videos when we encountered and chit-chat with an elderly couple like us in below photo. They hardly speak any English but agreed when I suggested a photo with my husband. We spent nearly 1 hour shooting videos and taking photos at park before entering the National Taiwan Museum. Time spent in a museum is almost 1 hour. If times permitted I will write a separate entry of the 228 Peace Memorial Park and the National Taiwan Museum. In the meantime I'm sharing the video shot that Nasrul had uploaded into his YouTube Channel.

Visitor must pay an entrance fee at the right corner of the museum. If I'm not mistaken it's 30 yuan per person. Rest assured, it's worth the fee. I'm sharing few more photos of the museum to justify my statement. The Monument is inscribed with an exhortation for peace and unity and it said “Mistrust between Taiwanese and mainlanders, and the argument on whether Taiwan should declare independence or be united with China, have become hot issues with potentially worrisome implications. [...] the task of healing a serious trauma in a society must depend on the whole-hearted collaborative effort by all its people. [...] It is also hoped that these words will serve as a warning and a lesson to all Taiwanese compatriots. Henceforward, we must be one, no matter which communal group we belong; we must help each other with compassion and treat each other with sincerity; we must dissolve hatred and resentment, and bring about long lasting peace. May Heaven bless Taiwan and keep it evergreen”. By the Trustees of the 228 Memorial Foundation, Translation of the Inscription on the 228 Massacre Monument. 

A visit to Taipei city is incomplete without visiting it's famous tower, Taipei 101 which used to be the tallest in the world from 2004 till 2009, preceded from Petronas Towers (1998 till 2004) and surpassed by Burj Khalifa. Taipei 101 is owned by Taipei Financial Center Corporation. The skyscraper opened on 31 December 2004. The tower houses offices and restaurants as well as both indoor and outdoor observatories. The tower is adjoined by a multi-level shopping mall that claims the world's largest ruyi symbol as an exterior feature. It features an Asian traditions in a modern structure architecture employing industrial materials. Its design incorporates a number of features that enable the structure to withstand the Pacific Rim's earthquakes and the region's tropical storms.

Taipei 101 elevators, capable of 60.6 km/h used to transport passengers from the 5th to 89th floor in 37 seconds

A lady that we met while waiting for the bus advised us to take Metro Red Line, i.e. Xiangshan train to Taipei 101 station from the 228 Peace Memorial Park. Alternatively, you may take the Blue Line to Taipei City Hall Station, located beneath HanKyu Department Store and walk south to enter the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi complex (known as the Xinyi Shopping District) towards 101. When we embarked from the Taipei 101 station, Nasrul saw the Adidas shop at the ground floor and managed to get a pair of new Adidas there. After a short shopping tour inside the mall, we headed outside to explore some of the surrounding art attractions while taking more photos of the Tower's night view.

An evening view

Night View

Our next stop was to find a halal meal near the Taipei Grand Mosque. While departing the Metro Station to Daan Park Station, we managed to have a nice night walks through the Daan Park, which was lovely. The Taipei Grand Mosque is the largest and most famous mosque in Taiwan with a total area of 2,747 square meters. It is Taiwan's most important Islamic structure and was registered as a historic landmark on 29 June 1999 by the Taipei City Government. The cost of the construction was covered by the Chinese Muslim Association with funding of $150,000 from the Shah of Iran and King of Jordan, $100,000 loaned by the Kuomintang government and loan from the Bank of Taiwan. The congregation had already repaid half of the bank loan by that time when the ROC government decided to exempt them from having to repay the remaining.

Some of the best attractions that one should not missed apart from what I mentioned above are Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, National Palace Museum, Elephant Mountain and the 2 nights market in Shilin and Raohe. To those who are more adventurous can hike up the Elephant Mountain, which is also an excellent place to catch sunsets and night views. Foodies should definitely head to popular night markets like Shilin Night Market and Raohe Street Night Market for a taste of some of the best street food in Taiwan. As our time is short, we did not manage to cover these places. Till next entry... ciao!

Flowers in Zhongshe Flower Market

Date: 4th June 2019

I had a little bit of time to write this morning while waiting for Haziq to submit an ad-hoc tender that we were told to submit at a very last minute. God willing, within less than a week, our team managed to successfully submitted both technical and commercial proposal in time. And I had an urge to share in this blog the top 10 most beautiful cities in the world out of which, I have been to 6 i.e. Venice, Budapest, Rome, Florence, Paris and Amsterdam. I'll be visiting the 7th listed city next month, Edinburgh. Kyoto will be visited should hubby change his mind and agrees to my proposed destination of next year's family vacation touring Japan. Another 2 in the list was Praque and Rio de Janeiro. Some day perhaps.

In the meantime, I would love to share some of the flowers photo that I snapped on 14th December 2018, using my old Nikkon DSLR while we were in Zhong She Guan Guang Flower Market in Houli, Taichung, Taiwan. The farm had the flower fields of 6 hectares large which featured a myriad of blooms throughout all seasons. Entering this flower market made me feel more like attending a flower carnival where almost all corners are picture perfect. We came to know about this place from a Malaysian colleague that we met at Nantou county.

Only Nasrul and I entered the flower park and the entrance fee was 120NTD/person. The fee is slightly higher from January to March due to Tulip’s festival. Among the flowers that were available from April to December are anemone, carnation, gerbera, lupin, rose, and many other types of flowers which paint the fields like a rainbow. However the main attraction of Zhong She Guan Guang Flower Market is the tulip field. This market is the only flower market in central Taiwan that succeeded in growing tulips in low altitude areas. Approximately 150,000 tulip bulbs with differing varieties are planted and in full bloom from January to March each year. Unfortunately, we missed out on the tulips as we were there in December.

Whether you’re a travel photographer, a wedding photographer or a mere traveler like me, Zhong She Guan Guang Flower Market is indeed a wonderful sight to capture. They even created a Wedding Photo Backdrop Zone which features backdrops of European Fairytale Cottage, Pavilion of Happiness, Wedding Gown Arch, and the White Piano, just to name a few. More photos of the flowers from the farm that I captured below using my I-Phone 8 Plus. I let you decide should you wish to visit this place after watching them.

Finally, I wish to share the direction to reach this place should you interested to explore. If you are driving like we did you may from the South on National Highway No. 1 take Houli interchange, then travel along Houke Road Sec. 3, make a left turn at Sanfung Road and continue for approximately 2km. And if you are coming from the North on National Highway No. 1, take Sanyi interchange, then travel towards Houli for approximately 7km. If you are heading to the flower market by train, take the West line trains to Houli Station, then take a taxi. You can also take the West line trains to Tai’an Station, and walk around 20 minutes. Visitors from Taipei can take Fengyuan Bus and get off at Zhong She Tourist Flower Market. Their address is No. 333, Sec. 5, Sanfeng Road, Houli Dist, Taichung City 421, Taiwan. Opening Hours is from 9am to 6pm daily, contact number is 04-2557-6926 and the website: http://www.flowerjs.com.tw.

Taiwan - the Itineraries

Date: 10th January 2019

We had an impromptu trip to Taiwan in December 2018. It was because I came to realise at a very last minute that I had to spend within 24 months of my RM6,000/yearly leave passage given by the company for the year ended 2017 before its expiry. The leave passage is actually for the top management of the company to use on yearly basis and claimable after a year of hard work working for the company. I utilised all of that in my first year during my last trip to Russia and claimed when I went for Umrah in 2016 of the 2^nd year of service. I thought of keeping it and combined 3 years for 2019 trip but it was impossible as it will get burnt once it exceeded 24 months. Lucky that Ismail kept on reminding me to utilised.

Breathtaking view in Qinjing Farm

On 28^th November 2018, I get my family members to assist on the place to visit with that given budget. Syahirah first suggested Vietnam and Taiwan but since I have been to Vietnam I quickly agreed for Taiwan. Nasrul as usual kept mum about the trip refusing to follow using work as an excuse. Naim wanted to go to Australia or Japan and Hubby chose New Zealand. Unfortunately the 3 countries required more budget and longer time to enjoy the trip with the whole family. In addition my leave balance was only 4 days and with public holiday on Tuesday, 11^th December (Sultan Selangor’s birthday), Taiwan seems to be a feasible place to go.

Taipei 101 Tower, snapped at the Subway exit point

I had prepared an itinerary using guides from the website; https://www.tripzilla.com/taiwan-one-week-itineraries/64487 of what to do in Taiwan for 1 week. Being me, I managed to persuade hubby to tour the whole island by car as its no point of revisiting Taiwan with many more countries that we are yet to visit. Agreeing to my suggestion, he took Nasrul to renew the passport on 30^th November and get himself an International driving license. Syahirah has helped me a lot with booking the car and the accommodation with AirBNB. I just passed her my credit card and she did the rest. Naim has utilised the family allocation under Air Asia travelling points benefit when booking for hubby and my ticket. Ticket for 2 is only at RM240. Whilst Syahirah and Nasrul's ticket cost me RM2,200. Our itinerary touring the Taiwan Island are:

Us, 3 at Sun Moon Lake

We landed in Taiyouan International day at almost midnight where taxis are charged at double rate. As soon as we get a local internet connection (purchased at only Taiwenese Dollar, TWD 450 @ RM55) we went looking for a transportation to reach Daan District, where our accommodation is situated. The travel agent asked for TWD1500 as it already passed midnight hour. We decided to look around and by Godsent a local middle man approached us asking for only TWD1000 to take us to Taipei. We were his last customer for the night. Syahirah has guided him using Waze for his conveniences.

Father and daughter at the tourist spot, Sun Moon Lake

Day 1 - We explored the Taipei city by taxis, subways and foots starting with lunch at a halal restaurant somewhere in Zhongshan district. Taiwanese are healthy conscious people and their foods contain herbs and less salts. If you are not ready then better bring your own sambal belacan what not. Zhongshan district is so near to the Camera Street of which we got to enjoy taking a stroll to reach Peace Park and National Palace Museum. Thereafter we headed to Taipei 101 spending so much time inside, shopping and attempted to reach the observatory decks. We decided to had dinner somewhere near the Grand Mosque after Jamaah Isha prayer with the Muslim who resides in Taiwan.

Toyota Vios that kept us save for 7 days 6 nights touring Taiwan Island

Day 2 - After we took a car that we booked and checked out from the apartment, we excitedly headed to Keelung Port city using Freeway. Saddened that it was raining all the way from Keelung city to the old street of Jiufen. I did not managed to get a single photo in Keelung nor Jiufen after busying looking for a halal restaurant. That resorted us to search for a halal meal in Riufeng using Google  search and maps. At-Taqwa Mussolla Restaurant is happened to be run by an Indonesian community. After prayer and solat, we adjourned to Hualien city which in my opinion is a must city to visit when in Taiwan. We had a memorable time exploring Hualien at night time.

Drizzling in Riufeng small town.

Day 3 - We continued to the lowest/southeast point of Taiwan, i.e. Kenting National Park not knowing that the best plan would be to stay a night there. We made a mistake booking an accommodation in Taitung. Should we know that we had to use the same way twice to reach Keetung from Taitung, we could have some journey distance, i.e. about 200km. After all, there's not much attraction in Taitung City apart from seafood and beaches which Keelung also has.

Stopped for photo by the beach along the Coastal Road to Kenting

Day 4 - From Taitung we drove using the same coastal road and trunk road to reach Kaohsiung, the second biggest city in Taiwan. We firstly search the Kaohsiung Mosque for jamak prayer,  Zohor and Asar and lingered longer for Maghrib prayer. We had Subway as dinner in the biggest shopping mall in Kaohsiung, EDA after finding a money exchange to get more Taiwanese dollar to spend. It was so difficult to find the apartment that we booked as we had to make a detour due to it's location seated adjacent to the night market. However, it was another pleasant stay just like when we enjoyed a stay in Taitung AirBNB. In addition, the locals are pretty amazing people, who helped and tagged along to ensure we safely arrived at our destination.

EDA Shopping Mall, glittering all over

Day 5 - The google has directed us to Tainan to meet Ali who married a local Tainan and operated a small kitchen in front of their house. Both friendly couple has a heart as pure as gold. We exchanged contacts hoping to meet again in future. We headed straight to Sun Moon Lake which is so so beautiful and in my opinion, a must visit destination when in Taiwan. There are so many beautiful places to take nice photos. The nightlife in Sun Moon Lake was quite at the time we were there, maybe because it was on weekdays. 

With Ali's Wife in front of their house in Tainan

Day 6 - Guided with places recommended in "Salam Taiwan" hosted by Malaysian actress Mira Filzah, we drove to Qinjing Farm located at the highest peak of Nantou county. It is only less than an hour drive from the Sun Moon Lake. The time we spent there with the sheeps are most memorable. The views are breathtaking too. We stopped for lunch at Seven Eleven Swiss Garden, a mini-park creation that requires an entrance free. Thereafter we set the Waze to Zhongshe Flower Market, which I mistaken for the flower farms that I saw in Chen Bolin & Song Ji Hyo TV program "We got married". However I still utilising the time inside to explore the man made flower farm taking photos and argued with Nasrul who commented on my bad acting skills. He is making a video for the Taiwan trip for your info.

With the sheep at Qinjing Farm Nantou County

Day 7 - Syahirah had an accident while driving to drop off the rented vehicle in Daan district. What an experience when she did not even had an International Driving Licence. But the policemans are nice and treated us well. 2 hours later we were released and paid quite a huge sum of money to the Car Rental Company. Thereafter we stopped for lunch at Malaysian restaurant operated by a local Lady who married a Malaysian man from Kuching. After lunch we spent all our Taiwanese dollar leftover in Ximenting Youth Shopping District. By the way it was our last day in Taipei before catching a midnight flight to Kuala Lumpur.

Vending Machine that the 2 didn't get to see much in Malaysia - Hualien City

Stay in touch for the next entry of what to do when in Taipei. Thank you. 

Hello 2019, Goodbye 2018

Date: 6th January 2019

I attempted to put a yearly post on 31st December 2018, the last working day of 2018 but to no avail. When the day was long and bored waiting for a new year count down, nothing positive would come, right? Suffice to conclude that in 2018, I stayed focus with finding funds to pay off Nazhif's university fees and recollecting myself to be what I used to be. At the point of writing, there are still 2 more months of university fee installment that yet to be charged to the HSBC credit, i.e. in early February and March 2019. I will be set free from Nazhif thereafter as he himself had promised that he will stop bothering me with funds. Oh dear, how time flies where I can finally remove the heavy burden off my shoulders with Nazhif. With that, I think I can make peace with my self without worry.

Bonus for year ending 2017 was too good, more than 3 months with good increment. But after the change in Government recently, our group of companies has been hit by cutting expenses, ending of the staffs contract employments and offering Employer's Separation Scheme (ESS). So many people from many industries losing their job and salary cutting but I wasn't affected that badly. Allah has been looking after me so well. I received the most highest bonus of one and a quarter month in December pay whilst other people ranging from 0.5 to 1 month. I also received a good salary increment due to grade upgrading though not as good as before the economy was impacted. A lot of our mega project being put held as KIV. Nevertheless I truly indebted and grateful with Allah's blessing. He heard my prayer and He knew that I am nothing without His blessing.

Not many people knew this. I was so confused since young age about celebrating my birthday. My birth certificate as being registered by my late father was on 2nd January 1967. By right, that should be the date that I would be celebrating my birthday. However my mother was telling me that father was away in Terengganu for works and she got her birth and maternity spent in our hometown. He only registered my birth at the Registry office when he took us back to Terengganu with him few months later. I was actually born a year after my brother was born. His birthday is on 16th August 1966. I do not like January as I wanted to be treated of my older age, so, I adopted my brother's birthday as my birthday. People closer to me knew that I only celebrated birthday in August month. It was too late to ratify. Few years ago, I decided to remove my birthday from the Facebook and no longer celebrating except with my very own family. Birthday supposed to be quite as you aged. 

Nobody from the office knew this fact. They are sending me lots of message and wishes few days before my birthday. Though I keep on reminding them not to give me surprises, they still do. I was speechless and over the moon when at lunch break they called me to the meeting room with my favourite pizza, Domino and Secrete Recipe cake. I was feeling overjoy and appreciated with their kind thoughts. Since the pizza box was written "It's all about you", hence I wish to take that as my resolution. From now on, it's all about myself. I want to move from being despair and with doing that I will disregarded my past. I wish to be happy and content with my remaining years on this world. Most importantly I would be smiling widely when Allah has sent Angel Azrael, the angel of death to take me to reunite with Him.

I went out for lunch the next day with Ismail and Fadilah. Fadilah treated an apple pie (the last photo of this entry) as birthday treat. Though I put a distance from my former acquaintance and colleagues I still have a lot of them around me and I'm going to cherish them dearly. In 2019 I want to focus on being happy with my travel plans. But my future travel plan would only be with my dearest family. I will not be going for any oversea trip with friends anymore as family is where you should be at all times. Please get ready as in 2019 I will continue writing on my travelogue yet again. Please continue to support me by reading them ...

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE. LOTS OF LOVE.