Hualien 2D1N

I have always wanted to visit Hualien since my first trip to Taiwan in 2011, but due to the inconvenient of ground transportation I’ve always read about, I eventually gave up visiting this city in my first trip. So then I came back to Malaysia and when I’m planning for my second visit to Taiwan, I did some research on how to get to Hualien from Taipei and also about the ground tour available.

The most convenient transport from Taipei to Hualien is by train, it takes approx. 2-3 hours and it’s about TWD$440 (RM45) for one way. You can always ask for help in Taipei Main Station, best is to buy the train ticket one day in advance.

TIP: Go for the express train, ask the ticket counter for express train to Hualien.

So I bought an early train ticket which departs from Taipei Main Station at 6.10am and arrive in Hualien at 8.16am. I booked a 2 nights stay at No.6 Homestay. Double room for 1 night will be TWD$1,800 (weekdays) and TWD$2,200 (weekends or public holiday). Email them for reservation, you don’t have to pay an upfront payment but do remember to confirm your reservation again 7 days before your stay. They’ll have pick-up service from Hualien train station, so let them know your train arrival time.

Once arrived, we checked in to the guesthouse and the owner of the guesthouse will ask if you like to make any ground tour, there’ll be a full day trip or half day trip around Hualien and also full day tour to Taroko that they can arrange for you. We took the half day tour around Hualien with TWD$2,000 (RM200) for one car (can fit 5 people) and also one day tour to Taroko for TWD$1,000 (RM100) per person.

The half day tour:

花蓮出發→吉安慶修院→鯉魚潭→理想大地→立川漁場→返回花蓮車站、機場或飯店、民宿.

Hualien city –> Jian Shrine –> Liyu Lake –> Promised Land Resort & Lagoon –> Lichuan Aquafarm –> Hualien city

吉安慶修院/Jian Shrine

鯉魚潭/Liyu Lake

理想大地/Promised Land Resort & Lagoon

立川漁場/Lichuan Aquafarm

Will update on the full day tour to Taroko on my next blog post! Do comment if you have any questions regarding the ground tour in Hualien. :)

If you want to do a One Day Trip from Taipei to Taroko only, you’ll find a useful transportation information here.

Universal Studio Singapore

Welcome to the Lion City, Singapore, this wasn’t my first time in Singapore, but this is my first time in Universal Studio Singapore (USS)!

I’ve always wanted to visit USS since the opening, but what got me delayed is that, frankly, I don’t really enjoy my time in Singapore! xD Spending in Singapore has been a headache for me, even a short trip like 3D2N is gonna cost me about RM1,000, with that amount of money, I can enjoy shopping + food + massage in Thailand already, but in Singapore, with that amount of money, what I can get is cheap & affordable food also transportation, that’s ALL! Not even enough to cover for accommodation, but I’m lucky enough to have relatives and friends staying in Singapore, therefore I always managed to find a free night! =D

So, I managed to get a cheap roundtrip air ticket from PEN – SIN – PEN at the price of RM200, this is the cheapest, don’t complain because looking at the price you’re paying for, it’s ONLY RM2o for flight seats and the rest is the taxes, service etc. paying to Singapore Airport! So if you saw free seat from Air Asia, you usually will get the air ticket around RM180-200, just grab it because you won’t find any cheaper one unless you wanna take bus which cost you around RM120 for roundtrip and with LONG journey!

Good news for Malaysian, you can always find cheap USS ticket on Groupon or Mydeal or Livingsocial, and also you can search for discount promotion from Mastercard or Maybank. With the discounted price, you can get the ticket at the price around RM170 (Usual price SGD74 = RM195).

How to get to USS from Bugis:

From Bugis MRT Station, take the train to Outram Park MRT Station, alight and transfer train to Harbour Front MRT Station.

From Harbour Front you can choose to take bus at the bus interchange or monorail at vivo city level 3 into USS.

Speaking of theme parks, the QUEUE is always a headache, so avoid weekends or public holidays if you can! Anyway, USS wasn’t a very big theme park, so if you really can’t make it on normal day, I guess you’re still able to cover the whole theme park, but if there’re no crowd, you get to make a ‘second round’ for all the rides!!

TIP: Don’t missed the amazing Transformer ride, it’s a MUST!! If you don’t mind taking the ride alone, you can go for the SINGLE RIDER lane, skip the long queue and save your time for other ride! Anyhow, you gonna enjoy the ride even if you’re alone because you’re on 3D glasses!

I went on Monday which is a normal day, and the crowd was little when i reached at 10.30 am in the morning, but I managed to finished the theme park within 5 hours, taken 2 rides for Transformer, and watched a few shows as well!! So, you know what to do, skip the weekend or public holidays, I MEAN IT! :D

Myeong Dong Dog's Cafe

I’m a dog person, personally I have 3 dogs in my house, so Dog Cafe? Definitely a super yes place for me!! Initially I was supposed to go to Bau Haus which is the one 2NE1’s Minzy went and located in Hongdae, but by chance I saw a person holding a Dog Cafe banner so I just walked into it, therefore, for direction, I’ll have to do a research and get a good information from other blogger.

Direction from http://bihaenggi.wordpress.com/:

You come out of exit 6, walk the usual way into the shopping area, take a left at Nature Republic, and then your first right, and you’ll see a giant red sign that says “강아지카페” up on your left – it’s on the 4th floor (unless they moved it by the time you read this).

So upon entering the cafe, you’ll come to a gate where you’ll have to pay 8,000 krw (approx. RM25) per person and you get to choose a drink. From then on, you are free to hang out and play with any dogs in the house! There’ll be a card on the table telling you the dog’s name and also which one to touch and which one not to touch.

The Afghan is the one which you’re not supposed to touch, so the dog happens to sleep beside our table and what we can do is just take adorable picture of these 2 big and small kids. All of the dogs are well behaved and the cafe’s people will clean the cafe once in a while for hygiene purpose.

Other than that, you’re free to play and take photos with which ever dogs that you love! There’s no time limit so you can pay 8,000 krw and be at the cafe for the whole day!

The Body Shop - Shea Show Cream

This post is specifically written for people who have suffer sensitive or allergic skin like me. All these while I’ve been looking for products that best suitable for me and I’ve experienced the products from Cetaphil, Sebamed, Eubo’s, DermaVeen and all the soap free sensitive skin products available in Malaysia you can named of.

Here, I’m introducing the Shea Shower Cream from The body Shop, this is by far the only Body Shop product I’ve used and fall in love with, whether it’s the shower cream or body butter, all the Shea’s series are absolutely awesome!! Whether you’re suffering sensitive skin or travelling during winter, this is one of the best option for dry skin.

One 250ml shower cream cost about RM26++, I believe for those who understand and knows that sensitive skin products are always double or triple the price of normal products. Therefore, I’ve always aimed for the sale, and usually popular products like this get only 10% discount (is still better than nothing right).

If you have other better brands to introduce for sensitive skin, please do let me know! :)

BIGBANG Japan Dome Tour - OSAKA!

If you ever wonder why all KPOP bands love to organized concert tour in Japan, you have to be there once! I grant you, Japan concert is a must-go in your lifetime if you’re a die hard KPOP fans!

Yes, the ticket are ridiculously hard to get, it’s all about your L-U-C-K! What i mean here is literally your luck, not just you, but anyone who wanted to get the ticket including Japanese themselves.

Here’s an explanation for Japan Ticketing System:

First, get contact with anyone you know who lives in Japan! You can’t buy the ticket unless you have a Japan address, so what if I don’t have relatives or friends living in Japan?? DON’T WORRY, I got a good source of ticket agent which i will mentioned later on.

Second, the rules & regulations, the Japan ticketing system is a lottery system (now you get what i mean by your luck), you pay a small amount of money (e.g. 1,000 yen) and get to enter the lottery draw lots for pre-sale, there’ll be total of 3 lottery draw lots (I’m not sure it’s applicable for all concert or just BIGBANG)!

Third, you DON’T get to choose SEATS! No, it’s a lottery draw lot, you get whatever has been selected for you, but consider yourself lucky if you get one, trust me, even from far, you’ll definitely enjoy the concert!

Here’s the ticket agent I contacted with, http://www.japanconcerttickets.com, go to the website, search an inquiry regarding what concert/date/venue you want to go, and Alan will get back to you with the details, price/postage/charges. Alan is a very helpful guy, you can ask him anything regarding the concert, and he only charged abit for the service at about $15-25! This is the cheapest I can search for so far!

Alan will send the tickets to the hotel/guesthouse you stay!! It’s just so convenient right! With all the information you ever needed such as Seats number/row/time/venue written in English on a small note!

So this is Kyocera Dome, the one I went to in Osaka, BIGBANG final concert for Japan Dome Tour! If I ever have the time, I will definitely attend all 3 final concerts!!

It’s amazing seeing this big dome slowly filling up with fans and thousands of BIGBANG light sticks!!

The crowd will warm up (chanting) when the music start playing so you’ll eventually know how their chanting works with the songs…

Play this video and you’ll know why it’s so amazing to go to concert together with Japanese, they sing ONE song during the waiting for encore!! It’s just way too a~ma~zing~~~

Osaka to Kyoto 1 Day Trip

Have you heard of Kyoto is amazing? It seems like it’s one of the best place in Kansai and indeed, I love this city!! It’s a very small city but the place is really nice. I went to Kyoto for 1 day trip which is totally not enough to discover the city, but since Kyoto station is just one hour away from Osaka station, you don’t have to purposely move all the way from Osaka  to Kyoto for 2 nights stay, with the magical JR West Rail Pass, you can make a separate 2 days trip to Kyoto!!

Upon arrival in Kyoto station, again remember to look for tourist center, Kansari area tourist center is amazing, they’ll usually have 3 counters which provide 3 different languages: English, Chinese & Korean. Grab a map and ask for the best way to tour Kyoto!!

A Kyoto City Bus One Day Pass is what I get for my 1 day trip. With just $500yen, you can hop on and off for all they city buses.

Here’s an overall 1 day trip:

• 10:30am: Head up to Kiyomizu-dera Temple (10min walk from Gojo-zaka or Kiyomizu-michi Bus Stop, Kyoto City Bus 100 or 206 from Kyoto Station). Sure, it’s mercantile and touristy, but it’s also beautiful and it’s got a great view over the city. By going early, you’ll beat the daily crowds. Whatever you do, don’t forget to enter the subterranean Tainai-Meguri.

• 11:30am: Walk down Sannen-zaka and Ninen-zaka, two preserved streets, to Maruyama-koen Park to enjoy some greenery.

• 12:30pm: Walk through Chion-in Temple but don’t linger, since it’s under construction.

• 1:00pm: Enter Shoren-in Temple and enjoy a cup of tea overlooking the garden.
• 2:00pm: Have lunch at Kyoto downtown – Nishiki Market.

• 3.00pm: After lunch, explore Nishiki Market and the food floor at nearby Daimaru Department Store.
• 7.30pm: Head back to Osaka.

Basically, these are some of the best places you can cover in 1 day, even better if you’re coming for 2nd day, you’ll be more familiar with the bus route and you get to discover the city a bit more.

Osaka Day 1

DAY 1

KANSAI AIRPORT – RINKU PREMIUM OUTLET – KANSAI AIRPORT – OSAKA TOWN

Reached Kansai Airport, proceed to JR office and purchase the JR-West Rail Pass, note that you need to show your passport for getting this pass as the pass is only available for foreign visitors. This is the amazing JR-West Rail Pass which covers the whole Kansai Area, as you can see from the train map, it cover all of the major station such as Kyoto, Nara, Kobe and to Himeji, most importantly, it covers the Airport Express Train as well!

After purchased the JR West Rail Pass, I store my luggage in the baggage storage (check here for list of baggage storage location in Kansai Airport) and I took the shuttle bus from Kansai Airport to Rinku Premium Outlet. The reason why I’m doing this is because Rinku Premium Outlet is only approx. 20 minutes away from Kansai Airport and the shuttle bus cost only $100yen/way. Click here for the other transportation/directions to Rinku Premium Outlet. The shuttle bus from Kansai Airport is available from 9:40 to 19:10, click here for more accurate timetable.

Rinku Premium Outlet is worth visiting if you’re looking for branded items but not probably not the latest collection, the price is good as compared to those you can find in normal  retail shops. Looking for G-Shock or Air Jordan like me? You can find some in Rinku Premium Outlet but you definitely can’t get the popular collection. I saw Air Jordan 3 Son of Mars black/green selling at about $10,450yen.

After returned from Rinku Premium Outlet, collect my pre-booked ‘Wifi-to-go‘ (click to find out what is wifi-to-go) from Airport Post Office and finally heading to my guesthouse in Osaka town.

Osaka – J-Hoppers Hostel, there’s a very clear direction on how to get to the hostel, and the hostel is quite near to Fukushima Station, there’s a 7-11 just right next to the hostel, one good thing about Fukushima station is that the station is not as busy as the popular Namba Station, which means it’s good if you’re carrying big luggage bag you don’t have to worry about the crowd.

This is how the JR Kansai Wide Area railway map looks like!! But don’t worry, what you really need to understand and learn about is the Osaka Loop Line and you’ll eventually learn about the operation of the train and line, there’ll be a big digital board in each station where you get to see which train is coming next and how many minutes left for which train to arrive.

WARNING: All of the transportation timetable given in Japan is VERY ACCURATE!! So please be punctual!!

After checked in hostel, I took the booklet/brochures from hostel and start throwing questions at the hostel’s receptionist about places to visit and where to get good food. Then explore around Namba area and grabbed my dinner. The end of the day.

NOTE: There’s a vending machine inside the hostel which selling beer, so that’s pretty convenient!! Anyway, there’s a lot of different vending machines all around the street or district in Japan, so whenever you’re thirsty, you can coined in $100 yen and get a hot or cold drink!

Tokyo DisneySea

Everything about Tokyo Disneyland or Disneysea is on their website, the transportation, the timetable, the map or the entrance fee. Since I’m staying at Shinjuku, I was planning to take their shuttle bus which located at JR Shinjuku Station.

NOTE: JR Shinjuku Station is a huge station, please be early to catch the bus! Trust me, you definitely don’t want to challenge the Japanese punctuality! Because I was at the station at 9.45a.m to catch the last bus, I was told that the bus is leaving, so I ended up taking train, but it’s not that far though.

Go to the information counter if you want to take train, they’ll give a small note on which station to go and which station to transfer to. You’ll be alight at JR Maihama station and follow the crowd to Tokyo Disneyland Resort then head to the Disney Resort train line.

So you might have a little confusion about what is ONE park or TWO park, basically Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disneysea is two separated parks, if you asked me what’s the difference, I can’t really tell because I only went to Tokyo Disneysea.

After 6 passport means the ticket only allows you to enter after 6pm, and yes I did saw people sitting and queuing outside of the entrance while I’m leaving. I don’t know how they going to survived the cold because it’s freezing after the sunset!!

TIP: Tokyo Disneysea is not big, if you have more time, you should get ONE day pass for Tokyo Disneyland and do Tokyo Disneysea for After 6 passport (but please do this only in Summer!)

Be prepared when you enter the souvenir shop!! There’re too many cute stuffs to get your hand on (as compared to Hong Kong Disneyland)! And I’m pretty sure EVERYONE at least buy ONE item from the shop!

I ended up putting a beanie on my top and a scarves on my neck!

Signify enough for Disneysea?

The Toy Story MANIA! is really one of the long queue game!! Waited 1.5 hours for this game!

Disney really is a magical place which has the magic power to brings you back to your childhood!!

One of my favorite place!! Sing-a-long, under~~the~~sea~~

I missed out the fireworks!! This is one serious issue because we knows the fireworks is one of the best moment in Disneyland!! Damn, I was freezing and having my hot curry rice and totally forgot about the time!! Grrrrr~~~~~

And it’s the 30th Anniversary, who knows the firework might be a special one! T.T

Putrajaya Mosque

I lived in Malaysia, born and raised in Penang, as I moved to Kuala Lumpur 5 years back, I don’t really go and explore the tourist attractions in Kuala Lumpur…so by co-incident, I was given the opportunity to visit Putrajaya 2 hours for job purpose! :D

Upon completing my job task, I requested to visit Putra Mosque as I’ve been seeing tourists around the world posted photo of them visiting this popular mosque and as a Malaysian I think I should pay a visit as well since the entrance is FREE!!

Perhaps I visited the mosque on weekday, so I can easily find a car park around the mosque area, there are a few tourist buses as well, I’m not sure about weekend or public holiday but this area is definitely worth a visit!

I was shocked that we actually get to enter the mosque but limit to the a small area where you’re able to see the interior of the mosque and take picture! As a respect for the religion, all of us will have to wear the ‘Jubah’ (robe) which is the one I’m wearing here for entering the mosque. Just like the temple in Thailand where some area you’ll have to wear the clothes provided before entering the restricted area as a respect to th

e Buddha.

You’ll find the robe station when you enter the mosque entrance, it’s on your right, proceed to get the robe and there’s also an information counter right next to the entrance.

TIP: If you’re lucky, you may find this very helpful ‘Mak Cik’ (means auntie) who loves to explain everything you want to know about Islam! Yes, I got almost an hour lecture from this Mak Cik and she cleared all of my questions about Islam religion and culture!

From the praying culture to the interior design to architecture and also what Islam really is…she studied and she knows it! Grab the chance and ask everything you wanted to know if you managed to meet her!!