beauty chica: Taiwan life

Polar Expo Taipei, Taiwan 2015

Yesterday was the last day of Polar Expo in Taipei. Polar expo is an ice festival in Tucheng, just outside Yongning MRT. Two minutes walk. It is basically a giant refrigerator with frozen things inside. Ice Bear Statue, huge ice slider and many more!

Entering the Polar Expo was a huge temperature difference. Outside was 30 degrees celcius and inside was minus 18! So yeah, my hands were all cold and trembling, and i had runny nose too! This man made winter was held during July and August. I am not sure of the exact date, but last Monday was the last day of Polar Expo. Probably, now all the frozen creatures inside are melting down since the expo is ending and moving soon! #tearyeyes#

Inside you could play snow fight. Not necessary “ball” fight since the snow was so thin. It was enough, though. I could scoop a handful snow and play snow fight with Mr. R. It was real fun! The snow went in to my bag, socks and jacket, you name it! since Mr. R was so mean and unforgiving. He chased me and poured me with snow >.<. Brrrr….

And yeah, this is me. All dressed up with wintery apparel!

Next? Igloo and this huge slider!! Igloo was nothing new for me. It was kinda small and not special, however when i went inside, it was actually quite warm compared with the temperature outside. Ingenious!

This ice slider was kinda scary. At first i did not have guts to play since the ice was so SLIPPERY!! I was afraid i would slide down and hurt my head or something on the way down. Really admire those little kids who played over and over again. They have no fear! Oh kids..

Mr. R helped me to sit on the top and let his hands go when i was finally ready. Shooooooooo…. Hao wan!! It was not scary at all.

Oh yeah, there was this ICE coffee shop which i think was cool. I just felt bad to those waitresses who have to bear the cold for hours.

Last, Boat Miniature! It was fun playing at Polar Expo. Though it was kinda small in size, but it was great experience to feel a man made winter in the middle of the summer!

Love, hana

1:24 PM
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Tainan Trip – Day 1

Slice of life

Hello! Missing me or not?

hehehe i have a life here, and it has been a hectic one. I work long hours daily and yeah.. when i come back and sit in front of computer my eyes are like.. HALF CLOSED wth! Not cooperative at all. Anyway, since i have not appear for the longest of time, here is small update of my life. I finally finished my first year of MBA in Taiwan! I went for a couple of trip. I explored the South Taiwan and another trip overseas which i will tell you more in detailed. When i have time. *finger crossed*

For now, i want to share with you about my trip to Tainan. Tainan is located in Southern Taiwan, near Kaohsiung and Pingtung. If you are planning to come to Taiwan and want to see more of the local people and Chinese culture, you should totally come here instead of Taipei! Taipei is a metropolitan city, well you can see small sparks of tradition here and there, but believe me, the ancient Chinese culture feels MUCH MUCH MORE real in Tainan! Let me show you around!

National Cheng Kung University

National Cheng Kung University is one of the top university in Taiwan and it has a LONG history. This may not your kind of cup of tea, but i like to visit world top universities, just to remind me about my personal dream about becoming a professor. You know, walking in this kind of environment spark some motivation inside me that my dream is just a step away. Just a little bit more hard work and patience, i am going to be there. As you read this, mohon doanya ya, semoga cita – citaku tercapai! Aminnnn.. Yuk dilanjut ceritanya.

When you walk around NCKU, you will see some ruin from the past. Like this red brick over here. It was build during the Manchu area and it was the city gate. I checked the map of current Tainan and it was amazing how the city has expanded!

Best breakfast in town!

I suggest you to visit National Cheng Kung in the morning and have a visit to the best breakfast shop in town. From Cheng Kung University take a turn to Yule Street. Turn right and you will soon see the red huge billboard sign. I am sorry my computer does not support Chinese character, so i can not type it out for you >.<. Upon arriving, find seats first because the shop is super crowded, then line up. The line would be quite long, but it is okay because the shop operate like Mc Donald drive thru. You will take what you want from the stall and pay them in the cashier.

To be honest, the place is kinda dirty. It is more like those warung in Indonesia with plastic chairs and crowded table. However the food was great and cheap. On average it will cost you around 40 NTD per meal. Do not forget to get yourself the famous dan bing, a pancake with egg.

I do not recommend this xian dou jiang.It tastes great for locals. My professor asks the locals for the opinions and they say hao he which means delicious. But when i tasted it myself … >.<……. It was soooo terrible! It is like a mix of ta hwa and soya milk but SALTY! Personally i am not picky eater, but this one, i really could not eat without cringing! But it is a MUST order, because this salty soya milk is traditional food. Just share it with many friends and taste a spoonful of it to see if you like it. Afterall, adventure would not complete without trying something new, right?

I am going to talk more about my previous trip in Tainan, but it is getting late here. See you in Tainan Trip part 2!

Cheers,

Hana

11:00 PM
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Travelchica: Yingge Ceramic Old Street, Taiwan

Life in Taiwan

Kalau dua minggu lalu aku jauh - jauh ke Miaoli, minggu ini aku traveling deket - deket aja. Yingge. Yingge ini dekat banget sama Sanxia, naik motor cuma 10 menit doang. Kalau kalian pengen main ke Yingge, caranya gampang. Naik aja TRA dari Taipei Main Station ke arah Taoyuan. Satu stasiun sebelum Taoyuan, kalian berhenti deh. Nah di deket situ, sekitar sepuluh menit, ada Yingge ceramic old street. Simak dulu ya, videonya :)

Yingge ceramic old street ini seperti Kota Tua di Semarang. Dengan nuansa seabad yang lalu, kamu seakan - akan keliling di daerah Taiwan jaman dulu. Kamu juga bisa puas liat - liat beraneka ragam keramik hasil kerajinan lokal.

Jalanannnya bersih dengan toko bernuansa jadul di kanan kiri. Kamu bebas masuk dan liat - liat di toko mana aja. Tapi hati - hati ya, karena disini dijual barang pecah belah, jangan sampai mecahin apapun. Pecah = beli, lho!

Di dekat pintu masuk ada penjual barang - barang kayu. Aku suka banget sama toko ini karena barangnya unik - unik dan tokonya berbau harum :). Aku beli sepasang sumpit yang super cantik dengan harga 15 NTD. Murah banget, kan? Sebenernya pengen beli lebih banyak buat mama, tapi mungkin ntar aja kalau deket - deket waktu balik ke Indonesia.

Kalau bosan dengan toko - toko sekitar, kamu boleh juga masuk di bangunan besar ini. Di dalamnya sangat nyaman, full AC dan keramik dipajang layaknya ekshibisi besar. Puas banget kalau pengen liat - liat keramik disini, karena semuanya ditata seperti di mall. Tapi tentu saja, harganya jauh lebih mahal daripada keramik yang kamu liat di toko - toko luar.

Di dalam sini bisa juga beli souvenir lucu - lucu buat oleh - oleh. Memang agak lebih mahal, tapi tempatnya enak buat liat - liat dan milih - milih. Tidak hanya itu, kalau sudah lelah berjalan, kamu juga bisa duduk nyaman di kafe. Kafenya cukup unik, dengan nuansa warna oranye cerah dan dikelilingi ekshibisi keramik, kamu seakan lagi hangout di tengah - tengah museum.

Karena sudah capek keliling - keliling, sekarang waktunya buat makan siang! Ada restoran yang recommended banget buat dicoba. Tempatnya agak jauh dari keramaian. Dari pintu utama, jalan lurus ke arah SD deket sini, lalu belok kanan. Kamu bakal liat restoran yang jadul banget.

Nuansanya bener bener jadul setengah mati. Kukira restoran ini sudah dibuka seratus tahun lamanya hahaha. Tapi ternyata enggak, bosnya masih umur tiga puluhan dan memang restoran ini dibuat dengan tema jaman dulu. Hanya saja resep dan masakannya masih pakai resep tradisional.

Rasanya? Enak banget! Kukasih rating 5/5 untuk restoran ini. Pada awalnya kita agak sangsi dengan masakannya, jadi kita cuman beli lu ro fan, simple dish aja. Eh ternyata enak banget, Mr. B sampe nambah dua kali! Milk teanya juga enak, rasanya mirip sama teh tarik Singapore. Bubblenya juga pas kenyalnya. Harganya ramah di kantong. Lu ro fannya 30 NT dan milktea nya 40 NT.