Ni Hao Taipei!

I am now at the Dynasty Lounge of the Taipei Taoyuan Airport, having had a light meal. Met up my Taiwanese friend yesterday morning and she drove me around. First we stopped at Taipei Grand Hotel for some Kodak moments. We then drove on to Beitou Hot Springs at the outskirts of the city. I was amazed that these kind of natural places exist so near a city. We dropped by the Beitou Hot Spring Museum before walking on to a hot spring pool where we saw clouds swirling around. Thankfully the sulpur smell wasn’t too strong.

We then drove to Liuhuangku Geothermal Scenic Area where there was a vast land of wasteland-like area with clouds of gas swirling with its strong smell of sulphur.

Next we drove futher north to the coast where the hills meet the sea. And the sea was rough yesterday, very rough and angry indeed. It was pissing rain practically the whole day, a perfect day for relaxing in on a lazy Sunday.

We stopped at Dangshui where the river meets the sea and later had an ice cream lunch at Big Tom [!]. I had two scoops of sinful ice cream flavours, can’t really recall the name now.

We then drove past the towns of Sanshih and Jinshan. I’m afraid I got a bit sleepy then and dozed off a bit [oh no!]. Tiffany was thoughtful and considerate enough not to wake me up.

We drove further along the north coast and round the bend of the north part of the island to Yehliu Scenic Geopark where there were amazing formations of sand and stone sculptures, formed over the centuries by wind and water. It was amazing; there was the mushroom rock group, the Queen’s Head [so called because it resembled a lady’s head], bean curd rock, among many others. We spent some time here admiring the scene and walking along the rocky beach. We even went into a small cave.

Having spent about an hour there, we then left. I bought some seafood produce, fish floss and chilli-fried shrimps. Tiffany also bought some fried seaweed coated in flour and some grilled squid.

We drove on to the mining town of Rueifang, up in the hills but alas, the museum had already closed by then. We the went to Jioufen, to its old street. A charming little place, it was.

We left after a while and this was when I started to feel strange and funny. I started feeling a headache and then felt like I was going to throw up. And Tiffany had already planned for us to have dinner with her friend at Taipei 101, the highest building in the world.

I felt more and more ill the further we drove and could only barely managed to contain myself. Finally, we pulled up at a gas station and I ran to the washroom and threw up. I then had some diarroea and threw up again at Tiffany’s basement carpark washroom. She then took me to a pharmacy where I parted with some Taiwan Dollars purchasing pills [and had another round of throwing up spree].

Felt better after that but badly needed to relax so Tiffany sent me back to the hostel.

My friend who is joining me on the trip sent a text to inform her flight was delayed so I rested first, dozing off in the process. She then texted me again after midnight and I went to meet her at the Zhongsan Metro station. Unfortunately, Taiwanese don’t speak good English and she was instead brought by the cabbie to Longshan Temple. A flurry of text messages was sent between us and finally I told her to take another cab. It was past 1 am this morning when we finally got together and I brought her back to the hostel.

Naturally we woke up a bit late today. Went out to find the Taipei Grand Mosque and made it back in time to perform prayers before finding our way to the Taipei Main Station and catch the bus back to the airport for our afternnon flight to our next destination. The bus stop was quite a walk from the Main Station.

Alright, I have to dash now. The journey continues...

First And Foremost: Formosa

It’s a wet Sunday Morning as I type this.

There were a lot of people at the airport long queues to check-in yeserday [thankfully I’d checked in at KL Sentral] and long queues at the Autogates too. Then I realised, oh yes, school hols have started...

Endured another long queue at the boarding gate - turned out that the security on passengers to the US and Taiwan is stricter. No water bottles or anything of that sort.

After the delay - the flight only took off 45 minutes after the scheduled time, it turned out to be a pleasant flight in the modern plane. The seat was futuristic and my seat was at the upper deck, cool! Was assigned the back seat though, not cool. But I was alone in that row, cool! And was well-fed and well taken care of, cool. Syukur alhamdulilah.

Arrived in hazy Taipei at 3 pm. Yet another queue was endured. Bought a return coach ticket to Taipei Main Station. And, guess what, there was another blinking queue to board the coach. The journey to downtown Taipei took 50 minutes and shortly after arriving at the Main Station, I found myself navigating my way through the maze of underground network of shops and subway station. Finally arrived at Taiwanmex Hostel at 5 pm. Met a friendly, unusually-tanned English chap by the name of Barry and he’s cute too! Quite a friendly chap and we chatted a bit - told him he was the first foreigner I’ds met since leaving the aiport 1.5 hours earlier - before I left as it turned out that my room is at another building.

Took the Taipei Metro to Shilin Night Market after prayers. There was a building with what must be among the largest food courts in this part of the globe. I didn’t feel hungry [and it wasn’t as if I could partake any of the food anyway!] so I made my way to a nearby street. There must be at least half of Taipei there... and I was being jostled and hustled, shoved and pushed aside, elbowed and poked and ran into by the mad shoppers. The narrow street didn’t help and to make things worse, there were peddlars in the middle of the already narrow and congested street. Almost everything was sold from street food to clothes, bags, ties, shoes... everything but souvenirs. Duhhh!

I got fed up of the crowd and having to fight my way through so I decided to return back to the hostel. Besides, fatigue was setting in already.

The hostel is compact but cosy. There’s a cute, frisky [if it’s not curled up on the sofa] tortoiseshell cat in residence [thankfully, not a dog!]. The hostel is situated on the top floor of a building and if not for the haze, I’m sure the view would have been fantastic. Oh well... By the way, the hostel is managed/owned/ran by a Mexican who I think is married to a local and I’m now typing this on a keyboard with both the normal alphabets and Chinese characters. One terminal pops up the Mexican/Spanish version of Blogger.com while the other pops up the Chinese version so I’m relying on memory to sign in, provide password, create posting etc. There’s a local chap with shoulder-length hair who told me he hangs around here on a semi-permanent basis and bunks out on the sofa [poor kitty relegated to elsewhere]. For a Taiwanese, he speaks very good English although he’d make a poor tour guide.

Alright, I’m off to meet my Taiwanese friend shortly, she’s offered to bring me around. I hope to persuade her to bring me to the Taipei Grand Mosque and some halal eatery, among other things. See you later!

Off To LA LA Land

I’m now at the MAS Golden Lounge, having some light breakfast while blogging and having a sense of déjà vu as I type this.

It has been a Crazy week alright, both at work and at micasa. It was juggling workloads during the day and cleaning micasa in the evenings, ironing, more ironing, packing, last-minute packing... and I was just knackered by the time I climbed into bed.

And hopefully it’ll all be worth it, this delaying gratification bit.

I’m flying off soon to a new city and new country. No, not to migrate [not just yet!] but transiting there en route to another destination.

Abah and Mummy came over this morning to send me to KL Sentral. Yes, at my age, they still don't trust me to take cabs all by my little self.

Anyway, I intend to enjoy myself thoroughly. Heck, any Escape away from The Office is Always welcomed.

See You Later, Alligator!

It's Tough To Be A Baby

This is Jordy who sang Dur dur d'être bébé (It’s Tough To Be A Baby) when he was 4.5 years old. He’s listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest singer ever to have a number 1 charted single.

… well, in my case, it’s tough being a ditsy [although I can be a big baby at times].

I believe I can do what most girls can do – multi-tasking. So I can be checking my email while munching on a chocolate bar and talking on the phone. Or I could be doing house-cleaning and planning the day ahead. And I suppose if I drive, I’d be fiddling with the CD player while reversing and nibbling on some munchies and checking my lipstick on the mirror.

So there I was yesterday with two pieces of work in front of me, talking on the phone with someone from another department and jotting down the points of the conversation. I wanted to call another person but the phone rang unanswered so I finished writing a note to BigBoss on another piece of work [A] and handed it over on my way out to the washroom.

Came back and frantically searched for the notes I had scribbled down. Only to realise... duh uh, I had actually scribbled the info I gathered for the other piece of work [B] down on A which I just handed over to my BigBoss.

I quickly made my way to his room to try retrieving my hastily written scribbles for B, copying it elsewhere and erasing my scribbles off A. But BigBoss had already seen A, and cleared it.

The poor man must be wondering and puzzling over my almost illegibly scribble [did I mention my handwriting is atrocious even when I attempt to write nicely? So you can imagine how bad it is when I try to write quickly].

Oh the headache I must have caused him!

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Went out during lunch yesterday to run an errand and accompany my mate to buy some scarves. Ended up buying two myself - in exactly the same shades and colours and motives as my mate [one blue and the other green]. Well, it seems we share the same taste then. Anyway, she said she didn’t mind.

Showed them to a colleague later in the evening and only then realised, duh uh, but for the colour, the motives of the two scarves I just bought are the same, similar, identical.

Sheesh!

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I thought I was running late for my 3 pm meeting yesterday and so was rushing and practically running in my haste. It was originally scheduled for 4.30 pm and then the PA emailed to inform that it had been rescheduled to 3. Only to realise at five to 3 that while the meeting was indeed rescheduled to 3 pm, it is to take place today. Not yesterday. There was a change in both the time and date and I only noticed the change in time, not the date.

Duh uh!

And this morning, I had to photocopy some P&C documents for another colleague. Our photocopier was in need of a new toner so I popped over next door only to discover the photocopier there was faulty and couldn’t do double-sided printing. So I went down two flights of stairs to do my photocopying there.

Dropped by to chat with some mates and as we were in the midst of bantering, a colleague came up to me and said I left a letter at the photocopier. Duh uh!

And that’s not all... when I returned to my place, I realised that I had overlooked photocopying an addendum. Thankfully the photocopier here has been fixed or I’d have to go down two floors again.

Duh uh!

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I think it’s about time I resign from the work force. A ditsy person should not be allowed to work. It should be illegal to hire ditsy people like me. I should just stay home and read and watch TV and nap and eat [not necessarily in that order]. That way, I do the least damage.

Or maybe I need a break from The Office. Pronto.

Love Of The Common People

‘Cause she’s living in the love of the common people
Smile’s from the heart of a family man.
Daddy’s gonna buy you a dream to cling to,
Mama’s gonna love you just as much as she can
And she can.

Dr Peck defines love as ‘the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth’.

I have been amazed, made pleasantly aware of, reminded and touched by my parents’ love many times recently. And sometimes I wonder if I’m worth the love. With all my stubbornness, moodiness, faults, rebellion, well, I think it’d need anyone who loves me lots of patience, tolerance, consideration and understanding, to say the least. And only my parents can give me that unconditional love which unfortunately I tend to take for granted.

Oh yes, growing up, I occasionally had issues with them. They insisted [and still insist] on knowing where I am going, who I’m meeting, how long the meeting will take, how I’m getting there etc, etc, etc. I resented these questions but now I understand; it’s because they love me and care enough for me to want to know where I am. It’s better any day than to be treated indifferently, or worse, to be ignored altogether. And it’s certainly not easy raising a child these days, especially if she is difficult, rebellious and stubborn. Oh dearie me.

Now you’d better go home where it’s warm
Where you can live in a love of the common people,
Smile from the heart of a family man.
Daddy’s gonna buy you a dream to cling to
Mama’s gonna love you just as much as she can
And she can.

Living on a dream ain’t easy
But the closer the knit the tighter the fit
And the chills stay away.
You take ’em in stride for family pride.
You know that faith is in your foundation
And with a whole lot of love and a warm conversation
But don't forget to pray.
Making it strong where you belong

And we’re living in the love of the common people
Smile’s from the heart of a family man.
Daddy’s gonna buy you a dream to cling to
Mama’s gonna love you just as much as she can
And she can.

Yes, we’re living in the love of the common people
Smile’s from the heart of a family man.
Daddy’s gonna buy you a dream to cling to
Mama’s gonna love you just as much as she can.

~~~~~~~~

Dammit. My left palm is itching. Not a good sign. Itchy left palm means money will leave my hands; itchy right palm means money will flow in. Superstition or not, it has somehow been true for me. No, it’s not superstition but premonition.

Oh dearie me!

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My heart goes out to the poor baby elephant, Amid, which lost its mother’s love at only three months of age. Poor, poor baby.

The Traits That Maketh Me

Here We Go again, back to the lists galore... of the (less than desirable) traits that maketh me me. I’m sure you’ve already known some of them through my past ramblings but at the risk of repeating myself, let’s just revisit them shall we.

1. I’m a ditsy donna. Scatterbrain. Absent-minded. That’s why I rely on lists. Although lists can only help so much as they can’t help me recover/find things I lose/misplace.

2. I have emotional ups and downs. Emo yoyo is what I call it. This means I’m broody and moody and crabby and crappy at times. Watch out! The next mood swing will be right about any minute now [actually, unfortunately, most of the time, I cannot predict when my next mood swing will be]. I can also be emotionally insecure at times.

3. I’m also a very sensitive person. I’m touchy. I cry easily. Well, apparently Cancerians are supposed to be sensitive folks, despite the hard shell they supposedly have around themselves.

4. I’m a fussy puss. Sometimes I prefer doing things myself because I want things done in a certain way [all together now, I Want It That Way...]. This also explains why I don’t want any housemates.

5. I have OCD. I double-check, triple-check, heck, multiple-check windows and shutters and doors before going to sleep and/or leaving the house. And also because I am ditsy, I check things again and again.

6. I’m a very stubborn, hard-headed girl. But I am never stubborn enough to admit it!

7. I have a short fuse. I am hot-tempered and ill-tempered. Believe me, I used to be a lot worse. People who don’t know me would likely dismiss me as a spoilt brat with a mood to match.

8. I’m actually a coward. I’m afraid of creeping things. This includes anything from lizards and cockroaches to rodents. I cringe when I watch horror or thriller movies or avert my face away from the screen or simply shut my eyes.

9. I’m a clumsy klutz. I bump into things, walk into doors, stumble when I walk.

10. I get easily stressed, distressed and depressed. I don’t handle stress well. Unlike the old Tag Heuer advert, Don’t Crack Under Pressure, I crack [and sometimes cry] at the slightest provocation. I’m not strong enough at times to endure life’s challenges. So I seek help and solace and comfort from God, family and friends.

11. I think too much, ever since I was a kid. There were times when I couldn’t sleep, thinking and worrying about something. My parents used to tease me about this. Yeah, it is silly because a lot of things are outside my circle of influence. But I can’t help it; sometimes I even think of work when cleaning micasa - somehow it helps because I always have those ‘Aha!’ moments.

12. I act like a (spoilt) brat at times. I huff and puff when I’m not pleased, stamp my feet and stomp around when things don’t go my way, and sulk and pout when people tease me. Well, I think most youngest child behave this way. I’m just being normal!

13. I can be fickle-minded and indecisive. I change my mind, rethink, reconsider, reevaluate things. Maybe I should just stop thinking about things too much.

Cor blimey! it looks like I am a true Cancerian after all.

So... What Are You Made Of?

Mad As A March Hare

... well, not quite, but close to it.

The last few days had been mad hectic. Mad crazy. Mad stressful.

The next few days promise to be mad too.

And I think I’m Going Slightly Mad.

Help, SOS!!! Mad days ahead! And it’s only Monday!

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Saw the moon eclipse yesterday morning after Suboh prayers. It was quite surreal in a way.

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I feel like murdering a colleague lately. Now that would be the Ides of March. But seriously, another colleague and I have been hopping mad lately because of this individual.