Friday, July 25, 2008
Yoz! It has been one week since I last went for my trip from 12 - 19 July 08. It was a totally different experience as compared to my previous trips.

REASONS:

(1) It was our first time to visit two countries (Bangkok & Taiwan) at one go.

(2) There were only the two of us and we could only depend on each other and the people around for help.

(3) Expected hiccups had happened. Unexpected hiccups had also happened!

Nevertheless our Almighty God sheltered us throughout the entire journey. Every time when hiccups happened, God showed His grace and performed miracles. This was the first time I experienced God in such a tangible way, especially when we were so desperately in need of a miracle. He proved Himself faithful and our prayers came to past! Hallelujah!


Our hotel in Bangkok, Baiyoke suite. We stayed in an executive suite at storey 36 because all the normal rooms were taken up when we made the reservation. We only had to top up another SGD 10-15 bucks to enjoy this luxurious room, which consists of one living room and one bedroom with two TVs. One of the TVs is a lcd screen. A very cozy place to sit down and nuah. ('',)































We went to eat A&W on our first day in Bangkok. That was what I have been longing to eat for a long time! For years, lol. A&W pls come back to S'pore. Hoho.















At A&W.















Outside A&W, a lot of passer-bys.


















Jolin & I: Perhaps we just love to hug this long lost friend.




































































































































Baiyoke sky: 80 + storey building.


































We were sitting in a To To, one of the common transports in Bangkok. It was 33 degrees so I had my shades on.















The back view of Mr Toto. You must know the story behind. We were on the roads when the wind blew my Adidas cap off my head! I was stunned and thought that my cap would be gone forever. Who knows he stopped driving and ran back. With his right hand he stopped the car and with his other hand he rescued my cap. Although by then my white cap had been rolled over by many cars and had 'neo-prints' on it, I was extremely impressed by his heroic actions! Bravo!














Another picture of Baiyoke Sky.



















The Platinum Mall.














Macdonalds' sitting area is at basement. So take the tray and use the escalator down.















Our lunch at MacDonald. We ordered the Samuri burger.














Bangkok mrt control station. This gentleman buying a ticket using the machine.



































Here we go. Their transportation card, like those we used in the past. You slot in and it jumps up.
















Inside the station. The plates of food were moving so it looked as if that guy is eating them. On the other side it was a lady eating the same food, lol.















At Chatochuak (forget about my wrong spelling, hoho). At that place itself, there were no changing rooms. So basically you just wear this big piece of cloth over (like what Ms Jolin is doing) and try to change. I simply refused to even think about it.



















Sky Lounge. The highest storey at Baiyoke suite, level 43. That was where we had our breakfast.














Our lunch at KFC. The small drumlets on the left were great. They use glass cups. As for the whipped potato, they scooped it at the time when you placed order.















Our second luggage bag, zao lou (runaway bag). Jolin's in orange, mine in pink.














At Bangkok airport. The map of the airport.













































At Bangkok, we met one incident. Jolin wanted to exchange SGD 200 into Thai baht. When she received her Thai baht, she noticed the money was little but she didn't question at that time as she thought it was correct. When we went back to hotel after everything, Jolin realized that the receipt showed the amount exchanged was SGD100 which means a shortage of SGD100 worth of Thai baht. We went straight to the money changer but it was already closed by then. We then decided to go to our hotel reception.
The night staff called the bank but there were some disagreements along the way. In the end, we were asked to go straight to the money changer in the morning. When we went there, we saw the same lady who served Jolin the day before. She apologised for missing out the money and she passed her her Thai money straight away. It was easier than expected as we thought we will need to wait for the headquarter to look through the security system before she could eventually get back her money. Praise God that the problem was immediately solved!



Here we go to our new destination, Taiwan (16 - 19 July).
Upon arriving at Taipei airport, we bought Freego tickets to board the bus.






























Pictures taken while waiting for the bus to arrive.





























Interesting translation - Freego : Fei Gou.


















Some of the pictures taken along the way.












































Rainbow hotel at Ximen Ding.










































































































































MacDonalds at Ximen Ding. Over there, the people clear their own trays after their meals.

At Wu Fen Pu, we bought our favorite bubble tea at Xiao Mei Zi.



















This dog is real! At first it was not moving so I had a shock when it moved!



On our first day in Taipei, we heard that typhoon had come so we headed straight home at around 6plus pm. We decided to buy mian sian takeaway.




We bought taiwanese hotdogs to eat as well.






























































The second day in Taiwan we went Dunkin Donuts for breakfast.
































Interesting idea! The cafe had two levels. As the sandwiches will be freshly made upon receiving an order, customers will go up to level 2 to sit but they will be given a control like this. When the food is ready, this control will vibrate and have red lights to inform you that your food is ready for collection downstairs.

















I love the ambience of this place.





















































































































































































































































































































































Mind your head!


































































Welcome! Please go up to level 2.













Photos taken with their crew.

























Paul met us up at Guo Fu Ji Nian Guang station to bring us to Jay Chou's cafe!





































































Cgl, Paul.









































































































































































































































































Photo taken with the three Singaporeans whom we met there.





























Shhh... Zhe shi bu neng shou de mi mi...














Some of the exclusive collections at Jay Chou's cafe..












































































































































































































































































































Paul brought us to a bank to change money.














We walked past 101 tower.






































On that day when we met Paul, we first went to Jay Chou's cafe, followed by to bank to change money. We also went to a supermarket where we bought a lot of instant noodles. Shortly after, Paul's member, Finny came. They helped us pack our groceries into a few boxes and carry them all the way to our hotel. That is so sweet of them!




































We went back to hotel and rested for a while. We left there a while later and headed to Taipei Main station as it was the last day to buy our things. We agreed to meet Finny at 7.30pm so that he could bring us to their church where they would be having their prayer meeting.

However, we were late and we had informed Paul about it. However, Finny wasn't told at all as he didn't have his phone with him. At last we reached there at slightly past 8pm. When we reached we ran to Finny and apologise. He just said 'it's okay' with a calm and patient voice, without even the slightest sign of anger. Immediately after saying he took our two big bags from us to carry. . .! This 18 yr old brother is so cool!




































Evidence. Haha... We call him 'Xiao shuai ge'

























































Two of Paul's members.

You can buy water from this machine.



































This steamboat cafe offers ice cream from 4 countries!




















































































Jolin's hand was splashed by the soup. When Paul told the watiress about this, that lady immediately came with one big bag of ice and medicine for her to apply on the wound. The boss even came to us to apologise for this incident. They gave us a plate of fish to show their apology.I was like 'Wow! they have excellent service!'
























































































After the gathering session with Paul and Finny, Paul called a cab for us and we reached hotel at around 1plus am. After showering and packing, we finally slept at 3plus and woke up at 4plus. At 4plus we quickly washed up and leave the hotel a while later.

We boarded the cab which the hotel had helped us to book and headed straight to Taipei airport. We reached airport at 6plus am. Everything was okay until it was our turn to check in our luggages. Our luggages added up to be closed to 80kg and the lady wanted us to go to another counter to pay for the taxes. We followed suit but to our horror, the lady told us that the tax for 1kg of excess luggage is 400 taiwan dollars and we would be taxed for 30kgs. Which means we had to pay 12,000 taiwan dollars (equivalent to SGD600)!

We had only 1000 worth of Taiwan dollars left, we refused to pay, we decided to check in 50kg and hand carry the rest. I remembered Paul said always visualise that the positive things will happen. At that point of time, I visualised that we were inside the plane and chatting happily because we manage to avoid the taxes. Finally when we were able to board the plane, the manager of Thai airways stopped us as he felt our luggages were too big to put in the cabins. But fortunately after some discussion, we agreed to separate the things into various bags and he let us in. At the end of the day, we did not have to pay a single cent of tax! Our prayers indeed came to past!

Through these trips, I've learnt the countries' cultures and I was also impressed by their willingness to go the extra mile to serve their customers. It was a good break for me and I have learnt many new things through personal experience. I've enjoyed myself and I look forward to visit these countries again! ('',)


Friday, July 25, 2008