Holiday...yeyy....

August 10-23, we were away from Jakarta, for a wedding and for big family holiday. it was sooo fun and Joice and Moses had so much fun everywhere we went. August 10, we arrived at Singapore and everybody was excited! didn’t have a minute to rest, we went to orchard road right way for dinner and sightseeing. The children were happy to run alongside of orchard road, we had $1 ice cream and dinner at Novena MRT before we went to orchard, we were so hungry that time. August 11, we woke up so early, Calvin bought us all yummy breakfast and we went to church at 8:30. didn’t know that the church was actually very close to the place where we stayed. The wedding of Martin and Lijia was sooo perfect, meant that the bride and groom were like the characters in movie of Cinderella. the prince and the princess. he heee, we had the cocktail party and lunch afterward at Ritz Carlton Millennia, the lunch was formal and nice. Then we met Shanty at next door mall. Marina square. Glad to meet Brayden and Bazyl. they were cute and Brayden is more talkative now. everytime I go to Singapore, I always find time to meet my old best buddy , Shanty and Collin and the children as one package he he. next time we meet, i think they will have more children than us. ha ha! then we had dinner again at this nice rest which i did not remember its name, uh oh, at ION in upper floor. they served very nice dumplings with many flavour varieties. nyammmm. we had dinner with ayi and Selvi, Gabe and Julie, my parents, and us all. That would be the last supper, tomorrow morning we all will off to Taipei. August 12, early flight to Taipei, 6:00 am we already arrived at changi budget terminal. yeahhhh first time experience with tiger promotional fare. the terminal was filled with India and Filipinos. and the flight was on time, even arrived Taipei earlier than scheduled time. we checked in at Keymans Hotel near taipei main station. our impression of this Taipei Main Station was old and big. yes its very huge. its not very clean enough but its cleaner than ours at jakarta. keymans was nice and perfect. we unpacked, took shower and strolled around the road. the food stall was a lot. we just grabbed the street snacks anywhere we liked he he. stinky tofu and other snacks were all enaaakkkkk. and cheap. we spent the evening at the underground mall near there. they opende maybe until midnight and so crowded. that night we were sooo tired that we all rested and slept like pigs. hahahahaha full and sleepy. August 13, had good breakfast at the hotel cafe. the menu were not many but they served sandwich and othere beverages. the mineral water in bottles were free to drin and take go. as indonesian we took some more for our trip later of course :)) then we headed to chiang kai sek memorial hall and other areas surrond it, the weather was perfectly HOT. you feel like burning when you walk outside. its summer. we did not bring any umbrella, but glad we did not, because this umbrella later will cause us much much much trouble of quarreling between my childre, sigh. then we went to taipei 101 from the tapei city hall mrt station. we took bus ride for only 10NT. the children took nap there. its cold and we had lunch at the foodcourt. the menu was enak also, owacien, fried beehoon and the meatball soup. they must put much vetsin. of course. its tasted so nice. we supposed to go up the 101 but it was still sunny and we wanted to go to Danshui. Danshui is at the edge of the city of Taipei. we took mrt for 35 minutes to arrive there, the cost was only 40NT for each person. the view was really beautiful. its like seashore and we could take ferry ride to Bali island, in front of it, or to the fisherman's wharf and lover's bridge. but we chose to Bali, because its nearer and its getting dark. we planned to have dinner across danshui. children had the tallest ice crea, hehehehe and its cheap (again). we back to hotel with sore feet ha ha, and tummy was full until head. so full...the old street sold snacks and gave food tester wherever we walked. August 14, we woke up and crossed to street to the bus terminal west station A. we were going to Yeh liu, after stinky bargain, we decided to go by bus, its more realxing than the rented car. they calcuated for hourly service yet we could not stop too long in one place. after lunch at yehliu, we took taxi to jiufen for only 180NT we arrived near the minsu at Jiufen. our luggage were at keymans hotel taipei, we only bring small travel bag, to spend one night at Jiufen. we stayed at Windsor b&b as many people recommended at internet forum. it was expensive, one night they charge 4,400 NT plus 1 kid, 300 NT but at least Joice had breakfast too for the next morning. we hit the old street and found unique things were sold there. the road was up and down the hill and they had a lot of stairs. we also had dinner at this strange food shop which the owner posed and hung the picture of herself. she was kind of actress maybe, and she's so confident. ckckckckc. the meatball was so so. just for a note, i had the Lu fan everyday i eat at Taiwan for 11 days. ha ha. they taste good and the kids like it too. plus the meatball soup. moses lovesssss the meatball soup with pork ball or either fish ball. he ate them all. back at the minsu, we just relaxed and enjoyed the view. the old street was closed early at 7:00 pm everyday. because the garbage truck only pass on that time everyday, so they had to close the shops at that time too. August 15, back to taipei by riding bus to Ruifang Station. there was one funny incident happened. my mom was mistakenly saw the train time. so we all rushed like crazy downstairs, which the trains had not come yet. it was funny. ha ha. then we bought the HSRticket to Taichung. it costs 700NT per person. At Taichung we checked in at Tomato Room in an apartment near Feng Jia university. the apartment was clean and big. after unpacked, we walked to Feng Jia night market which was famous with crazy cheap price, so we planned to start buying the souvenirs here. sure we should bargain to getr better price. that night, Calvin and I went out again after putting Joice to sleep. we had one more checking for the things he he and slept at 01:00 am. we helped the food stall to clean up, just kidding ha ha August 16, we packed again and headed back to HSR station and bought ticket from nantoubus to Sun moon lake. the trip was about two hours. the lake many people say look like danau toba, but its cleaner and more things to see around. it was rainning when we arrived so we rented bicycle to go to the bike trail alongside the lake. moses was sitting in front of calvin and he fell asleep during the bike ride ha ha. i was with Joice and she was soooo happy, then my parents also rode the bicycle. the view was magnificent. the most memorable thing for me was the egg roll. they sold for 50 NT per package of four. very delicious. the dinner was not nice there. the food were variety and expensive. the haf strange names in the menu. since i cant read mandarin to i could not choose also. finally we bought soup from 7-11 and bought pork rice again for dinner. we stayed at doris home. the place was so homy. the owner was really kind and helful. they even wanted to give us the umbrella since we did not bring one. August 17, the next morning the doris owner, serbed us with nice and yummy breakfast. it was an egg, salad, sweet potato and soya bean milk. extra bread and tea or coffee. self service. well done doris. i forgot to mention, their room was very clean and stylish. when you bathe in the bathroom , then you can be seen from outside, ha ha! and the decorations were full of cats, miauw! very unique and clean. after breakfast, we took the boat ride around the lake, which cost only 100NT because we bought from dorris home. we went to ita thao and shuenyang temple. a po cha tan was yummy near the temple. it only cost 10NT. after we back, we went to bus station and took nantou bus again bak to taichung then later bought HSR ticket to Kaohshiung. the trip to kaohshiung was about 1 hour also. it costs 790NT for each person. at kaoshiung we checked in at Sanduo Hotel near Sanduo Shopping District. the hotel was also self service, you could take as many as room service as you like. fromt towel to toiletries, very friendly hotel. they also rent the bicycle for free. we arrived at rainy evening and still decided had to go to Liu ho night market. glad that we went even its rainning. we got many things because of the rain, they discount many things. he he. We got the t shirts with cheaper price and and other souvenirs goods like pineapple cake and nougat. back to hotel again with sore feet and back pain. August 18, fresh in morning, we went to Spring autumn pavilion, dragon tiger pagoda and lotus pond. moses took very long nap so we take turn to walk around the pavilion. then we decided to go to Cijin island afterward. i made bad decision at cijin island. rentes the four wheels bicycle and its was soooo tiring to pedal and heavy. at the end we were too tired and took ferry back to the city again with two kids were taking nap. arraghhh... back to the city, we had dinner and shinjhong circle, near hotel. ooo very nice and cheap. the last night before tomorrow we will go back to taipei again. August 19, we had good brakfast at hotel then headed to see dream mall. not really big, and then we went back to station and took train back to Taipei. At taipei, we stayed at future star hotel near ximending. not pleasant service. we arrived at almost 11 pm and the lady greeted with ver rough and mean welcome,so we complained about her at the next day. the hotel location is very near to the crowd of ximending, so its perfect location. the room was not really bad, it just had renovation for the seventh floor. August 20, we planned to just go around the city, so we went to the National Palace Museum, but had chosen the wrong time, its burning hot outside, so when we need to walk from the gate to the museum, the road seem veryyyyy looongggg. But inside was not that bad, Joice could go inside the children’s gallery and tried Chinese games and other interesting games from the antiques inside museum. They even have cartoon with old stylish story. Impressive I think. After the hot burning, we decided to go to somewhere to cool up our bodies, we went to Carrefour to see the grocery and other households things. Carrefour there is also big, but not as huge as one in Jakarta, they sell things very complete and I bought many things for relatives and friends. From there, we did not get any free plastic bags so we brought the big box to go back our hotel by taxi, directly to ximending. Its not that far actually, only cost us 110NT from shuanglian to ximending. That night we spent much time to stroll around ximending and I hunted for some taiwan’s bags. Really like their material and design, not really cheap, but not too expensive either. We had best dinner at achung mee soah, very famous with the queue of course. And then had another supper at 365 rest near there. I love the food there, for me, all are tasty and delicious just lack of chilly  August 21, we were supposed to have another short trip to Windows on china but were cancelled because of hot weather. Instead, we went to Eslite 24 hours bookstore near the Fungxiao dunhua. Its big and they also have food court downstairs. I had chance to read one simple book, called chopstick. Kind of unique with the pictures that resembles a story. Children can to to their section also. We had lunch at the food court, not really special taste. After that, we went to wufenpu district which sells clothes in the whole blocks. Huge and not sold for retail. I didn’t get anything though, but I bought some children’s clothes which were very very cheappppp. Then when Calvin went to find his gadget thing, my parents and us waited near the Jiantan MRT to go to Shihlin Night Market later that evening. The kids were tired, and they took long nap. Shihlin was very crowded, they had many ‘strange’ food. It’s not too expensive but so variety. With fully loaded tummy, we went back to hotel….. August 22, the last day at Taipei. Since its hottt again, we went to the Living Mall, they claimed as the biggest mall in Taipei before 101 was built. I bought some things from Daisho, and the kids also took a nap there. The whole day was spent there actually. At night time, we went back with mrt and glad we could be safely back to hotel. The weather wasn’t really friendly with stronger wind, another typhoon was hitting the centre part of Taiwan. Glad that tomorrow we will go back to Singapore. August 23, we woke up and packed up all things, rode a taxi to Taoyuan International Airport, which cost for 900NT. We were too early but we worried about our luggage, so we decided to arrive early and arrange the baggage and other stuff. Looong queue for the counter of Tiger Airways back to Singapore. And after 5 hours flight, we arrive Singapore at 7:00 pm. We had nice bakuteh dinner in the famous shop just around the corner where we stayed. We even could have short shooping at fairprice. August 24, we woke up quite early because of the market mission. Planned to go to market and had breakfast there before we took taxi to harbourfront centre. Our flight with Garuda would be at 16:15 from Batam to Jakarta. We took the ferry ride at 12:30 from Singapore and arrived Hang Nadim Airport at 13:45. Checked in and the kids took nap inside the waiting lounge. Lucky that we chose Garuda as last flight before came home. The flight was nice with tv channels and food and extra drinks. He he! Bye bye holiday…………it was so excited and full of experience. I could not really type all the details. But the Taiwanese was kind of funy when you hear them speaking English. They trid so hard but I could not understand what they really mean hi hi. Calvin even got special experience with Shifu thing….Lol! We thanked God for this rare opportunity where all of family members could go abroad together and came home safely. The kids enjoyed the trip so much and we were extremely tired actually yet I like travelling, so its kind of new experience for me 