Taipei : Dansui & Fishermen's Wharf 淡水漁人碼頭

Dansui Fishermen's Wharf 淡水漁人碼頭 :

Fishermen's Wharf walking area is a boarding point on the Northern Coast Blue Highway, as well as a new Dansui tourist attraction. Convenient communications, green lawn, trails, the white lover bridge and the coffee shop.

To go to the Fishermen's Wharf, one has to board the boat at the Boat dock. The boat will depart every 20 mins to Fishermen's Wharf.

Pic above : Dansui Lover Bridge 淡水情人桥.

To find fresh seafood is not a problem as most of the people's income are base on the catch from the sea. There are also the local fishermen sell their catch - anchovies ( ikan bilis) near to the pier. Look at the picture below, those anchovies are having "sun bath" on the walking street.

Dansui Old Street 淡水老街:

Everyone must have also seen the “Old Street” once walked out the Danshui MRT station to the riverbank. What brings thousands of visitors daily to this tiny town is not just the food but also the gorgeous view of Dansui River. Now the sidewalk becomes a popular spot for a romantic dating or great weekend afternoon family time.There are so much to see along the walking street, from hawker food stalls, souvenir shops and so on. What we really interested are the local food, ie, taiwan sausages, stinky taufu and so on.

We stopped by at this souvenir shop named " Ti Hu Master". They offer a few famous local titbits i.e. Sampan Seaweed pancake and Tu Hu Tiedan. I bought some to try.

You can see the "black iron eggs" (extra hard boiled eggs) everywhere in Dansui.

There are so many things to eat here. So we don't even need a proper lunch. Along the way, we had tried the Taiwan sausage, pink guava juice, girlled sotong, sotong balls and so on, until i have no hands to hold anymore things, not to mention to hold the shopping stuffs.

Thumbs up to Taiwan Sausage!

On the way to the jetty, we were attracted by their shop signage which is selling famous fish balls. So we walked in to try. There are stuffs inside the fish ball, served with soup.

Taiwaneses are very creative!!. This fellow can make a person's face exactly with our face with his hands. Besides that, there are a few of artiests who offer potrait drawings. I'm interested, but too many young lovers are waiting so i give up and continue my "find food" journey.

Pic below: another stall which is selling Taiwan sauage. But, this stall offers 3 combinations of different favourite sausages. Thumbs up!!

Skewed deep fried sotong, with wasabi powder.

Combination of ice-cream at NT$10. Look nice, but its not tasty at all. Sorry, i thrown away after a few licks.

Taipei: Yangminshan National Park 陽明山國家公園

We kick-start our day with a heavy breakfast near Wan Fang Hospital MRT station. I like the steam mini pau (siaw Long Pau NT$110 for 8pcs) . This is because even though the skin is thin, but the soup still wrapped nicely.

After the heavy breakfast, Yangmingshan National Park was the first destination. To go to Yangminshan, we first ride on the Dansui line to JianTan Station, followed by about 30 mins bus journey (NT$15/person) to reach the park. We didn't join any local tour coz we enjoyed our leisure time.

Yangminshan National Park 陽明山國家公園:

The Yangmingshan National Park is located in Beitou District in the north of Taipei City. The Yangmingshan National Park is the only national park in Taiwan that has volcanic geography and hot springs.

After arrived, we took another mini bus (NT$15/person) to round the park. We can choose to stop at any stop point at our choice. To continue the next visiting point, you have to wait for another mini bus. Therefore, we prefer to tour around by bus. Also, this is because the rain started to pour. The weather is so cold.

To round the park (as per the RED route map shown below), it takes about 30 minutes.

Yangmingshan is famous for its beautiful scenery with traces of volcanic activities and abundant natural resources. It is also Taiwan’s third national park and the one closest to a major city. All year round, Yangmingshan has attractions to offer – flowers in spring, beautiful sky in summer, fruits and maple leaves in autumn, as well as hot spring bathing and snow in winter.

After the ride, we saw a cafe nearby the bus terminal. Before we left, we stopped there for a cup of hot coffee.

You may complain that there is nothing to see on Yangmingshan at this point. In fact, it ain’t necessary so. This may be one of the places in Taiwan where you can see the Taiwan blue magpie and the Formosan whistling-thrush most easily.

There is other choice that one can visit the trail by car as follows :

Spot：Chutzuhu (20mins)> Tatun Natural Park (20mins)>> Hsiaoyukeng (20mins)>>Chingtienkang (20 mins)>> Lengshuikeng (10 mins)

Spot：Chutzhu (20 mins)>> Tatun Natural Park (10 mins) >> Butterfly Corridor (30 mins)>> Bird Watching Trail (30 mins)>> Hot Springs.

Taipei: XingNan Night Market

Long await trip to Taiwan!

First, i must give thumbs up to EVA airway for their excellence in-flight service. Also, before departure, Eva air will e-mail a details info about our trip and some of the basic traveling tips.

Fly with Eva airway B747-400. Cheers ~~

The flight arrived Taipei at 7.45 pm, which was 15 minutes earlier than the scheduled time. My Taiwan friend fetched us and proceed to XingNan Night market for dinner.

The Xingnan Night Market in Zhonghe is notable for its ten or more sellers of shave ice. Apart from the food stalls, there are also numerous sundry stores selling a wide variety of inexpensive wares. Shoe and clothing stores are abundant, too.

According to my friend, this "mee sua" is very famous. But, i don't really fancy " mee sua". So i space some of my stomach space for other local food. The food in Taiwan is not expensive as compare to other countries like Hong Kong.

After Mee Sua, we proceed to try the stinky taufu.
Other than that, i tried other local dessert, juices and food as well.

Nope! i didn't try the chicken chop, my friend bought it.

With that, we end our first day program after the dinner.

Jakarta, Indonesia

We flu to Jakarta to attend the company event, K-Link Indonesia 7th Anniversary Celebration. We stayed in Ancol theme park where Mercure Hotel is located. Everyone has a seaview room. Unfortunately, i have no time to really enjoy the facilities here.

After a quick lunch at the coffee house, we are getting ready to attend the event in Istora Senayan Jakarta.

By the time we arrived in the stadium, more than 10,000 people gathered either inside or outside the venue. Before that, we took a photo outside the stadium.

Pic above (from left) : Mr Garran Mcphee, supplier, Encik Din, Business Advisor, Mr Michael Chean, Business Manager, Vgine, Mr Loo, Managing Director K-Link Vietnam, Mr Loo's friend, and Mr KP Leong, A&P Manager.

The Indonesian Queen of pop, Krisdayanti entertained the crowd. Krisdayanti is the first Asia Bagus Grand Champion from Indonesia. The guests are so crazy with her appearance. As the matter of fact, she sang very well.

Another event highlight was the Grand Lucky Draw whereby two units of the Grand Livina will be given away.

Theme Dinner : The Futuristic Party

The Futuristic party was held in Mercure Hotel as well. Some of the guests are well-dressed according to the event theme.

Pic above : My colleague, Farihan and i.Pic Above : Ms Tracy Choi from Networker Magazine and i.
During the three day trip in Jakarta, i managed to go shopping in WTC Mangga Dua Jakarta. Mangga Dua area covers a wide area with the most crowded traffic of cars and people. You will surprise that they have so much to offer, from shoes, cloth, AA grade of branded handbags and many more.