Compl(i)ments of

Compl(i)ments of is a place I've been meaning to return to ever since I stepped foot into it about a month ago. I stumbled upon it when Donald and I had decided to check out the exhibition - Google Translating Tokyoto , a wonderful cozy exhibition (put up by an insanely creative family who decided to document their trip to Tokyo in the form of a famzine/'family-zine') held at the gallery space in Temporium. Temporium's part diner/gallery/pop-up store which apparently may only be around till the middle of March (!) =( but I'm hoping they'll decide to carry on in that premises. Compl(i)ments of is the diner portion, featuring coffee from everyone's favorite Papa Palheta and beautiful ceramic wares by the ceramics collective Weekend Warrior. Simply put, it's a gorgeous space. The minute I walked in, I could feel my heart quietening down, the way you might feel when walking into a hushed, rarefied space. It's been a long while since I've been to a cafe/place so pretty in its design.




It had been drizzling that afternoon so we skipped through the puddles and raindrops to Temporium. All worth it because the exhibition was great and the rest time after in the cafe was perfect. :)



Isn't that a great way to display the cup and plate? Everything was designed so beautifully in this place; all down to the last detail.



Enjoying a rainy afternoon cappuccino and accompanying biscuits. 



Les perpetual face.  

Temporium 

72 – 74 

DUNLOP STREET SINGAPORE 209400 

(I've been meaning to sign up for one of their courses! They periodically hold courses such as Terrarium-making which would be sooo fun. Do check them out) 

Ever since starting work, I think my social life has definitely taken its toll. But I'm pretty sure most of my colleagues would say the same. It's tough. The first year is always going to tough and we all knew that from the start. More and more, whenever I have free time, one of the things I crave doing is 1. lying in bed with a good book (this past year has been about Murakami)(currently in the middle of his opus, 1Q84) 2. spending time in a quiet place sipping on tea and feeling the stress ebb away. So much of it has been about the search for down time. Without which, I would be a lot more worn out and just plain frazzled. 

So here's to a great rest of the week, with pockets of precious down time purposefully snuck in. ;) 

xoxo

P.S. HAPPY CNY!! 

The Kitchen Table Cafe and Bake

Finally, a Sunday of rest to look forward to tomorrow. :) I'm so grateful whenever there is a day off in the week. It just makes all the difference - that ONE day of rest. Not that it's enough (in the ideal world we'd all be working 3 days a week and resting the next 4 ;p) but the days are so much more manageable with that one day to break the tedium and drudgery. That said, I do miss brunch. 

One of the best parts of my NZ trip was checking out all these great cafes where we would sloth around, eat great food and plan our next destination. In general, traveling for food was something we all agreed on. The NZ trip was about the time when I was starting to make a change in my diet though - sort of the start of my attempts at eliminating meat from my diet. Yeshhh, it's been about 5 months now since I've started my pescatarian ways, since I've not been able to cut out seafood/eggs/dairy from my diet to become completely vegetarian. ;p Maybe it'll be the next step. But anyhow, I realized pretty quickly that a grad trip with friends is not the ideal time for a change of that scale. At first I persisted, but then in the end I realized it would be much harder for our resident chef to cater for 4 minced meat and melted cheese mushrooms + 1 muesli dish for breakfast... Still, NZ was probably the time when I started to really develop a liking for muesli. I love how it's simple, hearty and downright healthy most of the time. 

Here's a cafe we happened to pass by - The Kitchen Table Cafe and Bake, in Dunedin, NZ. I just remember it being a very cozy place with really yummy muesli that came in a ginormous serving size. MMFF.







Nothing quite as satisfying as smoked salmon with poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. I don't know how I'm ever going to be able to turn vegetarian because I can't quite foresee life without those flavours. GAH. 



The gorgeous bowl of muesli with a great variety of nuts strewn in. I love the combination of milk and a berry compote as well with muesli.  

LOL. My friend's bagel as it was the cheapest thing on the menu. Quite a decently sized one though. (And wouldn't you agree that toasted bread/dough is just about the best taste on earth? With butter that is.) 

The Kitchen Table Cafe and Bake 

111 Moray Place 

Dunedin Central 

Dunedin City 

And of course, the other place we had to visit was the Dunedin Railway Station - apparently THE most photographed site in the whole of NZ.





How badass are they? ;) 



Heh. I really don't remember us doing very much apart from walking around the town centre, called The Octagon, really quickly. It's a quiet, chill sort of place and the best find was probably that cafe - amazingly, because it was while we were in search of another one that we never found. I like drawing meaning and conclusions from instances such as this. Conclusions such as, 'expect the unexpected' or 'you might not find what you're looking for, but in the process, something better might settle right in front of you'. Obviously I ain't gonna be writer of fortune cookie prophecies any time soon. 

Here's to a restful Sunday! 
xoxo 

Of sashimi and sky blue lakes

Yet another very very belated post. Incase you were wondering, I'm still here. I've just been sinking in the quagmire that is work. Some days are good and some days are plain bad. But most days are tiring. Usually the only thing I think of when I wake up in the morning on weekdays is the time when I can come back home to sleep. But inevitably, after work, there's a sudden spurt of energy, and I'm so much more awake to do stuff - ANYTHING FUN - that keeps me up later than I should be up to at night... and then the entire cycle starts again. Ever felt that way? ;/ 

I haven't been able to blog very much because whenever there's free time, it's usually spent - eating/sleeping/reading/surfing the net, in that order. (oooh and of course, thinking about where and what to eat, and when to sleep). I'm pretty sure I was something akin to a sloth in my previous life. Either a sloth or a very very lazy dog. I don't see how people can be bored when there's no work. I'm sure everyone has that one friend who always complains of boredom within days of the school holidays starting. Yeah, I can't understand those creatures either. But for me, there always seems to be so much to do and too little free time to do it all. I know it's all to do with prioritising and rest should definitely come up the top of the list... but sometimes I get carried away with going out and doing things that are a little more exciting though I know my body needs the rest. Am warming up to the idea that my body really just can't take the stress after awhile and 36 hours or so of no sleep is probably my limit. Why we need to subject our bodies to that sort of pressure in this line of work is beyond me. But so many have gone through it, survived, and lived to tell the tale. So I need to be able to pull through and survive too. 

Before I lose myself in a very tangential ramble, it's probably better that I lift my spirits and go back to some photos from New Zealand. ;) Still a bunch more that I've been dying to post because these are all places I highly recommend you check out if you ever get to go to the South Island. Just a few more posts, I promise, and then it'll be on to more recent things! 

So here we go - possibly one of the prettiest places I've been to. EVER.



Lake Tekapo - just driving by was one of the best parts of the trip! I think we were on our way in our caravan to a hot spring where we would be staying the night... but this was another place in our guide book that was recommended and MAN, was it worth it. You NEED to check out this place if you're in the vicinity (and by that, I mean the entire country of NZ) -- Mt Cook Alpine Salmon farm. It's famous for its sashimi which I presume is exceedingly fresh catch from the salmon farm that's created by the hydro canal fed by Lake Tekapo. We were stark raving ravenous when we were on our way. On hindsight, it's probably because we knew we were going to be feasting on some terrific salmon sashimi so we didn't eat much for breakfast and that ride in the caravan was probably the longest/most excruciating one that we passed...playing bridge. It was hilarious because we were driving by all these great sights, like Maori artwork on rocks (something to that extent), but we looked out of the window for a second, then returned to chanting, "SA-SHI-MI! SA-SHI-MI!", before turning back to our game of bridge to quell the hunger in our bellies. 





:D I love the lighting in this photo! It was just about 5pm in the evening and the sun was setting. Many fond memories of this place because it was so dang gorgeous. And naturally so! 



OOHHHHHHHH YEAHH. Cold, thick, juicy slices of fresh salmon sashimi. We probably cleared this in...50seconds? Felt that way. ;) 




And within the span of about half an hour, the sun set, changing the colours of the landscape every few minutes. It was gorgeous. And the colours of these photos aren't edited in any way at all. :) I found that most of the NZ landscape shots didn't really need brightening/editing at all because of its sheer natural beauty. 

Sigh. Ok, I feel a lot more contented just having re-lived a few moments of that trip through these photos. 

Now, time for bed and work tomorrow. At least it's a half day on Saturday. I'm grateful for whatever I can get. 

xoxo 

Arrowtown

Why, hello there. It's been quite awhile hasn't it! Gosh, the last time I posted I'd envisioned myself posting and sharing photos a little bit more frequently but the past month has whizzed by. I think it's good though, when work goes by quickly. ;p In a way I'm looking forward to the end of this first year of work but there have been so many times during this posting that I've sat back and thought that man, things are going really well at the moment. It's definitely not as stressful as other upcoming postings and I actually do get most Sundays off so... there's so much to be grateful for and to enjoy at the moment. Am hoping I'll always keep feeling that way. 

I just got back from my very first leave since starting work! X) It was such a great trip - to Montreal! A lot of my friends wonder why on earth I would travel to the other end of the earth (nearly, quite literally) for not even 2 weeks (sigh, leave limited to a maximum of 7 days not inclusive of weekends) but seriously, there are always so many reasons to go to Montreal. This time, the MAJOR push factor was the Osheaga music festival with its insane line-up of bands. ;) But ok I'm getting ahead of myself. Before sharing the Montreal photos I feel the compulsive need to at least finish up those from New Zealand. I know you're probably thinking, you just traveled again?! But there are a few things I believe in living for ;) - food, music, travel... amongst other things.

So here's another place to recommend if you ever decide to head to NZ's South Island for a holiday - the gorgeous Arrowtown! 



Aren't the colours just incredible? We'd heard that this was THE place to go to to experience the beautiful autumn foliage and it's a very short drive away from Queenstown, the main town that we did all our crazy adventure sports at.



It's places like these that always make me wish SG had 4 seasons in a year. 4 chances to take a new set of photos with the changing environment each time...4 chances to update your wardrobe... 



This town is peaceful, quiet...perfect for a day trip if you're looking to find some tranquility/to be near nature. Probably a place that I wouldn't mind retiring in. On the left is the picture of the town library. Took this while we were on a walking tour that was supposed to be able the trees in Arrowtown. I kid you not. The title of the talk that we spotted on the brochure was sth akin to An Introduction to the Arrowtown Trees. For some reason at the time we thought it would be a good way to see some Arrowtown sights and learn a little about the place... we didn't last more than 10 minutes into the walk. I'm still hoping they didn't notice us leaving but it was probably a very obvious sight - the only 5 Chinese people in the crowd surreptitiously sneaking off when the group walked on to the next tree.

 
 

Couldn't help notice that there were so many picture-perfect bits in Arrowtown. Plus, the flowers were gorgeousss. It was all I could do to not stop at almost every single one to take a photo.

  

Looking back, that trip really was such good fun. There was a particular Samsung ringtong that we used as our alarm every morning - it's the gentle sound of running water coupled with a soothing melodious melody in the background. Whenever I heard that ringtone at work I'm immediately transported back to the early mornings when we'd hear that ringtone, enjoy it for awhile...then unanimously ignore it (all except for the poor person who had to switch it off heheh). Ok that's all for tonight...off to sleep. Feeling jet-lagged already. I'm SO relieved that the next two days are public holidays - time to catch up with friends, editing/developing photos and sleeeeep. XD xoxo

kaleidoscopic

ZZZ. Kinda tired. I often find myself in this dilemma - when there's time, to sleep or to go out and DO STUFF? More often than not, I end up choosing the latter, especially post-call when I'm actually really tired but there's still that buzz of adrenaline that propels me to do something that I really want to do but only end up half enjoying because I get too fatigued by the end of it. ;p That was quite a long sentence. But essentially, whenever I have free time I keep thinking it's too precious to waste on sleep. But after awhile when the sleep debt builds up, I start to realize that nothing is really that fun when you're too tired to enjoy it.

Most times now my idea of fun is just doing something extremely low-energy. Something that requires minimal effort but accords me a whole lot of inner peace and comfort. Reading for one, is pretty much top on my list now. :) As is scrolling through Instagram and Facebook. Things that you only require your hands/eyes/fingers to move while the rest of your body can remain ensconced on your bed of fluffy pillows and blanket, remaining absolutely motionless.

In other news, here are a couple more photos from my NZ trip :) If you're ever in Christchurch in the South Island, I would highly recommend going to this great cafe - Addington Coffee Co-op. It was a recommendation in our Lonely Planet guidebook (which is really quite impressive because we managed to get a lot of great places from that book) and our very first brunch stop on our very first morning in NZ. Momentous indeed. I just remember us being REALLY hungry and bounding out of our rental car because we were so excited for some food.



The boys and our new friend, the random elephant we found on the table. ;p I like places like these where you never know what you might find. Of course, after the initial novelty of taking photos with the elephant toy, we started asking questions like, to whom does this belong to and... more importantly, where has it been and...WHO HAS TOUCHED IT BEFORE. After that it was outta sight, outta mind.  

BRUNCH. :D The food was so good in our hungry hippo tummies. There's something about the combination of spinach + smoked salmon + eggs benedict + hollandaise sauce that makes it such a winner. Technically it should be pretty easy to cook/assemble once you get the whole poached egg technique down to pat right? But everyone just ends up going to a cafe/restaurant for it. Nonetheless, it's a dish I dream of whipping up next time for a homemade brunch over the weekend. 

Another piece of latte art for the road. And Yisheng over on the right, who always looks like a million dollars, with our elephant friend (before we started questioning its origins). 

Addington Coffee Co-op 

297 Lincoln Rd Addington, 

Christchurch 8024, New Zealand 

+64 3-943 1662

Another reason to love this place is for its great service and comfortable atmosphere. The owner (I presume) was so friendly. He simply came along and struck up a conversation with us, giving us a couple of recommendations for places to go to by car. I suppose this sort of casual bantering among strangers is not uncommon in places that are known for the friendliness of its inhabitants like NZ or Aussie but it's always a nice refreshing change from the culture back in SG. 

Yet another place that I LOVED -- Wanaka. It was a place we stopped at for a mere 2 hours or so on the way from Christchurch to...Fox Glacier? But I totally fell in love with the small-town charm and tranquility of this place. It was just by the lake, Lake Wanaka, and while it was quite a quaint and peaceful place, there was a mini farmer's market out in a park where a school marching band was practising... so much life bubbling beneath its quiet exterior.  It's the kind of place I would consider retiring to. ;)



The amazing 30 apples (at least it seemed that way to us!) for $10 deal from a very friendly Malaysian seller at the mini farmer's market. Those apples were petite but so sweet and juicy and we all got free samples before caving in to that deal. At first we had a whole bunch of ideas for the apples (and I even considered making an apple crumble ;p but of course it never quite materialized once we realized the limitations of our Campervan style journey) and it was fun, having an apple readily available every day within reach. But after awhile it was just like, where are all these apples coming from! 



<3 I do like these photo. A lot. X) And I've no idea what I did but somehow the colours just turned out just the way I like them. I think it's the Wanaka color palette. 




One of my favorite photos of the boys. :)) I can't help but laugh/smile endearingly whenever I see this. It's so THEM. I'm always so glad when I'm able to capture a moment which isn't just about people in a particular place in time, but also brings with it the characters/personalities of the people inside brimming forth. If you knew them, you'd know what i mean. ;) 

Time to chill on my bed before going to sleep. If there's one thing that I really like about working now (if anything), it's that at night, I don't have to study. And that time is perfect for reading. I haven't read for leisure in such a long time but I love being able to cuddle up at night with a book. There really is always a silver lining somewhere. 

xoxo 

grateful for

I can't quite believe how fast time has gone by. So many things have happened in the short span of these two months. My final exams as a student have finally been surmounted. ;p Sadly, there are more exams to come in the next few years but at least this great burdensome one is over and I'll worry about the next ones when the time comes. Work has started and although I'm starting with a relatively 'slack' rotation, it can be so. dang. tiring. Weekends aren't even guaranteed rest days and I'm always pleasantly surprised when I can leave work while the sun is still up(!). I suppose if you expect very little out of things, you'll always be pleasantly surprised.

Today has been one of the most restful days yet. :D One blissful Sunday of no work. I woke up earlier than usual, read Hector and The Search for Lost Time (I do like the Hector series of books quite a bit; it's written in that simplistic sort of way that I know is meant to be able to capture both the child + adult reader but has more meaning for the adult reader)(and at the level my brain is functioning now, I tend to absorb simple things a lot easier Xp), snoozed a little in bed, tucked in beneath my comforters, enjoying the rhythmic breeze of cold air from the air-conditioner beating gently against my face, woke up, read a couple more chapters, snoozed again... until I finally felt rested enough to wake up. :) I've never been a huge fan of the saying, 'you're only know true happiness if you've experienced true sorrow' or something akin to that because I'm not one for much suffering. But there is so much truth in that statement. Days off from work have taken on a quality so sweet and so tantalising - not something I felt until I started work.

One thing I've started doing since I started work is writing a little post on Facebook - a little pinch of gratitude for something that happened in the day that I would like to put out to the giant cosmic world. I try to do so almost daily - sometimes I forget, either because I'm too tired to remember or because I'm too busy enjoying my free time outside :D (always swinging between extremes here)(the same way now I'm always either ravenously hungry or excessively replete). Perhaps some people might find it lame, but I think it helps put things into perspective. I have a plan - at the end of the work year, I would've gathered 300 odd lines of gratitude, and I'll print them all out onto tiny slips of paper and make a collage out of it to frame on my wall. Something of a reminder of what most people in my field find is there most trying year of all.

I remember on my first day of work, waking up a little earlier than expected because of those dreadful nerves. And I remember thinking to myself... I'm so grateful that I had the most incredible break ever. I had pretty much the most awesome grad trip(s) with people I love and adore and it was an accumulation of experiences that are wonderful enough to keep me buoyed through hard times for the rest of the year.

One of the places I was able to go to was New Zealand. It was my first time there and I went with a group of my favorite classmates who are so fun, spontaneous and downright crazy that it was the perfect adventure of a lifetime. There are way too many photos I snapped of us there and I'm trying to come up with a more logical way of showing them over the next few posts but here's a little teaser of our time there. :D

Yeah. So I did travel with 4 other guys. But these guys are the most harmless bunch of dudes ever. ;p (And through not helping me undo and re-make my caravan bed so that they would have space to play bridge in the car in the daytime, they never let me forget that I was their bro!)

A kea we met along the way! There was a sign that said DO NOT FEED THE KEA or it will attack your car. And we were like really??? But then... it descended upon our car. More photos next time. ;p



NZ was just full of these random scenic spots! Sometimes we would stop by and take a look around and snap some photos. But other times... especially when the wind blew, we just hopped down for a few minutes and scampered back up into the car.



One thing I LOVE about NZ would have to be all these long quiet highways that stretch on for miles and miles with NO OTHER CAR ahead or behind! There were a couple of times when we just stopped by the road, did a couple of random jump shots RIGHT SMACK in the middle of the road (photographic evidence here).









Adrenaline junkies we are. Mario style! XD 



And this badass Fox Glacier cow with a heart shaped birthmark on its forehead was too cool to not capture. I ended up having to walk reaally close to the fence and was a little worried because these cows were pretty huge and seemed to be edging closer... but like so much of NZ, it was a part of nature in its tranquility.

Alrighty then, time for something else now. The one good thing about starting work is not having to worry about studying on days off (FOR NOW ><) so that definitely frees up time for other things. Haven't had the energy to bake very much but I have had the craving to just read as much as I can now to catch up on some great books. Currently on my reading list is, "Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul" (just because while my heart lies with independent cafes, I have to say Starbucks really got me through my exams and my first few calls in hospital ;p) and... The Little Prince, which is probably about time.

xoxo (I have a feeling the next post won't be too far down the road!)

Montreal's Best: Fitz and Follwell

One of the absolute highlights of my Montreal trip? Going on bicycle tours held by the amazing people of Fitz & Follwell Co. :D Montreal is such a bicycle-friendly city - there are Bixi bicycles available for rent every other street corner; tons of bicycle lanes (which is pretty much non-existent in Singapore, thus my enthusiasm when I first found out about it) covering a substantial portion of the city, and pretty much all the students cycle around to and from the universities. At least it seemed that way. So when I happened to walk by the Fitz & Follwell store, not only was I taken in by the very cool interior decor and extremely friendly staff (yeah, they actually remember your name ;p), but I was totally psyched when I heard that they would be holding all sorts of bicycle tours when Spring arrived. I ended up going on two - Montreal Highlights, and Hoods & Hidden Gems. Both of which are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. I think I took more photos on the tours but these were the few that I could scrounge up for now. :)



It's great that the tours are suitable for cyclists of all levels. I'm pretty much a novice rider (and surprisingly enough, only fell ONCE. Every time I managed to stop my bicycle successfully at a traffic light without falling off was a pleasant surprise. I blame it on the very high bicycles that just weren't built for a midget like me. -_-;;) but it was still incredibly enjoyable. There was one guy from London who probably cycles everywhere as a hobby and actually brought along his own extremely funky Brompton bicycle that was FOLDABLE. If it weren't so expensive and if S'pore had a couple more bicycle lanes, I might want to get something like that one day. :) You can just stow it in its case and carry it on the plane easily!  



The guy second from the left was the tour guide Martin. He is just PLAIN AWESOME. :D Extremely warm and friendly, knowledgeable about Montreal, speaks great English (you know someone has a real mastery of the language when they can  naturally pepper their speech with so many humorous jokes) and was just a great tour guide all in all. He happened to be the tour guide for both tours and if you manage to get him as your guide, you're in for a really enjoyable tour. :)


Here's a point we stopped at along the Lachine Canal which is a beaaaauuuutiful cycling path along one of the canals in Montreal. 



Lunch at Atwater Marche. Yummy pizza and a drink of your choice. Nothing but hot chocolate for me because it was coooooold that day. Remember, I was there in like March. 





The resident dog of Fitz & Follwell. Can't remember her name but she was a real calm sweetie. 

Look at all the incredible tours they have. Would you believe they even conduct FOOD TOURS in the summer? I felt like dying when I realized that they would only be conducting them in the summer and I was leaving right before that. Montreal is already a haven for foodies based on guide book recommendations but with actual locals leading the way and the chance to work off those extra calories along the way? YES PLEASE. 

Fitz & Follwell Co. 

115 Avenue du Mont-Royal West, 

Montreal, QC, H2T 2S9 

(514) 840-0739 

Remember, going on one of these bicycle tours is an absolute MUST if you're ever in Montreal. It's such a warm, welcoming store that you'll want to keep going back in there if only for the cosy atmosphere and warmth of the staff and store owners. :)

only in taipei

So, before I forget... BELATED MERRY X'MAS to everyone! :)) How was your Christmas?

Boy has it been a hectic past week. Well, not so much hectic in the rushing around sense but I've started on revision for my end of year exams (which have EVILLY been placed in mid-January, effectively leaving me and my classmates with a really half-baked holiday season) and... it's not been good. I've been very much distracted by almost anything that isn't studying. First it was dishing out Xmas cards to friends overseas (because Singpost had such a great promotion ;p), then it was rushing around repairing Canon items that seem to be breaking down at the same time, and now that people have returned home from overseas for Christmas, it's always a must to meet up with friends and relatives. How can anyone get any studying done when there are so many other more enjoyable things to do?? Oh, and I somehow have a knack for discovering awesome online shopping websites at the most inconvenient and unnecessary times. :P Apart from that, I'm pretty much past the initial deadline my friends had given me for editing my Taiwan photos so partly out of guilt, and partly out of very fond memories of those times, I decided to go through more of them tonight.

As the title of this post goes, to me, these things can only happen in Taiwan. X)
(and just so you know, it's quite photo heavy! a lot heavier than anticipated) 

 
1. At the Tao Yuan International Airport, there were reading glasses of varying degrees provided for people who needed some help in filling out their immigration forms. I just thought this was so dang cute and considerate! :D 
2. I've never seen bicycles kept like that. How'd they all get up??? 
3. Left: Mysterious staircase we happened to pass by around the Shi Fan University area. Right: Donut on an Eiffel Tower?? But with a little sign below that says, "I'm Real!". 

 
4. Wandering around a night market in the daytime. Not particularly happening. :) But that's what you get when you're at tourist unsure of the time when things start happening. 
5. Milk carton display! 
6. Fried minced meat/veggie dumpling from a street stall if I'm not mistaken.

 
7. Dimsum being sold in a bakery! Can you believe that? :D Such a genius idea. And sooo comforting on a cold wet rainy taipei morning to bite into a steaming hot piece of siew mai/bun. 
8. And it just so happens that that bakery was 30 secs away from our hotel.


 
9. The land of Bubble Tea. (psst, notice Sandra's lovely manicured nails? We made it a point to very subtly position our then newly manicured nails into many photos.) 
10. Bottles of milk tea sold in Seven-Elevens. They were REALLY good. Why can't they have that in all Seven-Elevens, starting with the SG ones??


11. Soooo many of these Daiso-like stores selling almost everything you need for a low price. I would probably get all my Xmas ornaments from there if I actually lived there X)
12. Oyster Omelet from a night market stall. NOT my fav because of that strange sauce they splashed on top of it. I still say that the SG ones are the most delicious; if you have the luck to eat from a good stall.
13. One of the many dogs we saw in Taipei. This one was out enjoying the cool night breeze at the night market.
   
14. Just had to take a photo with that gorgeous mural on the wall of a small store at the Shi Fan night market in the background. It was by far, my favorite night market. :D So many little boutiques that we didn't manage to check out because that place was just a maze. 
15. One of the more typically well-dressed dogs in Taipei.


  16. Just thought I'd add this in since it's only in Taipei that we walked sooooo much and were way too tired to step into the Chiang Kai Shek memorial hall. Though we did manage a couple of jump-shots. 
17. One of the closest we got to the Taipei 101 building. Due to the rain every day and almost each night, we never made it up to the top of the building because of all that fog. And we had some serious night market traipsing to do. 

~~

Yeah, ok am now pretty much peached out. Today my classmates and I had a 12 hour marathon revision lecture. YEAH, I'm still coming to terms with that figure. It really helped that it was by one of the nicest, most dedicated Profs so I was too busy admiring him (only because he's so dedicated and patient XD)(I've come across too many not-so-nice-tutors to not (outwardly) appreciate an awesome one when I see one) to really fall asleep. But still. 12 hours.

Can't wait to graduate and not have to take another exam in my life again. :( I can't understand how people make it to consultant/emeritus prof (and the works) level without seriously losing all their hair.
And also, can't believe 2011 is drawing to a close. It just feels like there's a lot more that I want to do... or perhaps reflect on slowly and quietly before the new year begins. But I have a feeling I'll just be revising (or attempting to) through the new year, which is a rather depressing thought because we should all take time out to stop and smell the roses and all that eh? So do you guys have any New Year plans at the moment? :)
xx off to sleeeeeeep.