Taiwan Trip 2010 - Restaurant 青叶

Quite a number of exciting food in Taiwan can be found along the street and night markets. Hence, we din go to restaurants for most of our meals during the 9 days holiday except two meals, one dinner in 青叶 and one lunch in 鼎泰丰. Both can be considered Taiwan's icon especially the 鼎泰丰 which has ventured out to other countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Malaysia.

青叶 provides Taiwan Cuisine (ie 台菜 or 台湾料理). It is one of the oldest brand. It also happened that the restaurant was pretty near to where we were staying ie walking distance, that we decided to give it a try. :-)

What did we order for dinner ?

- 九孔 (Abalone, cold dish)
- 乌鱼子 (BBQ fish egg or Mullet Roe)
- 菜莆蛋 (Fried egg with caipu)
- 豆腐 (Bean curd)
- 地瓜粥 (Plain porridge with sweet potato).

What excited us most is the 九孔 and 乌鱼子.

乌鱼子 is Taiwan local specialty. You eat together with slides of radish and onion to reduce its salty taste due to seasoning and fishy smell. I was quite hesitated to try it as I am very afraid of fishy smell. Hence, I started with a small bite initially. Well, not too bad and it tasted like cheese. ;-)

What is so special about 九孔 is the sauce. It blends with the abalone very well. I was surprised of the abalone size, bigger than I though it would be.

Though the other three dishes were more commonly known, the 菜莆蛋 tasted very nice and professional done. I enjoyed it very much. The porridge itself was also an excellent dish. I can just eat it plainly without the need to order dishes.It was served warmly, not too cold or hot. It was very tasty and well cooked. Simple yet a great dish.

The service was pretty good. Staff was attentive and polite. We ended the dinner with a complimentary dessert, warm green bean soup. Half of the total bill went for the 乌鱼子. Overall, it was much cheaper as compared to eating it locally at 欣叶, another Taiwan's brand but has ventured out. We had a nice, full and enjoyable dinner. Will go again when i next visit Taiwan. There are still a few dishes yet to try it out.

See u again, 青叶

Taiwan Trip 2010 - Shifen

One of the common and interesting places to go when visiting Taiwan is Jiufen (九份). In fact, most of the time, it means Jiufen old street whereby visitors will walk through with many stalls selling different products and accessories.

There is also another interesting place but less commonly considered especially if you are in a tour group. The place is called Shifen (十份). It is located along the Pinxi (平溪）sub-railway trail. Three activities to consider in Shifen: release sky-lantern (天灯）, natural waterfall （十份瀑布）and the small town itself. Though a small town, it is a place with characters: peaceful, simple and naturally beautiful.

The buildings and shops are arranged along the railway track. All activities also happen along the railway track. It's a pretty unique experience. Nobody will dominate it but gracefully co-exist with each other. No fast food chain, no Starbucks and no shopping centre. Just a few coffee shop selling drinks and local food. Simple lifestyle. In addition, the place is clean. No odd smell.

Most visitors will likely to engage in releasing the sky-lantern here. NT$100 each (about S$4.50). you write and draw your best wishes on it before releasing it. Great feeling to see one lantern raising one after another.

Photos will tell you much more about it :-)
Besides Shifen, you can also release sky lantern at the Pinxi station, 2 stations away from Shifen. Accordingly to news reporting, it was very very crowded on the 15th day of the Chinese New Year as many people will travel to Pinxi to release sky lanterns as part of the celebration. I am sure thousands of sky lanterns would have scattered and brightened the sky with marvelous view.

Along the way, we ran into two couples taking their wedding photo around the area. It is, indeed, a very nice and unique place to be considered for it.

Though the signage shows that it takes 22 minutes to walk from the train station to the waterfall, it will likely to take 30 minutes or more per way. It can be quite a challenging walk out in the nature, sweaty. However, the waterfall is worth a view. :-) The only "complaint" that I have is  the need to pay for an entrance fee to see it as it is managed by a private organization.

The visit to Shifen give me a pretty refreshing view of Taiwan as it has much more to offer than just shopping, night markets, street food etc. How to go toShifen ? Take a train from Taipei Main Station to Rueifang (瑞芳）station. Buy a unlimited day ride along the Pinxi line. Shifen is just one of the few stations along the Pinxi line. You can also visit the other stations along the way. The most important thing to look out for is the arriving time of the train as it will be at least an hour of waiting if u miss it. Ha...ha...ha...

What I am looking forward in July 2010

Wow, times is flying fast and we are already started July 2010, the beginning of the second half of the year.

For me, I am looking forward the appearance of iPad locally in July. Ever since I started to use the iPhone, I am sure the iPad is able to meet my expectation. I would like to use it as an educational device for my daughter. The screen is bigger enough to facilitate her learning through games and story books. For example, the crossword or find words game. The game is not so easy to read from an iPhone.

The other beauty of it is using it to read ebook. However, I hope that there will be more Chinese books available as I access more Chinese books nowadays. iPad will also provide a better viewing of photos and movies together with my daughter. Hope that it will be bundle with a good package when it finally launches here.

The only challenge is that moving around with an iPad. It can be a bit bulky. Ha...ha...ha...

Taiwan Trip 2010

Had a fruitful and fun Taiwan trip. Done much research for the 9 days holiday. In summary, we have done the following:

(a) Visited 5 night markets: 士林夜市，师大夜市，六合夜市，南华夜市，基隆庙口夜市;

(b) Travel around using the MRT （捷运）, Highspeed train （高铁）, local train （台铁), taxi, as well as local buses （客运） to many places (both the city as well as country side);

(c) Stayed in three hotels in total. Enjoyed very much what the boutique hotel is able to provide + great services;

(d) A lot of shopping. Bought much stationery and 30 Chinese books and DvDs;

(e) Something that is pretty unique - 放天灯;

(f) Abler to watch the World Cup everyday. All the daily 3 matches were available live in all the hotels that we had stayed in with no extra cost;

(g) Tried many food from the street, 便当 in train as well as in a restaurant;

However, we just manage to cover a small percentage of what Taiwan is offering. Will definitely visit Taiwan again to explore other interesting places, soon :-)

PGE (3)

The office is eventually undergoing some renovation to have more meeting rooms assigning it to all the standing committees ie building a home base for the committees. At the same time, the 17 Officers will no longer having a table space of their own. In replacement, they will be using the hot-desking space to work when they are back to office and a cubicle to store their own stuff in office. There were a few sharing and discussion sessions before the arrangement is made.

Is the arrangement necessary ?

Giving each standing committee a meeting room is likely to be underutilized. The members are all volunteers and are working in different professions. It has been a great challenge to involve all to attend meetings due to individuals' different busy work schedules. At times, some of these meetings are scheduled out of office to better facilitate the members. I am wondering by assigning each committee a meeting room and naming it after the committee will help in addressing the challenge or making them feel more comfortable as part of the family.

On the other hand, by removing an individual's table space, I feel that it is less about removing a physical space but  more about reducing one's sense of belonging to the organization or being part of the family. It may work against the effort to building a stronger and functional team. On top of the core duty to perform, these 17 Officers have the important role in connecting and facilitating various tasks at the community level, the arrangement may make some feel the disillusion or confusion over their identity and the "real" important per said.

There are positive value in rolling out PGE. In fact, it has been given much hype at different levels. The 17 Officers were also chosen to lead in fulfilling the PGE and defining its success. We have been wondering the reason(s) over the lacking of enthusiasm among the 17 Officers.

Maybe we have overlooked the importance of the psychological aspect of these individuals and collectively their identity as staff of the organization. Maybe there is also a missing delivery to better match the shared message and actual experience of the 17 Officers in the office. The 2nd phase of promoting some of the better performance among the 17 Officers may work against rather than enhancing the spirit of the 17 Officers.

Maybe ...... maybe they just need more time to adjust and adapt to the new role and arrangements, I see faces of unhappiness, no choice but just do it and lost when they enter into the office.

"Where is my table and where do I go now ?"

Cholesterol

I have a high cholesterol level for many years. It was first flagged when I happen to join in a health screening activity organized by one of the RCs in the neighbourhood. The result was kind of a surprise to me as I dun consume much seafood especially the shell type food. Either I have consumed other food that may have contributed to the high level without me realizing or genetically inclined. Either way, I have to face it squarely that I have a high cholesterol level.

I do not go on any medication since then thinking that I can manage it by adjusting my lifestyle and doing more exercise regularly. However, the cholesterol level is still high after so many years. Recently, I was considering a new insurance package and went for a blood test as arranged by the insurance company. My family GP highlighted the risk to me again and suggested strongly that I go for medication treatment. If not, I will have a very high chance of having a heart problem earlier than I could have expected. The medication will likely to delay it and manage the level within a acceptable level.

I decided to be on medication as i dun want a heart problem earlier than I could have expected. I still want to try many nice food and traveling to many more places. Ha...ha...ha...

Most importantly, I dun want to burden my daughter too much when I aged. Being the only kid at home, it will be very stressful for her to manage two elderly. Stressful in terms of having to worry for us, finding and balancing time to take care of the parent/work/study and to manage it financially. To reduce those likely challenges for her, I have to be more responsible now to keep my health as normal as much as possible.

At the moment, I am taking one tablet everyday before I sleep. Accordingly to the GP, I am likely to continue the medication until 1 reach 1,000 years old. Ha...ha...ha...Come to think about it, am i doing it for myself or for my daughter ? Does it matter anymore ? Either way, I have to face it squarely that I have a high cholesterol level. I just have to deal with it and live with it, right ?

Taiwan trip in June 2010

After a few weeks of sourcing and planning, I have drafted out the programme to Taiwan in June 2010.

The focus will still be shopping and eating and not so much on visiting various scenery in Taiwan. Though I use the word Taiwan, we only visiting Taipei and Kaohsiung. Will leave the rest of Taiwan to future package tour.

Added Kaohsiung as I feel that it maybe too long to stay 9 days in Taipei itself. Will be using the Taiwan High Speed Railway from Taipei to Kaohsiung (高铁). Pretty excited over it though it is nothing new. Will reserve the tickets online prior to leaving for Taipei. Will visit a few night markets in both cities and try out as many local food as possible. I have already identified a few books to buy from the trip. Instead of staying in a typical hotel, we have opted for boutique hotel. It comes with a modern and cosy feel, facilities and stay. Another thing that we want to try is to light up and release the 孔明灯 （sky lantern). This is definitely pretty new to us and not available here. :-)

Coincidentally, my colleague PK, is also going back to visit his family and friends during the same period. Will meet up with him in Taipei, properly his 老家 (hometown) in 金山 （Jinshan). :-) Hope that we will not inconvenience him too much.

My daughter requested to have her own luggage for the trip. We are sourcing a practical and nice one for her. She enjoys pulling it along. But I am sure we will be the one taking care of it for her throughout the trip :-( The weather is going to be warm and we will have a lighter luggage. Warm clothing take up much space. Most importantly is not to rush at every point of visit. It can be very tiring and make it less enjoyable.
 

Mr Diana

I am not a hardcore follower of Hong Kong's drama series. Dun mind watching it especially if the story is interesting + good actors/actresses. One of my favorite titles is "Mr Diana" (先生贵性) produced in 1999. Watched it many years ago when I shifted to my present home after marriage. To learn more about the story, you can click here.

Why I enjoy the drama ?
(1) It is a touching love story;
(2) Both the actor and actress had done very well;
(3) Reasonable story line with some unexpected ending and
(4) Very nice song.

I think the drama also brought out an interesting aspect of relationship between any 2 persons, ie most of the time cannot be fully explained or account for. Impossible can end up possible while what it seems possible can turn into impossible. Chinese termed it as fate (缘份). Ha...ha...ha...

I hope to collect the title and have been sourcing for its VCD or DVD version a few years locally and in HK but not successful. It's a bit strange to me as there are many older titles than Mr Diana available in store except this particular one. Not even online. Pretty disappointing. :-(

It's fate (缘份) ba. Ha...ha...ha...