#Pink and #Undecided's Taiwan Trip : Day 2 (C.K.S Memorial Hall)

Hi, everybody!

It's time for Day 2 of our trip to Taiwan! Honestly, i was so taken aback when i was resizing the pictures to use in this second day's entry because... The amount of pictures we took in this particular day was over the roof, SOOO MANY! I'm sure it's breaking my personal record or something *LOL*. So in order to be able to cover the whole day (we'd really hate to miss a thing! It was such a special trip) and not crashing anyone's compie while reading this, we probably gonna have to split Day 2 to about 3 posts hahaha... 

Main star for Part 1 of Day 2? Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall!

Let's start from the very beginning of the day, though! We promised each other to be ready at 8, but i forgot that we're traveling with #Undecided and hubby this time T.T, i was ready at 8 on the dot (as usual) but they were only ready at 8.30 or latter T.T. That was honestly the roughest morning i've had throughout the trip since i couldn't sleep the night before and was up at 6.30 (only got 3 hours of sleep after the long journey to get to Taipei...). And there was no use for us to get ready at 8.30 or 9 in the end because we never left the hotel before 10.30 in the end *howling* huhuhu... I could've slept for two or more hours there hikhikhik...

Anyway, we tried to leave our rooms in 6th floor because Joe told us he's already on the way, i snapped a pic with a Bear that represents our floor (every floor got a different bear! On one of the other floors that i remembered, they bear was white and furry! So cute!)

Funky disco bear?

As soon as we reached the lift (yeah, just a few steps away from our rooms haha), #Undecided's hubby told us that Joe (and apparently his mum, AMC, i wasn't aware that the super sweet Auntie was joining us for the day!) was bringing us breakfast, so we walked straight back to the room FOL. Decided to wait in their room, lay around and huddled in their bed haha.

Hi everybody, #Undecided here! Boy I'm excited for day 2! I hope you guys are too... And yes, hubby had difficulties waking up that day, and frankly me too because I had to battle my hair until around 1am or something. The battle - however - didn't end there because in the morning I had to struggle with my (normally trusty) hair-straightener thanks to the 110 v power plugs... *sigh*

So yeah, day 2 started a bit *ahem* later than planned, but personally I needed the lazing around. And as usual when we have nothing to do, we made our respective spouses to do weird poses hahahaha... This time it was hubby's time. Look at him posing with #Pink's pink horn.

I know I keep saying this, but yes I'll say it again, I am married to this guy hahahaha

The breakfast that morning was a revelation for me. It was so good!!! I had no idea what I was shoving in my mouth but I didn't care. LOL. There were several different items that AMC brought us, but this is what had me at the first bite:

dan bing!!!!! *salivating*

I honestly don’t know where to buy this in Taipei, but I will ask AMC for the address. Will write more about this deliciousness on day 3, okay!

After stuffing our faces, we decided to go outside and meet up with Boss Re’s family. First thing that I noticed when we stepped outside: the extra hot sun. OMG it was super hot, it was like being slapped by a pair of hot hands. On both cheeks! LOL. We also noticed that the building across the street was super pretty - here's the proof!

love the color combo!!

With AMC!

Since Boss Re’s family was still walking to our hotel, we decided to cool down inside and Joe found the basement! Yes, the spacious basement/lobby #Pink mentioned on our previous entry! On the way down we were attracted to this cute pink dog on display (as well as the mirror and lighting behind it - we're such suckers for sparkly/shiny things LOL) and obviously had to (make #Pink’s hunny) snap some pics hihihihi…

First thing we noticed after we arrived at the basement? The little room where they provided washing machines for you to laundry your own clothes! How convenient! They also provided a steamer to steam your clothes, i instantly commented "Why did i bother bringing my own mini steamer then???" hahaha, but our next hotels didn't provide them so it was not so useless afterall.

Look at how hunny looking and touching the laundry machines longingly? He really wanted to wash our clothes and try out the machines you know! He kept on saying so. Too bad we didn't have enough time :(...

Next to the small laundry section, there's another small room with microwave, coffee machines and even popcorn dispenser! Guests can help themselves to those and we went a bit cray cray there! Cam-whored a lot in this section too hahahaha.

#Undecided's hubby especially went a bit nutz, i'm pretty sure he finished those popcorn *LOL*, i was so worried he'd get bored of walking back and forth to the dispenser (because he used tiny paper cups to place the popcorn) and he'd carry the whole thing to our table hahaha

Hunny and #Undecided busy making coffees :p

There's also cold lemon tea and milk tea dispenser for the guests, and two computers (one in English one in Chinese characters)

The most interesting part of the super artsy and comfy guests area? The photo spot! This is the first time ever i've been to a hotel that specifically provided photo spot for the guests to go cray cray, complete with props like hats, sunnies, scarfs, etc! I completely fell in love with this hotel because of this hahaha! Perfect for a narcissistic cam-whorer!

We all took turns to pose in every spot *LOL*

The most adorable, bickering nonstop and all, pair of mum and son!

The middle section was modelled after a vintage Chinese family's parlor.

The most epic one!

No, the old TV set didn't really work lah hahaha

After we're done cam-whoring at the photo spots, we moved to the other part of the lobby/guests area hahaha..

Nice place, yes?

Was so afraid hunny might break the green doggy! Apparently it was very sturdy though haha

 

Look at #Undecided's hubby!

The cabinets behind us housed vintage, artsy stuffs (not all lah, we spotted lots of olden days toys as well), this one caught my eyes :

HAHAHAHAHA looked like those Indonesian Aunties with HUGE overblown hairs, no???

And just when we thought Boss Re's family had arrived and we could start exploring Taipei, THIS HAPPENED! 

That's Boss Re on the scooter - apparently his family is as crazy as we are when it comes to cam-whoring hahaha

Anyway, #Pink's hunny was obsessing over getting our mini tour group a flag (you know, that flag the tour leader holds to indicate a meeting point and so on), so he was quite happy when he spotted this flag. Even planned to steal it and christen it as ours, that crazy dude. 

#Pink stopped him, though...

We got bored of waiting for Boss Re's family to finish their "photo session" in the basement/lobby, so we moved along to the actual lobby. The moment we sat and snapped this photo, they emerged and finally, we're ready to explore Taipei!! Yay!!!

us with the lovely AMC

The trip started with us getting to the MTR Station. We were seriously lucky because we had AMC and Joe with us so they helped us scored our ez-cards (the cards which can be used on both MTR and bus). The line was alright (as you can see below), so it didn't take long and we finally got our cards. I remember thinking, no, wishing that someday soon Indonesian would know how to line up like this. If it was a line in Surabaya somewhere, I was quite sure at some point I would have to bitch at someone trying to cut the line *sigh*

#Pink tried to snap a photo of them lining up - candid style, but somehow Joe noticed and they posed hahahaha

Me and my two boys (missing the 3rd, yes, Baby Boy!), waiting for the MTR to arrive. I believe we have a photo of hubby with #Pink and I doing the similar pose, but maybe it's on Boss Re's camera.

Showing you the map - no idea why I posed so stiffly like that... hmph...

Finally inside the MTR!

And finally, the CKS Memorial Hall Station ahead...!!! 

I can't remember how far we had to walk to get to this place (in Taipei, people mostly walk underground, which I prefer compared to walking outside like in Singapore), but when we finally did, we were greeted by massive building that is the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall.

 Cue to start cam-whoring!

Look at these two

Posing like this, even though there was nothing to see there *LOL*

It was SCORCHING, i tell you! The sun was shining super duper brightly and we were melting like ice creams FOL. Seriously, i didn't even know that summers in some four-seasoned countries are actually a LOT hotter than summer in tropical countries. At least in Indonesia (or other tropical countries i've been to in South East Asia) the temperature stays consistently hot (on summer and cooler on rainy seasons) but never to the point of BOILING like this. I mean, we moan like we're dying whenever temperature get as high as 36 degrees celcius (the hottest it gets around here), but summer in Taiwan (i heard it's even hotter in China! *die*) gets as hot as 41 degrees OMG. Seriously killing us, the heat...

Nevertheless, the place was HUGE, magestic, and photogenic. So despite the crazy hot weather, i couldn't stop taking pictures. Oh, and posing too. Haha.

First building that would greet you once you enter the area

We totally thought it was the actual Memorial Hall *LOL*, of course we're horribly wrong. This was actually The National Theater

Took those pictures of The National Theater from across the street :

The entrance of CKS Memorial Hall area

#Undecided scolded me when she saw the result of this pic because i told her to pose and she said she looked tiny in this pic why should she pose at all hahaha

It was so scorching (and it was our first morning/noon in Taipei so our skins weren't used to the heat just yet) that we actually ran under a bridge in front of The National Theater to shield ourselves from the sun and went cray cray at the (super cheap) vending machines selling cold drinks! Soon it was time to brave the sun again (because we actually want to GO IN, not hovering outside okay hahaha)

The wind was blowing (hot winds okay) and we were supposed to look sad because the errr... what's that creature? It "bit" our hands, but #Undecided said it looked more like "Big hair don't care" type of pic hahaha

Steep entrance to The National Theater

Then we saw people actually exercising and practicing dance routines, etc here! Fascinated us because that's not something you'd see in Indonesia, for sure. #Undecided even said, if we're practicing a dance routine or something like that (in Indonesia) we'd find the most secluded place we could find. Most preferably indoor and fully air-conditioned haha.

People (mostly elderly) practicing Tai Chi

And the complete opposite, a group of youngster practicing a hip hop number just a few feet away from them

I think AMC snapped this picture of us, and it turned out beautifully

Even though you could only see us and not the surrounding hahahaha

The place was so photogenic, so of course we didn't waste any time and start immortalizing our visit there!

I look twice the size of #Undecided here, but if you meet her in real life you'd know that most people are twice her size haha

We kept on photo-bombing each other throughout this trip haha

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this pic even though Boss Re's whole family's photo bombing us *LOL*

Like i said, we completely thought that we're in the actual CKS Memorial Hall already, until we spot the exact same building across the street hahaha. I found this pic in Wiki to show you how the area actually looked like.

The National Concert Hall on the left, The National Theater (where we took all those pictures above) on the right, and the white and blue building in the middle is the actual CKS Memorial Hall!

It's massive, isn't it... Massive and IMHO, gorgeous... And what's more important (to me, being an Indonesian), the place was so clean. So so clean. And believe me, it is HARD to find trash cans/bins in Taipei (unlike in Indonesia), but the people manage to keep the environment clean. I have mad respect for Taiwanese now...

Except when it comes to toilets. Public toilets to be exact -____-. I don't know why it's so hard for them to FLUSH! I've been surprised (not in a good way) for wayyy to many times whenever i tried to enter a cubicle. And most of the time the surprises were HUGE. If you know what i mean. *PUKE!!!*

Oh, you're right #Pink!!! Again, another fact that got blocked out of my memory (because it was pretty disgusting)... OMG, why Taiwan, why?? 

Yes, we braved THAT sun walking on THAT yard towards The Memorial Hall 

The entrance - photo taken from The National Theater area

The National Concert Hall - photo taken from The National Theater area

And of course, one with us in it :D

Please ignore #Pink's hunny's pose... Anyway, when we first saw the golden square on the walls (see photo), hubby told me that they were made out of gold. I was in awe and thought to myself, at some point someone must have had made an attempt to steal one, checked this with Joe and he said, "no lah!"... Haih hubby!!!

#Pink's hunny's t-shirt: proof of how hot that day was

Us with the actual Memorial Hall on the background

Group photo!!!

Us with the entrance

By now you should know how dedicated we are about immortalizing our experience, yes? I repeat, scorching hot sun above, and we were at this outdoor yard posing away at any given spot hahahaha

The flag is THAT direction, silly!!!

Now when we were walking braving the sun towards the Memorial Hall, Joe called for us to hurry because there was a ceremony going on up there (yes, up those stairs *sigh*) for the guards to change shift. See, there are 2 guards to guard (well, duh) Chiang Kai-shek's tomb and during their 2 hour shift, they are supposed to be totally stationary. Like literally *straightens my back*. And every shift change, they would do this routine and that was what Joe called us for. Not wanting to miss it, we ran up the stairs (again, UNDER THE SUN FOL) to find that there was already a crowd watching the show. Little did we know that we didn't really have to walk up those stairs because there was an elevator ready hahahaha... I guess that was why I'm so tanned until today *checks my arms out*

The amazing ceiling

Once they were done and untie the barrier, we had to take pictures, obvi

The completely statue-like guard

Okay, i've not told #Undecided this. But they (our group, excluding me but including hunny and #Undecided *LOL*) made a LOT of noises during the routine (joking and making fun of the guards LOLOLOL), and i was self-conscious because people were starring at us *madly* and most of the Caucasian tourists (you know much more respectful Caucasians are when it comes to respecting such stuffs compared to most Asians-Japanese not included) around us were whispering at each other angrily. LOL. Seriously BB, you guys were LOUD LOLOLOL. And later we saw this :

O'o!!!!

I didn't say anything because Joe (the local) didn't say anything, i didn't want to be the little miss-know-it-all *LOL* but i really was horrified *LOL*. But nobody knows us there so whatever! HAHA. Oh yeah, i remembered #Undecided asking one very spot on question, what those guards were guarding because CKS was... very very dead already. Hehe.

Anyway, we thought there was nothing but CKS's tomb there (oh yeah, underneath his statue) and was a bit disappointed prematurely haha, apparently we're wrong because the place was HUGE with lots of cute stores (yeah, i did a bit of accessories shopping there, just a little), even cutesy stuffs stores (dunno what it's got to do with CKS at all) and most importantly, a museum. #Undecided, hunny and i are quite museum going kind of people,, #Undecided's hubby... not so much. I am quite disappointed that we never managed to visit the National Museum at all :(... Well, at least we got to enter ONE museum this time (i am planning to go back to Taiwan sometime in the future for sure).

Below are pictures taken from CKS' museum :

Again, amazing ceiling

#Undecided's hubby, who's not into museums immediately settle down when he saw a bench, hunny thought he looked like a beggar hence this pic hahaha

Us ogling at CKS' fave cuisines model haha

A more convincing model :P

A closer look on the "cuisine"

The papaya looked real, eh? Ew (I HATE papaya)

CKS' wedding suit

Ahh-mayy-zing picture drawn entirely by Chinese characters

Really!

Another "Proof we've been there" type of pic hahaha

You've seen me put on my pink horns already, i was thinking the whole day if i was being disrespectful or something *LOL*. Initially we were concerned about our shorts and slippers, some countries won't allow guests to dress in shorts and slippers, but i guess i mixed up religious or empirical places with this museum because clearly, nobody cared. I did attract a LOT of attention with my horns *LOL*. Especially on the MTR's station haha. Well, i was clearly dressed for Hello Kitty Cafe, coming up in the next post!

#Undecided's hubby kept insisting that Chiang Kai-shek was his grandpa. Insisted to pose the way "grandpa" posed. LOL

Wax statue of CKS. It'd be awesome if the place's full with this kind of stuffs hahaha i am a sucker for wax museums

And that ends our visit to CKS Memorial Hall (but we passed by the area one more time after lunch and you'll see pictures of the gardens later in this entry)! I will show you the stuffs i got from the stores there (a Jade-i'm pretty sure it's not real coz it's quite cheap-bracelet and dainty heart shaped necklace) in a haul post. I apparently don't have any picture of the stores, but just imagine the normal souvenir shops lah okay haha. I was saving my camera's battery because it was starting to diminish already! We had ice creams too because we wanted to cool down even more (the museum and shops were fully air conditioned, thank God!). 

Oh ya, one of the shops that attracted me most was this jewelry shop that sells intricate.. errr... semi precious stones (i think) floral jewelries! I saw one super duper pretty one! But we're just beginning our trip and i didn't want to spend NTD 1800 (Around USD 65) for a necklace already. But now i kinda regret not getting it FML.

*pats #Pink on the back*
Now now, here's the part that our preggo bff A is waiting for: the food! Hahahaha... This is what we had for lunch that day: dumplings!! And I love dumplings!! Unlike #Pink, but I was pretty sure she liked these, right #Pink?!

Our gluttony pose hahaha

Excitedly waiting for the food to arrive

Okay, now I want those!

Steamy dumplings!

Weirdly shaped. Pretty sure we don't have anything like this in Indonesia, right?

This one is dumplings with read bean paste filling. #Pink's hunny had been craving for this for so long and he was overjoyed when he had this. I loved it too. So yummy!

Drunken shrimp (or prawn?), served cold - salad style. #Pink's fave.

After meal, we decided to go back to MTR station because we need to head to our next destination: HELLO KITTY CAFE, for high tea. And like #Pink said, we passed by CKS Memorial Hall's garden area, where again, there were some kids practicing music. #Pink was so into how the aisle was built and she insisted to take a pic to show you guys.

Pretty, isn't it? I was fascinated on how the ceiling looks and knew rightaway it'd look amazing on pictures

Yup, #Undecided was 100% correct. I don't eat dumplings at all (usually), but i actually enjoyed those dumplings in Taiwan! Tastes 100% better than any dumplings i've ever tried before, won't be refusing dim sums invitation so readily if only they all tastes like Taiwanese dim sums then! And the red bean paste filled one, it was super special because they also contained a mochi-like thing inside hahah. Hunny had them once in Din Dai Fung in Singapore and been looking for the same thing everywhere we go, finally he found them again in Taipei! I think he was in cloud #9 haha!

Anyway, back to the CKS Memorial Hall area that we passed by to get back to the MTR station, had to go to the toilet and whilst the toilet's nowhere near pretty (like every other public toilets in Taipei/Hualien zzz. I also dislike squat toilets) but the sunlight streaming in made it a perfect spot to cam-whore! Created a dreamy kind of pictures, and excuse myself i had to post some more meaningless cam-whoring shots :p.

OOTD style pic hehe, i want to do a special post for OOTDs though, maybe another monthly thing?

#Undecided and #Pink, have you watched that stupid video from JinnyBoy "If Hastag Were A Language"? #Girls #Asian #Trip #BFF #Friendsforever HUAHHAHAHAHA go watch it now it's ridiculously hilarious!

Would be nice to lounge around the beautiful gardens if only it was in fall or spring, not SUMMER!

Then someone spotted the ice cream man and Boss Re's family went gaga!

Weirdest selections of ice cream though, peanut and all...

Have to add this, #Pink. They said the ice cream wasn't good. Hahahaha... 

While we lounge around, taking the time to rest a little bit (because we can't enter MTR station holding ice creams okay! They will fine you!)

That's hunny taking pictures for Boss Re's fam. And the guy beside him later approached him just to ask where we came from haha. Weirdly, for untrained ears, they seemed to think we speak Korean! We kept on having people approaching us (or Joe) asking where we came from! This is nothing new for me since this also kept on happening in Europe, Vietnam and Macau as well hahaha. Apparently Javanese/Surabayan slangs and accents sounds like Korean???

Is this a cue for me to stop speaking Indonesian, #Pink? You know I don't dig Korean language hahahaha... Anyway, it was quite a day up until then, but we were ready for another adventure! Hello Kitty Cafe!! And when the non-girly-#Undecided is excited about Hello Kitty, you should know that it's good. So look forward to our next joint entry, k!

Oh and don't forget that today is the last day for you to join our very first (mini) giveaway!! We're announcing the two winners tomorrow, so there's still time!! Click here for the deets! Go!!

Toodle-loo,
#Pink and #Undecided