the little i've seen of kuala lumpur!!!!

   Malaysia is sooo elusive..when I went to Singapore in 2006, the plan was to cross the border to Malaysia. But the scary encounter with the immigration scared me more to go on with plan. For almost 4 days, my sistah and I memorized the mrt lines of Singapore..Fast forward 2012, in December we booked our flight to to HCM. The grand scheme then was to proceed to Siem Reap (our ultimate destination) by land, fly to KL, spend 2-3 days and fly back home to Manila. WELL, it didn't happen that way. Because we were more conscious of the fare price, the flight we booked allowed us only an overnight stay in KL. Big blunder, because the higher fare would eventually paid off when we could have seen more and we could maximize the time we had.....Blame it on our not so profound analysis..huhuhu. But a bigger blunder was when barely two weeks after we arrived, Cebu Pac made its maiden flight to the land of Angor Wat. Maybe if we could have waited longer, travel cost would have been a lot cheaper.....Anyway....we squeezed what could possibly be done in 36 hours....and here it is.

after 6 days, the first decent meal I had. Of course, I didn't starved, its just that Vietnamese and Khmer cuisine are not my stuff...big thanks to jay for feeding us. the shrimp is something new..... this is at jay's place, just a walk from the petronas towers

the petronas towers by night....really impressive, both in this picture and in actuality (this pic is by stella)

the following day....on the surrounds of the Central Market....

old painted new....why does the MMDA painting (camouflaging) stuff don't look as cuties as this?

I'm not yet done with you, MALAYSIA....I want to see more of you......

ANGKOR WAT in my mind....

I've never seen Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in full. Unconsiously, I don't want to ruin my mental image of Angkor as I've seen it in history books.  It's my ultimate Asian destination....And this is what I got.....

I knew that there would be lots of people,  but I didn't expect  that it was a struggle just to have a  good view of the sunrise...the sun that did not show up.....huhuhu

I say a lot of people, as in coaches and coaches of hanguk saram...annyeong

I was not so sure if any one of my friends  (just kidding friends, sorry) was a jinx, but the moment we left Phnom Phenm, disappointments started coming in. What was supposed to be an 8 hour bus ride, became almost 12. I think that Cambodians have queer way of highway engineering...We arrived at almost 12 midnight in Siem Reap. It was a long and tiring trip, and we were longing for nice and comfy beds...Yet, another surprise came, the room was not as we expected...so it took a while before we did settle for the night...and oh by the way some tempers flew...(which I'd rather forget)...

And lest I forget, my monthly visit chose to come the day we visited Angkor...As it was "bloody" for me, movement was very limited and made several trips to the not-so-comfortable toilet in which you have to pay 1000 riel (a quarter of a US$).

And if it was not enough, it rained.....

 

 better view of the sky, temple and ground after the rain

 again, waiting for the sunset that never came, haring araw decided to be consistent....

 this is the best shot we got!

this is not original, nevertheless, I say.....

I  shall return....

more sights of taipe

Because I was hesistant to push thru with this trip, not much planning had been made. It was fun though, like getting lost, boarding the wrong bus, and walking a lot (because there was no one to taxi-cost share with)...In the process, there were lots of discoveries and so many stories to tell....

                                             

 

first stop was the Longsham Temple...ASTRO BOY got his own place here

live plants offerings at the temple

XIMENDING didn't disappoint me.

I wished I got a better shot of these cute squirrels

an accidental destination. from the church, I boarded a bus that says Taipe Main Station, not knowing that it just came from there and was going to Yangmishan. I was quite scared that the bus seemed to go uphill, glad though that I did'nt get off at the first stop. it was freezing up there....by the way, I paid my fare using my day pass....sulit!

for sure this isn't the National Palace Museum...getting lost has its joy indeed...i witnessed a cultural presentation and got a free drink...

this is the real one.... sooo huuuuggeeee....a day is not enough......entrance fee is NT160.00....a must see for culture buff

the next best thing to owning an iPhone, iPad or mac (i cannot afford these stuff at the moment :)...bought the book from eslite in CKS Memorial @NT649.00... it's published by Little, Brown UK, maybe that's why it does not cost as much as the ones we have here in Manila

because I was scared to stay alone in a hostel, because I am not moneyed enough to book a 5 star hotel, because I didn't want to walk far to get to a public transport, because I wanted to have a good eat before starting the day, and because it was the cheapest at that time, I chose this hotel thru agoda. and I had no regrets...

alone in taipe with a busted cam

Travelling alone requires a lot of preparation. But there are unexpected things that happen along the way...Good or not soooo good, they're part of the experience..

Arriving in Taoyuan International Airport at past 12 am, I took a bus that goes to Taipe Main Station. I knew  that I'll be taking a taxi from the bus stop to the hotel that I booked, but never had I imagined that I am going to share it with a stranger. The young Taiwanese man who was in the same flight with me and runs a shop in Cartimar offered (and I accepted readily:)) to share taxi....Excitement (plus fatigue) may had overwhelmed me before I thought of my safety. But on the hindsight,  it is more scary to take a taxi alone with a driver who doesn't understand English at all.

The 2nd time I taxi shared was when I went to Catholic Church frequented by OFW. I am supposed to meet an OFW I met a day before in McDonald's. As she instructed, I took an MRT and got off at Minquan Station and looked for lone exit and the Starbucks. Well, she didn't show up, there were several exits and there is no Starbucks in sight. Though, it seemed I was on the right MRT Station because there were lots of Filipinos. Glad that the 2 Filipinas whom I asked for the direction of the Church offered to take me with them in the taxi. As usual I readily accepted, but unlike my first taxi sharing experience, they didn't accept my share of fare..Tipirin ko daw pera for pasalubong. hehehe. It nice to know that there are still people who are willing to help without much thinking and I'm fortunate to have encountered them.

Busted camera, is one thing a traveller dread. Well it happened to me and it happened this trip when I am alone and has no back up cam. 2nd day on my trip, halfway to the Maokong Gondola ride, I noticed that LCD didn't show anything. I thought that  I got a low battery, but the flash was ok. Repeated on and off, didn't show any improvement. I, realized later that only LCD was damaged, all else were working. So I just took shots after shots, and just hoped that some would turn all right.

view from Maokong Gondola (cable car)...soooo cooold on a rainy morning

Taipe 101......

self shot inside the 101...how i wish the cam was ok, i am a lot slimmer in this one :)

almost perfect....CKS Memorial Hall...their bookstore is worth a visit....

quick tip.....

If you are taking Cebu Pac going to Taipe that arrives past midnight, after immigration, custom,  and bank (for money exchange) go straight to the bus parking and get on the bus (as this may be the last) going to Taipe Main Station. The ticket booth is already closed by that time. (In my case, I lingered at the ticket counter waiting for someone to show up. Lucky me, a Filipino told me to go to the parking lot). Make sure too, that you have the exact fare as the driver/conductor does not give change . The fare that time was NT$125.00

the not-so-grand birthday celeb 2011

 It's not everyday I get to celebrate my birthday. I made grand plans late last year but one thing led to another....(I'm talking about expenses  uhmm...) I ended up with a small celeb with my friends. I booked a room at The BayLeaf, and together, we watched the lights show in Ayala, dined in Little Tokyo near Makati Cinema Square and talked until we dozed off.. 

@the lobby of The BayLeaf @Intramuros

from this room, we got a good view of the golf course and the Manila City Hall...thanks to Marie Tolentino, sales acct. manager

feast to the eyes and it was free!

lanterns @ the little tokyo

the room comes with a buffet breakfast....don't be fooled....i ate more than what is shown above :)

Food Pics in Taipe

If there is one sure thing to say about Taipe....it is a foodie's paradise. Food is cheap as well as the transpo,,everything else..... expensive............my pocket was hurting.......

@ the modern toilet restaurant

a little bit pricey for my budget but the effort on the interior made it up...

set meal for NT$210.00 with soup, ice cream and iced tea

yucky or yummy?

this is a real one...very comfy indeed!

shilin night market delights...a glass of strawberries is NT$150 with free guavas

old street @ Tamsui.... lined up with local goodies or should I say tourists' delights

for the meat lovers

pasalubong stuff from a market near CKS MH MRT Station

Taipe me or Taipe me not?

In time for my first solo trip overseas, I am re-launching this blog. In less than 36 hours I will be in Taipe (hopefully!!!). This is just like a week end get away...Got a promo ticket way back in October and despite countless changes of mind I hope to be there.