11 May 07
Beitou Hot Spring
Tian Mu
Wu Fen Pu
Xi Men Ding


Despite the hot weather that's melting all of us, we were all keen on experiencing hot spring! Went to the famous Long Nai Tang where it has a rich history... though it doesn't look like the kind of hot spring that I was expecting =p I guess I must have watched too much tv, 'fantasizing' about those outdoorsy hot spring with a towel on your head, admiring the clouds and chit chatting with friends at the same time.

However, the kind of 'treatment' that we were entitled to were the complete opposite haha. They do have the common pool for all to soak in, but being conservative Singaporeans we were all too awkward to be so exposed together with some strangers (no towels allowed). And the towel that we bought from them were a joke - so small that you dont have to think of where to cover. Just BIG enough to put on your head -_-""" Probably the only consolation was that there were multi colors for you to choose, if it helped anyway.

I had a peeped into the common pool... the ladies common pool to be exact. Coz I almost peeped into the wrong pool haha =p The scene was sort of like what we would see in the IMA (GIP people would know keke)... until the lady boss said 有什么好看的！ then i quickly stopped being a peeping tom =p

We settled on the private pools and the guy boss was kind enough to let us have 6 individual pools. As there were 5 gals and 3 dudes, there was only one permutation and combination for this. 5 gals would take 5 individual pools and the 3 poor dudes were all thrown into 1 pool. Despite allocating the biggest pool to the dudes, frankly speaking it should be too cramp for all of them coz the maximum people it could hold was just 2 people. But just additional one dude wont hurt right? heehee. Afterall during my hall orientation camp we could squeeze around 20 people into one toilet cubicle, so what's so difficult about having 3 dudes sharing a pool right? heehee =p I'm sorry that there was no democracy with the dudes, the gals have a final say in this haha.

Test the water with my feet and ouch! Its soooo HOT! Started to pour cold water into it so as to neutralise the effect and it took me like 10 minutes to bravely immerse myself into the hot spring. During the 10 minutes there were lots of shouting here and there haha. I never knew that hot spring will get so noisy haha. Coz Suhui whose cubicle was just beside mine kept complaining that hers was too HOT and she just couldn't step into the hotspring. And every few minutes we would be asking each other whether we have go into the hot spring, updating about our progress of pouring cold water, testing the water and how the hotspring was still so hot etc haha so Auntie wor!

And apparently it doesnt help that the dudes kept saying that their hotspring aint hot enough and they were like already in the hotspring almost immediately -_-"" Such a huge contrast hearing them to be so relax and Suhui to be so gan jiong coz we were saying that the 30 minutes would be up before she could even step into the hotspring =p

Under the time pressure I had to force myself to go into the hotspring, afterall that's what coming here is all about. When I'm in it its actually not as bad as I thought it would be. Felt so bored that I just started 'swimming' in the hotspring, meaning moving my hands and legs about given the limited space. Had to be in it for about 10minutes, come up and rest for 5 minutes and go back in again.

After I'm done with mine, went around other cubicles to test the water heehee. Now I can finally understand why the dudes landed themselves into the hotspring almost immediately, coz the water aint hot enough. In fact its just warm, can almost jumped into it without 'ouch!' While Suhui's hotspring is the hottest, I'm just surprised that there aint any steam coming out haha... coz its really very hot that I dont think I would be able to ta han leh haha.

And its only after we were all done then uncle told us that we should stay still in the hotspring with our hands in the air, reason being that our hands are the delicate parts of the body. Eh... isnt it abit too late to say so? =p Coz' I was happily 'swimming' away just now haha.

So what's the immediate effect of the hotspring?

Sweat and my face turned red!

Just had to put the towels on our heads coz I think this is part of the fun of hotspring heehee


All wakie and in alert mode after the HOTspring haha

Next we visited a nearby hotspring museum to understand more about the history. Too many words but luckily, they had some english translation too. By the time we were done, its almost lunch time so we headed to the Pu Pu shop at Tian Mu for some pasta.

Pu Pu was the place where the casts of Meteor Garden had a dining scene, evident from the unique car seats and displays in the restaurant. We aint sure of the way to get there, so we engaged in conversations with strangers at the bus stops as well as on the buses. While on a bus, we were talking to a lady as she spoke to us in english. When we were about to alight, an older Auntie turned to us and spoke english! We were all surprised as there was this stereotype that older Auntie doesnt know how to speak english. I mean those Taiwan variety show that we have watched, some of the young artistes and hosts doesnt even speak very proper english, thus making us formed the stereotypes that older Auntie doesnt know how to speak english too. Boy this Auntie totally proved that we were so wrong about it! And we jokingly said that she must have 忍很久， 忍到终于我们要下车时才 showoff 一下 english! =p Of couse its just meant to be a joke, we dont literally mean it.

At this point of time, it reinforces a belief that I always had.

"The only way to counter prejudices and stereotypes is to expose yourself to it"

真的是要亲身体验才能纠正 any prejudices and stereotypes that we had formed both consciously and sub-consciously.

On the 2nd bus to Pu Pu, we asked the bus driver for directions and to alert us when its the right stop to alight. We had a shock when he pulled the bus right infront of Pu Pu, where there wasnt a bus stop stand there at all! Sooooo nice of him to do so! Landed ourselves in the restaurant with each ordering a pasta. Finally we had a plate to ourselves without sharing haha.

Yingjie, with the 'so called' Initial D pose by photographer Jin Xin


This is the car that we dine in. Again, no democracy exists among the dudes and the gals concluded that we had to take the seats in the car hohoho


Group shot

Happened to see a post office so I got Ronald and I some stamps for souvenir sake. Too bad that I didnt have a postcard with me else I can mail myself something haha. I guess after the New York trip I enjoy mailing myself a postcard whenever I have a chance to drop by overseas post office. I like the surprise of receiving something when I'm back home, though not exactly a surprise afterall since its 'To LQ From LQ' haha.

As there was nothing on the itinerary, we declared that the remaining day shall be a free and easy day haha. So typical tour itinerary where the last day is always a free and easy day hohoho. Because the dudes will be flying off tomorrow, we thought that it would be good for them to visit some places that they desire, and Suhui could land herself in her comics land while I could pay Panny a visit.

So Yingjie and I did some shopping in Wu Fen Pu first... last minute 血拼 before we try to squeeze all our stuff into the luggage. Finally bought a pair of shoe over there, and its so easy to 'kill price' in that shop heehee. Wasnt expecting a further discount and the dude just quoted a lower price to me, unexpected =D Didnt get to meet Panny coz she was on a business trip out of Taipei. After Wu Fen Pu, we headed back to Xi Men Ding to meet up with the rest of the gang to take neoprint!

Haha so many heads in the neoprint! If I didnt remember wrongly this is our last group shot together bah. This neoprint machine is so well worth the money haha... coz it just kept snapping us till we all complained that its too much le lah haha. Even the gals buay tahan le, let alone the guys! =p This is also yet another of our nonsense of fun hohoho

After the shot, the gang headed off for their 299 steamboat. As I dont have any appetite, I wandered around the Xi Men Ding area alone. Its pretty late, around 10 plus or so I guess and many of the shops were closing already. Hence, not much things to see as there wasnt much night life around this area, except for the movie theatre that was still crowded with teenagers.

Back to the hotel room trying to squeeze the Tai yang bing and pineapple tarts in the luggage. Didnt know that 2 boxes each were so heavy!!! Next up was to have a farewell party thrown with leftover dunkin donuts where we played zong ji mi ma to finish it.... and poor Jin Xin was the biggest winner (considered winning donuts to eat =D) and also the biggest 'loser' (considered eating the donuts after the 299 steamboat =S)... pat pat. He lost 3 times and Suhui declared that he must hide in the wardrobe for a minute! Haha what a true and dare 'punishment'?! And the choya thingie that they got was very nicey... totally love it but couldnt find any of such in Singapore =( An award ceremony by Suhui who gave out 'graduation academy gown' to those who graduated heehee thanks wor! This farewell party ended at 4am where Soon Fatt, Yingjie and I took a cab to the train station to buy early tickets to Hualien. This is because we missed the sale (we got there like 10 minutes late only!) and thus, had to be the first (they opened at 4am) to get hold of the tickets in case they sold out! Typical kiasu Singaporeans eh? keke.


Thought there wouldnt be anyone at the train station at about 415am... But looked at those people whose camping there waiting for their train!


Yeah we got our tickets! Still alert at 4.15am heehee