Stop the haze, clear the skies, Shanghai!

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Watch our Tian Deng fly. Joyce and Cathy on the left, while Colleen's on the right.

9:58 PM

The Taiwan Diaries Part 5- "If you want to know how spring water taste like, lick the metal railing over there."

Because the activities at Shangri-La started at night, we went off to dip ourselves in a hot spring in the afternoon. After half a day of traveling, it sounded like the sweetest escape. Joyce had discovered that there was a cold spring nearby while researching back in Singapore. She also found out that in the world, there are only 2 cold springs. One was near us, and the other was in some European country. The rest of the springs were all hot ones.

Naturally, we went to the cold spring. Along the way, we had a lot of fun (and danger) in the cab. The cab driver was hilarious, well, and quite racist, when he described his time in Singapore. He became our designated cab driver for our travels around Yilan.

It was called the Su Ao Leng Quan. The private bath offered a room with hot and cold springs, so we tried them both.

I got in the cold spring pretty quick, considering Joyce, Cathy and Colleen were still meandering their way around by the time my body had adjusted to the temperature. They would lower their bodies real slow, and scream out because it was very cold. Cathy had her whole body in after a while, and we became fascinated at bubbles that formed on our hands and legs.

After a little while, we started to feel hot inside, which was weird because we were in cold water. Apparently it was normal, because the cold spring had some healing powers of sorts, and was good for the skin. However, the trick was to get up every 10 minutes, if not one would feel nauseous and giddy due to all the sulphur. Joyce and Cathy tried the hot spring, which was just very hot tap water in a bathtub. They tried to concoct their own nutritious spring water by mixing the hot and the cold. At first, the water in the bathtub was scalding hot. Pretty soon, nevertheless, they refused to get out when Colleen and I wanted to try the hot spring.

We had a quick foursome inside the teeny tiny bathtub. Er, sounds wrong, but don’t worry, there was no hanky panky involved, or rather we wanted to remember it as such. It was astounding to note that the four of us could fit into such a small bathtub. There were times were a twitch of the limbs were mistaken for playful nudges, but we handled it very, very well. Heehee..

However, as we went to wash up, we reached a toilet that looked deserted. After the snake incident at Jian Hu Shan, all of us were quite timid. I went in first, and on seeing that there were no creepy crawlies, I went into the cubicle while they waited from outside.

Promptly a few seconds after, I let off a loud scream and bolted out the cubicle.

I had put down the toilet seat, and right on top of the seat was the most gigantic, hairiest spider I have ever seen! Seriously, it was huge and black! It gave me such a fright that I slammed the toilet seat back up and ran out with fricking huge goose bumps. Why do these creatures appear at such random times?

Joyce revealed that, on hearing my scream, all three of them backed off a little from the toilet.

After washing up at a less scary toilet, we had a nice, squid ink-y, seafood dinner nearby before we returned to the resort. Do you know that the ink of squids can be eaten? I certainly didn’t, and was horrified when black ink started squirting out of my cooked squid. Colleen said that the ink was edible, and was good for some part of the body (which I forgot which part because I was too fascinated with the disgusting black ink that was everywhere on the dish). The ink wasn’t gooey, and tasted a little salty. When I finished and flashed my award winning smile, my whole mouth was black. Ew.

And Colleen put the very one towel we brought on her chair. It wasn’t until we got back to the resort till she realized she forgot to take it.

Time was spent walking around the area near the hot spring till the taxi uncle came to bring us back to the resort. We had agreed with the uncle that he would pick us up at the hot spring entrance at 7.20pm, but around 7.10pm, it started raining. The hot spring site was a little far off, and at that moment, we felt stranded inside the sheltered streets. We had no umbrellas, and none of our handphones worked in Taiwan. Colleen was about to call him from a public phone using the international calling card she bought when I spotted a taxi bearing the license number of the taxi uncle’s taxi. He found us!

I don’t know why, but I felt so safe and relieved to see the uncle waving to us from the cab. It felt like he was our guardian angel at that point.

When we got back to the resort, we engaged in making square- shaped Tang Yuan (we wanted to be different), and looked at a top-spinning tournament that was low on skills but high in entertainment.

The highlight of the night was the release of the Tian Deng, loosely translated as Sky Lantern. It was something which everyone could write their wishes on, and their wishes would be released into the sky with the lantern when it was lit, into the heavens so that the gods can grant us all our wishes. We wrote our wishes on one, and when it was time for our turn, Cathy, Joyce and Colleen held on to different corners of our Tian Deng. I didn’t hold on to it as I was too busy recording the event. As the emcee lit up our Tian Deng, it ballooned from a flat piece of paper to a life-size lantern almost miraculously. After counting to 5, all three girls let go of the corners. The lantern began to float up very quickly. Pretty soon, it was up, up and away. We stood in silence and awe as we watch our Tian Deng catching up with the rest of the Tian Dengs already high above.

Soon we were pretty wiped out. We went back to our room, which was situated in a pretty white house. On the way back though, Cathy attempted to piggyback me. Attempted, because my feet never left the ground.

We watched Nanny Mcphee on tv, and one by one, each of the girls were gone for the night, starting with Joyce. I watched Sex and the City for the first time while the other three slept. It was near the end of our cross-country journey. For the next 4 days, we would be exploring Taipei.

The next morning, along with new (doggy) friend Duo duo 多多, (there was a pig called “Ah Pui” but she was too fat so we couldn’t take her for a walk) we went to explore the Shangri-La farmland before bidding goodbye to Yilan.

For a short 4 days, we didn’t go to that many places. But we did stop and smell all the roses that were in places we’ve been to. And the unexpected experiences we never planned to have, such as the death-defying flying incident, the snake jump, the fireflies, made it so much more memorable.

Life was never boring during that 4 days in the countryside. A 1 hour train ride to NTU felt more excruciating than the 5 hour train ride we had. It was good.

Last stop: Taipei.

Finally reached Shangri-la at 2pm.

Our square-shaped Tang Yuan

Square!

Cold spring and hot spring. The nice pool is the cold spring, while the bathtub is the hot spring. Can you imagine the 4 of us squeezed inside the bathtub?

Washing up after the cold spring.

This isn't our tian deng

This top weighs 50 kg. Man, I'm strong.

Walking Duo Duo. He shits and pees a whole lot.

Colleen- not bad with the bubbles.

Joyce- Wow, expert!

Cathy- Aiyo! Got nothing. Orp Sor Yo!

Hai, I fell down.

We looked happy but we're actually quite terrified. The bridge was shaking very badly.

Colleen subjecting her camera to a bout of Vertigo...

...to produce this lovely picture!

9:07 PM

The Taiwan Diaries Part 4- “This train ticket to Yilan is for standing room only”

I forgot to mention in Part 3 that the owner of Hor Yuan hostel brought us to watch fireflies on one night.

That night, he drove us up the mountain, and stopped by the road at a point. When we climbed out of the vehicle, we couldn’t believe our eyes. It was almost pitch dark, but the entire mountain was filled with blinking lights. These little lights twinkle and danced along in the black mountain facade. It was impossible to look at the body of the firefly because it was too dark, but if you concentrate hard enough, you can trace the movement of one tiny firefly.

I held out my hand to try and catch one firefly which was flying near. When it flew closer, I closed my hand. Then, I opened my hand carefully. However, there was no firefly inside. Instead, a point of light fell slowly on the ground, flickering weakly. Colleen said I’ve killed it, while Joyce and Cathy looked at the point of light, which no longer flashed as brightly as before.

At that moment, I felt a little guilty for ending this poor fellow’s life by my own curiosity. I hoped it mated and spawned many little fireflies before its light went out… forever.

Alright, now let me start Part 4 proper. Pardon me, but it is going to be much much much more lengthier than the other Parts.

We woke up at 5am to our 4th day in Taiwan, and also to a bright sky. The sun had risen pretty early during our time in Taiwan, much like summer in Korea. We packed up and left the hostel at 6.20, as we wanted to catch the 7am train to Yilan, a very far far away place in our maps.

When we reached the train station, we were told that there was no direct train to Yilan, and the next train that leaves for Taipei was 5 minutes away. Furthermore, there were only seats for the first few stops for 3. The train was packed because it was Saturday. When the 3 reach a certain stop, we would have to stand for the rest of the journey. 1 person had to stand all the way.

It was then, that it really, really felt like we were in The Amazing Race or something.

We caught that train to Taipei—without much hesitation. Along with our backpacks, Cathy’s mummy bag and Jason the snack bag, we bade farewell to Jian Hu Shan. As the train pulled away from the station, just a tiny dose of excitement washed over me. We had no idea if going to Taipei was the right thing to do, if there were trains from Taipei to Yilan, and even if there were, the timings of the trains were uncertain to us.

But hey, that’s exactly what I call adventure.

Lucky for us, we found “makeshift” seats at the back of the train. There, we wedged ourselves between the wall and the back of the last seat in the carriage, sitting on top of metal foot rests that was there for no reason. Joyce sat there for the 1st hour of the ride.

After reaching Miaoli station, we abandoned seats and squeezed ourselves in that space. I began to write on receipts and brochures to pass time. After a while, I got bored again and tried to write on my shoes. Those were Adidas sneakers bought a year ago from Korea, but looked 5 years older. I wrote on my left shoe our Chinese names and a message. “蔡嘉玲，梁瑗玲，谢慧姿和我陈俐蓉和我们的背包走遍台湾天下。”

When I finally grew bored of writing on my shoes, I turned to Colleen, who was sitting/squeezed beside me, and said, “Tell me everything that happened to you since you were born. Everything.”

For all of the 5 hours in the train, we didn’t manage to cover everything, but I would say it was sufficient. I’d never get to hold such a conversation with anyone if it was in Singapore; there just isn’t enough time to sit down and really listen to someone’s life story. All we know of our friends’ history are the pieces and bits that were brought up from time to time. Cathy and Joyce, constricted within the right side of the train, talked a good deal about relationship issues and people’s behavior. How did I know? Colleen and I (not deliberately) eavesdropped.

Finally, at 12pm, we arrived at Taipei Main Station. While Joyce and Colleen went off to find train tickets to Yilan and Cathy went off for a toilet break, I sat on the floor near the ticketing counter to look after our bags. The whole station was bursting with activity. There were long queues for all open counters, and people were zipping to and fro with duffel bags, trolley bags. Couples were holding hands, looking for directions to the platform they were due. Older folks were walking slowly, some stopped walking, lost in the endless information that the large information board displayed.

Joyce and Colleen came back with train tickets that would leave in 20 minutes, which was fantastic news! After a short break where we ate some snacks, we went down to the platform with 5 minutes to spare.

A train had just pulled into the station. We wondered if it was our train, but a second glance at our tickets and the train information revealed otherwise. There we were, unsure and helpless. Time was running out. Cathy went to ask a lady if it was our train, but Joyce topped her. Joyce ran up a (very long) flight of steps with her heavy backpack to ask personnel in the train station. After a while, she appeared at the top and told us we were at the wrong platform. When we rushed to the correct platform, the train pulled into the station shortly after.

(Now you know why Joyce is essential in all my travels. She’s the coolest ever :D)

After another 2 hours and a very nice view of the Pacific Ocean along the way (I think I saw a whale), we finally reached our desired train station. At 2plus pm, we checked into Xiang Ge Li La Leisure Farming, or Shangri-La but not the 5 star hotel chain, a resort which offers many enriching activities for the tourist. It was situated at a mountaintop, and had its own farm. Many families were there to relax- kids were playing with soap bubbles at one corner.

And so, we reached "Hogwarts" on time miraculously.

End of Part 4

10:56 AM

Friday, May 23, 2008

The Taiwan Diaries Picture Explosion

(day 1 to 4)

Cathy Chia and Colleen Chua trying to act gangsta.

They are always doing such poses....

Joyce's bag looks like a 4 year old kid.

This picture proves it. She's helpless on the scooter. (But we love her anyway)

Leanne! Thanks for the camera! Very useful. :D

Cathy wanted to take this pic and mms to her mum so she'll give more money.

noooo... it's not true that I'm the one who eats the most. Teehee

Colleen attempted to jump...

..but apparently, she jumped too low.

Thinking that they saw the actual SHE girls, Cathy and Joyce jumped for joy.

Joyce looked like a citizen for some happy little town.

The pillion and the driver.

I kinda went crazy during the flight.

Dan dan mian is fascinating to them. Go figure.

We're shagged after everything. And maybe my mole gets larger when i get tired, cos it looks super huge here. Hmm....

And introducing, the DIVER.Look out for Colleen and Joyce waving fromthe 2nd row.

11:38 PM

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

I think I got super carried away writing about Taiwan, but what the heck.

I'm never gonna get over it anytime soon.

10:32 PM

Monday, May 19, 2008

The Taiwan Diaries Part 3- Of Spontaneity, Freshly Brewed Coffee and the snake in Jian Hu Shan

After departing from the train at Er Shui, we began our journey down south at 8pm by “Chug chug chug”. It was only a 15 minute ride to Dou Liu, which from there we would take a cab up to Hua Shan to stay for the night. Hua Shan was famed for its coffee and mushrooms, and beside Hua Shan was Jian Hu Shan, a mountain with a self-contained amusement park.

We realize that, even back-breaking bags cannot deter girls from good bargains. We went shopping around the streets near Dou Liu train station, and even took neoprints when we spotted a neoprint shop.

It was simple- just throw our bags down and pose.

And as tired as we were, we sure didn’t fail to put on bright smiles for the camera! The prints that came out washed us so much in a super bright shade of white, (like all other neoprint machines) that Colleen exclaimed she looked like a pig in one of them.

I found out she was more like a cacoon than a pig that night, while Cathy and Joyce agreed that she looked more like a bear in hibernation.

We took a taxi up to this hostel, which was more of somebody’s home with many rooms. It was a long and winding road up to the hostel, called “Hor Yuan Min Su” which was surrounded by plantations of trees and vast greenery.

When I woke up the next morning and looked out, I thought to myself, “The hills really are alive with the sound of music!”

We went to Jian Hu Shan Shi Jie, an amusement park, bright and early at 9am, right after a sumptuous breakfast prepared by the lady boss of the hostel. And though we knew it had water rides as well, it just failed to register in our minds that we had to bring towels or extra clothes along.

On entering the park, the very first ride I saw left me with jelly feet. It was called the “Diver”. It is like a normal coaster, only it plunges down into a very deep, dark tunnel at 110mph. Oh, by the way, right before it goes down, it hangs at the edge for about ten seconds. Plunging down as if committing suicide is a challenge, but the perching on edge is just crazy!

(In comparison, the coasters in Seoul Land are considered tame next to this baby.)

In the end, Joyce and Colleen rode that… twice while Cathy and I looked on with sweaty palms and panic.

Nevertheless, I conquered another roller coaster and finally, the ride that pulls one high up in the air and plunges down. The feeling of your heart falling is truly, one to remember. The three of us were proud of Cathy that day. She was terrified of both rides, but gathered up enough guts (and LUNG POWER to scream) to ride them both. When she came down from the coaster, she had almost lost her voice.

The water rides were hilarious and exhilarating. We were hanging on to the floats, and our dear lifes at every twist, turn, drop of the slides. During the lazy river section, Colleen and Joyce tried to overturn my float, and they succeeded with much glee. I was a little embarrassed when the staff of the ride had to secure my float so I could get back up on it, but I got back at them by splashing and chasing after them with a menacing look meant to kill.

Muahahaha.

We didn’t bring any towels or extra clothes with us, so we took a shower and dried ourselves in the female toilet using the hairdryer provided, and then sat in the sun like laundry. It sounds a little amazing that we didn’t use any towels or even toilet paper to dry ourselves off- and none of us got sick. Colleen got a really bad sunburn on her shoulders though. After sitting down for a while, we decided to take the uber-huge ferris wheel since we were so bored. The ferris wheel offered a bird’s eye view of the entire mountain, as well as the rides below. As it went on its descent after half a round, I was scared that it would plunge down anytime, like the other rides that we had been on. Plunging, it seemed, had been the order of the day. We sat it 3 times, singing songs from olden days as loud as possible till we got bored of it finally.

Then, it was time to gather up courage, for Joyce wanted to sit on the “Diver”. Cathy and I insisted that we were too chicken to try. After much coaxing, Colleen finally went on it with Joyce. I thought it was too much for me. In fact, for every scary ride, I closed my eyes. I really can’t imagine myself perched precariously on the edge, literally hanging by a moment, then being forced down a tunnel at top speed when I least expected it. Maybe when I get older, and more gutsy, but definitely not now.

After Jian Hu Shan Shi Jie, we went back to our hostel for a fresh change of clothes. The night was spent in an outdoor coffeehouse atop a mountain called “Fei Ni Bu Ke” or It’s You or Never” if translated, a play on “Fei” from “Ka Fei” which means coffee. With the night sky as the ceiling and city below as the wallpaper, we were treated to a surreal dining experience. The evening was spent pouring over many issues, big and small, over hotpots and Taiwanese coffee.

The owner of the coffeehouse kindly sent us back to our hostel at 11pm. When we returned to our room, another memorable incident happened.

We were crowding outside our room, waiting for Cathy to open the door. When the door opened and Cathy walked in, there were shouts by Colleen and Joyce. I was standing behind Joyce, so I had no idea what she was shouting for. My first instinct told me it was a cockroach.

Suddenly, this long black rope appeared on my legs and whipped its tail. That’s when Colleen shouted “Snake!” I remember jumping up really high when the black creature brushed its long, thin body across my sneakers. A snake! Right under our doorstep!

Thankfully, it slithered away hurriedly.

Cathy was oblivious to everything until Colleen shouted. However, when she turned back, the snake was already gone. It was a small one, maybe about 50 cm long. We concluded the snake was fast asleep outside our room when we woke it up and frightened it away. That night though, we checked every corner of the room to make sure it was clear of such frightful creatures. We would never be able to withstand another incident similar to this one again. One snake has already given us quite a fright! I suggested that the snake could be a house pet for the owners, but the next day, the shocked expression the lady boss gave when we told her concluded otherwise.

We departed from the hostel at 6AM the next day to take a train to Yilan. And so, that’s where the next bunch of adventures started.

Morning at Hor Yuan. I don't know how they can look so fresh when we're super tired.

Joyce and Colleen (can you spot 'em?) as they go on "Diver".

Joyce and Colleen after conquering "Diver". Notice the coaster perched precariously behind them?

When in Taiwan, practice martial arts.

The staircase in the hostel.

Fei Ni Bu Ke!

Shopping with backpacks. Really tiring.

The Hor Yuan Hostel, which is actually quite small.

Taking a rest at the garden of the hostel.

View of Jian Hu Shan Shi Jie as seen from the ferris wheel. We sat that funnel-like thing.

Left- the uber big ferris wheel. Right- the ride that brings you up, then goes down in a flash. We conquered both.

End of Part 3

10:51 AM

Sunday, May 18, 2008

The Taiwan Diaries Part 2- Of Motorised Bicycles, Risking Life and Limb and Sun Moon Lake

On the second day of the trip, we packed our backpacks and rode the electric train from Taipei to Tai Chung, and from there take a bus to the famed Sun Moon Lake. Instead of the Taiwan High Speed Rail which has bullet trains, we chose to take the “chug-chug-chug”, which was a Taiwan Railway Administration train that have been running on diesel for its past history before they changed it to being operated by electricity. Cathy said it’ll give a sense of going to Hogwarts—she was super keen on being Hermione. Even though the journey is takes a longer time, we chose to that the “Chug-chug-chug” since it was half the price of a bullet train ticket.

I slept for most of the train journey, since I woke up too early the night before. However, I woke up in time to see huge, modern windmills that hugged the coastline. Two hours later, we reached Tai Chung Station, and so walked a short distance to take the Ren You bus to Sun Moon Lake. As the bus moved along, city sights soon gave way to rivers, large hills and sleepy towns. Another 2 hours of deep sleep later, we arrived at the Sun Moon Lake Visitors Centre.

We left our backpacks at the Centre, and went to venture the lake on our own. Before that, we asked for help from the people at the Information Centre, and one kind lady told us a lot about Sun Moon Lake and how to explore the very huge lake.

Eventually, we decided to ride “motorized” bicycles, because we were too tired to ride real bicycles up the hilly road that surrounded the lake. As we tried out our new vehicles, we were stunned to find out they were actually scooters in disguise! Colleen, Joyce and I had not many problems figuring out how to ride the scooters, albeit we were a little fearful for our lives (we had to ride ‘em on the public roads) but Cathy was flushed! In the end, the person who sold us the bicycles told us to take Cathy as our pillion instead- she was too worried for Cathy, who fell like a turtle while testing out the bike.

So much for being Hermione. :P

Thus, we set off on our scooters, armed only with helmets and pure guts. Cars were far and few, but I became nervous when they tried to overtake us on the road. Cathy, who was my pillion for the first half of the journey, said that everytime I rev-ed the scooter, my stomach muscles would tense up.

Obviously! We were sandwiched between moving cars and the edge of the hills! Plus I was carrying two lives with me! Of course I was damn scared la.

Our first pit stop was at the bus-loading bay, where Cathy tried to learn the ride the scooter once again while the rest of us took photos. It was a sight to see her scurrying to and fro on the bike, with her legs barely touching the ground as she moved along. (And we have video evidence for that too, thanks to Colleen)

Cathy struggling.

After that, we resumed our riding up. Joyce took the lead, while Cathy and I were second, and Colleen followed behind. We reached a temple with a very nice view of the lake, and so we parked our scooters along the side of the road and went along to admire the view.

Anyway, Sun Moon Lake was so named because from different angles, you can see the shape of the sun or the shape of a crescent moon. It is a tourist spot because it is surrounded by mountains, and is full of mist, bringing out a sense of majestic mystery to the entire area. We didn’t try to look for the shape of the sun or moon as we trudged along- we were too busy concentrating on the road!

For the rest of the journey to Itae Pier (another spot along the lake), Cathy was Colleen’s pillion and I rode behind them. Everything was fine and dandy, except for the occasional honk by an irritated car driver who had to navigate carefully in order not to bang us down.

On arriving at Itae Pier, we had the very first highlight of the trip.

Joyce and I parked our vehicles next to a pillar on the pier, which was made up of wooden planks and a lot of steps. However, Colleen and Cathy were struggling to push their vehicle up to the pillar, because there is a tiny step up to the pier, which they can’t seem to get pass.

Enter Deanna.

I went up to them and told them that it was an easy thing to push up, plus they had two people, and so on. I rest my hands on the handle bars and pushed. The rest of my words got lost somewhere because at that moment, I felt the vehicle move. Zoom, it went! I was flown, my body jerkily holding on to the handles, into the pillar that parked the other two scooters with a loud crash.

It happened so fast, and the next thing I knew, I had crashed, head first, into the pillar. The scooter crashed into Joyce, who had no time to move away, and an old ah ma who was sitting by the side not far away was shouting “Are you okay?” by the time I understood what was going on.

Colleen and Cathy rushed up to me, and upon seeing that I escaped without a scratch, laughed hilariously. They told me that when they saw me flew all of a sudden, they stood rooted in shock. And though they were worried when I crash, they couldn’t help but laugh at the way I flew with the bike.

As for poor Joyce, it was the second time a scooter had hit her in the legs today- and by my actions too! Previously when we were learning how to ride the bikes I had crashed into her at close distance. Thankfully, she had very strong legs. And so she, too, escaped with a small bruise.

The rest of the Sun Moon Lake experience was spent chiding Colleen and Cathy on not turning off the scooter’s engine when they disembarked from the vehicle, thus putting my life in serious jeopardy. For all I know, I could be stretching it, but I had a really serious fright thinking what if the scooter had flew elsewhere, like down a flight of steps or something.

It’s okay, I guess. We did buy travel insurance.

The rest of the Sun Moon Lake experience was spent jumping up and down (ask Colleen) the pier for picture perfect moments as well as taking moments to admire the lake before we left to go back to the Visitors Centre to wait for the bus to take us to our next destination.

While we sat on the bus that brought us to the nearest train station which was Shui Li Station, a huge bunch of students waltzed right in. They noticed our huge backpacks and that we were communicating to each other in English, so they started talking about us in the Taiwanese language. Which, of course is somewhat similar to our Hokkien in Singapore. So it was no surprise that we knew what they were talking about. Plus, from time to time, they would steal glances at us as they try to think of things to ask us. And occasionally, we would hear the F word being said amidst a giggle or two.

Finally, one boy who were standing turned to Cathy and asked “Where you from?” As he asked, the whole crowd of students turned around. Cathy said, “Singapore”.

He switched to Chinese. “Do you know Chinese?”
Cathy spoke in Chinese, “Yes, we do. And we know a little bit of Taiwanese too.”

On hearing that, there was a huge commotion in the bus. “Ah, pai seh ah!” (Sorry) One female student said in a deep, manly voice. “Ka ki nang!” (Own people)

The rest of the bus trip was spent listening, with a lot of laughter, to these bunch of students. They asked us some questions, and talked a whole deal of things about bringing us around. It was funny, even heartwarming, to hear this rowdy bunch of students talk about the places that we can go to and all. A little overwhelming perhaps, but when they reached their school, all of them turned back, jumped a little and said bye bye with such enthusiasm that we couldn’t help but feel amazed.

And the kind lady from the Visitors’ Centre was in the bus too! She got off at the same stop, and took the same train as us too. Joyce talked to her about Taiwan and Singapore, and the rest of us listened intently. She was so helpful that we felt a huge sense of gratefulness towards her.

The adventures kept coming. To top it off, it was only the second day.

Us with the kind lady.

End of part 2.

1:47 PM