Taiwan (2015): Good9 Stay Ximending & Last Day in Taiwan

My 2015 Taiwan travelogues almost coming to an end, and before I officially finalise everything - let me share with you of where I stayed on my final nights in Taipei. 

For my first night in Taipei, I stayed in one-of-a-kind Sato Castle Motel which I already blogged and shared it previously. 

As for final three nights in Taipei, I settled down in Good9 Stay Inn for to its excellent location which tucked in the heart of the hustle and bustle Ximending area. There are many popular attractions, shopping outlets and numerous eatery options within the inn. And the best of everything, Ximen MRT Station is just a minute's walk away. 

#1: Good9 Stay Inn Ximending

Share:

Taiwan (2015): Taipei For The Third Time

My trip to Taichung might seem short but it's more than enough for me since I've been there three times. So our next destination is back to Taipei again. Oh hi there Taipei once again! As usual, we took High Speed Rail from Taichung to Taipei instead of the long distance bus. For this round, I didn't book my ticket in advanced, we just went to the counter and bought on the spot. Because the HSR journey between Taichung and Taipei is relatively short, like approximately less than 40 minutes, therefore the trains are quite frequent. Well of course if you book through online earlier, you can get an early bird discount up to 35% from the normal fare. 

Share:

Taiwan (2015): A Quick One in Taichung & Garden Stay

From Kenting, we travelled to Taichung. Taichung is no longer a strange land for me cause for my record, I've been there three times. Why I keep going back Taichung? All because of Fengjia Night Market - one of my most favourite night markets in Taiwan. 

Like I shared before on my Kenting post, my friend and I shared a cab to Kaohsiung and we requested to stop at HSR Zouying Station. From there, we took the High Speed Rail straight to Taichung. Just when we're about to have a nap, little did we realise we had finally arrived Taichung as the ride took less than an hour only. Alternatively, you can opt for bus from Kaohsiung to Taichung but being me, train is always my ultimate choice if the price is not hurting my bank account badly. 

#1: High Speed Rail from Zouying Station (Kaohsiung) to Taichung.

Share:

Happy New Year 2019 from Macao!

#1: New Year countdown at The Venetian of Macao

Happy New Year Everyone! So how’s your new year eve celebration like? As for mine, if you are following me on Instagram or read my previous post, you would probably know that I was in oversea to initiate my virgin NYE celebration abroad. I went Macau for one short and brief trip but it was indeed a joyful and fruitful one. I had never ever plan to do countdown or even welcome the brand new year in foreign country cause for the past few years, I prefer to celebrate Christmas in overseas like Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong but this time around I wanna experience something new.

Thanks to AirAsia for relaunching back the route to Macau directly from Kota Kinabalu. I used to book this flight 8 years ago but it was suspended before I could ever experience it. Most of the times, I visited Macao by taking ferry from Hong Kong. It’s my first time to arrive in Macao International Airport (MFM). Although MFM is smaller and fairly simple than Hong Kong International Airport, but I prefer MFM than the latter one as it is less crowded and not so packed. You will never imagine how panicked I was few years back when the immigration clearance took almost an hour and I almost missed my flight from Hong Kong. Phewww...

#2: Direct flight from Kota Kinabalu to Macao with AirAsia

I know it’s just beginning of the year but I’m looking forward for my next and second countdown celebration in overseas. Have you ever did countdown in other country before? Come and share your experience with me.

#3: Dazzling and awesome fireworks display at The Parisian of Macao


#4: The very first photo of myself for the brand new year. Counting every blessings, be joyful and make the most of everyday.

P/S - Travelling a lot making my brain smaller - thank you for the compliment 😉

Share:

Thank You 2018, Next!

Day after day. Time after time. In the blink of an eye, today is the last day of 2018 and tomorrow we're going to step into another brand new year of 2019. Sometimes I really wish I have the ability to freeze the time cause time flies when you're having fun. 2018 might not be the very best year but still, I'm grateful and cherish everything I've been through this year. Count more of my blessings, but not the problems I encountered - this is what I always remind myself.

Like I always did for the past years since 2011, now let's take a quick flashback on the past 12 months of where I went and visited in summary:

• January - Da Nang, Hoi An & Hue, Vietnam. Kicked off my year 2018 by sponsoring my mom another trip to Vietnam. Besides just the two of us, my very best travel buddy also tagged along for this trip together with her friend. A new friend who I never met before but she made us laugh non-stop throughout the trip. I'm glad that my mom really enjoy this trip and she even proposed for another trip with my friend and our new friend found. 
• February - Kuching for Chinese New Year. The month of festive season where all family members reunite and gather together for a big and important celebration. Since my dad bought houses in Kuching, so he suggested this year we celebrated Chinese New Year in Kuching instead of Kota Kinabalu. I even drove a nearly 6 hours car-ride back to my maternal grandparents' kampung. 
• March - Tokyo, Japan. Revisit Tokyo for the 5th time and for this round, it's for my birthday celebration. Besides Tokyo, my boyfriend and I visited less touristy and off the beaten path such as Kinugawa, Nikko, Gala Yuzawa and more. 
• March - Singapore. This is one adhoc trip with my mom. Why? To welcoming the newest member of our family - my newborn baby nephew, my parents' firstborn grandchild. That's mean now I'm officially become an aunty to my sister's son. 
• April - Iran. A birthday gift from the boyfriend and it's an impromptu trip before AirAsia X decided to cease this route permanently. It's my first visit to the Middle East country and I was truly amazed with how beautiful and stunning the country is. Iran is indeed an eye-opening trip to me and not like what many people expected it to be.  
• May - Istanbul, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia. Another of my solo trip to Europe, except for the Croatia part where I met and traveled with fellow Malaysian travel blogger, Jeff Chuah. I really love Balkans so much and now I'm planning for the next Balkans trip. 
• July - Perlis for Girl Guides Conference and Annual General Meeting National Level
• September - Taipei (Taiwan) & Kyushu Island (Japan). Two trips at a time. I took a flight to Taipei first, and then joined my friends for a self-drive trip around Fukuoka, Beppu, Kumamoto and Nagasaki.  
• October - London, Portugal, Spain & Milan. Another trip with my mom and tagged my cousin along. We got aweseome deal from Oman Air where the all-in inclusive return fare for RM1,800 only. 
• November - Wuhan and Wudang Mountain, China. A trip to celebrate the boyfriend's birthday. This is when both couples who love to travel, I bet airtickets and trips are the best birthday gift ever. 
• December - Kuching & Singapore. Weekend getaway to spend quality time with my two younger brothers in Kuching and also celebrate Christmas with my sister and baby nephew in Singapore.  

Exploring 6 new countries (Iran, Turkey, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Portugal and Spain), wandering more than 20 new cities and experience 9 different airlines - that's pretty sum up my travel adventures throughout the year of 2018. 

Apart from my life in relation to travel, how about my own personal life? Oh well, I have been moving out for exactly a year now. Yes, I'm currently living and staying alone, no longer with my parents anymore. Of course I gained more in terms of freedom and become more independent, but on the other hand thinking of the monthly commitments especially the utilities bill, groceries and also the housecores, the cooking and etc, living alone is not as easy as I thought sometimes! This consider to be one of the biggest decision I made in my life but then, I never regret with my own choices. Luckily my parent's home is only 5-8 minutes drive away from where I'm staying now, hence I'm frequently going back to have dinner with them on weekday and breakfast on weekend. 

Every room inside is filled with things from far away (A Million Dreams lyric from The Greatest Showman)

I believe almost everyone's life is like one roller coaster ride - there will always be ups and downs. And so as mine too. Almost towards the end of the year, I lost one of the most important thing in my life - my beloved Guci, a pure Shih Tzu dog breed which had been with us for more than 10 years passed away. Oh boy, losing a dog is equally as painful and heartbreaking as losing a family member. For us, she's not just a dog but as part of our family member. I really do missing the welcome back greet where she wiggle her tail when I reach home, the patiently wait near the staircases when everytime she heard me opening of my bedroom door in the morning, the constantly request to rub her fat belly and etc. Until now I still miss her so much and sometimes I do cry at night when seeing her photos and videos. It's so hard to let go and move on especially when she always by my side, my best companion, cheering me up when I was down for more than a decade.


Goodbye Guci! You are always and forever in my heart. (May 2008 to 3 October 2018)

I guess, these are the few things I like to highlight for the year 2018. Nothing much, nothing less. Sometimes it's best to expect less, so that you won't end up with higher disappointment. Like they said, the best thing comes when you're least expected. And because of that, I don't have any resolution for the year of 2019 and let my life goes on with the flow. Just let it come what may. At least the best I can do right now is to love myself more as I once battling with depression and anxiety before which causing me to lost my passion and interest in travelling dating back two years ago. Unexpected right? Like I said before, life ain't always sunshine and rainbow, there would be storm and thunder in between. But thankfully, I gradually recovered, bounced back and as you can see, I travel extensively and even updated my blog more often than I used to be (although sometimes I was being too lazy to blog).

Before I end this post, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to those who constantly read my blog and some even become my loyal blog readers. And also not forgetting to those who left countless of comments in my blog, sent messages with positive vibes in my other social media networks which giving me the motivation and encouragement to continue to write and update my blog. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for supporting this humble travel blog of mine. Good news to those who never stop leaving comments on my blog - I have a surprise for you guys as a token of appreciation. Here are the Top 5 Commentators for this year:


Top Commentators For The Year 2015

1) Twilight Man from Twilight Zone

2) J-Mei from Interesting Corner of Me 

3) Rose from Rose World

4) Mas Light from The Live of A Psychotic Weirdo

5) Small Kucing & Mamarazzi from Small Kucing

So for the five readers I mentioned as above, kindly please comment below as acknowledgement. Plus, remember to leave your name, mailing address and contact number to my email address: dianateodt@gmail.com within 14 days from the date of this blogpost posted.

With this, wishing each and everyone of you have a blissful, awesome, magnificent, cheerful and rocking year ahead. Happy New Year!

For your information, this is actually a scheduled post cause I'm currently away again to celebrate New Year Eve. Yes, it's my first time to celebrate New Year eve abroad. Guess where I'm heading to and you might get souvenirs from me (Contest end at 1pm)

READ ALSO:

• Goodbye 2017! Hello 2018!
• Throw Back of My 2015 Travel Adventures
• Recap of 2014 and My Plan for 2015
• My Reflection on 2013 and Resolution for 2014
• My Reflection on 2012 and Resolution for 2013
• Recap of My 2011 History & My 2012 Resolution
• Recap of My 2010

Share:

Relax & Laid-Back Trip in Kenting, Taiwan

After spending two nights in Kaohsiung, we then moved on to Kenting, the southern point of Taiwan. Since Kenting is conveniently accessible under HSR Zuoying, hence we decided to kill two birds with one stone by covering both Kaohsiung and Kenting. 

#1

HOW TO GET TO KENTING FROM KAOHSIUNG

If you are travelling from Taoyuan or Taipei, take a ride on Taiwan High Speed Rail (HSR) to Zuoying Station first. From there, take Kuo Kang or Kenting Express bus heading to Kenting. The journey takes approximately of 2 hours for the price of NT$407 for a single trip and NT$600 for roundtrip.

Another second option is by sharing cab, like what we did. If you are traveling in a group of 4, probably this option is cheaper than taking the bus. 

It is possible to do day trip to Kenting from Kaohsiung but for me, I prefer to stay for a night just to experience the night market there. 

Share:

3D2N Itinerary in Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Located in the southern island of Taiwan, Kaohsiung is the second largest city of the nation after Taipei. Despite being less popular and always overlook by most of the visitors, but its all year-round fine weather and the low cost of living making you no excuse to visit Kaohsiung. To date, I've been to Kaohsiung twice and hence, I would like to share information based on my personal experience and my handpicked list of Kaohsiung's attractions to see and do.

Share:

Hotel Review: Sato Castle Motel, Taipei

The most typical things to do when comes to Taiwan are generally hitting the bustling and hustling night markets and stuffed with yummylicious street food. But then do you know Taiwan is also well-known for "minshu" - a type of accommodation equivalent to homestay, guesthouse, bed & breakfast and sometimes known as farmstay if there are animals within the property. The experiences of staying in minshu are completely different and unique comparing staying in a conventional hotel. So whenever I visit Taiwan, I will choose to book minshu instead of normal hotel. Mainly because I love the way how majority of these minshu are beautifully-decorated in interesting and fascinating layout. 

One of the unforgettable experiences for my Taiwan trip is staying in Sato Castle Motel of Taipei. By just looking the photos from the net, it immediately caught my attention and I booked without second thought. 

#1: Overview of Sato Castle Motel

Sato Castle is popular for offering different type of themed room and to date, there are more than 50 rooms with diversified style and unique theme. There are four categories of room to choose from; King, Queen, Castle and Knight. What distinguish four of them are obviously the size of the room and the room rate. The King is the largest one in term of size and so for its price too. 

Share:

Thailand: 1 Day Chiang Rai and Golden Triangle Tour

*This is super long overdue post!*

Chiang Rai is a small city in the most northern province of Thailand situated approximately three hours away from the most popular sister city of Chiang Mai. Of course if I had the chance, I would love to stay at least for a night here rather than taking an excursion tour but unfortunately due to time constraint, that's my last resort. I booked this tour from the hostel I stayed in Chiang Mai - So Hostel a day before it start for the priced of  800 baht (approx. to RM84).

The tour began as early as 7 am in order for the driver to pick up each and every guest from their hotel/hostels...

Our first pit stop is Maekhajan Hot Springs. a public hot spring that is well-known among the local and it's consider to be part of their rest stop before continue their way to Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai. The hot spring is exceptionally hot and therefore, don't ever think to take a bath here. However, you can purchase eggs from any of those stall nearby and boil them in this natural hot springs.

Our tour then continued with the stunning Wat Rong Khun which also known as The White Temple for its dazzling white colour inlaid with mirrored glass. This is obviously the main highlight of this tour. I blogged about this marvelous temple before - you can check out here: Wat Rong Khun - The White Temple of Chiang Rai.

After that, we moved forward to the Golden Triangle where we get the chance to witness the meeting points of three Indo-China countries; Thailand, Myanmar (Burma) and Laos. Both of my parents been and experienced this Chiang Rai and Golden Triangle tour before, and they keep telling me how awesomeness of this Golden Triangle where they got to enter these three countries for free. So now, I want to experience myself to see how true is that. 

The tour package doesn't include a boat cruise along the Mekong River to the Laos island of Don Sao. If you are interested, you have to fork out extra fee of 300 baht (approx. to RM31) for it and also 30 baht for the entrance fee to Don Sao Island.  

Note: You are required to show your original passport when taking the boat ride on the Mekong to across Laos. Hence, remember to bring along your original passport in case you would like to take this optional tour. 

Golden Triangle, the meeting points of three countries; Thailand, Myanmar (Burma) and Laos

And because this is a quick overview tour, we're given only a short limit of time to explore the island. Luckily it was small little town and there's nothing much to wander and venture for. There are few shops around selling abundance items like counterfeit handbags, local dry food which I found it's uninteresting.  

Then, we board on boat again back to Thailand border. From there, we had long hour drive to Mae Sai, a small town in northern Thai border. It's very popular among the visitors for it's close proximity to Myanmar border which is located a mere ten meters away across the river. However, unlike what my parents told me earlier, we're strictly prohibited from entering into Myanmar due to visa issue. For your information, a Malaysian is required to apply for visa in order to visit Myanmar. You can check out my post on Myanmar here. As a result, we can only catch a glimpse of Myanmar from far.  

So close, yet so far away

On the return leg back to Chiang Mai, we had our final and last stop at the ethnic hill tribes villages of Akha and Yao Lahu. Once again, we're being told that we need to pay extra of 300 baht (not again!) if we would like to visit Keren Hill Village which is famed for its long-necked tribe. Since it's optional, I chosen not to join cause I've seen this long-necked tribe when I was in Myanmar and you know what, it's free somemore.  

Would I recommend this one day tour execution? In case you only have a short period of time spending in Chiang Mai, then it's no harm to sign for this. But like I mentioned earlier since it's a whirlwind tour, everything is indeed rush and pack. That's explain why I dislike joining any organised tour company/agent, unless I have no other option. If I were given another chance to be back again in future, I would love to explore and discover Chiang Rai myself than signing a tour. Probably what my parents experienced are way more better than mine due to the different package tour they took. You know like they said, "When you pay peanuts, you get monkeys."  

1 Day Chiang Rai and Golden Triangle Tour

Tour Price: 800 baht 

Tour Includes:

• Pick-up from Chiang Mai's hotels/hostels 
• An English speaking tour guide
• An air-conditioned car/minivan
• Admission fees to all places indicated in tour except for Don Sao Island
• Lunch

Majority of this tour starts at 7 am and end by 9 pm, at least.

Date Visited: 14th April 2014

Share:

5 Reasons Why You Should Apply BigPay Card

*This is not a sponsored post, neither an advertorial.*

But since I received quite a number of queries regarding this, hence I decided to blog and share based on my own experience. 

I've been traveling for more than 10 years and throughout my travel record, the number of times using credit or debit card when travel abroad can be calculated using all my 10 fingers, or even lesser. Except for the part where I need to do all the bookings like hotel/hostels, transportation and even entrance tickets prior to my trip, I would try my best not to use both credit and debit cards due to its unflavourable exchange rates. Not until I was introduced with BigPay card.

Share: