Tainan – Gu Bao Street (Anping District)
Here’s our first tourist attraction destination – 古堡街 (Gu Bao Street), which literally translates to Castle Street. There are 3 attractions along this street – Anping Tree House, Zhu Jiu Ying House and Old Tait & Co Merchant House.
We stopped over at the 朱玖瑩故居 (Zhu Jiu Ying House) first. Zhu Jiu Ying is a very important man that has helped with the growth of Taiwan’s salt industry. This building was initially a hostel for the salt farmers and was only recently converted into an exhibition to showcase Zhu Jiu Ying’s Chinese calligraphy.
Next is the Old Tait & Co Merchant House, also known as Taiwan Development Wax Museum, using wax figures to tell of the immigrants’ life in Taiwan history. Didn’t have time to visit this though.
Lastly is the the 安平树屋 (Anping Tree House). The entire house is over 200 years old and has been taken over with some banyan trees. Some parts of the building are only being supported by the trees. Even the locals took time down to visit this place.
Entrance fee is less than NT50 and student discounts apply, be sure to bring your student pass when visiting to Taiwan.
They also sell nice ice cream with different flavours everyday, priced at around NT60 each.
The Anping Tree House gives a magical vibe as the sun sets.
First stop – Tainan
My first stop was Tainan City – the southern part of Taiwan. Weather is pretty much like Singapore where the sun greets you everyday. Only difference is that it’s actually cooler there, so we don’t really perspire much even after walking for hours under the sun, clad in a jacket. But I guess the UV is much stronger as I get tanned within a day.
This potted plant is just outside the room where we stayed in Tainan – fanning out to the morning sun.
On flight to Taiwan!
I’m back from my Taiwan trip 
Here’s a little backlog update so you guys know that I’m still alive.. Didn’t make any posts as I was too tired from all the sightseeing and shopping for the past 16 days.
There’s Hakase filling up the arrival card for me. More photos of the trip will be up within the next few days. Stay tuned.. 
Off to Taiwan!
Heading off to Taiwan for 16 days with my favourite toy nendoroid – Hakase from Nichijou!
Here’s my last snack before boarding the plane. Photos will be up when I find time to do so..
Singapore Common Sights #4 – El-cheapos
Oh yes, many Singaporeans (mostly the elder people or what we call aunties and uncles) love to attend food fairs or places where there are unlimited food samples.
While it is understandable that we would only buy the stuff that suits our tastebuds, these cheapos love to go around sampling every free food that they come across. It’s like a part of our culture that whenever these cheapos want to buy a food product, we’ll hear them requesting for a sample first. On some occasions, even if the food tastes good, or it’s to their liking, they still have no intention of buying. Instead, they’ll probably pop more of those samples and have their kids to have it before strolling off.
These el-cheapos make up part of the ugly Singaporeans.
Singapore Common Sights #3 – Highrise Buildings
Many Singaporeans are paying up to millions of dollars to live “in the air”. With a shortage of land, the only way to accommodate 5 million people in a small city named Singapore is to have as many people on the same land area as possible. This is a very common sight island-wide; seeing blocks of apartments everywhere in a 360º turn.
The price of a standard HDB (bought directly from the government) with a 90m² floor area costs as much as a bungalow in America. Prices depend on the district as well; up to 3 times more expensive in mature districts such as Tampines. The same applies to our bodies / ashes. Land is scarce and we can’t afford to pay for the land for burials. Inflation affects us even when we’re dead; placing our ashes on a shelf in a temple costs as much as 15,000 SGD.
When it was announced that Singapore’s projected population is to reach 7 million in 2030, many Singaporeans voiced their opinions in online polls to the government. Overcrowding is already an issue now and we are still adopting an open-immigration system. Cost of living, especially housing, is expected to rocket over the next few years. Nothing is being done to address citizens’ concerns while the country (city) is focusing on GDP growth.
What for, when many Singaporeans can’t cope with inflation. Not when the cost of everything rise but not our salary.
Chinatown during Chinese New Year festive season
Lunar New Year is just 2 weeks away and Chinatown is even livelier than usual during this period – with lots of people shopping for Chinese New Year decorations and goodies. The closer we get to Lunar New Year, the cheaper the goods get and people hurrying down for some last minute shopping. Things get really bad the day before and it’ll take like 10 minutes just to walk 100m. It wouldn’t even be considered “walking” anymore.
Like Little India, Chinatown is one of the cultural places to visit in Singapore. There are lots of people and road stalls around even on normal days (not Lunar New Year). Sad to say but this year’s street decorations are kinda ugly and disappointing (as compared to previous years).
Singapore Common Sights #2 – Hanged Laundry
Singapore Common Sights #2 – Hanged Laundry
Since most Singaporeans stay in HDB, the “affordable” housing, we hang our laundry to dry on a bamboo stick like this. You’ll see this sight everywhere except in the central shopping district.
That was my neighbour’s laundry by the way.
Singapore Common Sights #1 – Roadworks
I have decided to start on a Common Sights project, a one-photo post with a scene that people in Singapore will come across almost on a daily basis.
Singapore Common Sights #1 – Roadworks
Our government has decided by themselves that a small city of just 710km² will grow to 7 million population by 2030. Right now, expanding our existing roads and paving the way for new Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) tracks are one of the top priorities to ensure that commuters are able to get to work on time and happily.
Since it’s a rush for time, you are bound to come across one or two roadworks while on the streets.
Parts of Jurong East
As Singapore is a small country, most people live in apartments known as the HDB (pictured above) around here. You’ll tend to see Singaporeans gathering and hanging at the void deck in the afternoon.
This time round, I headed to Jurong East (Yuhua Community Centre) for the PMET‘s “Portraits of People Around Us” photography event last Saturday. It was raining / drizzling the whole afternoon and I stuck to the neighbourhood areas. It might be due to the rain, but there wasn’t a lot of people around this district. Since it was a public event and up to hundreds of photographers were going around to shoot, the townsfolk probably didn’t feel too comfortable and one of the young photographer ended up with a scolding instead. The only closeup shots I took were of children.
