Round trip Taiwan 3rd April - 14th April 2016 (4th trip to Taiwan)

This will be a very long post because of the duration of travel - 12 days trip, my longest travel so far. And we went to a round-Taiwan trip that spanned so many areas, shops, spots and ming su (inns, motels etc). Even now, things are kinda fuzzy at certain parts because I am not familiar with the geography of Taiwan, with respect to the areas. But after getting a map of Taiwan, I got some idea of where we went.

I think, instead of me trying to account for everything, everywhere we did and went, I shall focus on the most memorable things, places and experiences. Warning though, at some parts, it includes some superstition stuff so be forewarned. Some parts also kinda gross too. I shall try to keep it as sanitary as possible. There are many new and positive experiences and also some life-threatening ones. We all came back in one piece safe and sound, that's what matters.

The backstory to this trip was that it was a promise made by the sinseh (my sister's husband) to my Mom, before my father passed away. So after things are more or less settled, they decided to keep the promise. I was asked if I wanted to go, make a round number, easier hotel wise etc. I was okay with it cos I needed a breather from everything. A chance to step away from it all and just breathe. To me, I wanted to drop everything. I changed only S$800 to twd, remembering that Taiwan is a much cheaper place food-wise and I dont intend to buy huge amount of stuff. Mainly foodstuff. Also limiting myself a bit due to my unemployed status. No harm being a bit thrifty. By the end of the trip, I had twd 550 left (S$23). This excludes of course air tix, accommodation and transport. Paid an extra $52 for travel insurance, almost $2.6k all-in, including the taxis and misc costs.

It would be my first time to travel out of Taipei. This being my 4th time to Taiwan but I had only stayed in Taipei the past three times. Getting around Taipei is easy but travelling out of it requires either knowing the local transport or having your own driver. We had hired a local guide with his 7-seater van and he would drive us from destination to destination and we would visit, eat and shop at the local area specialities and sights. And as we travel along, he would stop along the way to do so until we reach the hotel we would be staying in the evening. He also brought us to food places that he himself had tried and found to be cheap and good to eat. He knows the speciality food in the regions we are travelling to and asks us which we wanted to eat there. Thanks to him, we ate really good food, with lots of variety, hitting what each of us wanted to eat, ex my sister wanted smelly tofu, fen yuan. My only request for this trip is to see Sakura. It was still the season then when we flew over. The weather had turned a bit warmer, a nice 18-23 degrees.

The trip started with 3days in Taipei -> 1day Yilan -> 1day Hua Lian -> 1day Cing Jing -> 1day Sun Moon lake -> 2days Feng Jia -> 1day Tai Nan -> 1day Kaosiung then fly back.

After Taipei, it was my first time shifting luggages every day, with the exception at Feng Jia. I had underestimated how hectic it can be. Felt the fatique after a few days of shifting about. Mainly some of the ming shu didnt have any lift so it meant lugging the heavy luggages up flights of stairs. My mom's one was super heavy, just with her own stuff and in the first shifting, I felt the strain of it. The ultimate one was at the ming shu in Hua Lian, up 3 floors and got so many stairs and I had a tough time lugging hers. My sister helped me as we lugged our luggages down on check out. Luckily check-in, got a guy to help out.

Mine was manageable but I shouldnt have brought any books along, all day in the van, meant no chance to read at all. My luggage before was 11kg and came back 21kg. By the time we reached the hotels, tired and no mood to read. So I learn something about reading. Just 1 small and thin book will do next time for such an arrangement. I also need to further reduce my clothes brought though I already reduced. I came with 1/3 luggage full but think I can do better with 1/4 or 1/5 next time and pack a foldable bag just in case. I didnt need one this time.

The first few days in Taipei, we went to places I had gone to before, Freedom Square, Confuscious temple, Long Shan temple, 101 etc. These places I had been to before but it is okay to revisit. Just accompany them and when the elder ones are tired, I follow my sister as she explored them. Everywhere is walking, flat ground, up and down slopes, up and down stairs. By the last few days of the trip, I felt tired from walking about. Keep an eye on my sister who wanders off, also another eye on Mom and the sinseh who are elderly.

Alas I fell sick on merely the 3rd day. I had very interrupted sleep as my mom woke up several times to use the toilet at night, and she drags her slippers nosily. Then she woke up super-early in the morning 6am and made enough noise, enough packing noises, on enough lights to wake me. Luckily got the sinseh give me meds and kept an eye on me. So I recovered with a combination of meds and also some divine medical help the next day mostly and back to normal in two. I hadnt had a high fever in such a long time. Didnt know how and why exactly I fell ill but I felt tired and fatigued one morning, then as the day progressed I asked to lie down at the back row seats, felt myself burning up and a bit dizzy. The journey was mainly in the van to JiuFen and ShiFen which I felt were really commercialized. There were many repeated stalls selling similar things, throngs of people and slopes. My the time we went to the GeoPark, it had become full-blown. I didnt go in, went to hide at the stalls area and ate something warm. Then the sinseh came and told me to go back to the van. I laid there dizzily. Ate little that whole day and didnt have the energy to explore the areas that day, not too much a pity cos I did come down but some sights were hardly worth the journey.

Then the sinseh told me later on, he told my Mom to not disturb my sleep with her antics as he was familiar with hers as he had brought her to China and other countries travelling before. The reason was cos we wake up early, travel whole day then sleep at midnight, already bad enough, but if keep interrupting the sleep, body cannot take the strain. So she toned down a lot and both of us slept better. From the 6th night, I started being able to sleep deeply and more restfully.

Unfortunately also experienced nausea and puked up breakfast at Hua Lian, during the dophin/whale seeker ferry ride. The ferry veered sharply several times when it encountered schools of dolphins to let the visitors see but all I felt was my stomach starting to become unstable after several jerks. Mid-way through I puked up my breakfast, tied it and then decided I had enough and just closed my eyes and sat down, keeping my head lowered forward. I didnt know who else puked but when we finally reached land, I saw a guy slumped over a seat, looking very sickly. Even the sinseh felt nauseated from the already bumpy and all those sharp veerings. My nausea subsided after I puked but his nausea persisted the whole day. His turn to become sickly. Never again, I tell myself. I rather see them in full glory on TV. My mom had anti-nausea pills earlier and survived. My sister is a super woman.

We saw Sakura a few times, firstly just 1-2 trees in Taipei. Then later in the outskirt, we went to a private residential hill side and there were a few more. We took pics, that through angling, looked very good. At the flower park in Yang Ming Shan, there were 2-3 very full and beautiful ones. Then just like that, the bloom ended. Cherry blossom trees in Sun Moon Lake and AliShan were bare and no more. Still very glad to see them though still not like those in Japan where you can stand on flat nice ground and stare. With exception of the one in the Flower park, the rest were on uneven ground but still a sight to behold. At least I can say, I had seen sakura now.

On the road from Hua Lian to Cing Jing, there is only one way and it is up an old road, aka Death road cos of the hazard. Little did we know how dangerous it was. It wasnt the guide's fault but cos we were headed to Cing Jing from Hua Lian, there is the only way. The guide charged the highest fee for that day and it was really a dangerous road. Every left turn is followed by an immediate right turn then a left turn and right turn for hours. Worst still, a thick fog descended upon us and you cant see beyond the windscreen at times. It was a scary one hour then the dark fog lifted but still the winding journey continued for another two hours. We were all relieved when we reached Cing Jing safely. Never again, rather go to Cing Jing from PuLi instead, a much much safer route. The sinseh was sickly but he was chanting something when the heavy fog descended and also helping the driver to look out on the windey and bendy road.

At Cing Jing, we were told not to flush our toilet paper down, a practice some of the older establishments have cos of the narrow sewage piping. I was urgent then and had two choices - (1) do what they all do which is wipe but throw in the garbage bin provided beside and stink up the whole toilet or (2) as the sinseh said, wash the butt with water. I was super reluctant but super urgent and had chose to wash my butt with water. Yes... for the first time, and in this twenty-first century, modern day and age, on the high high mountains of Cing Jing, I still had to resort to washing my butt. I kept thinking how lucky Geoky didnt come along or she would eeeeeek at this. It didnt turn out as bad as I thought but still, I rather not have to do it at all in the first place. With the exception of this, everything at the place was wonderful. Very nice theme room, fresh air but thin, very nice wooden dining hall and delicious food and splendid mountain view during the day.

We also at this part of the journey encountered a lot of poop. Yes, at the grassland Mo Tian Gan, saw a Corgi pet dog poop. Then at the grassland, as you walked nearer to the cows grazing, smelt poop and had to avoid cow poop. At the Cing Jing grassland, as you see the sheep, you see and smell the sheep poop. Some poor horses were made to stand all-day at one of the stands for tourist to do a short ride and as I walked closer, smelt and saw horse poop. Then the night before I had to settle my human poop. A very very poop-ey trip.

Had the most enjoyable at the Ita Shao area in Sun Moon Lake. Several reasons, firstly we ended up with a room with a huge ass balcony. One that you can sit outside and look upon part of the water. We dabao food from the stalls and ate dinner at the huge balcony, so windy cool and nice. Next the room was super luxurious and spacious and the toilet was big too. I was so happy, I could say goodbye to the butt-washing day. Flushing toilets. Then we discovered a wine seller nearby that sells very original Xiao Mi Jiu. The lady let us each have a generous shot to sample. Then she explained how they made their own xmj, and taught us how to look out for genuine ones. When the sinseh and mom tasted it, they remarked it reminds them of the taste from their childhood. Then she showed us how just adding a drop of vodka to it elevates the taste and it magically did. We were all so surprised. She also sold xmj slushie which we bought to try. But cos we had tonnes of food and just finished buying dinner, we asked for their closing time and said we'll go back after dinner. It was just a 1min walk from our min shu. After dinner, I walked back with my sister and bought just 2 bottles. It was affordable, 500twd. I was tempted to buy more but I know my luggage (being the smaller capacity one) couldnt handle 5 bottles. If you buy 4, you get 1 more free. After the trip, I decided to give one bottle to the sinseh for all his help this trip and he was very happy with it. The Ita Shao village area doesnt resemble a village (just concrete buildings) but it had a stretch of food stalls manned by the Ita Shao people, a few chose to wear traditional clothes. The next day we headed to the cable car ride to visit the 9 Tribe Cultural Village. The cable ride had a much more beautiful view than Mao Kong, newer carriages too. We made it in time to watch a performance at the display area. Then walked more a bit. Less than the mid-way mark, the elderly couldnt walk further and I helped enquire about the use of the tram for those in need. At the first place I asked, got some dirty look and accusing tone from the aunty, like implying me being fit and young, so lazy want to ride that tram. Man, what did I do to you? We walked a little further and ate some food at a stall then at the next village, I enquired about the use of the tram, and the lady was super helpful. She said even my sister and I could board it - our initial plan was the elderly ride it and meet us at the entrance. My sis and I would trek back, upslope. In the end we all got on and reached the cable car station down slope below. There is an amusement theme adventure park (extra admission) there. We took a cable car up to the entrance. Then took another cable car down the village.

The only other stay that was longer than overnight was at FengJia. There had another supernatural encounter. Basically the sinseh is a medium for more powerful deities and one came the first night we were there. I knew of it but didnt encounter nor participate in these. My sisters and mom were often attending these sessions on special occasions. The deity wanted to see me so I had to comply. After greeting him, with the help of mom and sis translating from Cantonese, he said some things about me. Those ask me in person, the most worrying one was that there were problems with my knees and my future would be wheel-chair bound. But the deity then proceeded to give me a temporary treatment, pending 'operation'. This all happened close to midnight. The next night, I felt the same warm sensation all over my body (similar to the time I was sick and had some divine medical help by another deity). Could feel a small slight something but not pain exactly at my right knee cap. Also had an overwhelming sleep come over me.

The next day, I had some slight pain in my right knee. I mentioned it later on, before we reached Ali Shan. So there were 2 rope bridges in Ali Shan, Tian Chang - the one on ground level but spanned over a long and wide channel and Di Jiu- one that spanned above ground level but only accessible by stairs and stairs from the ground level. I mentioned that my right knee cap is hurting a bit so I dont want to climb. Then the sinseh went to check up with the deities and concluded that I had one replacement operation done on my right knee. There is a Ji-Gong temple called Long Ying Si just at the main area of Ali Shan. We all went in to pray. I had to do more. Give proper thanks for helping me with my knees. Then later got a Qian lot which is a very good one. Gave thanks further and left a donation. While we were doing the Taiwanese thingy of 'changing coins' for wealth luck, a bunch of firecrackers were lit and we saw the temple people, bring in 3 small deities statues, bringing them, passing over the incense stand. Later the sinseh found out that we had visited on the same auspicious day of Ji Gong, so my knees would be fixed. Pending recovery of the right one before another operation for the left one. But I was told there wont be anymore after and so must take care. Hence dieting and losing the extra weight is definitely high on my agenda. Also have to stop any strenuous exercise for 1 month which now later extended to 3 months. No more KM... but Taiji Yang style can. But it meant dieting and some workout that is upper body and core until my knees recover fully. During the last couple of days, I was hobbling with an umbrella then walking stick. Really understood exactly how the elderly felt especially those with leg problems. And I have to go back to give thanks unless my job doesnt permit then my mom go on my behalf in Sept, before winter.

At Tai Nan, we stayed in a drive-in motel. It had a garage that an entire vehicle drives in and closes behind after. Definitely for hanky-panky but surprisingly the rooms were very cosy and comfy. It got a jacuzzi, a steam bath. Verdict: Jacuzzi shiok. Steamer is hard to breathe in and after 1min, I had enough and came out dripping with sweat. My sis's room had a massage chair that we went over to try. Yes and while flipping through the 100+ channels encountered porn on 5-6 channels but I flipped away. Well all porn are based on guy's POV so as a woman, I am not interested to see another woman's genitals super close-up, opened up, flipped all over... seriously grossed out at times. I was searching for the PiLi series, the Taiwanese made dolls that fights with powers in pugilistic settings. Was happily following the series whenever had a chance to find it. My mom also enjoyed it though my sister scoffed at it. Incidentally, my sister and the sinseh guessed differently. One thought I would be watching porn, one didnt. I didnt. Too bad they didnt make a bet. My mom's the witness though she fell asleep when I came out from the steamer. I slept around midnight. The good thing about this trip is that it helped me adjust my sleeping time back to normal.

We went into a pet shop in Tai Nan, and it was sad to see the puppies. Most of the puppies were listless looking and I saw a Corgi. It is selling for S$2k vs S$4k in SG. It had a sad look. My sister was telling me how we should pity the puppies' mom. Cos unscrupulous breeders keep making the female dog get pregnant and without feeding it well or letting it recover, repeat and let it get pregnant again and again. This breaks the female dogs' bodies and they are in very very pitiful condition. So dont buy puppies but choose to adopt. I was telling my sis how Quet told me the plight of unsold puppies too. How they were killed if not sold by a certain age. All are pitiful. Cos while we were in Taipei, there were so so many pet owners especially dogs. So many breeds of dogs too, even Ciao Ciao. I dont ever recall seeing so so many pet owners on street before, was asking the guide if it was a trend cos many youngsters have dogs. I still like the Sheltie, smaller sausage dog and Corgi. My sister bought a leash harness and dog treat for her own dog.

We headed to a Swiss private garden, which used to belong to someone privately but now become open but with admission. Upon reaching, the sinseh and mom didnt feel like walking about. I went with my sister. They left us a phone to contact when we were done. So both of us headed inside. It was really a surprisingly big private garden. There were some structures that resembled Swiss buildings, converted to dining and drinking area, and a huge pond with a pair of swans and 3 mandarin ducks. I saw a vending machine that dispenses a small pack of feed that fish or swans can eat. Sure enough once the feed was thrown into the pond, the swans and fishes came. The carps and other fish were monstrous in size. Larger than my forearm. The swans didnt manage to eat much cos there were numerous numerous fishes that congregated once they detect food. As we walked around the lake/pond, my sister spotted a nice area near a pile of rocks that we assumed the swans could come on land and hence we can feed it more. So we bought more boxes of feed and started feeding when the swans got in place. But they didnt come up to land, but just stayed right at the edge. When we threw in the feed, the swans could eat a lot more of it. In Nature, there is no being gentlemanly, the male swan ate more and snatched the female swan's share so both of us threw the feed, one for the male and one for the female. Then the monstrous school of fishes came and actually squeezed the swans away, some even beached themselves just for a small morsel. The male swan was aggressive, it bit the fishes to nudge them away to keep its spot secured. The female swan was more passive until it got nudged too much then it nipped the fishes. The smaller mandarin ducks came but were nudged and kept away by the fishes. But after a short while, the ducks came onto the rocks and even onto the bridge level where we were at. So since they came out, we fed them generously, one and a half box of the feed. The ducks waddled around then later headed off to the water, full. Smart! They didnt come back a second time when we went back to feed after we came out from a cafe for a short break. I had a refreshing and delicious Yuzu soda that revived me from the surprisingly sunny 23 degree day. They also sold a very thick looking wine but I didnt buy, considering my luggage space. My sis and I had another round of feeding the swans, this time the female one first then the male one swam quickly from the far end of the lake over. We actually fed 14 boxes of feed, each 10twd or 20cents. That is enough to eat quite a full meal in Taiwan. Some mains just cost 50twd. Drinks are 25twd. We had a very good and fulfilling time just feeding the swans, ducks and fishes.

The later couple of days I was told to walk less so I didnt accompany my sister to some of the last few sights. I stayed outside or dont walk up the slope or stairs. Actually it is another different type of enjoyment to be able to see things more relaxedly just by observing the shops, signs and even people. Was hobbling with umbrella and a walking stick. A lesson on how elderly feel. I should have more empathy and patience for them than before, having gone through how they feel.

Food was definitely a highlight for everybody and there is no lack of it in Taiwan. Every area has its speciality. For example, in Kaoshiung, we ate the super fresh milk fish, cheap too. And near a Guan Gong temple, we ate the sweetest freshest best pineapple. We instructed the guide that we wanted to eat the local speciality as we travel along. Not always in restaurants but what is good, can be cheap and must be nice. In Hua Lian, we ate the Manpo (sun fish) and its bone was pure collagen and chewy jelly-like. There were so many many good food, all different varieties and not always expensive. In fact some of them were super cheap yet so delicious. Its really a gem and we miss the flavours after passing the area to move on to another area. Man, I miss almost all the food we had. The 7-11 is a treasure trove of delicious food too. Imagine Hokkaido milk ice cream, at just a dollar plus. And so so so light and fresh and delicious! Also their pasta and bentos are very good. I should have eaten more but again in Taiwan, it is not that you will go hungry, it is how much stomach you have to eat all the food. Ate so many flavours and deliciousness that I dont know where to start. I did post up some in Instagram but there were others that looked normal but were delicious, some that were simple and plain looking but delicious. Some looked unassuming but delicious. Those didnt reach Instagram. So in Taiwan, be open-minded about trying and one can definitely discovered so many varieties and deliciousness in every corner.

And of course I came back with a much flabbier and bigger tummy. A whopping 4kg in 12 days. Luckily as of writing, I had just lost 3kg and my tummy has shrunk a bit. So it proves my diet and exercise is working so far. I am motivated by health reasons - my knees, to lose the weight. My goal is to reach 62kg. I have 15kg more to go. I think even if I cant go for KM but if I keep up with my exercise and diet, I can do it. With so much Taiwan goodies in the house, it meant I can only eat 1 item a day, a portion. But I found that I had so so so much variety, much food, much tastes that I am contented to stick to plainer and simpler food for a while. It's like all the taste and cravings are satiated and I am good for now. Will keep this up.

Exchanging scary but real stories - L'm scared.

I needed to find 2 witness for my insurance policies nominations and so checked with my friends if they were meeting up. Had wanted to finish and mail it out before I fly this Sunday. A tea session was arranged and I joined in. If any lessons could be gleamed from the life event I had just gone through, its making a will and also nominations and arranging all your financial stuff into a solid file.

I was out early unwillingly due to my mom wanting to head to Clementi to change twd for the trip. I was adjusting my body clock and was up earlier and was groggy and still recovering from two consecutive nights of triple sessions and the boxing drills were punishing on the shoulders. Then she proceeded to nag about the expiry of the passport and I checked it and told her mine was fine. She went on and asked me the date, which by now irritation was creeping into my tone when I answered. Then tio scolded... kept my mouth shut. Later she went out to buy groceries and I decided to sleep a bit more. No use being even more grumpy from lack of sleep when we went out before lunchtime. In my mind, I was thinking, why change money I also had to tag along. Man, how old am I? Slept for 45mins more, felt better and when I opened my eyes, she was back and I changed and we headed out. She kept quiet until Clementi then talked. I was fine with the silence and slept on the short bus journey. Then we walked to check out the rates for 4 money changers in the area. A short walk and saw all 4 rates. Then we had lunch at a bustling coffeeshop. I told her since I was out, I would head down to Chinatown area and hang there before the meeting with friends. 

I got out at Outram and walked to the money changer near Chinatown station. Saw the rate that was slightly lower than the Clementi one and decided to change cos I wasnt sure whether I would be back in Clementi early enough to do so. Lose about $3.50 difference. Then checked the notes given, counted twice and kept the money and headed to Chinatown Point. 

I had planned to sleep in the Chinatown library but it was closed until 3pm for a staff event. So I had bought a new Oolong tea - Meta Oolong, barley and oolong, a big ass 1.5litre bottle. I settled down in Macs and bought a Large coke zero. So read my Alien book and yawned and drank more caffine until 3.15pm. Took the downtown line and hopped off one station later. Using Google Map, and navigated to the correct direction and walked. Noticed many changes since the last time I passed by, about a year ago.

Saw this that looked like the agreed cafe and noted that the hunks in the blog post werent there, though expected cos that post was in 2014. There were slim ladies and dad-bod guys serving but I must say service was good. FH came shortly then Tab. We looked through the wordy menu and I am again afflicted with temporary menu-dsylexia and finally we all decided on the Awesome menu items. Each of us had one of the three Awesome dishes, namely Awesome Sandwich, Awesome Lasagna and mine Awesome Salad. We were feeling high and totally awesome, singing to the tune of 'Everything is Awesome' song. The decorations were vintage and old-school and interesting toilet too. Our food came and it turned out tasty and flavorful despite the looks of a clean and green meal. I thought the tasty gallop of meshed paste was tuna, turned out to be duck rillet - duck feet made into a tasty paste according to wiki. The basil spread on toast was palatable though I was initially apprehensive, basil being one of the few things I cant take much of. So the very clean and health and tasty meal. Then we were chatting and Candle joined in.

Interesting topics came up and most notably the spiritual stories, which was scary yet fascinating to listen to, especially scary because these are real ones, happening to real people, name Us. Didnt know that FH was so susceptible to spirits when he was younger and that his friend, Turtle had exorcism rites carried out on him. Wow, and I thought I was the few who experienced these and mostly in the recent year, the most recent - just last week. Yes, that started to scare Tab and Candle, who were thinking of what to do with their plushies. Hello, what about your friend here, whose room was just adjacent and she has an old dog doll from childhood, lor? *shivers* and I ended up sleeping late into the morning, keeping lights on until the wee hours before I switched them off to sleep. Too much real stories can keep one up. Luckily no penalty for oversleeping, though I still train myself to wake up with a slightly earlier alarm, switch off alarm and go back to sleep to catch up. Havent reverted to working hours yet, will try.

So we had an Awesome time at The Awesome Cafe and took a lift from FH who was heading to Orchard. We got off at Taka and hung around until dinner. Candle went to have dinner with her friend and Tab and I walked around more, chatting along while waiting for DF. It helped that we were still feeling awesome, after our Awesome food in our bellies. Headed to the fish place in Taka basement, Nakajima Suisan and I tried out the Tuna set and bought the oden again. I had this Shimo set in my first visit with oden and still remembered the taste and quality. That time Tuna was out of stock. Glad to be able to eat there again and try another fish set. Yummy. Filling and suddenly I feel so full, like my appetite has decreased but I slowly finished the food. It didnt help that my sore shoulders were acting up really bad when I had to lift my right shoulder to eat with chopsticks. Took me a while to finish and then we headed home. At home, I had more massage on the portable units with Counterpain and I am as good as new this morning. 

A tiring and fast week.

This week kind of zoomed past quickly, mainly cos I went for very intensive KM. Three sessions twice - Tue and Thur. The post to up my exercise is not for show. I mean it. There was a intense heat wave on Mon and Tue. So during the Monday training, I ran out of water as I had finished my 2 litres after the second session. They had just rolled out a third session - ground fighting. But I didnt feel up to it cos it was just so very hot and humid and I was out of water. Decided to give it a try the next day, by being prepared. Which meant bringing out my 3 litres. It worked cos the next day, I survived the triple session, with some water to spare. And on Thur, I had about a litre left. Cos the weather had turned a bit cooler relative to Mon. After 4 sessions this week, by Sat. I was dozing off at noon. Not much aches courtesy of the portable massage units. Hope to keep it up. I only have less than a week before my Taiwan trip. Imagine all the delicious food and how much potential damage...

Inbetween the KM training, during the afternoons, I headed out. More than usual too. No wonder I was tired. Tue I went to IMM to buy a new lugguage trolley bag for my mom. Long story short. She doesnt have her own. She always brings many small bags and comes back with even more bags - which I am the one lugging them around. Imagine carrying my own plus at least 5 bags and more depending on how much I could load on both my hands. Hence decided to get a larger one. For this Taiwan trip and also can be used when going back to Msia. Hope it will mark the end of all those bags and bags which I have to carry. Cos she old now and I am still healthy and strong so I take as much as I can load up on. And its a pain. I went to a shop and tried out the larger lugguage. There was a sale too. Decided on the soft case cos its super light for the size relative to the hard case which is like 5kg empty. Too heavy to lift easily. Chose a pink fusha color one with 4 wheels and pretty happy with the quality and the price. Speaking from travel experience, when you are lugging a overflowing but small lugguage with several other bags all over the place, very uncomfortable, you are willing to pay for a better lugguage. Granted my Mom paid for her own lugguage. But I really hope with its 110 litres capacity, with 4 wheels, meant I dont have to end up with so many bags all over me anymore. Came back on public transport, rolling it with me. Then went for evening KM.

On Wed, headed to Quet's place, with Tab to get the 4th and 5th Bazi book. We met up and had delicious lunch at Kovan hawker. Many many good stalls inside. I tried the Hainanese curry rice and it was very very good. Better than my area's. Then we headed over. Tab practiced a bit cos we were having a long chat about stuff. Then I waited while Quet came home. We dabaoed Zhi Char food back and ate while the cable guy set up the wifi and also the cleaner did the cleaning. Introd her to more Final Fantasy music. Searched for them on Spotify and found quite a bit. Also played a few of my favourite tracks. Had a good day out but by the time I reached home, it was already past eleven.

On Fri, headed out with Mom and sister who wanted to eat some nice Jap food. Recommended trying out Liang Court cos got a bit more choices, more authentic and assured of the quality. We ended in Tampopo. My mom and I had different style ramen and my sis had very tender pork fillet katsu. Very worthwhile. Definitely filling and later I had a melon sundae cone. But after reaching home, I was tired and lazed around and also dozed off.

Sat, after KM in the early afternoon. I reached home around 2pm and ate lunch and slept deeply. My mom and sister headed out and I didnt join them. They brought dinner for me and I ate and just dozed more. Not a productive time in terms of reading but more physically. Hopefully when I weigh myself tomorrow, maybe half kg or one kg lighter??? keeping fingers crossed.

Think the next week would be a repeat. Flying off on Sunday. I can do a max of 4 KM or reduce it to 3. See how I feel then.

The Simple Life is not for me

A concept from the Bazi book series that Quet had loaned me, at least up til Book 3 is that the 10 Gods represents character traits, both positive and negative and one's character can be shown through the bazi. I looked at my own and my sister's cos we included the time of birth which gives rise to 8 characters or the full bazhi and it is pretty accurate and telling.

So Geoky has a simpler outlook in life compared to mine, complex outlook. It is so telling in this trip back to Muar.

We went back to do the first year of Qin Ming (sweeping the tomb, make offerings) which for newly departed has to be earlier than the official Qin Ming. Apparently for the official Qin Min, you can pray 10 days prior or after that date. It is for not-newly departed, the 'old' spirits they say. For new ones, rookies, it seems that they are released earlier than these old ones, and during Qin Ming, they are called back. It meant that they dont receive the offerings if you make it later.

So it was a simple one. Made two big bags of parcels that are sealed with a talisman where the recipient's and senders' names are written. Think of it as fedex delivery so that it will be received by the intended one, not stolen midway. Also folded two big bags full of gold and silver bars to help burn the two parcels. And also put the loose coin papers around the stack before burning - to distract any lurking spirits so that they dont snatch from the burning stash. We went to the main hall to first pray to the guardians of the place, then Mom and Bro went to burn some offering. Then head to the tomb and Mom set up the food and lit the joss sticks. We prayed two rounds, then we went to burn the parcels and paper money. Then prayed and went down back to the main hall. Before leaving, we burnt a talisman to prevent any from following back. We were told not to eat nor drink at the graves. It supposedly meant you are snatching food from the ghosts who are eating. They will takan you in revenge. We didnt bring any offerings back. Paid a few ringgit to the worker there to help us clear when the day is over.

Went in on Saturday and spent the day folding as many gold and silver bars as I could. Sunday we went to make the offering at the tomb. Monday to Friday were spent in a slow and incredibly cut-off, isolated way with complete sloth and lack of purpose or anything, aka Eat and Drink, Sleep, Watch lousy cable TV, and later on pirated dvds. Erm some would envy that but seriously I was bored out of my mind. No internet, no information, no purpose, no drive, nothing to do except to look at each other and the TV. Think about where to go for lunch or dinner, no going anywhere else due to the inconvenience of transport, just being in the apartment except when going out for meals. Luckily I had brought a few books to read and ended up going through the Bazi books 1-3 again. I didnt make it to the Malay book nor the Share Trading one. Cos there is no sense of purpose, hence the drive is lacking. I did read the Bazi books but not always on some days. Yes so I didnt really enjoy these 'Chi He La Sha' (eat drink poop pee) days. I miss the more purposeful things I did in SG. My sister however, having a simpler outlook did enjoy the days. I told her I am worried how much weight I am putting on, eating all these food, unhealthy and seriously doing nothing except sleep and watch dvd. I told her if I do this, I might end up as one of those seriously obese persons, stuck at home. Granted I hadnt made any dent in my weight loss and went an entire 1.5 weeks without any exercise.

Yes, I prefer some sort of self-improvement, things to do, things to work on. Given there are so many I have to work on.

Firstly is my weight for health reasons. This 11kg weight gain is definitely unhealthy and needs to go for practical reasons. I dont want to replace my entire wardrobe, and dunno if I can even fit into my formal wear. I did buy some bigger sized tops and bottoms but this is not meant to be permanent. Hence I want to lose all 11kg of it first then work on the last 4kg for a total of 15kg. That's a lot of weight to lose and despite me hoping to them all ideally before my job search... I think realistically, it will take BIG effort, commitment and time to do so.

I am committing more effort to weight loss, instead of just exercise, I am going to cut and count my calories again. Just back from all the unhealthy food in Muar made me kinda lose my appetite for any rich and savory food. All I feel like eating now are tonnes of salad, clean food, plain food. So I shall ride on this and try to control my eating in hopes to make a slight dent before I fly off to Taiwan.

Second is continuing to go for the KM lessons which I had just renewed the package, I had a slight lee-way for my previous package but now I try to 'make back' by going intensively for as many as I can, in a week. Up to 4 is my max so far unless I go social life-less and even go on Fri but usually I save that day for going out. Make the most out of it since I have paid $$$ for it.

Thirdly is to continue with my Investor education to become a more savvy trader/investor, especially with the stop-loss which I am so weak at. Also realistically speaking, this does help me generate some income, but can I maximise it to its full potential? I wont know until I try and before that try to educate myself more about technical analysis. So far, most that I have done are fundamental analysis. I need to first learn the technical analysis well, then try to apply them until it becomes so intuitive. This will take some effort, time and sheer persistence to do so but I am committed.

Others include my job search and the whole process, learning more about the Bazi and being able to put the elements with the 10 gods to do more in-depth understanding, learning that bloody auto car this time, tidying up the last bits of my room and stuff, finishing my 30-day Malay book and actually speaking broken malay, on top of other things and errands. A lot to do but I am unemployed at the moment, so lemme intensify things and make this period of time as productive as I can. Some requires the passage of time to make a dent but everything depends on starting, doing and continuing to do.

Vegetarian, Portable massage and Bazi books

Moral of the story - if you are having full vegetarian, stay at home. Don't go out. Or be very full before you head out. Really limited options. Plus suddenly everything that has meat looks magically good. With an aura that you have never experienced on a normal day when you might not really end up eating much meat in the first place, given the option of meat. Interesting.

So I accompanied my mom to IMM as she wanted to buy some sort of a portable massage thingy and also buy a standing fan for my sister. I followed as a carrier to help carry. I end up buying my own unit for all the shoulder and back aches I have from KM and exercise. Also sponsored 5 small packets of doggy treats for my sister's dog. If it is picky, maybe I will pass to Quet.

Reaching Book 3 of the Bazi series. Not easy juggling with trying to read and look at shares trading, KM intensive lessons. Reaching the 10 gods part. The previous 2 books covers superficial things that you cant decipher as a whole without this book. But so far, I can see a bit of things given that I am reaching middle age. As of so, can see what you have and kinda of dont have. But the aim of Bazi is to know how best to work the the cards you are dealt in life. These cards cant be changed but you can work around the weakness and accentuate the strengths if you have the knowledge. See what I think after I have finished the book.

Retracements

From what I have read in trading books, there are a few stages in the whole trading  cum investment process. First is Money Management, then Position Sizing & Risk Mgt, followed by Entering, then Exiting.

Retracement is a concept from Technical analysis. It means that a stock might experience sharp rise in price then drop down some, then continue up again. The ups and downs form a W-shape but the general trend is still upwards. In the case of a falling stock. It goes down sharply, then goes up some, then continue downwards again in a M-shape with the general trend downwards.

It is one of indicators used during Entering or Exiting a trade. By itself it is not as useful but as a basket of indicators, it can help you decide when to go in (buy) or come out (sell) or buy some more (scaling in) or sell partial (scaling out). 

Say a stock counter you were eyeing had suddenly experienced a large increase in its share price (and you feel like you have missed the chance to hop on), there might be a chance to hop-on during the retracement.

The explanation for why there are retracements is psychological. Reason is that when price rose sharply, those who have missed the train want in and those who are on the train want out. So at certain price points, the rising stock price falls back down as those who want out sell to those who want in. There is selling pressure until it reaches a level where buying pressure overcomes selling, the price starts to rise again.

Similarly when the stock price falls sharply, those who are in want out and those who thinks its cheap enough to enter want in. So at first selling pressure is strong, then as those who are buying increase, the prices rises somewhat to a level when selling pressure is greater and overcomes the buying pressure, then overall the price starts to drop again.

But this retracement doesnt apply to all prices rise and falls. Just a falling price of a stock is not enough for you to go in. There are many reasons for it to fall. If the stock is falling cos it's business is not doing well, there is no reason to apply retracement to go in. Instead, one should avoid that stock altogether. There is no reason to even consider that.

Yet for those which are falling without fundamental reason - example investor irrational fear, and a good stock counter is suddenly sold down. Then there is reason to use retracement to find a point for you to enter or exit.

I shall use the example of KepCorp for illustration purpose. *The author shall not be held liable for any losses incurred if any reader went ahead and bought KepCorp after reading this.*

KepCorp fell drastically upon the news of the falling oil price and the low oil price affected the orders of oil rigs which is one of the core biz of KepCorp. However in recent days, with the news of the stabilizing oil prices and perhaps more optimism to rising oil prices, it started zooming up from as low as $4.74 range to $6.20 within a short period. Then it started falling back a bit.

Retracement calculation:

$6.20 (max reached)   -   $4.74  (the low that the rise started from)  =   $1.47

one-third retracement            =     $1.47   /   3          =  $0.49
so a one-third 33% price is   =    $6.20   -   $0.49   =   $5.71

This is a 33% retracement from the high of $6.20. So if you had missed the initial ride from ($4.74 up to $6.20), you can get on at this, provided other indicators look positive and you believe the price of KepCorp will continue to rise further.

Are there other levels of retracement? Yes, the one-third, half, two-third retracement. Different numbers are possible but there are roots to these numbers
known as the Fibonacci numbers. Useful numbers that seem to repeat in nature and also in charts. Hence it is possible to reach 50% retracement but that has implications.

50% retracement                        =   $ 1.47    /      2         =  $0.735
so a 50% retracement price is    =   $6.20   -    $0.735   =   $5.47

It can be used for a falling stock, just that the retracement amount is subtracted from the lowered stock price, to get the new low possible.

This is a useful start. Use other indicators to research before you click the buy button. Many say that it is easy to enter but not easy to exit the market. So this can also be one of the indicators to help you make the decision where and when to exit.

Remember the good and let karma deal with the bad - New hangout place n things to do

Had a mixed week, with both good and enjoyable intertwined with bad...

I should continue my effort to become a more positive person, the theme this year is 'the glass is half-full' and not forgetting my new-found more intense sense of being grateful. And so I shall NOT blog about the bad, since I've already 'kao-pe-ka-bu' on my Facebook. I shall instead adopt a more positive way of thinking - believe in Karma.

I have become a firm believer of Karma (every since payback finally came to the loser Uncle) though it was way way overdue but he deserved whatever he had sowed. I remembered when I was hurt in the incident, my mom told me he would get his karma one day. But as a young teenager, I questioned whether karma would ever come. How could he have gotten away with all those... until payback finally came. The moral of the story; Be kind and generous and keep generating good karma. Those who've hurt or wronged you, let them continue to accumulate the bad karma. Eventually the karmic payback would come.

On a positive note, lemme blog about our very enjoyable mid-afternoon to night hanging out at Quet's place. We should do it more often.

It was nearing Friday and usually I dont go for KM since we usually hang out on Fridays. So I msged Tab on Wed, another KM rest day (trial class), to enquire if she would be heading to Quet's place to practice the piano. She replied that she was going on Friday. I decided to join her, around mid-afternoon 3pm plus. I quite enjoyed the earlier house-warming. It was a productive time cos while Tab practiced the piano, I copied the paragraphs from one of the trading books I was reading. While photocopying it would be better, I found that I dont re-read what I photocopied. But when I copy it myself, it sinks in and I can re-read while I was copying. This helps me internalise certain ideas better. Otherwise I find, I am just scanning through and many things dont stick. The thing is that I have sat on the books for quite long, until the books are almost due and I am now trying to kick myself to copy more and faster to cover everything. 

On the way there, I dabaoed a Penang Luo Mee from the hawker for my brunch. While walking over, I regrettably asked Tab some questions my Kaypoh sister had about a part of the procedure and experienced a too-much-info-omg brain overload when Tab happily continued to explain certain womanly things to great details. My brain imploded... and my appetite evaporated. Overall the Luo Mee is good, better than my area's so I look forward to dabao more different hawker food from that nearby hawker centre. Whilst Tab settled down to practice, I helped myself to some vodka-rootbeer, gin-coke and of course made tea. Had overshot my mobile data usage so I used sparingly to check out live stock prices and copied.

As per my request, Tab tried out the Phantom of the Opera and boy did she have some trouble with some parts. Later we hung around drinking tea and waited for Quet to come home. We headed out for dinner at another nearby coffee shop and had delicious and cheap western food. The chicken cutlet was big and filling. The whole situation of us sittin in a coffee-shop, eating western food and drinking ice lemon tea is very reminiscent of uni days of eating western food in the arts canteen. Plus the food was good. Then we walked around a bit to explore the immediate area around the coffeeshop. We can have more dinners nearby and there are small sundry shops with drinks etc so its easier and nearer to buy from there instead of from the mrt area. Discovered a 4D singapore pool outlet, too.

We returned back for dessert, but ended up with tea instead. I had a vodka-coke. We briefly watched a bit of the local show before 9pm and chatted it. Then asked Quet to play us some piano. She played the Phantom, Eyes on Me, Jay Chou, very nice. Wow my friends are multi-talented. Very chill and just listen and in some cases, sing to the playing. When was the last time we did something like that? Felt like eons ago. Later talked a bit about the Bazi since I had borrowed Quet's books. Though I couldnt understand some parts cos it was mentioned in book 1 but I was on book 2. Later Quet told me how to get book 1 via an ebook app on Sat. Then surprisingly there were quite a few things in book 1. Still in the beginning stages but give me a bit of time.

We agreed that we should chill at her place more, do some things like these. Can also include board games and even Bazi sessions when I am more advanced. Definitely more relaxing and can chill and enjoy each other's company and good conversations and activities. There's also the option of swimming and even doing some gym work. 

On Sat evening, Quet came over and fetched me to Jurong East. Before that she came to my place then we headed over to my neighbourhood to find a 4D singapore pool outlet. She felt inspired to buy a number. Then we headed to JE. Quet wanted to look for her shoe cabinet and we parked at Big-Box. Before we walked around, she was hungry and we settled in a pub-food place. We shared a pork knuckle and also a pint beer each. It was pretty good and definitely enjoyable to eat crispy pork with pretty good dips and have good chat. I ate slower cos I had 2 big bowls of pasta my sister cooked, around 3pm then but we still ate most of it. Then Quet dabaoed the bones and leftover meat for her dogs. Then walked around the furniture shop and fair happening there. Within a very short time, she found her shoe cabinet. It had good capacity, fit the size limits, her preference and also much within budget. She happily paid for it and then we walked around a bit more then to Jem. We share the french toast dessert in Miam Miam, thanks for the treat, cos Quet felt happy upon striking a small I-bet 4D. Enough to pay for her dinner and our dessert. A pretty good outing, quite different from the usual in town thingy.