As my visa was nearly expired, I had to get out of China last week. My ex-colleagues in Taiwan wanted me to go over to visit them and so I headed for Taipei in the end for the 4th time. The only difference is that I guess this was my first time travelling totally alone.

Frankly speaking I had no idea where else to go in Taipei since I've been there quite a few times and had gone to most of the touristy places in and around Taipei. 

So the journey started with my darling sending off me to take the bus that goes to Shanghai Pu Dong Airport. My life was too easy previously when I was staying with my parents and there are just too many things that I didn't know how to manage by myself in China. I was really very glad that my boyfriend taught me so many life skills for survival in China. There are just too many first times for me regarding living in China ever since I got to know him. Thank you, dear =))

I shall let pictures do the talking:

Day 1

It was all about moving around. I took a bus from Suzhou at 09:45hrs to catch a flight departing at 14:30hrs. The bus journey itself took 2hrs, with a detour at Hongqiao Airport. Upon reaching Taiwan, I had to exchange money first, get a local SIM card next, before purchasing a bus ticket that got me to Taipei Main Station. A local SIM card costed me NT300 for 3 days with unlimited data usage and about 10mins overseas calling time. Additional calling time can be purchased at any convenience store, which is all over Taiwan.

Again, as always, I chose to stay in a Youth Hostel instead of a hotel. Lamb Tour House is 5mins walking distance from Taipei Main Station and I think it's a good place to stay.

Headed to Ximending for dinner after checking in. My first stop is again Ah Zong Mee Sua （阿宗面线）, followed by E Mei Bing Sha（峨眉冰沙）next, which is 20 meters away from the mee sua store.

Day 2

Actually I concluded Day 1 with a fried chicken breast and a 925 Silver Ring. The ring is a gift for myself and is mainly to prevent unwanted attention hahaha. I slept in on  Day 2, had a simple lunch and took a metro to Wu Fen Pu （五分埔）to shop. Unfortunately, I did not manage to buy anything again apart from food... T.T In the end, I walked from Wu Fen Pu to Taipei 101 just to revisit the place.

After getting some rest inside Taipei 101, I went to Shi Da Night Market （师大夜市）followed by Shi Lin Night Market （士林夜市）, of course to hunt for more stuff to eat again. 

These are just some of the things I had. Fried chicken breast, Chinese herbal rib soup, fried mushrooms, cheese potato, etc.

Day 3

Met up with my ex-colleagues on this day. They drove my up onto Yang Ming Mountain（阳明山）to have lunch at a restaurant called Rooftop （屋顶）. So this is the view from the restaurant.

Let's meet Kate! My sister （好姐妹）from Taiwan hahaha.

Other ex-colleagues: (left to right) Robert, Kate, Cash, Jack.

In fact Robert drove all the way from Central Taiwan to Taipei to meet me. He is from another branch of the same company.

This is also my first time seeing Cash, though we have been talking to each other over the phone for more than a year previously.

A group photo, with Derek on the right side. Derek is their manager and have recently been promoted to higher management level. Seeing him for the first time in person too ^^

We headed for coffee and dessert after lunch.

I spent the morning shopping for my darling's birthday present since it was his actual birthday based on Gregorian Calendar. Many China Chinese have their birthdays wrongly reflected on their ICs because of the popularity of Lunar Calendar in the olden days. I was literally broke and fat when I was leaving Taipei because I ate too much...

Mr. Darling cooking dinner for me again, with our newly purchased cutie apron~~ ^^

He is a good cook! And because he is from Southern China, his dishes taste closer to what I had in Singapore~ ❤❤❤

My turn to cook. We both love meat.

What I cooked last night. I was surprised that he liked the soup, which was totally westernised (onions and carrots and lots of pepper hahaha).