Jell

Kopi...Kopi...

Today, my mind has been totally crowded by absolutely cute images of puppies...

Omg... Come here... Kopi... Kopi...

Maybe if my mind power is strong enough, I will use the secret to bring the puppy into my life. But if my mind power is ever going to be that strong, practicality dictates that I should use it to bring the job I am passionate about into my life.

And once we start thinking about practicality, lotsa issues will pop out anyway like the cost of the pup and maintenance. Would I be able to afford this pup along with its medical needs and food? Would I be dedicated enough to ensure that I can care for its need? What is going to happen to the pup if I decided to relocate or go for vacation? Would I love it unconditionally? Omg...

Nah, I am so not going to deal with that now. I just want to look at their cute cuddly faces with their cute beady little eyes.

I wonder which one should I use my a-hem... limited brain power to bring into my life now?

I have always wanted a Labrador, cause I wanted a smart dog that I can train. And Labrador have been conventionally trained to be a blind's guide due to its intelligence and patient demeanor. I'd imagine days when I just cry and my Labrador would simper up and let my tears stain its coat of fur. Or days when my well-trained Labrador would switch off my room's light so I can snuggle in my warm bed. And then fetch me my mails and help me with chores... Geez... I am seriously looking for cheap labour here...

But then I saw the Kleenex advertisement which starred the golden retriever. It looks so alike a labrador, just furrier and so much cuter~! Won't you love that?? Aw....

I could just imagine my golden retriever laying in my lawn and chase away any evil birds trying to gobble up my cute seedlings. :P Or maybe not... reminder to self, dogs are not just convenient scarecrows....

And then I thought, won't it be awesome if I got a shepherd dog instead? Something fierce yet so good-looking? A dog with a loyal heart who will protect its owner? Gone were the days when I had to finish my jog before the sun set because I am alone and vulnerable. And everyone would stare as my Lassie look-alike dog struts beside me with its shiny coat of fur~! Awesome!!

But then.... talking about aesthetic value, I think nothing can beat a cute dog that never seems to age. Omg... How about a cuteness overload Pomeranian pup/dog??

Omg!! Omg!! SO totally ADORABLE. I think they can probably poop in my house and I won't even get mad!!

Alright, charging up my brain power....

Gardening & I

For starters, I do not have a green thumb.

According to my hubby, I am the anti-green thumb (if that is a thing). Honestly, I could hardly blame him for having this impression. Ever since we moved into our new place, I have been hacking away at weeds and plants. And when I don't hack, I asked my brother to hack it for me or I planned what and how to hack next. To make things worst, I did mention how rewarding it is to hack away all those unwanted stuff. So, I guess I could understand his panic as he morphed into a 'tree-hugger' and prevented my dream of taking over the world, oops, I meant my garden.

A small part of the hack-away

And to make things worse, according to hubby I killed our first ever potted plant in Perth. No amount of defense could get me out of that, unfortunately. Even though I pointed out that the death was more out of negligence rather than a deliberate act to kill it. And the fact that our move plus OUR negligence, not merely mine could have killed it. The bottom line was that it died. D.I.E.D.

My very dead chilli plant

Well, to soothe my now 'tree-hugger' hubby, I needed to take actions. There are several options for me to began rehabilitation of my garden (before I hack everything away).

Option 1: Hire a qualified gardener and get him to hack away all the unwanted stuff and then plant the wanted stuff.
Option 2: Hack away as usual and buy seedlings to plant
Option 3: Hack away as usual and buy seeds to plant

Since I am, according to ah-hem ah-hem... terrible gardener, option 1 and 2 seems more practical but if somehow I accidentally 'killed' the plants again, my pocket's gonna hurt. So I decided to try option 3, the cheap skate method.

My haul from Reject shop

I went to Reject shop to purchase the potting mix and the seeds, so cheap~! only $1.50 per pack~! I actually wanted to grab those small pots for the seeds but then I noted that they look so much like egg trays except with small holes at the bottom. So cheap skate me striked again, I decided to recycle the egg trays at home~! Environmentally friendly, some more~! :P

I poked holes at the bottom of the egg tray... clever, right? :P

Filling it up with soil and potting mix

Ok, at first I was very patient. I watered my seeds every morning with much dedication. *puffs my chest out* but then going into the next week, it was always harder to remember and I end up watering it every other day. My logic was that 'ek, the potting mix looks wet'.

End of week 2, still no more shoot. The tricky part with gardening was that I couldn't go march up to the merchant and demand they give me a refund because 'the seed packet say it takes about 11-13 days to grow and it didn't! I want my money back guarantee!'. I was getting a bit bored with this waiting, seriously. So I conveniently forgot all about it for another 2-3 days. Wait, was it a week? Oopsie...

But just a few days ago, I noted 3 small shoots!! Woo hoo~! Couldn't believe how happy I was. Baby, I am back! I will water you every single day (days that I remember), I crooned at the shoots.

My first few shoots... Yeay~!

However the next day when I watered it, impatience got the better of me. How come I planted so many seeds, only 3 grew into shoots. So, I did what ALL gardeners do (don't tell me I am the only one, I won't believe it!!), I took a long thin wire and I poke at the soil to find all the other seeds. Just you know... ensure that they have enough aeration in the soil and maybe some sunlight and exactly NOT because I was purely exasperated and impatient. And I found 3-5 more really tender young shoots, I was so elated!!

Then I wondered briefly whether the birds would swoop down and gobble up my really young seedlings, and I was tempted to cover up the small ones with soil. *hump* Second thought, might just kill it.

Sigh... I am such a bad gardener.

Me and my mirror

One day, I saw a nice magnifying mirror with LED back light in Harvey Norman so I decided to grab myself one. I thought that with a clearer reflection, it would help me see myself better especially when I apply my make up. So I bought one online, in PINK~! Yes... *secretly hi-5 myself*

All this time, I am not to say very proud of my skin but I am satisfied with it. Pretty sure I did a good job maintaining it... UNTIL... the mirror came by!!! So it goes like this...

Swt... Flaws that I wasn't sure of started to sprout everywhere I looked! Pores, scars, sun spots and uneven skin tone... Damn!! Get that freaking monster out of my face!!

lol... I hope you can understand my silly story with the Ragemaker app. It is pretty hard to draw in that thing especially with my fingers... :P What I am conveying in the fourth column is me flipping the table and then the mirror fell down and common sense deters that it breaks (except I didn't draw it). In reality, I did not do that la... lol... So I am stuck with it and a realization that there is much to improve on my face. Thank God for make up. :P

Thanks for dropping by~!

Itsy bitsy part of Taiwan

I know I slept through most part of my car trip from Taipei to Puli (where we took our wedding photoshoot), but the rare moments that I was awake a song kept ringing in my head. And that song is none other than Jay Chou's 'ti tian'. The only reason why I would be thinking about this song is because the passing landscape is either beautiful green field of pastures or industrial plants. Well... apart from the obvious fact that Jay Chou is from Taiwan and he was singing about Taiwan, that is. : P

Anyway ... I felt a strong influence of the Japanese here especially when it comes to their tidiness and their friendliness. That may be the reason why I still blogged about my Taiwan trip while Hong Kong only deserved one summarized post.

#1 View of their manicured garden and pond

#2 Entrance to a small bee farm

#3 Going to the cultural village

#4 The view of the cultural village and its theme park from way up here in the ropeway/cable car

#5 Omg... Just looking at it gave me heart palpitation. You remember those rides where you go really high up really slow and then it stops at the top and they just free fall really fast??? Well, that is it!!

#6 Welcome to Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village

Anyway, we managed to squeeze in some time to visit their Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village. Initially I thought it would be a very educational only visit, like look at dances and performances. But it turns out the 'village' contained a theme park!! And it has the tallest freakish free-fall-ride I have ever seen. So I decided to do the I'm-a-girl-so-I'm-allowed-to-chicken-out move... but it didn't work!!

#7 Finally! Invisible ink for the hand, only seen under UV light. Reduces chances of ugly stains, don't you think?

It was raining when I was forced against my will to go on that ride, all the same then as I now have reason to plot revenge against hubby.(Just kidding la) When the music starts, I decided to swing my leg a bit... act nonchalant as it slowly rises. But when it went past the height of the tree tops, I guess whether I like it or not the legs would shake of its own accord. And then the music ends... OMG and we fell... I could actually see the rain drop even slowing down.... wth?? It means we are moving faster than the force of gravity?!? This chicken deserved to chicken out!! Now, one thing crossed out off my chicken list. Phew...

Apart from the cultural village, the must go place should be Taipei 101 ba!! We just had to go there!!

#8 Taipei 101

I am not a very architectural kinda person but then Taipei 101 made it worthwhile. There are lots of things to see, such as their coral display if you get bored feeling amazed about its height. (Pardon me, I have a fear of height). The other thing that is amazing about this place is their elevator, how fast it goes up. Once you enter the elevator under the watchful eye of the guide, it slowly darkens enhancing the star designs on the ceiling of the elevator. There is a panel at the front telling you how fast you are moving... hint: pretty fast. :P

#9 Thanks for shopping!!

#10 We are this HIGH UP~!

#11 Such an intricate coral carvings

Well, it happens that when we reach the 88th floor, we were supposed to go down via staircase to see the damper. Once we exit the staircase, we were meant to turn to the left which was the entrance to the damper but somehow we totally missed it! So we went one round, back to the elevator. We tried to asked the security guard whether this was the right direction but I guess he handled too many people that day or was tired that he didn't listened to a word we said and sent us back down the elevator. When we realized we were back on the 5th floor (i.e. the entrance to the observatory), we were pissed. Lucky for us, the lady guard were much more attentive and sensitive to us and let us go one more time to the 88th floor. Whee... So one ticket two rides? That sounds like value for money for me. lol...

So the other thing that was ringing in my head during this travel is FOOD!! Glorious glorious food... omg... Must thank God for strengthening my tummy that I did not suffer through indigestion as I often did in Malaysia, Singapore, China and Australia. For a person who was tweeting a week ago that I lost my appetite, it all came back to me the week in Taiwan.

I was like... EAT ALL THE FOOD!! And it was so cheap, some part of me wanna giggle uncontrollable.

#12 Hawker stall at every corner

#13 Natural honey. He showed me how honey was naturally produced, just put it in a centrifuge wa... It was actually very yummy. Too bad can't bring honey into WA

One of the biggest dilemma I had was what can I stuff in my tummy... Who am I kidding? Even with my appetite back on, it was a losing battle of my tummy versus food. There was just too many of them!! Thank God once again for sampling booth...

#14 Deep in consideration which one would fit in my tummy

#15 But there are soo many to choose from...

#16 I was like... I want this one and this one... o wait!! There are MORE!!

#17 Din Tai Fung

Ok... Din Tai Fung didn't really originate from Taiwan but I missed out on Din Tai Fung in Hong Kong so I decided to give it a chance here in Taiwan. The service is so much better here as compared to ... you know where.

#18 Xiao Long Bao~!

Let me stop here first, because it is getting long. There are so many pics to post, I have to wait till the next time. So take care till then~! Have fun and stay happy~! ;)

Tales of happiness

Leona Lewis - Happy

Well, I have written two posts on tales of depression I decided that it may be time to complete it with tales of happiness. Although I still do not know my true purpose in life, not even sure whether my decisions are correct or incorrect; the only thing I am sure of is that if I am happy about it then the decision must be perfect

I read many times before that if you are unhappy or frustrated about a situation, you either can change the situation or change yourself. Well, in my situation, I have tried numerous times to change myself and like squeezing my feet into that beautiful shoe, if it ain't the right size no matter how much padding or soles I placed inside it it is going to hurt. Sometimes, I get through the whole day with just a bruised toe or wound but other times the shoe won't stick and I had to change to my backup flats or slippers placed strategically in my car for such an occasion. As simple as that. But in life, simple things are usually the hardest to perform. Take it from me, I still have a few pairs of beautiful but toe-pinching shoes that I keep with the full knowledge that I can't walk a few steps in it without it coming off a la Cinderella style. And I still WILL do that once in a blue moon because I won't let it go. Of course, shoe thingy is just a metaphorical example. A good one as well. :P

I just recently decided to give up on something that I had poured in so much of my time and effort. And it felt very hard to let it go simply because this spelled failure in many people's eyes, even mine. I came across a book recently and found these ten things to do after you fail. Exactly what I needed.

Ten things you should do after you fail:
1. Take a break. Play a video game, read, listen to calming music, watch TV, go for a walk alone or do anything else you can, alone. Take a few minutes or hours to let the frustration die down a bit. You've probably been working hard or you've been distracted, and that could have contributed to your failure. The reason you need some quiet time rather than going to 'twofer' night at the bar with your friends, is that you need to let all of those thoughts about the experience filter out of the crevices in your brain. You don't need a distraction to mask what you just went through. Let it silently percolate.

2. Jot down or think about the factors that you think contributed to your failure

3. Jot down or think about what you could have done to avoid those factors in the future

4. Admit defeat. Stop pretending that you didn't fail. You failed. Too bad, so sad. Move on. Let them go. The key is that they were mistakes and they were in the past.

5. Decide if you want to try and pursue that goal again. Was it worth it, or is the luster gone? Sometimes the moment has passed and it's time to move on. 'Next.'

6. Regroup. If you are going to try to achieve the same goal again, think about what additional resources or people you are going to need to help you. Identify what those resources are and gather them together. Before you move forward, consider what the new cost will be with the required time and materials. Is the goal worth the true cost of what it will take to achieve the end result?

7. Failure is only success masked in defeat. Some part of what you attempted was good. Figure out what that was and do that part again. No sense reinventing the wheel.

8. Admit that what you attempted was a failure, not you. You are not an idiot or stupid for failing. You are courageous for trying.

9. Remember that sometimes no matter how good the effort, the passion and desire, life just doesn't play ball. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose for no good reason. As the song goes, sometimes you're the windshield; sometimes you're the bug. Life is what it is.

10. Figure out what good can come from your failure. There is tremendous value in failing as long as you can analyze what went wrong. Don't waste a perfectly good failure by trying to forget it. Learn from it.

- Steve Rhode

I hope that if you had a bad day, these ten steps would help you refocus your thoughts and decide your next action. I hope it gives you the strength to hope to win again.

Being happy is a tricky business though. A normal person can't be happy 24-7 as well, unless they are on drugs or something because life is all about its ups and downs. But that is also the reason why we should not dwell too long on its downs to miss out on its ups. But even down time teaches a lesson or two. So, I really appreciate my down time because it gave me a wake up call on who my trusted friends, hard core buddies and soul sisters are and who are mere acquaintances.

One time when I was unhappy, my friend forwarded these wise wise wise word (so wise, I had to type it out three times) that I would also like to share with you. I even applied what little art skill I had to write it in pretty colors and decorated it so I can hang it up in my room every single time I wake up and go to sleep.

Promise yourself:
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
Look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
Think only of the best, work only for the best and expect only the best.
Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
Give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
Live in the faith that the whole world is on your side as long as you are true to the best that is in you.

- Christian D. Larson

Isn't that beautiful?

And just in case, I bored you down with this long post without inciting any hope or smile on your face. I am going to cheat by posting pics of cuteness overload!!! Cause maybe it takes a thousand words to put a smile on one's face, but it can just take one silly pic to make a person smile.

Source: Cuteness Overload

Source

Now, don't you feel soo much better already? lol... :D

Sneak peek to my Taiwan photoshoot

Jang.... Jang...

After I made the deliberate decision to give up my research, I had to struggle between my heart and my brain. I instantly felt lighter and certain of what I needed in life but my brain (scumbag brain~!) tried to bog me down with worries that I might regret this in the future. And to think just days before I made this decision, I tried sooo HARD to get my brain to cooperate on the research. Such a scumbag...

So while my scumbag brain is trying to file a case against me, let me share with you some of the happier things in my life, and i.e. I am getting MARRIED~! Still can't quite believe it.

Here in time and space, I am getting married to my best friend and soul mate in the world and I should be so happy but every single day that I spend with my research, I know I can never fully appreciate the beauty and significance of it. So, I am letting go in the hope that once my fist opens, I can grab on to more good things like the 'zao cai mao'~!

'Miao~!'

Anyway, the day we went for the photoshoot, the cameramen (because there was 3) kept complimenting on how good looking my hubby was. And they went on to say, usually pretty girls always end up with ugly looking guys. For a moment there, I was worried that they were bisexual.

Personally, he is my Lee Hom. There are very rare moments and angles where he mildly resembles the superstar but the main reason was because he is so talented. I think I was first attracted to him because he plays the piano so well. Nowadays, I find others who play so much better than him but I learnt to identify him when he plays the piano because I find his so unique.

I wanted to share more of our pictures together cause I love it so much!! But then I don't want more girl swooning over him. (Yeah, I am just kidding... Am I?) Please swoon over me instead... (Ok, this time I was just kidding)

I really love the white wedding gown with its long train... So pretty... especially overlooking the Sun Moon Lake, like one of the top tourist spot in Taiwan...

I also really LOVE this pink dress, I never thought that it would fit me due to my hips, but it did~! The secret is don't slouch which I did quite frequently actually... So I had to reject some of the pictures. Sad...

Anyway, looking at this particular pic I can't help but pity my future kids cause papa and mama's feet are so big. They might (touch wood) be dubbed big foot. I will pray for you that in the future there might be a painless procedure to reshape it or something... lol... and you will earn enough money to afford it... :P

That ends my sneak peek post. Thank you for bearing with me. :D

Being a clutterbug

Ever since I could remember, I was a clutterbug. When I was in my uni years and shared the room with my eldest sister, her study area would be very neat and tidy while mine would be... EVERYWHERE!! She would have various storage organizers (one which I accidentally broke because I did not know what it was for...) while I would have the table, the floor and the bed. It was amazing how I store my stuff, you can see papers on my table, under my table, never in my drawer, on the floor, under the bed and on the bed. Sometimes, just in case someone will sneak a peek at my stuff, I hid it under the mattress. Apart from my paper collection, I had other collections too~! In my final year, I collected tim tam but I do not like to eat tim tam. I used to collect nail polish and nail art but I quickly lost interest in them.

My sister would always wonder how can I find a single thing under all the mess that I make. But the system worked for me. I knew (not exactly) but which pile of papers meant what. Like my doodling would always end up under the bed, my lecture notes on the floor, my stories on my bed, important receipts and what not would be on the table. I had a system but it is call clutter. But at least I didn't lose anything important, everything is and was where it is supposed to be.

Fast forward it to today, somehow I had re-circuited my way because I realized how unacceptable it was once I moved out of my family home. I tried to be organized and file my papers away according to genre and importance. Staples and binding ring are finding ways into my vocabulary and bookcase are now being bought and filled with books and files. But there is one important factor to indicate the extent of my brain being cooperative and that is I CAN NOT REMEMBER where I seem to keep them. The physics is pretty easy, really, staple and file, put on bookcase. But somehow when I need them, it is NEVER there.

And to prove my case, I lost my removable hard disk. I have absolutely no recollection where and how I lost it. No proof except a fading memory of its existence.

Tales of depression (2): How the love-hate relationship start

This is all about my story, a part 2 to the tales of depression... I have summarized it for a short read but it still gets pretty long.

Sorry I do not wish to share it with the whole world yet so only authorized readers would have access to this post.

http://jellzpellets.blogspot.com.au

Till the mean time, take care all of you~!

Updates of me

It has been a while since my trip up north, but there are some souvenirs that ensure I do not forget it anytime soon. Remember those pesky mosquitoes I mentioned earlier? I wasn't kidding when I say they ATTACKED me~! Just see for yourself~!

This is the Dermasoothe antiseptic cream I used to soothe the stings and itches. This pic was taken like a week after the attack. Before this, I applied it all over my arms and legs not dot by dot (like shown in this pic) because the stings triggered eczema and gosh... that combo was sooo... itchy~! Had to resort to anti-histamine just to calm the raging itches!!

And even now, after the itch is gone, I am left with little red dots. I had to pacify myself since I would be wearing a long gown on my wedding itself, no one would take a second look at my legs but how about my arm and my hands?

So dear Taiwan Mozzies, if I ever go back there... this is what I wanted to tell you...

Source: 9gag.com

Muahahaha.... *evil laughter*

Say my name~!

I think the most annoying thing in my life, apart from the sound of nail screeching against a chalkboard, the sound of someone singing off-key (that brings about headache... REAL headache) and a car alarm screeching non-stop would be someone refusing to pronounce my name properly.

According to Dale carnegie, the sweetest word in anyone's mind is gonna be their name (unless you have a particularly ugly name la, like maybe if you are named ugly or fugly). At a young age, I have accepted that my name isn't like the most extraordinary nor is it exceptionally beautiful in any way. Not a single super star who shares the same name as me is ever gonna use this name as their stage name or any best selling authors is ever gonna use this name as their pseudonyms. It is just so common that it is boring. My chinese name is worst, it reflects the lack of creativity and ambition my parents have for me. But at least I have a cousin with the same chinese name, so we borne the shame together (*insert evil laughter*). But as I grow up, I realised it isn't the name that represents us but our personality and our life experience that brings meaning to the name. It is alright that I do not have x or z or any of those sexy alphabet in my name, the simpler it is the easier to pronounce, correct a not?

WRONG~!

Like how hard can it be to pronounce my name? I do not know. In my teenage years, teachers had difficulty pronouncing my name. You know the start of the semester, you have to introduce yourself infront of the class (even though you practically know everyone?)? And every class mate would have no problem in pronouncing my name except the teacher.

Me: My name is Esther.

Teacher: Easter.

Me: No, Esther. Ass... The...r.

Teacher: Easter.

Me: No... Ass... The... r...

Teacher: East...er.

*trolling teacher!!*

This conversation would go back and forth until my friend would tug at my sleeve to indicate that it was getting kinda awkward, me the student trying to teach the teacher how to pronounce my name. It didn't work. They continue to call me 'Easter' to this very day.

So persistent was I that once, I received a present from an admirer, he spelt my name as 'Ester'. (I guess the h went on holiday and didn't wanna show up?) I gave him back the present and say, 'that is not me.' That guy was very shy and introvert at that moment, and for me to reject his gift to his face was a massive blow and he hated me immensely afterwards. :P

It is weird that I am being persistent that people pronounce my name correctly or at least spell it correctly. To me, my name is the preface to getting to know me. If someone can't even pronounce my name correctly or spell my name correctly, how can I even entrust them to know other facts about me correctly?? Because it is just so bloody EASY!! No wonder when other friends say that teacher is their favourite teacher, I was like 'meh...'.

I guess that is the reason I choose such an easy nickname: Jelly. The good thing about having nickname is that I don't get annoyed if you get it wrong, but so far no one gets it wrong making me suspect that those who got my name wrong are major trolls!!

Yesterday, I went to the health service to get my vac jab. The receptionist didn't want to call me Esther because she was convinced that Esther is my nickname. She went on to convinced me that my name is not on my proper documentation so I shouldn't use it. I know there are plenty of asian students who came to Australia had to give themselves nicknames so it is easier for ang mohs to call them, which are infact NOT in their formal IDs. But woman, I am OLD enough to KNOW when my formal documentation reads Esther or something else, alright? She was so busy lecturing me about ppl giving her nicknames that she didn't notice me telling her to change my address.

I probably should give her my nickname which would justify the lecture she'd given me. If the health service wasn't so cheap there, I won't have broken my vow never to return there. Oh well, at least the nurse is nice. She gave me a lollie when I said I am afraid of needles. lol...

How to enjoy Taiwan my way...

I recently went to Taiwan for a short visit and I enjoyed it soo much but I do wonder how I could further enhance this experience so I summarized the following points.

(1) Pray for a cow's stomach~!

Because Taiwan is also called the Asian food paradise~! There is bound to be food around every corner. With my current tummy, could not cram and taste every single food in taiwan within a week and live to tell it. From the fruit stalls to their night markets, from their cafes, food courts to their restaurant, there is bound to be something that I have yet to taste!!

Lychee

I have always looked for low sugar content tea, but I wasn't fully prepared for zero sugar... :P

Fried mushroom~! So yummy... so many different types, do you like the normal mushroom, oyster mushroom or enoki mushroom?

Chao Tao fu... Stinky tofu... yet not so smelly but oo... so yummy!!

Would you like big cock wafer, tart or popsicle?

Although fatty, I love their sausages~!

How about the super juicy chicken steak... ?? Super nice...

They say I must taste the Taiwan beer, the best wa... basically very light tasting so the ladies probably won't have much trouble downing that. But other than that, beer tastes like beer... : P

Pan fried bun

Oyster pancake

The oyster pancake has a sticky batter like glutinous rice flour mix which holds the different element together, served with a scoop of light black pepper sauce. The upside is that you can keep the oyster fresh and sweet while the flour batter cooks but the downside is that I can't down too much of it without feeling the weight of it in my digestive track.

Onion pancake

Food court food also so nice? Damn...

Din Tai fung, international restaurant renown for their xiao long bao...

Spicy duck blood soup. It looks disgusting, right? but then it isn't so hard to stomach. Pork intestine, duck blood, and stinky tofu are considered delicacy here but perhaps it would be for those with acquired taste.

A major heartache for me is that I do not have enough space in my tummy for their dessert, because by the time I finish mains at the food stalls/restaurants/cafes I am seriously full!! And the dessert can be very tempting too... I am not much of a dessert person but who can resist the charm of a baked cheesecake? Like this one below... Uncle Tetsu's Cheese cake. I can judge from the queue that the cake must be very good but then they only sell one whole cheesecake and no slices!! How can we, just the two of us finish one whole block of cheesecake??

Uncle Tetsu's cheesecake at Taipei main station

Long Q in front of Uncle Tetsu's cheesecake shop

Whenever someone offer me food in Taiwan, it is a common phrase to hear me say 'Jiak be lok' (meaning: I am full, I can't stuff more in). It is now a regret for me that I have yet to taste every single food in Taiwan... sigh... if only I have a cow's stomach!!

P/s: If you insist (like me) to NOT waste food, then don't forget ENO. It is great against indigestion.

(2) Try things the smart way~!

Food sampling is everywhere~! This is one of the thing I enjoyed most because I could not squeeze in dessert after main course yet I could not buy these desserts back home (it will spoil) so what better way than to have those food sampling counters?? They cut the food to bite size and I can taste more that way~! Wonderful~! One of the place I really love is Taipei's main bus station~! Lots and lots of food sampling stalls...

(3) No need to invest in DSLR la, get a good phone camera~!
When we were travelling, the best reminder is to travel light because it gets heavier as we travel. Walk walk walk, buy, walk walk walk, add water, walk walk walk, buy some more, walk walk walk, eat... so it gets heavier as we progress. Initially we had a DSLR with us as we travel and the DSLR can capture like super nice pics. But when we are travelling, I do not have enough time to stop and take multi-shots of a single inanimate object to get the best freaking shot. Especially in my case, because it was pouring rain every single day. So have some mercy for those who is holding the umbrella or waiting behind you in the queue, make it simple and just use an easy camera that you can easily get out of the bag and easily snap a pic with, okie? if there is a tiny flaw with your pic, can you just wait till you get home and photoshop it away? It is very sad when you waste other people's time just to snap the perfect shot... correct a not?

Chiang Kai Shyek's memorial hall (It was actually raining very heavily but cannot see, right?)

Our home stay near sun Moon Lake, nice shot, what?

#Taipei101 , the second tallest building captured with #Iphone, not bad, what? lol...

(4) Not good enough? Then get Instagram la~!

Original pic of Cultural village's restaurant

After cropping and applying filter... nice what?

(5) If you are travelling in June-July, don't ever forget your umbrella!!
When we went there, it was the worst rainy season ever. And I am not exaggerating, check the news~! There was flooding going on, erosions and cases of stranded villages and there I was 'hee hee haha' and the 'ladida' going all gaga over their food and shopping. If there was any comfort to myself, it might be that I helped with their economy a bit? And I DID NOT waste food lo!! (Future me is gonna hate me for it when she weights herself... hahaha...)

But the condition was pretty alright in Taipei, basically all we needed was the umbrella. Actually I was thankful for the rain because it gets unbearably sauna-like humid hotness in summer here without the rain. Which brings me to another point, (6) Water-proof makeup!! Time to put those makeup to the test and see just how waterproof they can get~!

(7) If you are staying at their homestay or going trekking, don't ever... EVER forget your insect repellent, long sleeve and long pants!!
WARNING: You are about to view some disturbing pictures~!

Yikes!! Horrible horrible mozzie bites!! I have calculated about 20 bites on one side of my leg, and that does not include the back side of my leg, my other leg and both of my arm. It was so terrible that it triggered allergy reaction towards it resulting in itch + itch == crazy insane me. The scary bit is these horrible horrible mozzie (so horrible they deserve two horrible) bites does not hurt at first bite, they itch and swell on the second to third day leaving me to fill in the pieces.

With calming soothing lotion and an anti-histamine medication...

(8) Not bargaining is for sissies, bargaining is for kiasu

During my shopping spree, one thing I was (ok, still la) terrible at was bargaining. It is a common practice to haggle the price of the merchandise with the hawker, right? But for a lazy tourist like me, I rather save that time haggling to oggle at more food and merchandise so I tend not to haggle. But then when I turn another corner and noticed that the price of the same merchandise is so cheap at the other stall, I got very angry with myself!! So I kiasu and I bargain with every hawker I see (except for food la, k? I don't want later they spit in my food).

If they are intelligent, they will realize that I am bargaining for fun one. Ke ke give me discount NT10-20, I will feel damn syok one. lol... Those that did not let me win the haggle, walk off la. There are plenty more stalls along the way. I seldom do that la, cause ppl there are so nice.... MOST k, most~! But that is good enough.

(9) Don't forget to get more luggage space!!

When I took a closer look at my travel itinery for our return flight home, I took a double take and was aghast that we only purchased 15kg for two person. TWO PERSON!! Where got enough?? Of course I can squeeze my 'little' purchase into 15kg worth of weight. And luckily my hubby travels extremely light but that means I had to restrained myself from buying other interesting things that I see along the way. (That actually includes a LOT of things!!) I had to stop myself from purchasing more magazines, more books, more food and basically more cosmetic products... (clothing are light, I can wear extra, it is winter in OZ anyway...) #FFUU

(10) Get good quality runner shoes for walking
Luckily my friend gave me a friendly reminder before our trip but then apparently my choice of sneakers isn't good enough, I do yearn for a good runner's shoes for the walk. Beauty comes at a price, I do wonder how ppl can stand wear high heels or even ballet flats and walk around so much?

If I was given the opportunity, I won't mind another trip to Taiwan again. Different season do bring along different flowers, moods and er... shopping products... :D *wink* But hopefully after my wedding la... I seriously looking forward to slimming down and shaping up for my important event~!