Our everyday life outside of class was pretty normal. My friends and I still got to go out together and dine in at restaurants. We were fortunate to even be able to travel to Malaysia and Taiwan during this month. Being able to explore these two countries really allowed me to further expand my global perspective. Although I had been to Malaysia once previously when I was a child with my family, visiting with my friends was a new experience. Aside from the aspect that I was traveling with my friends, I got to see how different life was like from Singapore. In comparison, Malaysia is less developed, except from their main city areas. With the cost of living also lower than Singapore, everything was relatively cheap to us as well. Even though we don't understand Malaysian, many of them spoke English, which was really helpful for us. As for Taiwan, it was a complete new experience. The first obstacle my friends and I faced was the language barrier. I do have a conversational understanding of Mandarin through learning in class but a real life application is definitely different. There is English written throughout the city and there are people who speak English but the real challenge was at night markets. As most of the stall owners only speak Chinese, Anna, Cel, and I combined our skills in order to communicate with them. Being in Taiwan really made me appreciate the time I have taken to learn Chinese as I had a wonderful time being able to hold small conversations with those we met at the night markets. Although they were short conversations, it was wonderful to share with them where we were from and why we were in Taiwan. Upon coming back from the trip, I told myself that I would love to go back one day and further experience Taiwan, whether it is with my friends or family.
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Taiwan Day 3 (February 24th): Being the foodies we are, of course we had to stop by the one and only Din Tai Fung. This Din Tai Fung visit was a special one as we got to go to the original store in Xinyi, Zhongzheng District. Known for their long lines, we were fortunate to only have waited for about 20 minutes (and every minute of this wait was totally worth the food we were about to have). Once we got inside, there were so many options to choose from. Some things were got were: xiao long baos (we got 30 of them... again), spicy dumplings, custard buns, green beans with minced pork, After fueling up, we headed to the one and only Taipei 101. When we got there, of course we had a mini photoshoot! We took pictures with the Taipei 101 building but also the LOVE sign they had. Given the building is extremely tall, we did have some struggles taking pictures with it (*TIP* if you want to have a photo with the full building, suggest going somewhere where you are able to see the building from afar). From there we quickly stopped by Long Shan Temple (龙山等) before we headed to Raohe St. Night Market (饶河夜市) for dinner. Us girls and guys decided to split up and go our own ways around the market, and we had a great time! Some of things we got to try were papaya milk, pork buns, mini pancakes, chicken sticks, etc. The BEST part was the arcade. We spent couple hours playing games such as Dance Dance Revolution, Taiko (japanese drums), etc. This was where we also discovered a song, Love Scenario by IKON (that would eventually end up being a song we would remember throughout the rest of our trip). After meeting up with the guys, we called it a night and headed back to our Airbnb. Taiwan Day 4 (February 25th): For our last day in Taipei, we started off our day eating Beef Noodles (牛肉面) at Lao Shandong Homemade Noodles. Their beef noodles were very fragrant/flavorful and different from other beef noodles I've had before. Compared to most places, their noodles were flatter and thicker but since it was homemade, it had the chewy texture to them which I enjoyed. We got the regular size, which was very filling because of the amount of noodles and the meat! For dessert, we stopped by at Mister Donut which was at the Ximending (西门町) station. I was so excited since I haven't had Mister Donut since Japan! For the rest of the day, we ended up shopping and packed for our trip south to Tainan to visit Cel and her family! Taiwan Day 5 (February 26): After checking out of our Airbnb, we headed to Taipei Main Station, where we boarded a train to go to Tainan. We decided to take the 4hr train ride to give us time to rest and relax before we arrived since we were fairly tired from the night before. Once we got to Tainan, Cel and her mom came to pick us up and we all headed to her home. After settling in, we finally got to meet her family's dog, which was the CUTEST and FLUFFIEST thing ever. For dinner, we headed to Wusheng Night Market (武聖夜市), yes another night market 😝. I love how each night market has their own atmosphere and variety of shops. Wusheng for sure was the busiest night market we have been to during our time in Taiwan. Most stalls had lines and sometimes it was pretty difficult getting through. Some of my favorite things I had were liang sha yuan (涼沙园), deep fried potato balls (地瓜球), and milk tea. We even played a game where we had to shoot five basketballs into different leveled baskets, which we unfortunately couldn't achieve (but the workers were funny and nice even though one of us hit them in the head HAHAH). We wrapped up the night by heading back to Cel's and had a short karaoke night singing some songs (one of them being Love Scenario). Taiwan Day 6 (February 27): We started the day by heading to Chimei museum (奇美博物馆). The museum was interesting as it had a wide variety of exhibits from Western art, musical instruments (with a "live" orchestra), weaponry and natural history. From there we headed back to the Anping (安平) area. We got to try a popular beef soup and had some dessert which was so gooood. After we ate, we also looked around at some stores and ended up buying snacks (specifically big bags of shrimp chips which we ended up finishing that night). For dinner, we got takeout and had stinky tofu, xiao long baos, and stir fry which was all very tasty. However, the exciting part of the night was learning how to play mahjong. At first it was difficult since we had no prior knowledge of how to play but as we played several rounds, w all started to understand and learned some tricks to help us win. Taiwan Day 7 (February 28th):
For our last day in Taiwan, we started the morning off by playing mahjong (we became addicted after last night). For breakfast, Cel's grandma was so sweet and made us breakfast! From homemade breakfast noodles, fruits, bread, and tea, she had prepared everything. It was such a heartwarming breakfast since it was the first time I've had a home cooked meal in about two months 😌. After breakfast, we packed up our stuff to prepare to leave for the airport later on. But before we had to leave, Anna, Isaiah, Brittney, and I decided to have a relaxing afternoon and went to get a massage. Getting a massage was so calming but my back also ended up hurting (probably from the extreme amount of pressing the lady did 😅). Once we got back to the house, we all headed to the train station to go to the airport. Our flight ended up being fairly empty due to COVID-19 with not many people flying. Overall, I had a wonderful time in Taiwan and already looking forward to going back. There is amazing food, shopping, and the people are truly one of the nicest people I have met. Looking back at my time here, there is no other place with such an amazing night market culture🤩 Newton Hawker Center (February 17): For dinner today Anna, Brittney, and I headed to Newton Hawker Center! The one mistake we made however was that we went on a Monday. Although most stores were open, some were closed for cleaning. *TIP* Many hawker stalls are closed either on Monday or Tuesday so to enjoy the full experience, recommend going on Thursday-Sunday. We decided to eat family style and had satay, popiah, noodles, and stir fried vegetables. The best dish we had was the oyster omelette from Heng's (stall #28). They're famous for their omelettes and expect to wait a bit if you want one but it's completely worth it. Dinner and Another Strictly Dumpling Recommendation (February 19th): My friends and I always have some sort of cravings, whether it is dessert or food. So tonight's craving was Thai food! We headed to Bugis, where they're known for their variety of food stores. After doing some research, we headed to Ah Loy Thai. The restaurant had a long line and was known as a popular Thai restaurant in Singapore. The five of us (Clay, Isaiah, Brittney, Anna, and I) were so hungry we ended up sharing six dishes among us. The food was soooo good. Not only were the dishes flavorful, they were also reasonable in pricing (my favorite dish of the night was the tom yum fried rice). Knowing us, you already know, we had to get dessert. Perfectly, Ah Chew Desserts was right around the corner. Ah Chew is one of the most popular local dessert shops that serves a range of asian desserts, from mango sago to grass jelly. The shop was also featured on Strictly Dumpling so you know we had to go there! We all got different ones so we could get a variety. Being the mango lover that I am, I ended up getting the mango sago with pomelo, which was amazing 🤩. OFF TO TAIWAN (February 22nd): Finally it was the start of our recess week! We left Utown early in the morning to prepare for our flight ahead. After checking in, we decided to grab a bite. Since Jewel had a Shake Shack and we were all craving a burger, we headed there for our pre-flight meal. Not having one in Hawaii, I was excited to try it out. I only got the Shack Burger but I was very satisfied. Compared to other burgers, it is somewhat smaller but I did enjoy it. From there we headed to the gate to board our flight. 4 hours later, we were finally in Taiwan!! It was so exciting to be traveling to a different country. Also the weather was such a nice change as it was 65 degrees. From the airport, we took the train to the airbnb. Once we were all settled down, it was already past 7 pm. However, since we were hungry, we made the trip to Shilin Night Market (士林夜市). The market was everything we thought it would be and more. There were various types of stalls from dumplings, drinks, skewers, and more. We were so surprised at how cheap everything was! My favorite dish of the night was the dumplings. They were homemade and drizzled over with chili sauce! The best part was that they were less than US$2! This was a great way to wrap up our first night in Taiwan! Taiwan Day 2 (February 23rd):
For our second day in Taiwan, we decided to relax for a little bit in the morning and catch up on some work. Since there was a Family Mart near our airbnb (bless up), we bought onigiri's (Japanese rice balls) for breakfast! Then in the afternoon, we headed over to Ximen/Ximending (西门町) as it is a popular shopping area. But first, we made a meal stop at the one and only Modern Toilet restaurant. For those of you who don't know, this restaurant is known for their dishes being served in toilets. To our surprise, the dishes weren't that expensive and tasted pretty good. Now that our stomachs were fulfilled, we parted ways to go shop around. Once we were done shopping, we headed to Gongguan Night Market (公馆夜市). Compared to Shilin, there were less stalls available. It was a good experience but personally do not recommend going as there are plenty of night markets to experience. But the dim sum we had at this one stall was sooo good and the lady running the stall was so sweet which made the experience so much better! *And yes to keep ourselves protect during this virus, we made sure to wear masks around ☺️ NUS Dining and Dessert (February 11): NUS has really good varieties of food. If you are cravings some sweet or savory bread, head down to Swee Heng 1989 Classic bread shop in Flavours at Utown. They have a vast variety of options that will satisfy all your needs. In the photo below, I ended up getting a matcha latte bun with azuki, steamed bun, and parmesan garlic bread. The matcha lover in me really enjoyed the matcha latte bun as it wasn't too sweet and you could taste the matcha. If you are student, don't forget to show your student id for a 5% student discount! Then for dinner, my friends and I headed to Hwang's a great place to eat if you ever have Korean food cravings. They have a restaurant in Utown and a stall in the PGP AC canteen. Their spicy pork/chicken is really good and flavorful! If you also want to add an appetizer to share, their tteokbokki is pretty good as well. Of course knowing us, we had to go get dessert. We headed over to Daily Scoop at Chip Bee Garden in Holland Village. Like many ice cream places here, they all have interesting flavors. Shopping and Food (February 13th): In Singapore, you can never get enough of shopping. Anna and I, being the shoppers that we are, we spent a whole day out together. We started our day off with lunch at Jtown Cafe, an Indonesian cafe located in Somerset. From 12-3pm they have lunch sets that come with the main dish and a drink, a definite steal! I got the Bakmie Ayam, which is Indonesian chicken noodle and soup on the side with homemade beef balls, which was amazing. After being stuffed, we looked around Somerset then headed to Orchard to take a look at Takashimaya and Ngee Ann City. At Takashimaya, we got to try Xing Fu Tang, a popular boba store from Taiwan. Although they only have about nine drink selections, since their boba is homemade, it is so soft and chewy. You wouldn't believe how long we are able to spend at a mall... we were there for 5 hours when we realized it was almost time for dinner. We ended up having a BESTies night out and met Isaiah at Ngee Ann City and went to Genki Sushi for dinner. Although there is one in Hawaii, we wanted to experience it in Singapore, which it was a new experience. It's very innovative where they give you a ticket with a QR code for your table. Then you can scan it with your phone and order from there. Having only seen a tablet before, it was so cool to be able to order off your phone! To wrap up the night, we headed back to our lounge to meet everyone else and watch (of course) To All the Boys, P.S. I Still Love You. 🥰 Happy Valentine's Day!! (February 14th): Happy Valentine's Day! And another day, another meal. Once again, Anna and I went to explore. Today we decided to go to Novena, and try Song Fa, a famous bak kut teh place in Singapore. A simple pork rib and soup dish, the soup at Song Fa was so flavorful. Even better, when the servers see that your soup is running low, they refill it for you (free flow until you don't want anymore). After lunch, we looked around the malls at Novena (still amazed that one location could have three malls in one place) and headed back to Utown to have valentines dinner with our friends. For dinner, we ate at Royal Bistro, located at Utown. Royal Bistro offers Western cuisine ranging from pasta, burgers, cakes, etc. The salmon I had was simple yet very tasty. Chatuchak Night Market (February 15th): Tonight, our group headed to Chatuchak Night Market, the world's first Chatuchak market outside of Thailand. The market was so cool! From shops, eateries, and games, the market had everything. Some things I got to try were Korean cheese fries and a mango milk shake. The highlight of the night were the crane games we got to play. Isaiah, Clay, and I were all winners and got to take multiple plushies back home with us (of course they got the Pokemon ones). Foods of the week:
Swee Heng 1989 Classic (Utown) - Matcha Latte with Azuki (S$1.52) -> 9/10 - Marble Steamed Cake (S$1.42) -> 9/10 - Parmesan Garlic (S$1.42) -> 8/10 Hwang's (UTown) - Spicy Pork (S$4.50) -> 10/10 - Tteokbokki (S$3) -> 8/10 Daily Scoop (Holland Village) - Single Scoop (S$3.20) -> 8/10 Jtown Cafe (Somerset) - Bakmie Ayam Lunch Set (S$6.50) -> 9/10 Xing Fu Tang (Orchard) - Matcha Boba Milk (S$5.90) -> 9/10 Song Fa (Novena) - Bak Kut Teh (Pork Rib Soup) (S$7.60) -> 9/10 Royal Bistro (UTown) - Grilled Salmon (S$13.90) -> 8/10 Another Boba Discovery (February 4): The boba lovers that we are, Anna and I decided to adventure out and find a new place to try. After several scrolls through Instagram, I found out that Singapore just opened a Tiger Sugar branch in Capitol Plaza. So you know we had to go and try it out. Anna tried the brown sugar boba milk and I got the green tea latte with brown sugar boba. They were both amazing, especially the boba. Unfortunately, there is only one in Singapore so far but if any of you have the opportunity to try it, I highly recommend it! They also have their own brown sugar boba ice cream for sale too. On Our Way to Malaysia!! (February 6th): Finally our first trip of the semester! For the weekend, our group decided to head to Malaysia. After much review, Isaiah, Brittney, and I decided to take the shuttle bus company One Travel. It was a difficult choice between companies as some of the reviews were terrible online. However, the experience we had was not terrible at all. *Things to keep in mind* 1. Be at the pick up location at least 30 minutes before departure to make sure you are at the right stop and have time to check in with the company 2. Get through immigration as quickly as possible (as it is told that some buses will leave within a certain amount of time) 3. Lastly, there are two immigration stops (one where you just bring your id and the other where you have to carry everything with you), so look around to see which one you are at. Once we got to our arrival destination (Times Square), we took a grab to our airbnb and decided to call it a night as it was 3 am the next day. Malaysia Day 1 (February 7th): Since we were waiting for the rest of our friends to arrive tomorrow, we decided to spend our day shopping around. We went to Fahrenheit 88, Pavilion, and Mitsui Outlet Park. The Pavilion mall is definitely one of the larger malls I have been to. It is pretty much a one stop shop to all stores. We stopped at La Juiceria, a smoothie/juice shop that offered a wide variety of smoothies and juices. I got the Mango Millionaire smoothie and it was amazing. Moreover, for the size they offered, it was a great deal (about US$3). As for the outlet, although it was far, it was worth the drive as we were able to get items for a decent price. For dinner, we decided to get food delivered to our airbnb as we waited for our friends to arrive. Once the group was all back together (at 3 am...) we all finally got to settle in and sleep to get ready for the day to come. Malaysia Day 2 (February 8th): Now with the whole gang in Malaysia, we decided to make the most of our day, starting with brunch! We tried the popular nasi lemak dish at Nasi Lemak Wanjo Kampung Baro. The dish was only US$2 and it was delicious. To top it off, their homemade mango smoothie (US$1) was the bomb.com. Not only was it made with fresh mangoes, there were mango chunks on top of the smoothie. From there, we went to couple malls near by then headed to KL Tower. Since it was a little muggy, the sky wasn't really clear. However, we were lucky to be able to see the Petronas Twin Towers from the sky deck. Once at the sky deck, highly recommend getting a ticket to wait for the sky box 1, where you're able to take photos with the twin towers behind. Just be sure to be ready for a quick photoshoot as only 3 people are allowed at a time in the box and only for 1 min 40 seconds. After a long day so far, we headed to KLCC, the mall under the Petronas Twin Towers (which was another large, amazing mall). Although we were in Malaysia, we had Din Tai Fung for dinner since we figured out it was significantly cheaper than it is in Singapore. The six of us ate family style and shared 30 xiao long baos, fried rice, noodles, dumplings, custard/taro buns, etc. To our surprise, the bill only came out to about US$76, which meant that it was a little under US$13 for each of us 😱(with meals as cheap as this, most of us have concluded that we will not be going out to eat as often as we used to back home haha). Of course after our meal, we had to go shop around. To wrap up the night, we headed outside to take pictures with the iconic twin towers. Malaysia Last Day (February 9th):
As it was our last day, we weren't able to do much as we also had to carry our luggage around with us. Our group headed back to the Pavilion to do some last minute shopping. Since Brittney, Isaiah, and I had class to attend on Monday, we scheduled our bus for late afternoon. However, last night we found out that things were about to change at NUS. With a spread of the virus, NUS has taken several precautionary measures. First, starting Monday (2/10), we will have to take our own temperatures twice daily (one in the morning and one before 3pm) and report it. Second, all classes with over 50 were mandatory to become e-learning. This meant that professors will need to host web lectures. Hearing this news, we were all shocked as we began to wonder how serious this virus was becoming. Additionally, this meant that for the most of us, we don't have any physical classes to attend to. Foods of the week: Tiger Sugar - Green Tea Latte w/Brown Sugar Boba (S$5.10) -> 9/10 La Juceria (Malaysia) - Mango Millionaire (MYR 11.79) -> 9/10 Nasi Lemak Wanjo Kampung Baro (Malaysia) - Ayam Rendang Nasi Lemak (MYR 8) -> 10/10 - Mango Smoothie (MYR 4) -> 11/10 Din Tai Fung (Malaysia) - Xiao Long Bao 10pc (MYR 28.30) -> 9/10 - Spicy Vegetable Wonton (MYR 26.40) -> 10/10 - String Bean w/Chicken (MYR 31.70) -> 10/10 Virus Update: The virus is something that has definitely started affecting our daily life here in Singapore. At all stores, surgical masks and sanitary wipes are all sold out. Also given the circumstances, one of my tutorials have been canceled till further notice. As of February 1st, there were 18 confirmed cases in Singapore
Marina Bay Sands at Night (January 30th): Personal opinion, everything in Singapore becomes wayyyy nicer at night. Tonight, Brittney and I decided to go to Marina Bay at night to see the view. I couldn't believe how amazing the view was, especially from the top of the building. Although we couldn't access the main observation deck area, we got to see one side of it and it was already amazing. I highly recommend seeing the scenery both during the day and night since even though it is the same view, the difference is beautiful. Strictly Dumpling Recommends (January 31st); Deciding what to do for the afternoon, Brittney, Anna, and I decided to take up one of Mike Chen's (aka Strictly Dumpling) recommendations. Located in Jalan Besar, Beach Road Scissor-Cut Curry Rice is a local curry store, and possibly one of my favorite meals in Singapore so far. To order, you are able to pick your ingredients you want in your curry. From pork belly to fish cakes, they have a large variety. I chose the pork belly and egg, which the total only came out to $3! Fair warning, although it is really good and cheap, as it is curry, it can be very heavy and unhealthy so keep in mind when eating! Of course, to wrap up our night, we had to get ice cream. We went to Tom's Palette, popular for their white chocolate seaweed flavor (which I did not try😅). Being in a more tea mood, I decided to get earl grey, a great decision made. The earl grey flavor was so fragrant in the ice cream! If you do stop by, don't forget to show your student id since they offer 10% off! Arts and Science Museum (February 1st): Located at Marina Bay Sands, the Arts and Science Museum was very entertaining and interesting. During our visit, we were able to go to three different exhibits that were available, 2219: Future Imagined, Disney: Magic of Animation, and Future World: Where Art Meets Science. The 2219: Future Imagined exhibit, was eye opening as it showcased what Singapore could be like 100 years into the future. From living underground to flooded lands, it was somewhat scary to see what our world could become then if not taken care of. Disney: Magic of Animation was one of my favorite exhibits. It was so amazing to see how Disney animated movies were created. The exhibit had drawings of past films such as Dumbo, to modern films like Frozen 2. Then, last but not least was the Future World: Where Art Meets Science exhibit. This was by far my favorite one as it was very interactive as well as produced by TeamLab (similar to the TeamLab Borderless located in Japan). A must, we had a mini photoshoot in this exhibit as not only are there pretty lights but it is also known as an iconic Instagram spot. Overall, the museum was a great experience! If you do ever have the chance to visit, for the ticketing option, choose "local student" to receive a discount on entrance fees. Foods of the Week:
Hanssik Korean BBQ Buffet - AYCE Lunch (S$16.90++) -> 9.5/10 Beach Road Scissor-Cut Curry Rice - Pork Belly and Egg curry (S$3) -> 9/10 Tom's Palette - 3oz (S$4) -> 9/10 |
kelsFrom traveling to tips, I hope to share my experiences with you all and motivate you to explore your kuriosities :) Archives
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