taiwan diaries; day 1

and finally, i have overcame procrastination and setting foot on this blog; or rather, fingers on the keyboard. what better way to start a new (blogging) year than by going back to taiwan, day 1.

i havent seen such an antique looking radio in aeons. sanyo?

we actually arrived at taiwan on 11th dec at around 11pm. checked into SeeYou Hotel, ate a red bean bun courtesy of auntie su who was already there, took a warm bath, unpack a little, laze around, slump down on the bed and went straight to dreamland. the next day, well, it's all here :)

i have no idea what this plate of awesomeness is called. egg crepes, perhaps?

after having a super cheap breakfast, we did a little "photo walk" around the streets around our hotel.

ahem, yes, i take pictures with one eye closed.

with our tummies filled, we made our way up to the taipei101. not only was its building taller than anyone else's, with minimal but matching blue ornaments, its christmas tree did not disappoint too!

love this picture to bits!

i have no idea why this picture refuses to rotate itself!

a whole dress made out of beads!

the coral handcrafted statuettes were amazing! if my memory did not fail me, they were mostly made from red coral(?). oh and the owls, how can one not be tempted to take them out of their protective glass cases, chuck them in your bag and carry them all the thousands of miles home?

the remainder of the afternoon was spent walking around the shopping section at taipei101 and then off to XiMenDing! this was where i saw the first mini cooper in taiwan, a bronze limited edition, i professed my love for minis by slapping hui's arm really hard and excitedly asking her to "take peeeeekture take peeeekture!!"

by nighttime, the only rational place to visit after a light dinner of szechuan style porridge was the infamous ShihLin night market. loved taipei's metro, no tickets, only a small recyclable dark blue plastic coin; chic.

anyways, shihlin was swarmed with people grabbing local delicacies as well as imported goods such as clothes from america and accessories from korea. let's just say we didnt let ourselves down there, shall we? shihlin was warm and crowded, but colourful.

printing error? or spelling mistake?

marshmallows!!

corndog!

and when i saw another pearl (/cream?) white cooper parked by the roadside, the fangirl in me cannot contain herself any longer. i snapped a pic, went up to touch it and smiled slyly to myself *grins*