*~Confessions of a WALLflower~* @rkocenaholic23 - Tumblr Blog

How Losing My Job Helped Me Learn How to Respect Other People's Time

How Losing My Job Helped Me Learn How to Respect Other People’s Time

I stared at my phone’s clock and blinked.

“7:05”.

“Wha…?” I uttered, blinking a few times to help my eyes focus. As the realization that I was late for my weekly meeting with my new boss slowly crept in, I uttered a loud “SHIT!”, jumped up to my feet and started scrambling around. It was my second week at my new job and I was trying so hard to impress my new boss. We didn’t exactly get off…

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A Beginner's Guide to Yoga

A Beginner’s Guide to Yoga

I can’t do yoga, I’m not flexible. Yoga is so hard. Yoga poses look very challenging. My body just won’t allow me to do yoga.

I’ve heard all of these before. I’ve SAID all of these before. For as long as I can remember, yoga has always been associated with being flexible, being physically fit and, most often, being thin or skinny.As someone who also had these misconceptions, I’m telling you that…

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#Anytime Fitness #Beginner in Yoga #How to do yoga #yoga #Yoga Beginner #Yoga class #Yoga Enthusiast #Yoga for beginners #Yoga poses #Yoga practice #Yoga tips #Yogi

[Book Review] The Selection by Kiera Cass

It was such an enjoyable read! I’m so glad I read this. So the whole thing about this being a ‘Hunger Gamesmeets The Bachelor’ story is a bit ridiculous. Okay, I didn’t really read the former or watch the latter but I know a bit about their ‘plot’. The Selection IS futuristic and dystopic like The Hunger Games but I certainly didn’t feel like the girls are fighting each other to death. There…

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#America Singer #Aspen Leger #Battle Royal #book #book review #Colton Haynes #Hunger Games #Kiera Cass #Prince Maxon #The Bachelor #The Selection

[Book Review] The Elite by Kiera Cass

This book is definitely “un-put downable”!!! If that is even a word. LOL. It’s been a while since I was THIS engrossed in a book, that I was willing to sacrifice watching my daily dose of US TV series, Korean dramas AND even sleep — just to finish it quickly! I’ve always thought that most of the book seriesthat I’ve read before were a bit disappointing at some point. The first book would get me…

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#America Singer #Aspen Leger #book #book review #Kiera Cass #King Clarkson #maxon schreave #Prince Maxon #The Elite #The Selection

[Book Review] Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

This book has the most realistic characters ever. I like how imperfect Eleanor and Park are individually, and yet they are so perfect for each other. From the start, I already got so hooked that I kept on reading when I should be doing other things – like eating or sleeping. LOL. I just couldn’t get enough of them! I wanted to know what would happen next. It’s like every chapter is a cliff-hanger…

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#book #book review #Eleanor #eleanor and park #Joy Division #love #Love Will Tear Us Apart #Park #rainbow rowell #romance #YA #young love

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My 3D2N trip to Taiwan was originally planned because of the famous “Snow Mountain”. Filipinos are crazy about SNOW. I guess it’s because of the fact that we live in a tropical country and we don’t experience “winter” or “snow” here. So when I heard that it does snow in some parts of Taiwan – and with Taiwan being VISA-free to Filipinos until July 2019 – I jumped at the chance and booked a flight there right away.

I did A LOT of research, spent hours on Google, contacted strangers on FB, and joined FB groups just to plan this whole trip. Through this blog post, I was able to find some decent info about the alleged “snow mountain” in Taiwan. Apparently, the mountain called Hehuan, located in Taichung, is a popular spot for tourists who want to experience snow.

I don’t really wanna bore you with the deets on how I got ahold of this Snow Mountain “group tour” that I joined — long story short, I did and my travel buddy and I were all set for a fun winter trip in Taiwan!

Unfortunately, a week or so before our trip, the guy who organized the group tour said it was still not snowing in the famous “snow mountain”. I knew this could happen when I was doing my research because there were lots of bloggers saying it is not guaranteed to snow there – it’s sort of like, you’re lucky if you are able to see snow on the day of your tour. Oh well. At least the organizer of the tour decided to take us to another popular tourist spot instead – the Houli Flower Farm in Taichung. Snow VS. flowers? Well, okay, I’ll take it.

FYI, I wanted to take advantage of Taiwan being VISA-free until July 2019 because I’ve heard from reliable sources that there is a big chance that this year will be the last and they won’t extend this courtesy anymore.

Since we booked an AirAsia flight, it was, OF COURSE, delayed. Our ETA at Taoyuan Airport was 1:00 AM. We arrived a little after 2:00 AM. So, just a heads up, if you are arriving in Taiwan after midnight, make sure you already have NTD with you. There are only TWO 24-hour money changers in Taoyuan Airport’s Terminal 1 and we had to wait in line for like more than an hour just to have our money changed. It was a nightmare! Imagine being so exhausted and sleepy and then having to stand in line that long because you need NTD to take the bus! Ugh.

After finally getting our NTD, we went to the bus station and was able to buy tickets to Taipei Main Station – a minute before the lady behind the counter decided to “take a break”. We had to stand in line, AGAIN, outside and almost froze to death while waiting for the bus. I think we waited for about 20 minutes. It did say that the bus interval is 15-30 minutes. I didn’t expect Taiwan to be THAT cold. I mean, I’ve read that it is winter time over there and it could get really chilly in some parts. BUT, as someone who lived in Baguio City (where temperatures drop as low as 7 degrees Celsius), I thought I could bear the “chilly” weather. I was dead WRONG.

The bus trip from Taoyuan Airport to Taipei Main Station took about 30-40 minutes and it cost 140 NTD. We got off at the Taipei Main Station and there were no cabs in sight so we went over to the other side. That’s when we were greeted by a cab driver who immediately offered us a ride. Long story short, the guy sort of scammed us by not using his cab’s meter and asking us to pay 200 NTD instead. Our hotel was like ONE station away from Taipei Main Station so we know we were overcharged. It was, however, one of those times when you just let something like this go because you’re exhausted, sleepy, hungry, and effing COLD.

We stayed at Ximen Hotel (108, Taiwan, Taipei City, Wanhua District, Section 1, Zhonghua Road, 1段78號 2~6樓). I chose this hotel because it was relatively cheap, it was near a subway station (Ximen Station) and near the popular Ximending Shopping District, and it had a 24-hour front desk, which allows us to check in VERY late.

DAY 1 – Modern Toilet Restaurant | Ximending Shopping District and Night Market | Hop On Hop Off Bus | Taipei 101 | ATT 4 FUN Mall

Since it was already almost 5 AM when we got there, we both slept in and woke up at around 12 noon already. Our plan was to have lunch first at the Modern Toilet Restaurant and then do the hop on hop off bus tour. Lucky for us, we found out that the Modern Toilet Restaurant was within walking distance from Ximen Hotel! Plus, we got to take a quick tour of the popular Ximending Shopping District (in daylight) along the way!

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MODERN TOILET RESTAURANT

I have been dreaming about visiting this place for a LOOOOOONNNNGGGG time! Just a little FYI, almost 10 years ago, I wrote a “fan fiction novel” featuring this restaurant – which, at that time, I just randomly came across while doing a Google search. ^_^ The moment we stepped inside, I was like a kid in a candy store – pointing at stuff here and there and just wanting to take a photo in every nook and cranny!

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It was definitely a very Instagrammable restaurant. They do have a “rule” though, each person needs to order at least one dish – so you can’t just go there with five friends and share one ice cream among yourselves. The food’s a bit pricey but they do have hugeass servings. My friend and I were both hungry but we still couldn’t finish our food.

Veggie and mushroom au gratin with rice

I ordered the vegetable and mushroom au gratin with rice (280 NTD), which was served in a cute “bathtub”.

Hot Pot

My friend, Celine, got the best seller – some kind of hot pot (350 NTD). It was served in a hugeass toilet bowl. LOL.

There’s nothing much to say about this place so I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. *wink*

Each meal comes with a free drink and a free poop ice cream!

XIMENDING SHOPPING DISTRICT / XIMENDING NIGHT MARKET

It was fun to look around this place in daylight – when it’s not yet a “night market”. I read somewhere that Ximending is the Harajuku of Taipei. The difference between this place in the morning and at night was literally like night and day (pun intended)!

It was so freakin’ packed when we went back there that night that I was so overwhelmed and had to take deep breaths every now and then. I don’t get panic attacks but I do get super anxious when I’m in a very crowded public place. We did get a bit lost and made a few wrong turns, but all in all, the place is easy to navigate.

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When we returned there that night, our main goal was to find some popular street food and try them. However, every time we catch a whiff of something good, we see a VERY long queue and we’re just like “nope”. After that hour-long queue at the money changer at the airport, we decided we were not queueing for anything anymore. Lol. We also checked some restaurants and we could see that they were also packed with people. It really seemed like there was something special about that night (mind you, it was a Wednesday night) and everyone and their mother was just out and about! I expected Ximending to be crowded, but NOT that crowded – especially on a weekday!

Anyway, I really just wanted to eat something and get milk tea. After about 30-40 minutes of roaming around, in search of food, we finally came across this food stall called Kara Kara and there was NO line at all. They have mostly deep-fried stuff – chicken, squid rings, sweet potatoes, french fries, tofu, etc. We decided to just go for it coz we didn’t have the energy to find another place.

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HOWEVER, this place had the BEST – I mean, THE BEST – deep-fried food ever!!! I swear, the moment my friend and I started eating what we ordered (I got a mix of the french fries and crispy tofu and my friend got chicken and squid rings), we were just BLOWN AWAY! Whatever spices/herbs/condiments they put in it, it just made it sooooooo damn good. In fact, it was so good that we came back on our last night there and I ordered the same thing – simply because I wanted to taste it one last time before I leave Taiwan. 🙂

So, I asked Celine what is Taiwan’s specialty – like something that I can take home as a “pasalubong” to family and friends and she said “pineapple cake”. Looking around Ximending, we found lots of stores selling souvenirs and THIS one caught our eye.

Care for some big… ummm… pineapple cake? XD

Yep. It’s a thing. LOL.

Moving on…

We headed to Ximen Station and took the train to Taipei Main Station where we were supposed to catch the Hop On Hop Off Bus that we booked via Klook. We didn’t wait long before it arrived and, boy, were we excited!!! We don’t have double-decker buses in the Philippines so I’m always thrilled to ride in one.

Our plan was to take the red route, check out some places that we want to visit later, and then take the blue route. However, since we started the bus tour pretty late (it was past 4 PM already), we figured we’d just get off somewhere near Taipei 101.

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If you are in Taipei and you don’t have enough time to see ALL the tourist spots, taking this hop on hop off bus tour is actually perfect.

We got off at a mall near Taipei 101. I’m 90% positive that it is called ATT 4 Fun. They had some beautiful, Instagrammable colorful lights outside so we took advantage of that.

Then we entered the mall and took photos inside. There were lots of cute and Instagrammable places.

There was this Korean restaurant called “Uncle’s” and they had this awesome display of old TV sets and radios – giving off this 응답하라 1994 vibes. 🙂

This cute display of huge teacups, teapots, and pastries was pretty cool. The moment we stepped into the platform and started taking photos, music started playing and the lights sort of dimmed and blinked.

And we visited this store that sells Japanese anime stuff – mostly Totoro and Spirited Away merch.

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After shopping and looking around some more, we decided to call it a day and return to our hotel. Perfect timing too because we still have a couple of hours left on our hop on hop off bus tour and we knew it will pass by Ximending so we can just ask them to drop us off there.

I’m telling you – booking that double-decker bus tour AND staying at Ximen Hotel were great decisions! It was so convenient for us!

When in Taiwan… MILK TEA!

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We called it a day after we got our food since we had to get up early for our Day 2 Tour.

DAY 2 – SMALL SWISS GARDEN | THE OLD ENGLAND MANOR | CINGJING FARM | HOULI FLOWER FARM / ZHONGSHE FLOWER MARKET

As I mentioned earlier, I booked a group tour to Snow Mountain and other nearby tourist spots. Unfortunately, the snow was MIA so our tour organizer decided to just take us to Houli Flower Farm instead.

Our ETD from Taipei Main Station was at 6 AM so we left our hotel at around 5:30 AM. The car was comfy enough and the other people in our group were all couples, so there were 3 couples, me and my friend, and the driver. The drive to Nantou took about 4 hours so we were all basically just dozing off in the car.

The moment we stepped out of the car to take photos at The Old England Manor Hotel, I had to hug myself to stop the chills. Lol. As I’ve said, I’m used to the cold weather in Baguio but I haven’t lived there for a couple of years now so I was not used to temperatures below 20 degrees Celsius now. And it was like 15-18 C in Nantou!

A little background info about this majestic place:

The Old England Manor, located on the road up to Cingjing Farm, is one of the most luxurious (and expensive!) Bed & Breakfasts in Taiwan. True to its name, Old England is a traditional English mansion, featuring all things Britain. White marble, a large clock on the main tower and detailed sculptures on the walls have tourists happily snapping away on their cameras. The sculptures, lanterns and furniture, all carefully imported from England itself, give this place an authenticity of a Tudor-style mansion. Step inside the dining room and be transported to another place of another era. English afternoon tea comes with a dainty three-tier stand full of western style cakes and nibbles. A stroll around the garden will make you feel like you have entered something of a Disney scene. (source: https://www.rtaiwanr.com/cingjing/old-england)

I’m not complaining about the weather, though. It was actually the perfect weather to be out and about. The sun was up but there was a chilly wind making it more tolerable to be under the sun’s warmth. It was just perfect!

FYI, there is no entrance fee here since you can only take pictures outside.

My first encounter with the beautiful cherry blossoms was at the Small Swiss Garden. There is an entrance fee of 120 NTD (on weekdays, 150 NTD on weekends) here. My friend and I immediately found our “spot” and started taking photos with the cherry blossoms. I don’t know what it is about these flowers but people do seem to go crazy over them. I’m not even fond of flowers but I was fascinated by them too.

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A little background info about the Small Swiss Garden:

The beautiful Northern European atmosphere at the Small Swiss Garden has given it the name of “Taiwan’s Little Switzerland” and “Paradise in the Mist”. The colorful flowers, bald-cypresses, red maples and LED artificial sunflowers of the garden give it a unique atmosphere. Yet, the feeling of the place can change dramatically, making some visitors like to come here twice, once during the day and the second time at night when beautiful lit-up fountains brighten the night sky. While this is certainly because the view changes at different times of the day, it is also because the second entry is free on the same day! (source: https://www.rtaiwanr.com/cingjing/small-swiss-garden)

Our next stop was the very crowded Cingjing Farm. I wasn’t too fond of this place. I mean, the view was breathtaking – it felt like we were in a European country, like Switzerland or New Zealand. But it kinda reeks of sheep poop… and there’s something else but I’d rather keep it to myself. I think my being introverted and anti-social sort of kicked in at this point and I was just overwhelmed by the pack of tourists – mostly families with snotty little kids running around and screaming at the top of their lungs.

A little background info about the Cingjing Farm:

Known as a “Foggy Eden” far away from the city area in the mountains, Qingjing Farm is great for those who enjoy fresh air, lush forests, acre of flowers along the plains and hillside, and beautiful starry nights. Located in the northern section of Qingjing Farm is Green Green Grassland, which is an open pasture ground for livestock such as sheep and cows to roam and graze freely. Visitors are able to see the animals up close and interact with them. (source: https://www.cingjing.gov.tw/en/)

Anyway, we didn’t explore this place that much. We just found some cherry blossoms, snapped more photos, ate our onigiri (which we bought from a 7-11 the night before), bought some goat’s milk, and went to take a rest at our parked car while waiting for the other people in our group.

(Photo source: https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3357426)

We were given the option to do the Cingjing Skywalk which is basically this 1.2 km bridge overlooking pretty much everything that we’ve already seen inside the Green Green Grassland and the Cingjing Farm. So, we were just like… “pass!” Lol.

Finally, we began our 2-hour journey toward Houli Flower Farm a.k.a. Zhongshe Flower Market! I don’t wanna bore you with the deets about this place. All I can say is it’s a year’s worth of flower festivals and probably a few months of Instagram pics. Lol!

There is an entrance fee of 150 NTD here, which is sooooooooo worth it! Like I said, I am not a flower lover but the wide variety of flowers in this place, along with the adorable “props” scattered around, made it one of the BEST places I’ve ever visited.

In case you’re wondering when is the best time to visit the Houli Flower Farm, here’s a list of flowers’ “blooming schedule” by month:

WARNING: You will be scrolling through LOTS of photos of me surrounded by flowers. LOTS.

I did warn you. Haha. It was quite an enjoyable experience although some of the props and areas were clearly for “wedding photos” and for couples. Lol.

If given a chance, I would go back to the Houli Flower Farm – it was worth another trip to Taiwan.

All in all, our 3D2N in Taiwan was a blast! We weren’t able to go to Jiufen, Yangmingshan National Park, or any other tourist spot that I originally planned to visit, BUT it was so worth it because of the Houli Flower Farm.

Taiwan's Houli Flower Farm, Modern Toilet Restaurant, Small Swiss Garden, Cingjing Farm, & more! 3D2N Trip in Taiwan My 3D2N trip to Taiwan was originally planned because of the famous "Snow Mountain". Filipinos are crazy about SNOW.

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