I am back from Taiwan! After following the tour from the 15th December 2008 to 21st December 2008, the remaining 12 days (21st December 2008 to 1st January 2009) are on our own free & easy.

Quite lazy to blog everything instead I will make it brief and let the pictures do the talking.

21st December 2008 to the 26th December 2008
We are in Taipei from the 21st December 2008 to the 26th December 2008 and hence we spent the Christmas there.

26th December 2008 to the 29th December 2008
From the 26th December 2008 to the 29th December 2008, we are in Taichung for the Fengjia Night Market (台中逢甲夜市) and on the way to visit my mom’s business partner there. Transportation in Taichung is quite a problem as there is no MRT and we have to take bus, but the problem with Taiwan is that their bus stop sometimes do not look like a bus stop. Luckily Taichung got quite a number of popular mountains as well as the Fengjia Night Market. If not I don’t really see a need to go there.

29th December 2008 to the 31st December 2008
From the 29th December 2008 to the 31st December 2008 we are in Kaohsiung. Transportation in Kaohsiung is much easier as they have MRT there called KMRT, but they are using their own system and hence the Taipei Easy Card is not applicable there. Kaohsiung is not really cold, normally the temperature hovers above 20° Celsius.

31st December 2008 to the 1st January 2009
From the 31st December 2008 to the 1st January 2009 we are in Taoyuan as it is closer to the airport. There is also the 2nd largest countdown in Taiwan after Taipei and we are there to witness it. It was fantastic!

My Summary About Taiwan
It is a difficult task finding public dustbins, public toilets and money changers! Also it seems to me that Taiwanese do not have the habit of helping people to press the “Door Open” button of the lift when people are moving large objects. Communication is a problem to me as my Mandarin is just average. I can speak but it seems that some of the terms we used (we always mixed Malay, English and Mandarin together) is not applicable there. I can’t really read Mandarin characters and most of their menu are in Mandarin and only sometimes there are English “subtitles” to go along with it. Taiwanese are quite poor in English.

I LOVE the weather day, I hardly perspire during my 18 days there but the moment I landed in Singapore, I perspired.

Taiwanese love beef and pork! Other meat types are a little bit more difficult to find there.

Somehow, the taxi drivers there give me a better feeling that they are more honest, friendly and helpful when compared with those taxi drivers in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

The myth that Asus EEE PC are cheaper in Taiwan is a hoax. Singapore is definitely cheaper and if you get it there, the warranty is in Taiwan only. Luxury brands and some most of the “above average priced stuffs” are also cheaper in Singapore than in Taiwan.

Pictures