Serenity

That's how we should live our life!

Day away to Batam

28-Apr - Random weekday, just to be out of Singapore to spend a day relaxing.... It all started with a trip down to the harbor front cruise center

Cruise center over looking Singapore Universal Studio

Easter Egg display

 

The boat that will be ferrying us to Batam

 

Arrival at Sekupang Ferry Terminal

 

The beach front resort we will be staying in

 

Beautiful beach

Closed up view of the beach front resort on silts

Meal and recreation corner - Billiards, pool and Mahjong are available

 

The Singapore skyline in the background

The resort at night

 

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Synopsis: We’ve always known that Spider-Man’s most important battle has been within himself: the struggle between the ordinary obligations of Peter Parker and the extraordinary responsibilities of Spider-Man. But in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Peter Parker finds that a greater conflict lies ahead. It’s great to be Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield). For Peter Parker, there’s no feeling quite like swinging between skyscrapers, embracing being the hero, and spending time with Gwen (Emma Stone). But being Spider-Man comes at a price: only Spider-Man can protect his fellow New Yorkers from the formidable villains that threaten the city. With the emergence of Electro (Jamie Foxx), Peter must confront a foe far more powerful than he. And as his old friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), returns, Peter comes to realize that all of his enemies have one thing in common: OsCorp. [Source: Cathay Cineplexes]

 

This movie was a bit disappointing to me as I find it lacks the dramatic fighting scenes expected of a blockbuster. Instead, it focus more on Spider-man's relationship with Gwen (his girl friend before Mary Jane) and his quest to find out what has happened to his parents. I appreciate that the director tried to fill in the missing details on Spider-man's early life but being a block buster, I have higher expectation. All in all, I will advise to give this movie a skip as there are better options available.

 

Rate: 6/10

Taiwan Day 9 - 桃园机场

13-Apr - Today marks the end of our fabulous Taiwan holiday trip. No itinerary was planned for the day, except to make our way back to the Tao yuan International Airport. As we have plenty of time to kill, we took the Metro to the 台北车站 to board the public bus back to the airport.

 

By the time we arrived and finished the check-in, it was nearing lunch time, thus we headed down to the basement for our lunch

Taiwan famous 红烧牛肉面 - Not bad!

 

An artistic gallery in the transit area

 

Journey back home

 

It was indeed a wonderful, happy and fun trip. =)

Taiwan Day 8 - 西门町，台北101

12-Apr - Second last day of our 台湾 holiday. We decided to make full use of the remaining time available to visit the places of interest that all tourist should visit whenever they are in 台北. First off the list will be a trip down to the Bugis style shops in 西门町.

Bugis style shops selling clothing, accessories and food in 西门町

阿宗面线 - Not bad!

Cinema Street - I think there are 4 different cinemas along this stretch, including an IMAX. Ticket price wise, they are comparable to Singapore

A surprise find - One Piece Shop. The comic is really cheap! NTD$105 - 东立 version

 

Sanji

 

Monkey D. Luffy (mid)

 

Franky and Chopper

 

 Sanji and Chopper

 

One Piece shop entrance

Graffiti along the wall in the cinema back street

 

After we are done with 西门町, we proceed to our next stop, which is the iconic building of 台北 - 台北101.

 

Ding Tai Fung at 台北101 basement 1, where we have our dinner

 

One Piece characters on display in one of the shops

 

鼎太丰 mascot

Spider man advertisement on part of the external wall of 台北101

 

With heavy heart, we took the Metro back to our hotel to rest as tomorrow, we have to leave Taiwan for our flight back to Singapore, marking the end of our holiday.

Taiwan Day 7 - 士林夜市

11-Apr - No matter how much we want to stay at the Sun Moon Lake, today is the day that we have to pack our luggage to return back to 台北. Retracing our journey, we took the bus from 仁友客運 back to 台中火車站 to catch our train back to 台北.

台中火車站

 

Nice landscape behind the station

 

Arrival in Taipei after 2 hours train ride, transiting to Taipei Metro

 

Spider man 2 advertisement at the underground walkway

 

Checking into our hotel - KDM Hotel (The cost is pretty cheap, so don't expect much luxury)

 

Quick lunch at an eatery near our hotel - The beef noodle soup is not bad

 

士林夜市

 

The famous Taiwan 豪大大鸡排 - Long queue....

 

The new 士林 market, which is bigger and cleaner than the old market

 

捷運劍潭站, where the 士林夜市is located

 

Not much action is seen today as most of our time are taken up by the journey from 日月潭 to 台北,  which essentially shave off about 0.75 day. No complaint though as we managed to squeeze in a visit to 士林夜市 before the day is over. =)

Taiwan Day 6 - 日月潭

10-Apr - As we slept early last night, we got up early to start the day by exploring the other side of the lake via boat. Sun Moon Lake has 3 jetties built to facilitate travels between popular destinations around the island. They are namely 水杜码头，玄光寺码头和伊达邵码头。From where we are staying, the nearest jetty is the 水杜码头. Taking the round island boat ride, our first destination of the day is the 玄光寺码头.

Our unlimited day pass for the boat ride

 

Quick stop by the Sun Moon Lake visitor center for some photos

 

Unique building operating as a hotel - 1 room per floor

 

The boat that will be ferrying us - 明月之星

 

Nearest contact with the 拉魯島 located in the center of the lake

 

Bamboo backdrop at the 玄光寺码头

 

玄光寺

 

Nice scenery of the lake from high ground

 

Behind 玄光寺, there is a short trail known as 青龙山步道 that will take you to a bigger temple called the 玄奘寺 which is located higher up the hill and further inland. At first glance, the trail looks manageable......

 

青龙山步道 - Looks can be deceiving

 

Funny sculpture along the pathway to 玄奘寺

 

Combining the hot sun and working against gravity, the final straw came when we were faced with this endless steps at the end of the pathway

 

After walking and climbing for an hour, we finally reached 玄奘寺!

 

Nice view of the lake from the highest point at the hill we were on

 

玄奘寺

 

Wall sculpture depicting the journey of 玄奘 in India during his journey to the West

 

After we are done taking photos, we proceed to our next destination - 伊达邵码头. 伊达邵 is a small town located at the opposite side of the lake where the 邵 tribe (the smallest Aboriginal tribe in Taiwan) lived in. The town consists of a main street and a few side street, with shops selling handicrafts and local small bites.

 

伊达邵码头visitor center

 

伊达邵 main street. Think we are too early, there is no soul on the main street.

 

伊达邵码头 viewing platform

 

By the lakeside

 

伊达邵码头

 

As the sun began to set, we wrapped up our photo taking session and caught the last boat out of the jetty to return back to 水杜码头.

 

Last view of 伊达邵 on our way back

 

水杜码头

 

Nice tree balancing skill!

 

Today marked the last day for our stay at 日月潭. The Sun Moon Lake is a beautiful lake with lots of scenic spots, hiking trails and the people there generally leads a slow pace of life. I find this is really a good place to de-stress and unwind yourself should you need somewhere to escape from the stressful Singapore life. =p