Day 9 Back to SG

The day to travel back to SG. As our flight was in the afternoon, we took our time to prepare for checkout.  My very first time travelling via Business Class flight!! The comfort, the food, the service! 

Welcome back to Singapore!

Melaka Trip 2023 Day 2 + 3 - Just Food and View

No itinenary for Day 2 and 3. Purely follow friend's recommendation for food, food and food!!!

The food we had in Melaka for Day 2 and 3! 

Dim Sum for breakfast

San Shu Gong's Durian Chendol!

Fried Oyster Omelette

Not to miss Nadeje Layer Cake！

Duck Noodle 

Heard it so popular they closed by afternoon hours!

Melaka Trip Oct 2023 Day 1

My very first overseas trip since covid-19!!!

Hotel

Hotel booking as usual via online platform without any hiccups. Agoda it is.

Coach to Malacca

Coach booking via online platform (easybook.com) as well but now there is app to view the coach details. Even without app, the agency will send the bus details around an hour before the bus arrival at the pick up point. And this time round, we boarded at jurong east venture drive which is a lot nearer then going all the way to the east. Our coach travelled in Malaysia via tuas checkpoint. The tuas checkpoint seemed to be the only congested area where our coach seemed to take a longggg time before we finally get to alight and enter Singapore custom. But amazingly, it was swift and smooth departure. Even at Malaysia custom, it didn't take more than 15 mins to get in and board our coach!!! Totally amazed by the smooth transition.

Short break at Yong Peng

Short break at yong peng for some makan and toilet break

Nasi lemak for the start of our day. (Cost ringgit 12.90) chop chop eat and chop chop go

30mins break time and off we head for Malacca.

By the time we touched down at Hatten Hotel alighting bay, it was around 2pm. We walked a short distance from there to our hotel stay at Imperial Heritage Hotel. 

View from our room's corridor @ Imperial Heritage Hotel 

Our room - Heritage Deluxe Room

Hotel review

Great rates for an accommodation that is convenient to the shopping mall and just across the street, there are McDonald and 7-11. Comfy bed with 4 firm pillows and toiletries are provided. On top of that, it's non-smoking for the entire hotel.

What to do at Malacca? It's shopping and food for us. 

Just crossed the streets from our hotel lobby and we reached the shopping mall.

First stop was for some food and A&W it is. Just have the urge to visit A&W when I am in Melaka! 

Their signature rootbeer! 

Chicken Coney Dog. 

What's next? It was Shopping, shopping and more shopping at the mall before we settled for dinner at Jonker Street!

Sambal stingray (medium portion)

coney cheese corn dog

During weekend, the road is closed off from vehicles for the night market. So get ready for walking and see, eat, and buy! Along the street, there are "Taste better durian puff", "myEureka popcorn store" , "San Shu Gong", "Tan Kim Hock" shops etc.

 

Pasar Malam Lobster Takoyaki

Bought $4.50 for 6 pieces. I was immediately tempted by the word "Lobster" even though I am certain I will not find what I am looking for inside.

 Surprisingly the taste was good. 

(But my favorite is still the octopus)

Painting by numbers

Saw this painting by numbers canvas quite a while ago. Finally got it to complete as a gift. The set comprised of 3 different size paint brush, the set of colors required for the painting, the canvas with the color numbers printed, a small picture of the colored painting and the hooks.

Overall was fun but took me a few days to complete because I didn't want my painting to be accidentally smudged by the paint colors.

The completed version

I started with the smaller/inner areas and/or colors that are lighter tone.

Took roughly 2 weeks for me to complete because I stopped in between a few days as I want it to be completely dry. Some of the colors given in the kit set were already harden and I tried adding water to "revive" it. The other difference of what it was supposed to be was the outermost green color background as the green color paint was completed dried. I mixed the remaining colors from the kit set to obtain this base. So this piece would be slightly different as compared to the original.

Overall difficulty: 7 out of 10

There were many areas that required the smallest size brush to reach. 

CRAFT PROJECT IDEAS – GLASS BOTTLE FLOWER WITH LED

 

Materials:

I assembled yet another glass bottle with a 10 LEDs fairylight, a stalk of artificial lavender, assorted beads, 2 seashells, and decoration sands mixed with acrylic paint.

How I assembled them:

As I already has some silver acrylic paint settled at the bottom of the glass bottom, I added in some decoration sands which of course turned into silver color after mixing them together. After it dried up completely. Then I just proceed with the white beads to have a more even ground before dropping in the miscellaneous elements.

Color Theme:

Since I was already at a silver color tone, I went with some white, pink and red color theme (the faux pearl beads, star shaped decorations, crystals etc). The purple lavender seemed to stand out in this color theme.

For the LEDs:

I coiled the LED outside the bottle instead of inside. By wrapping it outside, I can get to easily place the LED in proportion. If I push it inside the bottle, it won’t be as nice because it wasn’t any easy task to place them to the position I required them.

Lights on

Originally:

My original intention was to coat the interior of the glass bottle, leaving some areas untouched and insert the LED fairylight into the bottle to create a lamp which will cast a shadow pattern. BUT… I wasn’t skillful to do the painting and the bottle opening is not wide enough. So I gave up the idea which led to this impromptu glass bottle project.

Trail and Re-tries

Photo taken many years back...

Recap - Hort Park (2010)

Didn’t realize just how much photo I took when I started my photo taking journey. 

The lost and found shots in my hard disk storage.

Stack of stones

The purple flower

The look-a-like ginseng

The seeking attention flower

10 years ago vs 10 years later

10 years ago

"You snoozed so loud throughout the night!"

10 years later

Just so glad to hear him snooze because 

You are still beside me

When is the right time to buy what I want?

In the past, sales campaigns in malls are held for special occasions and events such as New Year, Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Great Singapore Sales, Deepavali, Easter, Black Friday, Christmas etc etc

And now with e-commerce platforms, every 1.1, 2.2, 3.3...12.12 dates, there are even more sales ongoing.

So when is the right time to buy what I want? 

The Urgency of my needs. There is never really a Lowest Price since the price changed with the vouchers, in-store discounts, the online platform's and credit cards' promotions etc. It is on about the Best Price I can get during the time frame when I looked for the item.

And the Best Price takes into consideration the Item Location as it determines the delivery time and warranty, exchange, return or refund policies for the after-sales service.

So in conclusion, the right time to buy depends for me to determine the best price at that point of time.

• Urgency of my needs.
• Finding the price range and taking the least to average pricing as the guideline
• Item location will help to determine how fast it will reach me once it is being sent out by seller.
• The warranty, exchange, return or refund policies are also as important if it's something that is high value.

Day 5: Banqiao > & Day 6: Back to SG

Day 1: SG > Taipei (Jiufen)

Day 2: Jilong Mountain > Jiufen Old Street

Day 3: Jiufen Old Street > Taipei Main Station (Ximending)

 Day 4: Xindian (Bitan) > Wulai > Raohe Night Market + Rainbow Bridge

Day 5: Banqiao >
Day 6: Back to SG

Day 5: Banqiao 

It was purely a shopping day. Just relax, eat, shop and go. We headed for Mega City Mall (Banqiao).  From Taipei Main Station, just take the train to Banqiao Station and followed the signs to the mall. A pity we were there too early and Xmas deco wasn't up yet else it would have been a romantic/crowded date.

Finally the first time we had Ding Tai Fung at Taiwan.

Quality food from Ding Tai Fung.

Back to Taipei Main Station after Banqiao's shopping trip, we continued more shopping around Taipei Main Station. 

Just more food and drinks before we ended our shopping spree for the day!

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Day 6 : Back to SG

Start of our day, finally get to visit 八方云集 (again)！Their gyoza are delicious. With a variety of flavors to choose from, my personal favorites are the original and curry flavors.

Their gyozas!

As we had a flight to catch, we could only go for a brunch before we head for the Taoyuan Airport.

Travelling to Taoyuan Airport is a breeze from Taipei Main Station location. There is this Taoyuan Metro Line which can bring us right to the Airport and if in time, the Express train which has fewer stops and more space for luggage.

Surprised to see the train was already at the station earlier than the scheduled time but it left the exact time as scheduled. 

Looking forward to my next Taiwan Trip!!!

Day 4: Xindian (Bitan) > Wulai > Raohe Night Market + Rainbow Bridge (Part 2)

Day 1: SG > Taipei (Jiufen)

Day 2: Jilong Mountain > Jiufen Old Street

Day 3: Jiufen Old Street > Taipei Main Station (Ximending)

Day 4: Xindian (Bitan) > Wulai > Raohe Night Market + Rainbow Bridge

Day 5: Banqiao >
Day 6: Back to SG

Raohe Night Market

From  Xindian (Bitan) Station, we took train to Songshan Station and walked to Raohe Night Market. 

So after a long journey, what's next at the Night Market is food!! We took no time to buy, take photo and eat! 

Some snacks we go along our night market walking. Takoyaki, Soufflés Pancake and Fried Sweet Potatoes!

Apart from food indulgence, there is the popular Rainbow Bridge. 

A big LOVE sign that has many locks on it.

The Rainbow Bridge

We took train back to Taipei Main Station.

For our dinner, we bought takeaways from 三商巧福 Always tasty, always for you, an outlet that sells delicious Taiwanese style family meals and is conveniently located near to our hotel. Just a short walk and we were there.

Our piping hot dinner.

》Day 5: Banqiao >

《  Day 3: Jiufen Old Street > Taipei Main Station (Ximending)

Day 4: Xindian (Bitan) > Wulai > Raohe Night Market + Rainbow Bridge (Part 1)

Day 1: SG > Taipei (Jiufen)
Day 2: Jilong Mountain > Jiufen Old Street
Day 3: Jiufen Old Street > Taipei Main Station (Ximending)

Day 4: Xindian (Bitan) > Wulai > Raohe Night Market + Rainbow Bridge

Day 5: Banqiao >
Day 6: Back to SG

New place to explore in Taiwan

Chanced upon Wulai from other blogs when I was planned my Taiwan travel itinerary. 

Getting there: Take MRT from Taipei Main Station to Xindian (Bitan) Station to transfer to Bus No. 849, where the bus ends at Wulai District Scenic Area. 

After we reached Xindian (Bitan) Station, we headed straight for the bus stop but the bus interval was around an hour long. So we walked around and chanced upon a lake beside the bus interchange. That place is actually Bitan Scenic Area. 

Bitan Scenic Area

Rental Boats

A cupid reading a newsletter

The bridge @ Bitan Scenic Area

Bitan Scenic Area

Bitan Scenic Area

Lunch time

Still quite sometime, we decided to fill our stomach. Just around the bus interchange, there is a Formosa Chang 胡须张 an outlet and fortunately, it was already opened for business. 

Braised Minced Pork Rice

A quick lunch and we headed back to wait for Bus 849 to Wulai District Scenic Area.

The bus stop for our bus is not at the interchange, but along the roadside. When we board the bus, it was almost full house. And along the way as we head up to Wulai, the bus was totally packed. 

A Guide Map for Wulai District Scenic Area

The gloomy weather (once again) welcomed us. So we didn't loiter around long and headed straight for the waterfall area. To the waterfall area, a LONG walk is possible, but we opted for a short train ride 10 mins ride instead.

The train

The waterfall.

It was starting to rain heavily. So we didn't went up to the waterfall. 

Instead, we went to the cafe and chill out before we head out of Wulai District Scenic Area. 

Conclusion: Although my original destination was to Wulai District Scenic Area, but I took more pictures of Bitan Scenic Area as compared to Wulai District Scenic Area.

Done with our short visit at Wulai District Scenic Area, we went back to the bus terminal to board Bus 849 to get back to the Xindian (Bitan) Station.