Lost in Japan, again

I think I spend alot of time getting lost in Japan.

Since I extended my trip in Japan I needed to change more yen if not I'll become some broke shit, so I found this place at harajuku which is better rates (money exchange at Japan banks sucks to the max, I think it's alot alot alot worse than Singapore banks). 

So I reached harajuku at 3pm when I'm supposed to reach the place at 5pm. Woohoo I got lost for 2 hours wtf. I exited the wrong exit and followed google map directions. Don't know if I should blame myself or google map. I think for Japan address, purely entering the zip code is not enough.

So by 5 I was still lost and I have no usable phone. Wtf right. So I walked all the way back to harajuku station and called them using the public phone. Found out i used the wrong exit but the place they asked me to go to i actually walked past there to get back to use the payphone. 

While the person put me on hold still got time to take photo.

Then I arranged to meet the person somewhere and she came to pick me up. The place is really super ulu. 

Excitement of the day, after getting stranded at somewhere near mt Fuji on Wednesday. A story for another day. 

Taiwan Day 6 - Taipei Zoo, Maokong Gondola & Miramar Ferries Wheel

11/1/2013

The last full day in Taiwan. We were supposed to go pluck strawberries but since Muihong found that we can't bring fruits back to Singapore, we decided to abolish the plan. We still had rotten strawberries from puli in the hotel fridge.

So we started our day by going to Taipei zoo! The last time I went to zoo was in Korea which is close to 2 years ago.

Entrance fee into Taiwan zoo is damn cheap, only 60 twd.

Haha, while I was taking photos in zoo, Muihong said it was like butt collection day cause I was collecting butt pictures of all the animals. Haha, but I shall spare you all the butt photos. 

Panda

Most popular animal in the zoo.

Gorilla

The gorilla is so cute and acts like a human. The way he sleeps is really so human-like. Ever since I watched King Kong, I've always love gorilla.

After visiting other zoos, I realized Singapore's zoo is really expensive but Singapore zoo has performances which I find it rare since I found out other zoos (seoul and taipei zoos) don't have any animal performances.

After having lunch at Mac, we went to take the Maokong gondola which is within walking distance from the zoo.

They have the normal cabin and the crystal cabin. We had to queue for the crystal cabin but I think if you're okay with the normal cabin, you don't have to queue and maybe you'll even get one cabin to yourself? One crystal cabin can hold up to 5 people and we were sharing it with a taiwanes guy and his friend from vietnam?

It's damn cheap, only 50twd per way from the 1st station (Taipei Zoo station) to the last station (maokong station). They have 2 stations in between but I think people hardly alight unless you want to visit Zhinan Temple?
 

Our new 200twd shoes from Taiwan.

Alighted at Maokong station. Walked around and there's nothing much there. There's cafes and a 'foodcourt' there though.

The ride was exciting at the beginning but because it's quite long (can't remember exactly how long, maybe 20mins?), it started to get boring.

Went for the miramar ferris wheel after that at Jian nan road station.

Blur but precious picture. The last photo of my coat, I don't know where I dropped it after that.

Ticket Price for Ferris wheels: Weekdays: TWD150 (Adults), TWD120 (Discount Tickets)
Weekends: TWD200 (Adults), TWD150(Discount Tickets)
There's a Carousel there too and you get to ride it for 50twd for 2 person, which is 1-for-1. We didn't try it though. 
 
Like the gondola, this ferris wheel has glass cabin too. Likewise, you need to queue for this, I think there's only a few glass cabin ones, no queue for the normal cabin. While we were queuing, there were people taking their wedding photos at the Carousel. So sweet!

The ride is 12 mins according to the internet. I enjoyed this ride more. One is because they allowed us to have 1 group of friends/family to one cabin, so no strangers. More importantly, Muihong was freaking out on the ride so it provided entertainment for me. Haha okay, I'm mean.

After the ride, we went for N.Y Bagel nei hu station. Now I'm wondering why I chose to go to that outlet instead of the taipei main station one. Haha maybe we were worried we will die of hunger.

Muihong loves her breakfast set. I came to the conclusion I'm really not good at breakfast meals because before I can even finish 1 pancake I became quite sick of it already.

Anyway when we left, I realised oh crap, where's my coat. Went back in to find but it wasn't there. So that's how I lost my coat. :(

Almost coming to an end of the Taiwan trip. Left with the last day, where we only had time to go grab all the delicious food before leaving.
12/5 11:27pm
 For the rest of my taiwan post, click here.

Last Undergrad Exam

Sorry for the lack of the posts, I've been either really busy or lazy. Busy when i'm rushing out essays and presentations, lazy when i'm trying to break sleeping record and doing nothing on the internet. Taiwan day 6 post has been in drafting since forever. I hope I can finish my Taiwan posts before I fly off. 

Yesterday marks the unofficial end of my NUS undergrad life. So few people left having exams, they were only using mpsh 6, why can't they squeeze more papers together so people can end earlier. For my last papers, I managed 2 firsts to my undergrad life. I went to the toilet for the first time and I left early for the first time during exams. I was really excited the moment I was going to step out of the exam hall but once I did, the feeling died. So what's going to happen from here, I have no idea yet. 

So, when it comes to exam, what kind of person are you? Are you the kind who just feel damn happy that it is over or are you the kind who'll be thinking oh I should have written this or that. I'm the latter. And I think it's a very bad thing because it makes me angry at myself and sometimes make me ruminate my thoughts, which is damn bad because it's one of the cognitive causes for depression. I guess maybe that is also because why I don't like to check answers with people, avoidant coping skill. Then again, I like to clear doubts, like if I'm not sure I will want to check my notes then if I'm wrong I'll hate myself again. I also want results to come out fast because it gives me closure, it's either you give it to me fast or don't give it to me at all. Haha, but my school always takes damn long to give us our results. Results coming out on 4th june, so i should not think about it and I'm going to enjoy my holiday. 

So yesterday after lunch with Eileen, I went to city hall because I wanted to get something from peninsula shopping centre and on the way, I fell. Knees and hands on the floor, embarrassing. Then when I reached, fml the shop is not opened. Oh yeah, and my phone battery died. Then I walked all the way to raffles place to the arcade to change money. Then it started pouring and I was looking all over for an ATM machine. I was having doubts if I should change money yesterday or change plans and go today or Monday instead cause it seems like Yen depreciation just broke record and won started to depreciate after appreciating for quite a period of time since NK didnt attack, and seems like it will continue to (should have changed that time when won rate was damn good, big regret). Then I just went, in case later too late and fml, when I look at the exchange rate later on they just seem to keep depreciating, makes me sad. Haha, I sound like a pro in examining their trends now. 

Then I rushed home to put the money at home because my father didn't want to be walking around with it since I was meeting Carissa later. Then I rushed all the way to the hairdresser to get my fringe done cause I was supposed to reach at 5pm but I was late still. I'm back to bangs again now. Seriously contemplating to cut it short, but still thinking. 

Then after meeting Carissa, I went home and finally after so long. Being an itchy hand, I went to update my phone iOS which is 6? Now and my previous one was still at 4. Guess what happened, my whole phone just crashed and had to be restored to factory settings. I was so worried my stuff in the phone will be gone. Thank god, everything was backup  automatically before that. 谢天谢地! I like the new updates on my phone though, now I no need to ask people to help me press when I taking pictures and last time on phone blogger I cannot adjust where I want to put pictures (they will all appear at the bottom) but now I can means I can really blog more on the go now!

So yesterday was filled with relieve and happiness? of exam period finally ending, a bit of suay ness (trying to be positive here) and lots of drama. 

My whole body, like my back/shoulder and legs are aching now. Think from all the walking with a bag that was quite heavy (plus I always carry on one shoulder giving extra pressure). I was telling Carissa that yesterday and she was telling me I'm still young and shouldn't be aching. Haha, but I'm really aching and really don't feel young anymore. Also, really not young anymore, how long more can I actually wear my hoodies and my rabbit ears clothes (why?! Did I buy another one in Taiwan that time) without being judged?

Still have to pack my luggage later, do the messy Japan itinerary and book some of the things we need. I hope this trip will be good cause expensive ah! I have some worries, but hope everything go well. 

Going back to bed now, woke up with a runny nose and a bit of asthma. Took meds and thought I'll do something productive like blog while waiting for it to take effect. I can breathe well now.