2013 ❤

31 December 2013

This date marks the end of another amazing year! ❤ When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us. I believe all of us have our very own different paths to walk. Some of us, like myself, is entering a whole new chapter of life: college. Some of us might even be taking our first step into adulthood or into the working world.

It sounds pretty scary to be writing a whole new story but I believe optimism plays an important role here? As much as I dislike starting college so soon, I believe it is better for me to just accept the fact and not dwell on it for such a long period of time; instead I should probably start packing. Also, remember, we aren't actually scraping the story we have written so far.

2013 has been a really wonderful year; take out the fact that someone really close to me left, but I believe he is now in better hands and is watching over us; I actually cannot believe that it is already coming to an end. I still remember vividly, at the beginning of the year, I was panicking over the fact that SPM is just around the corner. In just a blink of an eye, I survived through it and here I am. :)

Last year of high school...

What word would I use to describe it?
Indescribable.

It made me cherish all my high school mates and every single spent with them.  It seems like we just parted for a month but I already miss them all tremendously. School is starting again soon, and at times like this, I wish I could take part in it :') The irony of it is, most students, have once hated school and wished that school never restarted and there will no back-to-school days but right after their graduation, they will miss their school so so much; not just the empty frame but the people in it, the laughter and noise in the classrooms or even the clicking sound of the footsteps of the disciplinary mistress.

To my high school angels and partners in crime,

I have nothing more I could ask of you guys girls. Without you, I don't think I'd make it out of 2013 because my life would be incomplete! You guys have been really supportive and just wonderful wonderful friends :)

Why?

You really helped me survive high school! (actually not only high school, some of you have been there throughout my whole schooling life and some even since kindergarten) There were many times when I was in doubt or do not understand the lessons well but you always lent a helping hand just so I could understand better. You girls also never fail to give me immense laughter! I don't even need blusher when talking with you girls because my face would be automatically flushed! Haha.

I would also like to thank each and everyone of you for being such great company; always giving me 'great' advices, and suggesting 'interesting' dramas to watch (this is for Kamen; and I hope you manage to finish watching your Season 5 of WC before going to college). Thank you for giving me such indelible memories! since primary school up till graduation night and even post-spm (i hope many more years to come?). besides, thank you for being my partners in pestering the teachers for less homework. Come to think of it, you never let me do silly things alone, we would always do them together! :) It was all fun time :)

Also, I apologize if I ever said something that hurt any of your feelings throughout high school when all you have been doing is giving me the time of my life , do know that I really am sorry for not realizing sooner. I also know that sometimes we might make silly comments about how you look or act and you may feel small, but seriously you are so unique and beautiful in your own way. I didn't mean it that way, its just what friends do -pick on each other... Stay true to yourself and just be yourself! I actually can't imagine any of you not behaving like yourself. Haha and I believe I might not be on my best behavior at all times and I might have snapped at you. Sorry.

I will definitely miss every single one of you :') I hope you girls all the best in 2014 and the many years to come. I will always support you in whatever you decide on doing! Please please promise me we will stay in touch? (okay i know we are not physically touching now but you know what i mean) I know all of you would be carving your name somewhere in history so no matter how far apart we are from each other, lets meet up whenever we can before you forget about me? :(

You girls mean the world to me, and I don't think anything or anyone else can ever take your place in my heart. Each and everyone of you has a place in my heart cause I have a big one! :D So don't worry of getting squished hehe. I might not show it in real because I can get tongue tied at times + i am not really good at expressing myself.... but I really love all of you and I can't thank you enough for being there for me! ❤

Though we are far apart, remember you are always in my heart! ❤

Let's make the best out of 2014! Muacks! ❤

I'm sorry but I couldn't find one which has all of us in it. Because there are many many of you, we couldn't all fit in one picture, so you know who you are, and you are the ones I loveeee ❤

Happy New Year's Eve! ❤

XOXO

Taiwan Adventure (Part 3) : Collective blogpost! :)

Hi guysss! ❤

Today I am going to do a collective blog post because:-
1. my memory is slipping away
2. i don't want to be still blogging about "Taiwan Vacation (Part 101)" ten years from now wth. So this post is going to be a pretty longgg one, so bear with me ❤

Yes, from the first picture as you can see, its all about animals in this first part of the blog post! :) The flying cow ranch is this really huge farm with lots of different types of animals; goats, cows, rabbits, ducks etc. 

Anyway, back to the ranch, as I said, it is really really huge with no buggies or vehicles of any sort to drive around. So if you're not a professional supermodel who is really good at wearing heels, I highly suggest wearing comfy shoes :) 

There are plenty of activities you can do here; for example, you can dress up nicely and have a photoshoot here because the scenery is super perfect (don't dress up like me). If you have no interest in taking photos of yourself, then you just take of the scenery also can :) 

Other than that, for nature lovers; or animal enthusiasts; you will find immense pleasure playing around with the animals here :) 

Of course, there are cows at the Flying COW Ranch! But do the cows there fly? Nah... That was so disappointing :( All they do is just laze around on the green fields. LOL

My friend, the black goat. The goat was so hungry it even ate up a paper bag some irresponsible people threw onto the ground -.-
Okay, and I admit, I was a teeny bit scared of the goat eating my hands off and hence i kinda fed it from high above hah.

These cute fluff balls are the bunnies there! As usual, you can also feed them :) However, there are some really big bad bullies in there!
The baby bunnies really do not have much to eat; all taken away by those bad ones so do take note of them :)
The flurry one in this picture with the ears faced downwards is my fave; it is super cute + idk why it somehow looks like a puppy ❤

The flying cow ranch also manufactures its own ice cream and other stuff (soap, hand cream etc.)

The ice cream here is really rich in milk (probably from the cows there haha)

 Furthermore, there are DIY activities offered here too - but i didn't try them out because i was feeling hungry and the itinerary didn't really permit; but if i had another chance to visit again; id like to try that out :)

Below are more irrelevant pictures:

Ignore all our tired faces because we were feeling pretty jet lagged and we didn't have much rest @ the hotel the night before sobs 

xxxxxxx

Now, lets embark on a journey to the train station! :)

This place is just another sightseeing place for you to visit. You can do absolutely nothing here but snap  pics. However, there are other shops, like restaurants and souvenir booths here, so feel free to roam around :)

As your tour guide, I must, of course, share with the history of this place. HAHA acting like a professional now tsk. This place is formerly known as Shihliufen Station, is 402.32 meters and is entirely built up of pine trees without using any nails :)

Well, thats what i read from the bulletin board there...

Even the no smoking sign looks so cute! :)

Just waiting for the train to pass us by :)

The sign says NO CROSSING. But I crossed... and...

I took more photos with my sister :) haha

And Mummy :)

So basically, this train station used to be a functional one but now, its a place for photo taking and tourists.  When I was there, the wind was blowing really strong and we had a lot of fun waiting for the train to come (we jumped around on the railway, crossed the platforms and even stood in the middle of the tracks) but it never did.....

Anyway moving on, let me bring you to a broken bridge where I attempted to cross but fell. Just kidding. This is yet another place for you to take photographs but if you really don't like taking pictures, i don't actually recommend coming because it is kind of a waste of time and petrol. All there is here is this bridge, but if you really have empty slots, then you can definitely come visit. :)

The blue blue sky + the broken bridge is so breathtaking especially in the cold winter breeze :)

The world is mineeee! 

Phew... Aren't you exhausted from all the traveling and sightseeing? Its time for food, to fill up our tummies! :)

This place is Home Poulet, which is located in Yuanlin, Taiwan. It is a western restaurant with a really sweet and innocent interior and friendly staff :) If you are purely English speaking and had a hard time communicating in Taiwan, fret no more, the manager of this place can speak passable English and you can order smoothly :) 

The menu is in Mandarin but you can ask for assistance from the staff :)

We ordered a set dinner which consists of soup, salad, pasta, bread, a whole chicken and dessert @ around TWD 1800/ RM 200/ USD 64. This set is for 4 pax but if you eat lightly/want to leave some space for night market food later, then it can be consumed by 5 people too :)

Cream of Mushroom. This tasted really rich and yummy :)

This is the herb /marinated?/ chicken. It is enriched with flavor and it is juicy too! :)

Pasta and its sides - shared around the table.

This dessert- I couldn't really remember its name but its like a panna cotta with a rich milk+vanilla taste! :)

Last but not least, let me introduce to you the famous in house dessert! It is a loaf of bread covered with lots of fruits and a berry ice cream! Yums! The waitress would cut open the loaf of bread for you to expose bread cut into smaller cubes for you to spread the ice cream over and pair it with a piece of fruit and be ready to taste the heavenly mixture caused by this pairing! It really is highly recommended for you to try this type of dessert in Taiwan. I've seen other places selling it but I didn't try, so I am not sure if it will taste as good. 

XOXO ❤

Taiwan Adventure (Part 2) ~ Windmills

This is going to be a short short update on how beautiful the windmills in Taiwan are! :) and of course the sunset. The sunset in Taiwan at that time (3 weeks ago) was at around 5.40pm to 5.50 pm. So it got dark really early but the sunset was breathtaking! The sun there (i know we all have the same sun) looks soooo orange like an egg yolk! The sky would be painted with shades of orange here and there, like in the above photo.

Me and my sister :)

Family photo!
Ignore my tired looking face; idk if its the traveling or what but i really sleep a lot in the taxi!
(a lot as in whenever i am on the cab)

The windmills were huge and there was an endless row of them, as far as your eye can wander. It is on a seaside if I'm not mistaken. And the wind was blowing so much wth; i know i know, if theres no wind, the windmills will not be able to generate electricity. This is just a warning to those people who doesn't want a hair-covered face in your photograph, tie your hair a bit maybe? Or just cope with hair flying everywhere la and look like a top model :)

This place is the Wind Farm Boulevard.

XOXO

Thoughts and resolutions #3: In Deep Confusion

What would I like to be for the rest of my life? What's in store for me in the future? Would I make the right decision? What's my passion? What would I love to do even when I'm not paid? What if my decision would make my family unhappy? (It's not that I would join serious stuff like robbery/violence). What do they mean, "just go your way, follow your own dreams!" What does that actually mean when they question you so much when you merely just suggest something!? 

These questions...have been circling around in my mind these post spm days. It's bothering me, a lot! This might sound like a Dear Thelma kind of post, but really, this is all my inner thoughts and what I am going through now. Fun's over, boohoo. You have to plan for the future! But what exactly is the future? 

I am so confused and indecisive right now. I don't want to make the wrong decision because I am serious when I am saying this, I might end up doing what I decide now for the rest of my life yelps! 

All my life, up till now, I have been studying...just for the sake of studying. I have been doing whatever I've been asked. But now it's completely up to me to decide and well, I just don't want to go to the wrong path. Almost everyone I know has this bright image in their heads about what they wanna pursue etc and I'm just like lingering here without any aim! It's throwing me into dilemmas so often sigh. 

Decision making has never really been my forte. I hope I am not the only one in this situation or am I? 

XOXO

Taiwan Gastronomic Adventure (Chateau in the air)

Hi darlings! :) I am officially back (I am sorry it took so long; cause I went for a vacation right after my nationals and so...) and I promise promise I will update this blog frequently starting from now onwards. I am even planning to do a blogathon: an act of penning in every few days!  But just so you know, I am not very good at promises since I don't bring around my Mac everywhere i go...

So as you can read from the title, today I am going to blog about a food/sightseeing place in Taiwan that I visited last week! :) To start of, I have been in Taiwan for 6 nights and 7 days: 28/11/2013-4/12/2013. Yes the day right after my nationals ended, it was also sudden news for me. But definitely a great way to celebrate the end of my high school. :)

Okay,back to the topic today.  Let me introduce you to this place located in Miaoli, Taiwan: Chateau in the air.  It is a beautifully landscaped garden with grand castles as sight seeing spots. Basically, this place is attract tourists with the concept of castles in the air. The place is quite huge; but since my granny came along this time, we didn't walk much cause the taxi driver dropped us at the top of the hill and there was this pretty little cafe... hence, we went in for some yummy food!

The interior emits a classic castle feeling mixed with the aroma of coffee. We finally ordered after much confusion with languages. :/ Despite being a pure chinese, my Mandarin is really limited. Aiks. If not for my dad's passable Mandarin, I don't think the vacation to Taiwan would be a good one.

Off to the pictures of food! This is supposed to be for tea, by the way...

The Menu. Everything was in Chinese and we asked for recommendations.

.......
um, i don't know the name to this but i know its choc cake and fruits and this super nice cookie...

You can actually taste the richness of this chocolate cake. So yums.

Latte.

My fave fave dessert: The Tiramisu.
This cake just tasted heavenly and the mixture of coffee and liquor in this cake is just of the perfect ratio!

Pizza.
The pizza crust is really crispy while the toppings are really delicious and the cheese was so soft; i believe it was freshly baked.

Idk what this is, but it tasted like pizza with another shape.... if that makes sense.

Is there such a thing as pizza chips? This is basically a thinner version of the pizza crust, eaten by dipping into sauce you put on top of pizza as topping!
Thumbs up from me!

This is actually Fruit Tea, consisting of Apples etc.
A bit bitter though but all is well :)

Wow. I was literally carrying my tummy out of the restaurant.  The food was too good for me to say no too, and I know I owe it to my extra kilos....but how can you resist such...amazing food.  All I can say about this restaurant is a MUST TRY! I don't know if there is any shops in Malaysia that has food as good as this, but if theres any recommendations, please leave a comment below :) I would definitely love to try!

If you'd ask me to rate this restaurant, I would say 9/10. 1 mark goes to the fact that the menu has no english written on it... If you've mastered the Chinese Language, I'd say you won't have any problem dining here :)

The price though, I completely forgotten. I can say its like the price you eat stuff at your local Patisserie-kind-of-cafe. Plus to enter this place, you'd have to buy a ticket and then you can redeem your Entrance Fee by eating at this cafe! :)  So, don't waste your ticket away and indulge in the food here!

Below are some photos of the place:

A photo i took of my sister and it looks like she was actually posing for this HAH.

Cafe is located at the first floor of this Castle here :)

Mummy and Me.

Standing below the Autumn Treeeee.

Ootd:
Baggy Cardigan: Korea
Tee: Korea
Skinny Jeans: Zara
Shoes: AIIZ Bangkok

Another shot of the vintage Castle.

Don't you love the bed of lavender here? I totally fell in love with it upon entrance :)

That wraps up the post for today! :) See you soon :)

XOXO