Isabelle

Cute compiled Isabelle (wedding cake/pastries company) commercials~

SF

San Francisco Giants!
World Series Champion 2010!

Well deserved...especially after that last disappointment in 2002...(I actually watched every game in the 2002 World Series btw)

10 10 10

十全十美!

Trips

So in the last couple of weeks in Taiwan during August, we planned several trips mostly to the central mountains. We went on a one day trip to Alishan with my dad's friend, and the next day we went to Sun Moon Lake (been there every summer since 2008) to stay at a fairly luxurious hotel for a night.

Alishan's trip was supposed to contain 特富野古道, which is a trail used during the Japanese occupation periods to transport Hinoki logs (檜木). Unfortunately it was under renovation until November... so photos of the entrance counts right?... yea I'll definitely go back there next time!

Sun Moon Lake trip was very fun. We reserved a room in the hotel that faces the lake. Go out on the porch and you see the water beneath you! And the best part is that we saw fish, hundreds, in the clear water in the morning. Anyways The hotel package included a boat tour of the lake ticket to the new Sun Moon Lake Ropeway (gondola) traveling to Formosa Aboriginal Culture Resort (九族文化村), and tickets to that resort. And this year also marked my third time in a row taking a boat tour of the lake...did that previous two summers too.

What a wonderful feeling it was sitting on the porch watching the calm lake in the morning...

Well all thanks to dad for planning and driving, and mom for...allowing it to happen haha. I mean, I was leaving Taiwan again, so we got to do something! And since the beaches was too hot...

Majestic

中秋 2010

I realized that I stopped posting after August 1. I still need to catch up posting about several trips in Taiwan. I'll do that later. Anyways it's Mid-Autumn Moon Festival and the moon is bright and round as ever. Mom and dad called to wish me happy moon festival. They had white wine and mooncake, and a clear night sky for viewing. 享受~~

Moved into my graduate housing. It's a new fully furnished studio room (including flatscreen TV, desk, bed, tables, and others) in UCLA's Hilgard Houses and I'm apparently the inaugural resident here. For all four years in undergrad I have at least one roommate. And now I am finally living by myself! Here's testing if I'm up to the standards of my parents in terms of household chores... and cooking!


Photos of the full moon with backdrops at my apartment.

中秋節快樂!

新竹二日遊

南園人文休閒客棧

This resort located in the outskirts of 新竹 has everything designed in traditional Chiness style from buildings to gates to ponds and bridges. It used to be a retreat for 聯合報. But after it ran out of business, the garden was enlarged and a residential building was added to accomodate tourists.

The residential building has only 20 rooms of various sizes. The rooms are very comfortable with a mix of modern and retro design. The staff and service made us feel exclusive and special, like the whole resort was serving the dozen of customers. But it also means that it is expensive! About 13,000NTD for a night! 3pm was the room check-in time. At 4pm we went on a tour of the garden. 6pm was dinner and there were only about twenty people eating and staying for the night there. After dinner there was another night tour of the garden which I went with my dad, but it was the same garden so nothing more interesting other than changed lighting.

I think if you like to see traditional buildings designed according to 風水, that's a place for you. I like how small-scale the lodging is, and that we could just relax outside without getting bitten by mosquitos. It was surprising that I didn't see any mosquitos there.

六星集Spa新竹會館

The next day we went to a foot-massage place next to Hsinchu science park. The place has a Bali style design. I asked for a male massagist and I think he made the loudest noise hitting my legs. Every punch he took at my thigh was pretty loud, but with a tempo too! It was also my first time to this kind of place.

Both of these places are hidden in mountain roads or small alleyways that, if you're not a local, you wouldn't know about them. But they're more interesting than the average tourist attraction spots!

庫肯花園

Ok I went to this place (庫肯花園) about two weeks ago (7/14) with several friends from NCKU BME lab. It is tucked in a alley on 大學路, but the exterior looks very lovely. We sat on the second floor which unfortunately didn't have much interior decoration. The first floor was much prettier. Food was pretty good. Actually I loved the soup. It was a pumpkin soup and I could actually taste some chunks still hadn't been scrambled. We all got spaghetti, so next time I have to try the steaks.

But the main focus is of course meeting friends which I haven't seen in a year. Sure I've talked to them online but when actually talking in person, they bring back this familiarity that one cannot forge just by cross-distance chats. One year may seem short (some friends from elementary school I haven't seen in 10 years!), but still enough time has passed so that we have something interesting to reveal.