3rd day of Taiwan trip
19/6
The night before return pretty late, and on a fri night, Taipei city seem to be very much alive at 11pm+. Click
here to watch a video clip taken at around 11.30pm, most shop at still open at that time. Wouldn't it be nice if singapore is also the city that sleep really late?
Today just feel lazy. After breakfast, went back to room to sleep again till noon. Haha....
Went to another place we thought is a memorial hall again. Ended up to be a theatre. Well, very near to Xi Men Ding, went there for lunch of beef noodle with tea for NT110. Like most chinese, Taiwanese really like tea, from the variety of packet tea you can find in the convinient to eating place.
Taipei is a city full of advertisement on building, not much space is spare. Building are for advertisment.
Look at the right photo, the part about "No music, christmas...." Very interesting huh.
So as we are in Xi Men Ding, we saw this group of old folks wearing "Believe unto Jesus for Eternal life". Don't really know what they are doing, maybe praying, but really impress with the work the old people did in Taiwan, what are the youth doing?
Later on, I spend around 2 hours watching a gig in Xi Men Ding, these people carry all their equipement to the open space, drum set, guitar amps, speakers, mixer, everything and play on the street to make their music heard, and they are really good. Notice how close the crowds are to the performer. Click the photo for a short video clip.
Zhao Zhi Bi (頞�銋����)
Thanks to Keropi, found her name and website.
http://bibi.gogorock.com/
But she did mention about her
Yahoo! club
Can listen to her song in the album from
this website.
She got a great voice, only 1 guitar, but powerful presence.
Speedball
http://speedball.idv.tw
They seem to be training under the next group o2c, and only started public performance recently. Not bad, except the vocal, seriously need a good vocalist to enhance the band.
o2c(lost control 憭望��)
Click
here for another video clip.
http://otcnet.24cc.com
They are good. Only 3 piece band with a vocalist, they use a powerbook as backing trax for every song they did.(see right bottom corner of clip) I think they just cannot find one more good player to join them.
Good experience with the taiwan street performance, wonder if Orchard rd in Singapore will be permitted to do this?
Night program, Shi Ling Night market which all mention to be a must go. Totally super crowded, lots of bragain goods. Nice experience.
We were very impress with the speed of the illegal street seller, one moment you are looking at the clothing, suddenly the whole rack is gone. With one lady shouting for you to return the clothing in your hand, else go with her for payment. Within 20min, they are back again, where they go, where they come from, nobody knows.
Remember watching the TV and seeing
this. I think it started out in the states, in the poorer area, people are trying to find something cheap and fun that could get the kids off the street and gangs into something more fun and came out with it.
ok... talk about 2nd day of Taiwan trip
18/6
The night before sleep very late, cause too attracted by the hundred TV channel in the hotel. haha... Seem like half of them is local Taiwanese channel, while the rest is common AXN, HBO, CNN, Cinemax, Chinese movies channel. Also got both christian and buddist channel.
BTW, we got cheated, it say it's a 3 star hotel, but looks more like a 1 star. But anyway, it's cheap and near most of the attraction and of course 100 channel TV program.
Early morning went to this 2/28 peace park, around 80 yrs ago on 28 of feb(that's why call 228) there was a bad governor over Taiwan that leads to killing of around 30,000 people on strike to protest against him. That's why this memorial park was erected.
Later we went to Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall(Zhong Zheng Ji Nian Tang). Chiang Kai-Shek was the leader of Kuo Ming Dan who retreat to Taiwan when there was a civil war between the dimocratic and the communist. Thus forming Taiwan as a nation now(still a question of debate whether Taiwan is a nation).
Look at the size of the hall and statue with the soldier, the guard are not suppose to move an inch for 1 hr, there will be a guard changing ceremony.
Nice ceiling huh...
Click
here for a short clip of the changing guards ceremomy.
We visited another memorial hall, this time Sun Yat-Sen which both China and Taiwan address as the Father of their Nation, as he is the one who brought down the old Emperor system.
Searching for night market to go to beside the famous Shi Ling night market, so decided to go to the snake alley night market(Hua Xi street), I thought it will be quite interesting, turns out only 2 short street with lots of people selling snake for soap. Visited the (must visit by Lonely planet) Long Shan Temple, argh... just another temple, lonely planet really for Ang Mo huh.
So left after 30min of walking around, spotted some fortune telling stores near the chinese temple, so is fortune telling always related to the temple? Hmm...
Decide to go to
Shin Kong Mitsukoshi which is the major shopping centre in Taipei, it also serve as my landmark point of reference, cause it's very tall and near Taipei train station. Got I think 12 storey of shopping experience. Well... the most interesting part was actually the lift ride.
Shin Kong Mitsukoshi got this lift lady serving inside each lift(maybe it's a Taipei practise, but seem to be more of a japan practise, anyway...), that will welcome you, ask which floor you wanna go, announce to other people that they are going down and hold the door for whoever wanna come in while at the same time explaining and kindly asking the people inside the lift to wait a short time, at the end she will politely bid you farewell on the first floor and welcome you to come back again. Wow!!! I like it, feel like a king.
Before going to Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, we pass by this ice shop, basically just selling icy desert. So with the 1st night experience of the S$2 mango ice that is so much and tasted fantastic, we must go in and try something else. We order something Xue Hua Ping(snow flower ice), absolutely wonderfully delicious. We should have this kind of ice shop in Singapore.
Just came back from Taipei, Taiwan yesterday.... Wanna write about what happen and how I feel. So here it is.... I'll just write it in a few days, so it won't be overwhlming to read.
17/6
Flight at early morning 7.10am to Brunei(2 hr) to transfer(waited 1 hr) to Taipei(3 and half hour), due to the half hour delay because of waiting for some people catching connecting flight. Couldn't really sleep in the plane, still suffering from exam fever just ended the day before.
We reach Taipei around 2pm plus. Took some pamplet from the airport and process to take a bus from the airport to Taipei train station which is near our hotel.
The few counter selling bus ticket to various location of Taiwan keep shouting for customers telling people when the bus is going to leave by the minute. "3 min left for bus going to Taipei train station.... 2 min left..."
Well... isn't really easy carrying the luggage up and down the street, thank God we didn't have much problem finding the hotel, took us around 20min to walk there though. Place everything and came out to walk walk...
Notice thousand of bikes all over the street of Taipei, there are defnitely much more bikes than cars, weird thing is 99% is scooters and motorbike is hard to come by. The parking lots for the bikes are usually on the pavement, or the walkway below a building, so it's common to see a bike going very close to you by the walkway. Bike are park very closely together too, to ensure more bike being able to park, Taiwanese doesn't seem to mind their bike touching other's bike.
The front part of every major road always have this part where bikes are allow to go to before the traffic light to give the bikes priority when the traffic light turn green.
Another interesting traffic rules is that bikes don't turn left at traffic light(taiwan road is driving on right hand), instead they go to this box after the pedestrain crossing of the perpenticular street and wait there for the traffic light to turn green. However the car just do it normally as we do. Draw it to show... ha ha...
Decide to go to Xi Men Ding, the street that is famous for setting the fashion trend in Taiwan. The street are close to cars at certain time.
Very interesting shops. Taiwanese are so into Japanese fashion, a lot of young people just look exactly japanese. The shop tenders always shouted "甇∟��������""Huan Ying Guan Ling"(welcome) whenever you steping into the shop, at first I couldn't really catch it, I thought they were saying "Good morning", in the evening?
Then I realize it, cause they were saying it quite musically, the note will be "Do Do So Mi", well... this four chinese word just keep getting stuck in my head even now. Very kawaii....
Then all the shop assistance are just speaking so "cute", even the guy shop assistant, they always like to add a "wor" behind, "Feel free to take a look wor." It's not that they are trying to act cute, it's just the way they speak to attract customers.
There are lots of people on cart selling food, not sure if it's legal. The food just smell so nice, most food not found in Singapore. We went to get a "Mian Xian" for dinner seeing so many people queueing up to eat, no chairs, just stand or squat to eat and then return to bowl. Can you see the gal at the corner squatting?
Xi Men Ding at quite big, walk a few round, and seem to always wander into new areas, got one whole street full of cinemas too. Whole place pretty noisy with all the shouting to attract customers, lots of young fashion concious people around. There are also many people carrying banners to direct you to their shop in the smaller alleys.
We spend the whole night there and just walk around later, can see that there are countless convinient stores in Taipei, all 24 hrs like 7-eleven. Almost every street corner, you can find one, truly convinient. There are quite some 24 hrs shops arouing, eating place, cafe and even comics reading shop.
Look at the feet of that guy on the left, lying down enjoying life...
Just to help me to remember to learn this when I am free.
http://knight.fcu.edu.tw/~d9063070/turn%20pen/pen.htm
Getting pretty crazy watching movie for the last 3 days,
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on monday night.
Harry Potter & the prisoner of Azkaban on tues night and
The day after tomorrow on wed night.
I think I like
The day after tomorrow the best, see the hopelessness of men in the midst of the greatest disaster, yet doing anything to fulfill a promise made even though it might be just empty.
If you can't read, and want to learn. Please call 7654321.
Do you think the above ad will work?
Yesterday couldn't sleep... maybe because today got exam, the more I wanna sleep, the more I couldn't.
Then I was thinking about the income tax assessment mistake and did some calculation and found out most likely it may be the combine income statement of both my wife and me. I couldn't rememeber filing it together with my wife. But according to the calculation, it should be right. After some calculation, realize that we have to pay around $400 just because it's a combine filing, too much... what a silly mistake I've made. I thought combine submission, but assessment seperate. Thank God I wasn't working most of the time last year, so income wasn't so much, else it might be more than $2000 more for income tax calculating from the previous paid I hold.
I was thinking about sending a normal letter since the email I've send didn't return with any reply after around a week. It will goes something like,
"I've realize I've made a silly mistake by combining the income tax submission together with my wife, I'm sorry. Is it possible that you spare my miserable $400 and redo a seperate assessment for me and my wife? Pleaassseee..... I'm sorry for whatever I've done, I'll vote for PAP next time, Oops... I've always voted for PAP... hmm... agh..... well.... "
Praise God, after one week and just the next day after I've thought about this, I receive the email from IRAS as below....
Dear Mr Goh
We refer to your e-mail below.
Our record shows that you had elected for a combined assessment when filing through internet on 13 Mar 2004 for the Year of Assessment 2004. Thus, your wife's income have been assessed under your name. But noting that previous years you had elected for a separate assessment and since it is more beneficial to opt for a separate assessment in your case, we have revised the assessment to give your a separate assessment based on the income earned by yourself only. An original assessment have been raised for wife based on the income earned by her.
The dividend income included in your revised assessment now refers to your dividend income from the Singapore Telcom shares.
The revised Notices of Assessment and Statement of Account would be sent to you shortly.
If you have any clarifications, please contact our Taxpayer Service Officers at 1800-3568 3000.
Thank you for your co-operation.
Yours sincerely
Pungkothai d/o J Kannan (Ms)
Tax Officer
Individual Income Tax Division
Thank God!
Testing to see if I can link photos here.
