The 3rd Taipei Trip - things did and all

This 3rd trip to Taipei came about cos I wanted to travel but didn't have a travel companion. Wasn't that sure of doing the solo-travelor yet though by now, with slightly more than 1.5years of KM under the belt, I'm not as defence-less but in terms of really being able to hold my own in a real fight out in the streets, it's still a long way off. At most is element of surprise and run for own, dear life.

But after the trip, I feel that maybe for countries like Taiwan and Japan,  I am independant enough n know the language well enough to be able to do a solo thingy. Something to kiv in the future.

For now, it's opening up the bags, sorting through the loot, separating into what is for whom, whether is present or gotta pay. Finish up the family requests and gifts. Sorted through friends' stuff. Putting away the clothes and stuff. Getting more sleep n relax time. Arranging a meet-up time to pass stuff to friends.

Day 1- getting there, delicious ice cream from 7-eleven, getting Internet connectivity

I decided upon taking the Circle line to Paya Lebar, to then get on the Green line to avoid the rush hour crowd. Wasn't sure if I could squeeze on the train with my luggage at Clementi, my sister said no. So it was a roundabout way to go there. Tio my first train bag check. Already rolling my eyes. And tio asked stupid question which I answered "no", in my mind I was thinking, even if have, would answer you negative. More roll eyes. Terroist-wannabe suspect just cos I wanted to avoid the rush hour mass. It took longer and I had to make 4 changes; 1st,  3 train changes. But I got a seat the entire Mrt ride. So it was ok.

I was early so ate fish soup with rice n checked in my luggage before exploring a bit of T3. Later went in. Didn't have much time to shop but I checked out the price of a travel guide to Taiwan (no just Taipei alone) and it costs S $40. Decided I would check out the bookshop in Taipei itself. Much cheaper. I quickly bought 2 small bottles of Jack Daniel n my first Jagermifter, cos both the small bottles came in the flask type bottle. Wasn't sure if I would have trouble sleeping, decided a night cap could help especially if the weather might be cold there. The trip there in March with sister, it was cold though I knew they were having summer now.

The plane was comfy. Ordered my Singapore Sling beverage.  Had it with nuts as I watched 3 movies - RoboCop, I-Frankinstein and the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi, the super famous sushi place that costs 30000 yen or S$350 for a full course of sushi over a 15-20 duration. The waiting list is at least 1 month in advance during the documentary but last tie I've heard it had gotten longer cos the owner is 89 years old. So he might go anytime.  Many flock to eat at the small 9 seater pace. Wow.

Arrived, got on the bus towards 台北火车站 and from there got to the 捷运. We got the Ezylink card and added a bunch of money inside for ease of travel. In my consideration,  it'sbetter than digging for coins and buying tickets every time. And 猫空 also accepts the card. And it's refundable fully. Great. Set. Got to the hotel without being lost cos I could roughly remember where it was. Man, 西门町 has changed a lot since my last trip. Many of the retail shops have changed, just some familiar ones are still around. Checked in safely. Dump the bags and went for dinner, search for prepaid cards.

Headed to the 小吃 part and saw the stall I ate at last trip, went in. Dinner was 卤肉饭, 河煎, 炸豆腐,泡菜 and ice tea they sold. Damn delicious!!! With a full stomach, went to look for the prepaid card at a 7-eleven. But they had ran out. I did buy a pudding ice-cream and it's absolutely delicious. Only 18twd.  I was tempted for another but I didn't want to ingest too much cold stuff in just my first day. I saw a phone company and went inside and applied for a 5 day unlimited Internet plus 100twd calling value, a total of 400twd. It was no fun trying to navigate Taipei streets with out GPS. I had a hard time bringing my sister around last time. Cos their street signs were not prominent, road names too. Hard to orientate. Rather ease it now that such technology is around and the Internet can help do some search for information. Like whether 猫空 is open due to weather still. But it was more 麻烦, cos needed both passport and ID card. I bought my sg ic only so just use it. Activated and I was in business.

We walked about to find the other 7-eleven in the area. It's a funky one, in a red brick building. Full of young people and I saw so many interesting drinks, ice creams, oden. Wah if our own 7-eleven here is so nicely stocked like the Taiwanese one, I'd turn fat from getting my food, drinks there.

Walked around the main Ximen area but hard to get bearings cos they have like 3 lanes at two intersections. So we just walk and look. I got 阿中面线 a big one 60 twd. It had some mint leaf added on top. Not used to the mint leaves. Took it out but ate all of it including the chewy tasty intestines. Bought cut fruits - mango for 90twd. Bought water and coke zero for mixing. Along the way, I asked about the price of caps cos my mom wanted one. The price quoted to me is 390 to 590twd. Bloody expensive, more than sg but it gave me an idea of the range to compare.

We went back to the hotel and settled down. Got the breakfast vouchers. The TV had lots to watch and I accidentally stumbled on the porn channel cos I forgot how to change channels and instead of pressing the up/down button, I was manually keying in the numbers in order eg 11 then 12 then 13... then saw a naked ang moh woman and next thing is she's having sex with a guy. In 15secs,  I changed channels cos 15 then 16 were same porn, huh? Lagi worse, next channel is ghost. Cos dunno Hungry Ghost festival over or not so quickly change again. Phew. Never knew flipping through TV channels can be so insidious. Bathed, drank my whiskey coke, ate mian sian and mango. Shiok. But couldn't sleep. Until past 2.30am and then I woke up at 5.30am. Had to lie in bed and be quiet though I couldn't go back to sleep. Drank water as quietly as I could. Later at about 8am, I went to brush teeth and do the morning routine.

Day 2 - Modern Toilet, 大雕燒, 师大夜市

After the breakfast - which was still porridge with 4 types of 配菜; 菜心, 肉丝, 豆腐 and one preserved plum thing, fried eggs, mifen,  cabbage, hot dog and luncheon meat. Coffee or tea,  fresh milk and a cold apple/winter melon drink. Bread with strawberry jam or butter. That's all.ita the same everyday.  I had porridge for two days then bread for two days just to vary things; the surprising thing still is that in the simplicity of the food, the bread is damn nice with just the jam butter and toasted. The porridge is damn nice with the chai xin and ruo si, with the egg, hot dog and luncheon meat. Man, I want to eat this for breakfast everyday.

I decided to walk about the Ximen area,  to look around and try to find the Modern Toilet as well as also see what others to kiv before the day gets hot. It was just about 10am.  Most shops in Ximen aren't open but it's not hot to walk about with a cap and lots of sun block on my face especially the nose area. I was set.

We crossed the 西宁南路 where our hotel is at to the other side where the two Eslite buildings are at, the Movie street, modern toilet and so on. While walking, I tended to slow down to look at the shops,  what they sell, the numerous signboards cos there are shops at the 2nd, 3rd floors too but one would miss them if ya just look at the first floor. Also in some taller buildings, there are 8-9 floors full of different stuff. All in old Chinese. So I have to take in all of them and understand and see if it's worth to go there when the shop opens for biz around noon. Also needed to remember some landmarks to orientate and also remember certain shops by which building, cos Ximen has many square grids with many intersections and all four lanes have shops. It's easy to go in one and miss the others.

I spotted the 大雕燒 aka the Big Dick waffles place. It used to be a stall in the Ximen area. The night before we couldn't find it. I found out from them later on, they has shifted to Shilin night market and this is their 2nd outlet that has just been opened for just over a month. They used to sell waffles - the sweet and savory. Now they also sell the ice cream popsicle, pineapple tart dicks and soap versions. But we were a bit too early. They told us to come back a bit later. I got a pamphlet which I took a pic and whatapp my sister whether he wanted to buy some, for friends/colleagues. She felt it was expensive but hilarious. So keeping that in mind, we continued to try to find the Modern Toilet.

I saw a 木瓜牛奶 shop in our wandering. Remembered it but I bought a milk tea as the weather got hotter. Walked on. Saw the Performing Art street part. Then got a bit lost about where the Modern toilet is at so turn on Maps and followed it. Went into the Eslite bookshop just opposite it. I got my Jap N2 at S$12.70 and a full colored full pic Taipei-only guidebook for S$10.50, super worth it cos though its in Chinese, my Chinese no problem for old or new Chinese plus now I can even understand the Japanese signs and menu. Then when we arrived, I realised why I don't recognise it cos the outside of the building, that toilet bowl sign on the 2nd floor was gone. So I can recognise it unless walk really up to its doorsteps where the familiar signs and toilet bowl greeted you. Thankful for the Map GPS.

Headed in and it didn't change much but this time we sat on the 3rd floor of the place. Didn't know they had a third floor? Took pics and I ordered the Hotpot set cos I was feeling a bit too hot for fried cutlets (which my sis had and that was good). Irony is hot pot is hot but eating it in air con is ok. Had a hot tea too. Took funny pics to post on FB. Realised why pole like to take selfies, cos you can see your own face and can make more varied and stupid faces, at your good angle too. Oh no, become a selfie whore. The hotpot though I felt the standard has dropped. I remembered it to taste as good as those other 茶餐厅 but this time it was so so. The ice cream was better than before. Last time my sister commented the ice cream that came in that squatting toilet bowl was not good, thin. But this time the ice cream was thicker.

After the meal,  decided to go back to the hotel but first stopping at that Big Dick place cos by then it would be open. Already over 1pm. When we went in, there were two male customers eating. One had a strawberry dick waffle. The other was taking pics. I looked carefully through the pamphlet this time and ordered the 75% dark chocolate waffle that had custard inside. Only realised later. All of the sweet and savory waffles all have fillings inside... I was at the shelf looking at what they sold as gifts. The boss told me if buy 5 boxes,  free one. So I took the pineapple tart series. Got two 土黄利 premium ones and 4 boxes of their normal pineapple range in all 6 flavors plus 2 more in pineapple flavors. Each box has 2 dicks,  so I bought a dozen (12) dicks in one go! The boss was happy that he threw in us getting one stick (the popsicle) free. I chatted with him, telling him I couldn't find them in Ximen before. Then he told me about their shift and so on. Funnily he asked if the product 你们可以接受 which I replied is Ok. Later asked me where we from, replied him St and he gave me extra pamphlets and their bags to help promote. I say no problem. By then my piping hot waffle came with melt dark choc. Posed and took scandalous pics, imagine the reactions. Then tucked in. Delicious waffle. Kinda made me regret eating in the Modern Toilet cos their Savory dick is actually hot dog waffle with different sauce. But I can't have 2 dicks in one day. Too full. Next time, I'll go for a scandalous 2 dicks meal there. Incidentally they share the shop with some Vietnam food. So there are other scandal-free mains to eat. went back to drop off the bags cos it's near to the hotel.

Then we took a cab to the very very famous cos it's super effective 霞海城隍庙, which housed 5 gods including 月老, Chinese God of Love. Didn't know the ritual though it was covered in depth in the guide book. Got there but it was crowded and cramped cos there was a special prayer session in progress so got people chanting prayers and one believers praying too. Besides the usual people praying for love. So went to the counter and I asked for first time prayers, how. They have a prepared set for 300twd. I did mine not so full heartedly and tio some burning ashes falling from the joss stick to my hand (my mom says this is a reminder that u did something wrong). Do finished off the ritual and got a pouch with a red string inside. Suppose to keep in wallet and see how it goes. If works, have to go back and pay respects.

Then I wasn't familiar with the area so we took a cab to 台北火车站 cos I wanted to recce how to go back to the airport via the bus service and the High Speed Rail to the airport. That was for last day back transport considerations. Last time I took the car transport option instead. The Butler Cafe was somewhere in that area too. The underground mall was super long and sold cheap stuff. Found Quet's 挂萨 there. I ate a waffle biscuit, so so. Bought more unsweetened Oolong tea from the 7-eleven. Bought some cute Dale (Disney Chip and Dale) stuff for my youngest sister. Saw cheap bags and bought 3 for both sisters and mother who all like this cute look.daw this arcade game game that was 2-D then at some parts went into 3-D. Man, I feel old cos I looked at how it's played and felt like an idiot. Oh no, I am reaching that age and the generation gap thing is undeniable. Despite my best abilities, I couldn't locate the Butler Cafe *really, I tried* plus that underground mall had more than 10 exits that leads to different parts and links to different malls and buildings. Too bad. Underground, the GPS doesn't work well. Oh well, forget them. I had enough scandalous photos and male stuff in one day.

Went back to the hotel via mrt, just one stop away, to rest up for an hour or two. I was watching the Jap shows that had Chinese subtitles, 0 volume. Very amusing and interesting shows they have. Drank more water and coke zero and tea. Later on, retraced the steps to eat at some canteen like place that served pork cutlet. Apparently it has over 40 years. Actually when I ate it. I wasn't as impressed cos I have had better pork cutlets at same type of canteen style. But it was an experience to do it again. It crowds up with people eating in and buying back. An example of the food people eat. (I saw another more authentic one on Day 4 though I didn't try)

Took a cab to 师大夜市 and it was really cheap fare of S$2-3 per pax. Less hassle for me cos I didn't want to navigate the streets (it's 10mins from the nearest mrt). I couldn't remember how to walk there cos last time my sis and I took a cab too cos we were elsewhere. So when we got there, I spotted some familiar sights and smells. But too full to try any food. I remembered the 卤味 famous there and took a pic. Brings back memories. While waiting,  I saw this traditional tea beside a bubble tea. It's name is 苦茶 *lol* and one of the tea sold is 减油茶 reducing weight tea. I queued  and asked if that tea was sweet, old man gave me a look and I ordered one. Zero sugar. From the taste, it had a mix of some herbal tea like 菊花, 罗汉果 and some others. Not entirely unpleasant. At least it's still more herbal than medicinal. I think if it worked, my waistline would thank me for that from all the eating then.

So I went into a few shops that sold some hats and caps and found a nice one that could fit my big head which meant it could fit my Mom's head. Yes it was my Mom's request. It's funky with gothic-like blue roses pattern in a usual duck cap. For 290twd, S$12.40 so Buy. This hat buying errand made me realise how pricy caps and hats are in Taipei. It's like some fashion accessory that ain't cheap. Another errand down. We reached the end of walking about and I saw a 饼家 and headed in. Mid Autumn festival is coming so there's lots of 月饼 on top of the other stuff they have. I sample and tried 2-3 types and bought 2 boxes, as per my Mom's and sister's request for some boxes of 饼. In the end bought 2 boxes with 4 types of 饼 inside. That's half the order. We headed back by taxi. The fare is cheap still by sg standards.

I finished the mini bottle of Jack Daniels and slept late. 2-2.30am type and woke up automatically at 5.30am Tried to be very quiet as I went to the toilet, later played with hand phone and surfed Internet. Can't read or drink water or watch TV cos would wake. So I killed time until 6.30-7am then I went to lie on the bed and close my eyes. Until 8th then I woke go to the bathroom and brush my teeth etc.

Day 3 - No Hello Kitty, got 猫空, shortened 饒河夜市

I had called for reservation at the Hello Kitty Sweets the day before so we didn't do much until it was noon then we made our way over via mrt. The GPS on Google map wasn't working well and the blue dot kept being in the wrong place. Plus I had to key in the location and destination in Chinese. It wasn't easy as I had to refer to the guide book and find the long Chinese names to key in. Finally got to the place to realise that it had shifted cos the entire row of buildings was under renovation. Bloody hell didn't mention it over the phone. Plus when I try to find their new venue from their website, it wasn't working. Got dulan and irritated. Decided to give it up. I wasn't keen on it in the first place.

So we went to the Sogo mall and to the supermarket section. There I bought a bunch of tea until 3000twd that I could claim the 5% tax refund of 149twd but it took a while. Later ate lunch at a Teppanyaki that I felt was of so so standard. My 300twd cod fish wasn't good, the cabbage was soso, miso soup ok, teppan 豆芽 was soso. My add-on order of fried onion egg for 50twd was sadly the most delicious thing they served. I wasn't happy with that meal nor the choice of the place especially what was said, (ask me in person) but I kept quiet.

After that we took a LRT transfer to 动物园 station. Then got off and walked towards the 猫空 cable car to take a ride up. I checked earlier that it's open. It could close of weather is bad. Using our Ezylink cards, didn't have to queue for tickets. I asked about the  水晶 crystal cabin, got a queue ticket. It was 40mins before the designated time and then had to be there 20mins before the queue. I went to the info center and took a pamphlet about 猫空 and bought a sundae cone from the convenience shop and waited at a bench. It was 4pm and the heat had subsided somewhat. Ice cream is really delicious in the afternoon heat here.

We joined the queue at the time and waited until they open the gates and got directed up to the cable cars. Like every X normal cable cars later is a Crystal one so that's why got a separate queue and it's a longer wait. It has a see through bottom so it's a sight during the day. Max 5 poeple. They would check the numbers in your group and pair you with other groups. I was glad we got two middle aged men, not some screaming kids with family. Lots of China and HK tourists, obvious from their language. You have to hurry to board and sit down. It was slightly air conditioned but still got a bit hot after a while. Well it's summer anyways. The bottom of the cabin was seen through and as the cable car went higher and higher, you see the ground leave you further and further. The view is majestic but scary. I had a slight sense of vertigo for the initial 5min part then okay with it. In the daytime, can see the greenery,  mountain view and even the buildings nearby. It's a 4km ride past 3 stops. Decided just to head to only the top station.

At the station, after walking past the throngs of people queuing to ride down, you come to a trail intersection. I decided upon the 1.2km one that would lead to a temple. The other trails were much longer. As we started, I noticed and smelt food. Saw some people eating 香肠 and at the first "stall" - 2 Taiwanese women grilling 黑猪香肠 on the ground, with elevated makeshift grill fire. Bought 2 from them for 50twd. It's shorter than the usual Taiwan sausage but it's more tasty and flavorful especially piping hot off th grill. Then shortly after, saw a grill corn and I bought it, they apply a spicy sauce then grill then apply a savory sauce which I asked has some nuts etc. Grilled one more until the sauce is dried up. Think its was 60twd. The first bite was ok, as not used to the sauce but a few more bites later,  the taste grows on you. One of the Taiwan 小吃 is this type of grilled corn with their savory sauce. So another food down.

Walked uphill along the road. Not so steep, or so hot and sunny, only that have to give way to cars cos it's a single lane and walk at the sides of the lane. Can see the 猫空 station the more you walk. Soon come to a stretch of tea houses. At the first one, I stopped to peep at the tea leaves price and type. It was pricey. Continued to walk past the entire stretch until the temple. There were different styles of teahouses, a few is dilapidated-looking, one is very old school traditional wooden style, a couple had air-con cafe-style, a few is alfresco style with a nice open view of the station. When we reached the temple. I just burn joss sticks and made a donation. At the convenience shop just beside, I bought an instant lavender milk drink. So far, I hadn't chance upon lavender milk tea so just decide to drink. It a okay but not intense enough.

On the way down, I suggested to stop for tea. I wanted to drink tea and also buy some tea leaves. Tea being the main produce on the mountain,  so of course must try one. I chose anaair con cafe that had its own range of tea. Chose it cos it had a good crowd inside,  saw people buying the ice cream. Plus it had a nice cafe decoration, though more modern cafe setting with chandeliers. So I went straight to the tea leaves section and chatted with a gramps with 草帽. He spoke Chinese. I asked him about 龙井茶 cos I couldn't get it elsewhere and they have. So bought that. He recommended the Oolong with some flora fragrance. He let me try the 铁观音 which was good,  I told him I couldn't taste it so much cos of my earlier milk tea. But still could taste it's quality and that also helped me clear my palette. He said their 铁观音 can make 8 times. Other tea can't. So I bought that from him too. There were other tea but I had an idea of my remaining luggage space after all the boxes of 饼 and tea so far, so couldn't buy as much as I would like. Next time, I'll bring the largest trolley luggage (mine is the medium size)

Then I went to the attaching cafe to order. I was thinking of 1 or 2 items, cos I read that the 铁观音 and 包種茶 were the 2 main tea grown on 猫空. She asked me how many persons 內用 (dining in) and each person has to buy 1 item. I told her 2 and I had to order two, though I told her my friend already bought. So never mind,  I was undecided between the two teas. So I ordered their specialty lists - the 铁观音ice cream 80twd and hot 包種茶 so she said the the 柚子包種茶 150twd is 超赞 so I got that (柚子 is pomelo, according to my mom) She then noticed my friend had ordered and asked if I was still ok with 2 items,  I said, No problem. I solved my dilemna. After taking something cold, I better balance with hot. The ice cream was delicious,  milky, fresh, not too sweet, with strong 铁观音 fragrance. Shiok. Then after I fished the cone. I took a sip of the 包種茶 to try it and clear the palate. It's fresh tasting but a weaker lighter tasting tea. Then I put in the 柚子 marmalade into the tea cup and pour the tea and stir and drink. OMFG,  delicious! The sweetness and fruitiness complements the unsweetened tea and a very light refreshing fragrance. Different taste profile from before. Too bad they didn't sell that marmalade or I would buy the jam and the tea. Rested the legs then drank good tea.

Around 6.20pm, made the way down. No crystal cabin cos it was fast getting dark,  don't see the point of just seeing a few lights cos most likely the bottom of the cabin would be completely dark. Made the way back to the LRT then MRT and headed to the 饒河夜市. According to the guidebook, we got off at the 永春站 and got to walk 12mins. Using GPS, it mapped a route and we followed. What 12mins, more like 20+ mins. But the initial part we had to cut through the wet market that was closing. Smell wasn't pleasant but I got to see the wet market. Still have vendors selling their last veg, meat and even packed sushi? Then we reach the main road where it's a long long straight path onwards, having to cross at least 3-4 roads, until you can see the signature Chinese gates that marked the entrance of  r饒河夜市. I stopped at the 鲨鱼吃土司 cafe cos I spotted it had 木瓜牛奶 and I hadn't tried it yet. Saw a train station, but actually it's not MRT but is High speed rail station. A slightly but still got to walk a lot is one station away, being more convenient to walk to 五分普 then can also walk down the straight long road to the night market. Skipped the 五分普 cos it was  already night. Dunno how many would be open. And getting hungry. Was looking forward to exploring the street food there cos I haven't been there but have heard so much about its street food.

Saw the mix of food was really different from the rest of the 夜市 thus far. Just at the entrance, saw crabs,  buns, duck meat etc. Already so different from the usual. But it was a Sunday so super crowded with people, 人山人海 and all going in one direction. It had a wide open lane with shops but is split into two parallel lanes in the middle, by mobile food carts. I queued up for a deep fried squid. Bought the small 60twd to save space so cab taste more. Damn nice. But got people so gotta queue and also wait for them to cook and cut for you. Continued on, saw lots of grilled sea food and beef cubes flamed grilled but no seats. Is eat-on-the-go type. I saw a grilled mushroom and queued for it. Took a while but an incident happened here (ask me personally) that kinda pissed me off cos so many little things cumulated until exploding point. I got my piping hot mushroom and went to a shop with sitting in. Ordered the smallest main, wanton soup and it sucked.  In my past experiences, I go any 阿狗阿猫 wanton soup has all been good but this one was so disappointing so I just dig out the meat to eat (cos don't waste meat especially, try not to waste food) and drank a few mouthfuls of the soup. Super cannot make it. Not being biased but it wasn't ok
 Only the coke came in glass bottle and that was special. Continued walking down the initial lane we were in but I had no space in my stomach. Plus 一肚子火. My plan was to walk both lanes and try the more unique street food only found there. But when we reached the end of the lane, another ancient giant Chinese gate, I had enough and didn't want to continue with this idiocy and hailed a cab back. It was shortened cos no point anyway. Went back and finished up my whiskey and ate my cold grilled mushroom and remaining 木瓜牛奶. Other things aside the grilled mushroom was delicious and looking at how the woman made it is really simple if you have a grill. The flavor I chose was salt and lime. can try to make for the next bbq.

Day 4 - Free time and breathing space, exploring Ximending very thoroughly & Miramar Entertainment center (Big Ferris Wheel)

I still woke up at 5am, body internal clock. Work up, did the usual as quietly as I could. Didn't feel like talking. Have no ideas where next to plan for, I know I have to go get my Mom's request for vegetarian 饼 from a shop somewhere nearby but my sister and I were exploring and stumbled across previously. During breakfast, I put forward the idea to split up and do our own stuff until a designated time then meet back at the hotel for lunch or later and do something else in common later on in the day. I didn't want to take the card key as I won't be back a second earlier. So I settled my gear (uv cream, cap, umbrella, money belt, water - all in my backpack) and set off, after getting directions from the concierge about that particular 饼家. I would have to buy all remaining 饼 from them. As much as my luggage bag could hold. I had packed the day before so I had an idea of how many boxes and sizes I could fit in the remaining space.

So I set off,  feeling a sense of relief and lighthearted and free. Like I could take a breath of fresh air. Nothing can hold me back ad I walked nonstop at my leisurely pace, taking in the signs, sights, shops. Walking as many of the roads and intersections and grids as I could. I scoped out the location of the 餅家 and the entertainment center. It was still early so they were closed but the weather was much cooler so I remembered their location and went exploring. I had 4.5hrs to kill. I intend to explore all around and maybe even move out of the area, depending on how things went. The last part I would go to the entertainment center and also buy the 饼 then go eat 芒果 削冰, ice mango at the shop I had gone to with my sis before.

I walked around. As there are numerous intersections, I would go down one lane and after seen most of it, retrace my course n go down another lane. This time I located the American street, the Pub street, Cosplay street. Saw many modern shops and went to a few alleys and lanes that were so traditional and old school. Like you can see the real life of the Taiwanese, bearing in mind, Ximen is like the Far East Orchard Rd, Bugis Junction. So when I hit into some lanes  slightly away, saw the 茶餐厅 that had Taiwanese working people queuing up to dabao their version of the ZaChaiFan. It was getting really hot and sunny that I couldnt find the appetite to eat but it's an eye opener. I saw the 木瓜奶牛 outlet from a few days ago and happily bought one. OMG,  the ice was so smooth and the milk and papaya so fragrant and nice combination that I decided I would skip all those 奶茶 for this, anytime. So with it cooling me down,  continued walking around. Saw the traditional 豆浆油条, cafes, honey coffee place with lots of coffee making drips, cups etc. Old shops like engraving,  槟榔 , many more. You wouldn't imagine Ximen having such a side to it. I would say, I have thus thoroughly explored most of Ximen. Went into the 'Animate' comic shop, a very big one that sold all sorts of an ime stuff but came out empty handed cos they didn't have Final Fantasy CDs. I asked but the lady said they had a limited pieces that came and were sold out. No more came in. What a pity, or I would have surely bought the soundtrack especially for FFXIV, composed mainly by Uematsu. Bought 4 funny message T-shirts, for myself and friend. Lastly with a bit more time,  the final part, I went to the arcade and played just the basketball and drums machine. Decided to leave the baseball and shooting to our last day. Had a great time cos the basketball one felt like a workout. Went to the 饼家 and bought the rest of the orders from there. Carried it over. Went to the 续光香香鸡 to finally buy their crispy chicken pieces. It was good. I ate on the go. Walked to my 青春3兄妹 to eat the Mango Ice to cool down. By then it was near 2pm and the sun was scorching hot and the rays were intense. You cool down very quickly in their cool air con place. It's damn shiok to eat big mouthful of mango ice with sweet mango and milk ice and milky cream. Really breath a sigh of relief. Ate there leisurely and just enjoyed the cool and lax. When I was done,  I went back to buy another order of the fried chicken with salad and sauce mix. Chose the sesame gomu sauce. That's to my belated lunch. Also bought more water, unsweetened tea and Coke Zero. Reached back to the hotel on time  and had to wait a short while. Back to the room and ate my chicken and drank my JagerBomb and JagerCoke. Nice. Think Jagermifter is a good drunk for heavy tasting mixers.

Stayed in the room to avoid the remaining heat of the afternoon. I had no intention of going to Shilin night market if it was to be a repeat of Raohe. I said I have no plan to go there. So we eat at a nice restaurant in Ximen. After that I went to the toilet, felt bad. So I offered another alternative. To go to the Miramar Entertainment Center,  which is like a dept stall but it has a huge Ferris Wheel on top. It's like kinda famous and often used in Taiwanese drama. We find our dinner there. Go take pic and ride it. Ok. So we set off via taxi. Can take the MRT there but I had enough of navigating for now. So on the cab, I noticed the housing was a stark contrast to what I had seen thus far. Very masion-looking like apartment blocks, with the public pavements looking like parks and super nicely spaced out, good roads and street lighting. KIV to ask the next taxi driver.

We got there and were hungry. Saw a Food Republic and headed in. They have their local food which meant Taiwanese,  Japanese, Mainland Chinese and the "exotic Singapore" food. Of course skip the sg food. Walked one round and I chose to eat Omu Rice with beef in red wine sauce plus a pastry soup. I must say it's pretty good. Think Taiwan version of Japanese food kicks our local ones. Then went to find the Ferris wheel.  It costs 150twd for a ride, cheap. The ride is 17mins and the queue was short cos it's a Monday. They have 1 crystal cabin but the waiting time was 51mins.  Decided not to, anyway its dark do mainly is look at the city lights and skyline. Man, I found it scarier than the cable car, guess mainly is cos it starts and stops, instead of being continuous.  There's shaking. I looked down at the roads below and had cold feet. Gripped the railings as it went up higher and higher. On Wikipedia later on, it's a 70m wheel on top of 5 stories, making it 100m above ground *gulp* After the highest top point, as it comes down then not so scared. Once in a lifetime thing. I know Taiwan copied Japan. There's one like this in Japan originally. If I go there, I'll ride that one then. For now, I'm good. The rest of the dept store were all kids stuff but at the basement, stopped at a green tea franchise and bought matcha milk latte which was so so, surprisingly but I found Tab's request for hot/cold teabags. Everywhere so far has been tea leaves. 踏破鉄鞋无一处,得来却不费功夫. Really... Went back after that by cab. I asked the taxi driver if the houses were rich people's and he said yes. A rather newly developed affluent housing, abt S$1.67million type price tag. The area has a very park feel, spacey and overlooks a river and lake. They specially made the public spaces have trees and plants  so like you step out to a park. Nice view also from their appt down. Oh, I've learnt something new.

So reached back and I had already finished packing the 饼 and stuff, save for the dirty clothes, 2-3 toiletries items. I took out the last day's clothes and kept the rest. Just need to chuck a last few items in bag then zip tie them once I am sure. Drank more Jager. Suggested ordering the transport from the hotel to the airport cos while I was ok, manageable 2 bags plus a day bag. I had noticed her 5 bags. Not sure how she going to navigate the way to Mrt, cos their going down is escalator but coming up is stairs. Then go to High Speed Rail,  do a shuttle bus transfer to the airport? All these were in my considerations. So I just say I am going to get the airport car, any objections? None. Then I went to the concierge to settle.

Day 5 - Baseball, Arcade and Air Rifle fun, Final Taiwan food n minor irritation

I still did the 5.30am but I did try to go back to sleep and did fell asleep. Woke up at 8.30am to bath and got ready. After breakfast, went to do a refund of the Ezylink card. Can get back the remaining money. Then went to pharmacy n convenience shop. Went back to room. I bathed and packed off the last stuff. Around 11.45am, went to check-out. Deadline was 12 noon but I see no point in rushing to check out unless you were heading elsewhere to sight see. We had 2.5hrs to hang so no need to hurry to checkout. So we stowed our luggage at the front desk,  checked time to come back for the arranged transport.

Still full, so went to the entertainment center. It was opened by noon. Went and watched some people play baseball and tried. I stepped into the wrong cage, in the fastest ball 140km/hr and the worker there came to check if I had mistaken. Phew. Apparently they had ball speeds signs on top which i didn't notice. So I went to the 80km/hr one and took some photos posing then the game began. Each game is 30twd, after you insert the coins, 20 balls would shoot out, 10-15s interval. The ball comes at different heights, some straight, some high, some low. It's my first time and after a few misses, got the hang of it. Hit 5 out of 20. Not bad for a first timer. Fun, can't help grinning. Helped take pics and videos. Then I played the baseball throwing one, sucked big time. 1 hit only. Basketball was fun. Saw 3 China people playing and laughing at the Jump Rope machine. I also laughed at the guy but later when I tried, omfg... legs numbed up after 41 jumps on the basic level. The medium level I could only manage 21, the speed was so fast. Feet not so nimble, old people lah. Worked up a sweat but cooled down in the air con.

Then went to play the air guns shooting. 100twd with 4 different air guns to choose from. A Spanish rifle - 10 bullets, Air rifle - 15 bullets, 1-hand pistol 10 bullets and 1-hand shot gun 20 bullets. You can choose between 2 standard target papers, the bullseye circle or the human body target. As we were first timer, didn't realise they had an even smaller paper. I chose the Air-rifle and her, 1-hand shot gun. Both went into the glass shooting gallery and the worker gave a quick run through how to load, reload the air rifle. It can fire only one pellet at a time. I asked where's the safety to switch on and off. How to aim the sights of the rifle. There's a scope that should line up with another at the front of the rifle. As for the 1-hand shot gun. He would help with the reload. It's a cartridge of 10 rubber bullets. fter all are shot, he'll do a second reload. So we posed and helped took photos and videos. All those watching of the show "History's Channel Top Shot" paid off. I took up the position, lined up the sights and aimed abv the target to account for gravity, exhaled and pulled the trigger. Then reload and shoot and repeat. Cos it's air rifle so no recoil. After finished all the bullets, posed with our targets. After you press the button, your target comes to you,  so you can see your shots. For a first timer, I did pretty good. 13 shots on 10 and 2 shots on 9 region. Hehehe... should ask FH about going for real rifle shooting next time. You can keep your target paper which I wanted to. So its now hanging in my room. A reminder of the Good times, not the bad things there.

Headed for lunch. There's a famous goose meat place nearby but I wasn't sure if she was particular so instead I said to eat at the place we had our first dinner of 卤肉饭 and 河煎. I intended to show her where is the Mango ice place. Can chill there and wait until it's almost time. So can eat there leisurely. So after the food came, she finished quickly. Wanted to head off,  meet back at the hotel at the designated time. That irritated me again. I just said go ahead. Continued to eat the rest of the food very leisurely in the air con eatery then slowly made my way over to the ice shop. Instead met her there. Who was apparently looking for me. I said I was eating leisurely and just finished. In my mind I was thinking some other stuff (ask me in person) and I went in and ordered a Triple Mango. The cool air con and icy mango ice was still very shiok. Cos I wasn't a bitch, so I offered her to eat cos she didn't order,  thought would go off but dunno why just sat down there with me. (I have some thoughts, ask me in person). Ate some and I finished the rest leisurely but with enough time, 5mins to walk back to the hotel which is very nearby. So this lunch thing left me not wanting to talk much again. So I kept my peace and distance until the plane back. Watched X-Men the days of future past, and was about 2/3 thru Godzilla when we arrived. Got my Singapore Sling. But the International dinner, the grilled fish wasn't good. Still I ate it.

I asked her where to buy duty free alcohol and said I didn't need her quota, so don't need to wait up. Just clear customs and go home. I had to clear customs manually and pick up my mom's alcohol, bought Edinger beer for Dad, pick up my luggage bags, last few to do so and head out. I was searching for the Changi Millionaire machine thingy and couldn't find it in T2, took Sky train to T3, reached there just past 11pm and it was closed. Bloody. Decide to ask my sister who works in the area, when she' s free, just drop by and do it and submit it. Took a cab and end up in Limo,  ouch $40 taxi fare though I could take Mrt but enough for a day. Reached home and my mom opened the door. Bathed and ate half a meat bun. Slept.

Second set of 10 days have gone by...

Did quite a bit of stuff,  time did fly by. So fast, I only have 10 more days to rest up b4 work starts...

1) Diet
Was kinda losing a bit of weight n also controlling my calories until last Fri, Sat where all hell broke loose with the hi-tea n buffet. Still out of control until Tuesday evening. I'll try to rein in for 2 days until Taipei trip.

2) KM
I was trying to clear as many lessons as I could by going for 2 doubles, twice to thrice a week. Once work begins, am only going to the Advance class which is at 8.30pm so that I could rest after work, eat dinner, go home and drop my stuff and pick up my gear plus even rest up. And the buses and trains wouldn't  be so insanely crowded then. Will aim for 3 times a week including a Sat morning class to improve my Striking.  Sat would be a boxing style training with skipping, striking drills. To address one of my weakness.

3) High-Tea indeed
The hi-tea last Fri with Cyn & Tab was ok. Mainly becos of the view, despite the cloudy rainy weather earlier. Of the 10 items, like the ham sandwich with a small egg on top. It's savory and the ham tasted very good. 3 items were savory, 7 were sweet. Really too sweet for my liking. A couple of nice photos. A good experience,  but pricey. $48 after all-in plus truffle fries. Ouch.

Cos Cyn was sharing about her recent health problems n hospitalisation n she used certain words, so they kinda stayed in my mind n would never be the same again. Kinda not his tea appropriate topic while I am eating scone with strawberry jam...

Later after she left. Tab and I had lots of laughs,  joking about those words used.

4) NeNe Chicken & bad jokes
The misadventures continued after the Hi-tea. I asked if Tab would like to check out the 熊掌包 in Scape.  Cos been intending to eat in but failed. Though we did walk there, it had shifted to Bugis. Huh, wtf?

So we settled for NeNe Chicken which inspired Tab with a lot of bad neh neh jokes which kept me groaning n rolling my eyes. We ordered takeaway cos no seats. Then just nice when we got our food, there were seats. Very nice n juicy chicken. I thot were wings but were chicken parts like KFC but very moist n juicy n flavorful. Had the spicy which wasn't hot at all. Next time I will try the super spicy one.

5) "Old-people" trap
We walked about in Scape, new retail shops and changes. We headed up to the higher floors n at the 4th, 5th floors that had some open spaces with bunches of youths practicing their hip hop, break dance, the escalator had this raised indent for wires that was at about 2 inches in raised height that we kinda tripped or get one foot caught cos we didn't raise our feet higher. I remarked that it's an "Old-people", "uncool people" trap.

How we know whether u old or not, cool or uncool is see if u r nimble not light on your feet. Then u won't be tripping over these raised parts n they kinda keep old, uncool pple away cos only they would trip ;)

There's a free air-con room with wi-fi for anybody. We happily sat down inside the lounge which was empty with few pple while outside, at the free spaces n corridors, "cool" youths are break dancing.

Hung there until DF came. We went to Botak Jones next door. Later went to peep at the Game center in Cineleisure. It was kinda empty except for the dart machines.

6) Ikoi Japanese Buffet
Very worth it. That day with Tab n DF,  the salmon n swordfish were fresh. Ate a lot of sashimi. Plus the tempura - prawn, whiting fish were very good. Totally missing it now.

We went to Funan IT mall cos I introduced FFXIV to them and DF was tempted. Man, I didn't know it was out since last Aug. Only cos I saw the theme song - Answers n later watched the opening cinematic video on YouTube. Woah! I was blown away. We checked our the prices of the PS4 console, the games n subscription. Don't think I can have time to play it plus don't have the high speed Internet to do so. Still, sigh...

7) Wanderlust - Tiong Bahru (one trip), Maxwell (one trip)
Took bus 175 from my area n dropped at Tiong Bahru area where there's a whole area of low-rise shops n flats. Passed by numerous times n now finally explored it. Saw a bunch of cafes,  traditional n modern bakeries. Interesting traditional old-school coffee shops that really reminds me of Malaysia. But I didn't have the stomach to eat at the 3-4 old-school coffee shops selling Yong tau fu,  porridge, Haunches curry rice, pasta, Teo chew style porridge. Next time.

The hawker center abv the market caught my eye not I went there. Huge circular full of Chinese food. I walked one round, it had at least 50 stalls. I looked and noted those with queues. Then I decided to eat  卤面餜条 at this stall 178卤面. It had the extra portion for $3.50 where there's fried shark meat fillet n crisp added. The taste was fantastic. It is the old-school traditional tasting taste which is very flavorful,  not 膩, light n the shark meat fillet crisp was wonderful.  Now THIS is the real lu mian,  none in my area can hold up. Think I would go there just for it in the future. YUMZ!

On my way, I bought apple pie n some Nonya kueh ffrom a traditional old-school bakery, odneh,  tapioca cake, queh lapis etc for mom and sister to eat. I didn't eat them but my mom told me the queh were very good. My sister ate the apple pie and said it was very good and worth the price. 2 big slices for $3. Bought 芋角 and a 罗卜糕, so dad won't be leftout. Didn't buy much. It's very old school, 粗但够味.

The following day, my body clock went crazy and I woke at 5.45am and couldn't sleep so by 8am,  I decided to head out. To Maxwell area,  CBD,  Golden Shoe. A trip down some nostalgic parts. Since I was there at Maxwell Food Center by 8.45am, I could hunt and find the famous tapioca cake n odneh odneh to dabao. I ate 2 slices of 木暑with sweetened gula meleka with coconut gratings. It's my breakfast.

Walked down along whichever path that seemed to lead to the OCBC building. Passed by Amoy street and the food center. Then reached the China Square and I just am compelled to buy Mr Teh Tarik and continued on to Golden Shoe hawker. But nothing catches my fancy. So walked to UOB plaza, decide to walk towards Clark Quay and caught a bus back.

These 2 trips have been Very fruitful.

Very clean, spartan lifestyle... :(

Guess the reason why I could go into this intensive diet n exercise mode is exactly due to the holidays.

I am limiting my calories to 1220 per day. Every meal is controlled. 0 calories from drinks except morning kopi-o. Rest of the drinks are all mugicha n tea, zilch sugar. This is better cos all the calories would come from purely food. And I could have more calories for food so that I can actually eat more to keep full. Plus one meal - lunch or dinner is the pack of chicken breast meat. It's pan fried with little oil. 5-6mins per side over a low fire. Tasty so far. Today is the 3rd pack. And also monitoring everything eaten using the Live Strong app though the measurements used are all US-based but still can manage. So far dropped 1.5kg. Haven't weighed today. Will weigh tomorrow. Stomach is a little less flabby. Plus knee cap pain is down a lot.  Still have to push on for another 4kg. That will be a challenge with the upcoming high-tea tomorrow and buffet lunch on Sat. I am playing around with thebreakfast and even lunch to see if I could minimise the damage. Good thing so far is my taste buds went gradually to plainer taste. But still got "hunger pangs and itchy mouth" at night.

Exercise so far I did work out (including KM) to achieve exercising almost every day. But yesterday my left shoulder felt a bit off and right wrist also. So decided to rest yesterday. Tonight is more KM. Approaching weekend, more exercise at home.

Have to tidy clothes, room, catch up with guitar and drums. Not doing them.

Exercise is easy, dieting is tough, dieting & exercising is harder

So far it's 3 days since I started counting calories seriously n really limiting the quantity as well as the type of food eaten so as to achieve the reduced daily calorie limit.

Simply to lose weight;
either eat less or exercise more
or to be even more effective,
eat lesser n exercise more.

While it makes perfect logical sense, it doesn't make it easy. What I did was to drop my daily calories to the intake of the weight range I aimed for.  Then make sure i consume within that range n continues with some exercise regularly. Over time,  I would reach the targeted weight but it took longer. Last time was 16months.

This time,  I had 20 days, a high tea, a buffet, a steak and a Taipei food-based trip so I had to do more. I used the Live strong app to monitor my calories. I set it to lose almost 1st a week. It calculated a daily calorie limit of 1255. This is still a healthy range calories. Anything below 1200 is not good. And at the same time exercise everyday, at home daily except for KM days.

Man, the exercise was the easy part. The diet is a pain cos suddenly I have to switch my taste to much blander food, more filling but lower calories,  less oily. Limit portions. Instead of eating many pieces,  ate much fewer slices. Plus it's really tough to make sure I ate something within calories and keeps me full until the next meal. And its really easy to bust 1200. So really strictly no hawker food. Zilch.

Day 1 was ok except due to the zero calories from drinks policy yet reducing the amt of artificial sweetener,  meant I got very bad Coke craving.

Day 2, I got hunger pangs not from not eating but mouth wanted to eat n chew. Munchies real bad.

Day 3, I bought 2kg bag of chicken breasts n thaw it to separate into 7 zip lock bags of thickly cut chicken breast marinated in BBq sauce 4 bags, Cajun with olive oil 2 bags and black pepper olive oil n garlic 1 bag. Chucked one in the chiller n the rest in the freezer.

I cooked one bbq bag for early dinner b4 KM and it kept me filled up even til now. No extreme hunger pangs. 6 bags to go. I did a weigh-in and seemed to be down 1kg almost. Will weigh again tomorrow.

Exercise is 8 diff exercise X 30 reps mostly.  One is 10, other is 35 n max is 50. Alternate days I do another 5 diff exercise X 3 sets of 30s. Exercise seems to be the easier of the two.  Except I got more slight aches at the starting.

The worst part is over cos had very bad cravings on Sun but I didn't give in at all. It was food n drinks craving and hunger pangs and plain mouth that wanted more savory stuff. Didn't relent in the battle of will power.

Will persists n succeed. So that even of by end Aug is 0 kg lost or gained. It would be okay.

An update for 10 days into the hols and thus far

Work caught up with me. The stress and hectic of things. Plus I was going for KM 2-3 times a week in preparation for grading that any spare time in between is spent sleeping or stoning. Besides going out with friends, wandering off by myself and drum lessons. So its been a while.

1) KM P2 Grading
I've missed the previous grading in mid Feb due to a combination of injured shoulder, hectic work due to exams, just came back from the work trip. Mentally I wasn't up to it cos I had just gotten my P1 in end July 2013 and still shuddered at the thought of a 5hr grading. Apparently it was much shorter cos conducted by a foreign visiting head trainer.

Then missing that, when my shoulder was finally mostly healed, I restarted KM in June. After a 4 months break and lack of exercise due to shoulder injury, and incessant eating. Put on 5kg and lost the fitness. Felt my energy levels falling. Was really glad to be able to exercise in June. So mentally I wanted to do the P2 grading and trained for it. I just finished 2 months of KM before grading. By now I have recovered most of my fitness but still haven't lost the additional weight.  (Today I am restarting calorie-counting & also doubling my exercise besides KM)

Grading was tough. Again I was the only female doing grading and tio the 5 plus hours one. Seriously after the thing was over, I often wonder if there were other females and it being not easy, how many can complete?

Mainly is the duration and really short 1min breaks that are few and far. I had learnt from experience previously and brought 2x1.5 litres of isotonic drink. Every time we had a sip of drink, I would gulp down quite a few mouthfuls of isotonic drink. By the end, I was still ok until the final "Aggression and pressure drill" which I was gassed out cos of the intensity and not breathing correctly. Well I did get a little bit off due to my gender cos I did 3 instead of 5 rounds of that. With trembling hands and the familar stitch at my side, got my patch, and more importantly the passport which allows one to go to any other ikmf gyms in other countries to train. I was an "illegal immigrant" cos they forgotten to issue that batch of us our passports due to changing from one oorganisation to another. NOW, I am legit. Enjoyed the refreshment that was a Japanese style Kong bar bao n green juice (pineapple, celery and cucumber, tasty)

I brought clothes to bath and change into. Went to eat a celebratory hot dog at Mustard Incident before they close and shift elsewhere. That night I applied a lot of analgesic cream all over and the next day, I was up and about with slight aches. This was opposed to my first time where I spent the whole of the next day lying in muscle ache agony in bed. Good improvement to my fitness but my right knee has been sore due to the weight gain. I need to address this weight in this holiday period. Ideal would be to lose 5kgs by the end of this month.

I chanced across the grading videos on the ikmf FB page. Wasn't aware until I was searching for some Ikmf information and stumbled upon it. Actually seeing myself during grading is kinda complex. I saw things from a first-person view vs a third-person view. A bit amused,  impressed, shy and so on. On one hand, I could see the improvement to the form and stance. On the other hand, I've also realised my own weak areas; combinations, slow fighting, multiple assailants etc. I need to work on those now that there is no more the stress of grading. P3 is a long way ahead.

2) Diet n Exercise
The aching right knee cap is a constant reminder to me to lose the extra 5kg. It's really not easy and for the past 2 months since I've resumed KM, haven't lost any. The bad cravings, over-eating and stress-induced eating didn't help. So finally after recovering from the KM grading, I've restarted exercising at home, with slight kettlebell. My left shoulder didn't have any pain so now I can do KB. In the months of the shoulder injury until then, I dare not use the KB and just opted for 1kg weights n bodyweight. Now I can finally KB a bit. I intend to intensify the home exercise a bit more especially on days without KM and weekends where overeating and slacking at home happens.

Today is my 1st day of counting calories. It has been a long break of more than 1.5 yrs since I've done so. Bo bian, have to for health reasons. Just that combating the urge to eat; a lot, rich food in holiday mode,  craving mode has been a big struggle. Friends know that I drink diet coke, non sugared tea and mugicha. Am trying to reduce the intake of artificial sweetener but I got hut by a double whammy of Coke-craving and sugar-craving WTF!? So had to grit and deny all these food cravings, munchies and drink cravings. Boy, it's been tough. I was glad to reach home safely from double drum lessons without eating any shit save for a 99 cal milk coffee. All the rest of the drinks bought were water, non sugared green tea and oolong tea. Phew, I could eat dinner at home with more tea. At least satisfied my hunger pangs. More days to come until the end of this holiday. Waiting for food to be digested before I exercise.

3) Errands
Some days I went about to go to the bank, settle investment stuff, update accounts.  Some days I went wandering about by myself, even to Liang Court (a place I avoided like mad due to work reason) to buy 2 bags of mugicha of a particular brand. Ended up with a box of Genmaicha (green tea + roasted rice) and Hojicha (roasted green tea) Learned something new about tea.

One day I spent with my sister accompanying her to the hospital and later eating in NUS canteens and going down a trip to memory lane. Maybe going with her to another.

Some afternoon just sleep.  Either too noisy and it was a means of escape or it was finally peaceful enough to be able to fall asleep in the slow lazy afternoon.

Still have 20 days that I hope to rest up, lose the layer of dust from the daily grind, enjoy eating yet still lose the 5kg and do/try something new.