Taipei Travel Log: A Day in Danshui - 淡水一日游

On a glorious sat, I decided to take my husband out to Danshui for sightseeing. Due to our prior dinner appointment, we couldnt stick around for the sunset at the fisherman wharf. Plus, we figured we wont be missing out too much since we have seen so many sunset round the world that we figured this sunset wont be any much more different or more spectacular than the rest. Not that we think any lesser of the sunset at Danshui, but rather there wasnt much incentive for us to stick around since we were already there since 2pm. It's a pretty tiring day just from walking around.
In Danshui, quite frankly, the best thing is to eat. Just walk through the old Street (老街), you will pass by so many stalls that will set your senses alight, if it hasnt confused them from the varying fragrances and tempting visual delights. From the very first store, we were lured by the piping hot Taiwan sauage made from wild boar. It was much meatier, lengthy and juicer than the ususal Taiwan sauage. Next, we spied on the seasoned squid store and bought another cup of squid to munch on as we soldier on towards the Unesco heritage site.


[淡水最棒的一处就是边走边吃。天啊！摊位多得看得我眼花缭乱。说实在的，真的不怕没东西吃，只怕你没法饮得完，消化的不够快！当时的我，巴不得能够把全部都买回去试吃，但就是不能嘛。应为冷了，那股味道就变得不同了。加上饭店又没热锅能把买回去的食物温开来，太麻烦了，所以对有些摊位，只能眼睁睁，含情脉脉，依依不舍地说byebye了。那山猪制的热烘烘台湾香肠真是没乱盖的，好吃到棒！甜美多汁，虽很不起眼，也不算是美味佳肴，但对我来说，这简简单单的味道和吃法，也是一种享受，所以吃得无比的开心。鱿鱼酥更是好吃的不得了。除了具有不同的味道选择，口感更是一点都不会硬梆梆，真令我诧异！但话说回那阿姨，她样子还真是不开心。。。太热了吧！]
Along the way, I was tempted by so many things. From the muahchee, to the mochi balls, to the Ah ge, and huge slab of chicken cutlet...crap..there are so much to choose from that I had to restrain myself from overeating so that I wont be too full for my BBQ dinner tonite.

For dessert, we stopped by this store which allows you to choose from an assortment of ingredients such as yuyuan, grass jelly etc to go with the shaved iced soya beancurd. It's basically similar Singapore version of Ice Kachang without the Kachang (red beans) and different set of flavors combination.
We walked along the riverbay. hot hot hot. It was a really clear sunny day. I cursed aloud for forgetting my cap but at least i rem my shades. My husband had none. I gloated at him in glee...


We were pretty lucky. It was UNESCO heritage day in Danshui （淡水认识古迹日） that weekend, so for all the buildings and sights we visited, we didnt have to pay any entrance fee. One of the more interesting building was the Red Castle (淡水红毛城), initially built by the Spanish in the 17th century (secretly sneaking behind the Dutch rule of the area then) and later after a period of desolation, under China's rule, the building was rented out to the Brits as some diplomatic embassy office and holding cells. While inside, I was lucky to bump into this Malaysian group threesome who was being led around by a Taiwan guide explaining the history of the place, throwing in rumoured myths and stories of the hidden tunnel between red castle here in Danshui to the building in Kee long. My husband doesnt understand mandarin so we split up as he checked out the place on his own while I was more interested in what the guide was explaining about the building.

There was also a pretty ancient looking Chinese temple which was built based on numerous and generous donations by the locals back in 1782, showing the height of belief of the population then. It is the oldest Mazu (妈祖庙) temple in Danshui. Inside the temple nearest the main entrance on the left hand side, there is also an inscription of the history and orgins of the temple, as well as the remains of a stone tablet embedded in the wall. the tablet is actually an inscription declaring all the people who contributed to building this important lighthouse in the Tamshui region back then (which serve as a bustling port and shipping trades), to prevent ships from crashing and sinking, as well as guilding them around. Unfortunately, the Japanese had bombed and utterly destroyed the lighthouse during world war and hence, only the tablet remains to remind us of the little bit of history.

We walked further up to the Litle White House, which building is a small building that shows all the history of the place. Ok alittle boring, so we scouted out there in a jiffy since the building itself is not very interesting.

While strolling back to the station, we stop by this store which served this muahchee thingie, not made of glutinous rice but with fresh milk. I decided to try it since it sounded interesting. truthfully, while its not as sticky and filling as the glutinous rice version, this milk version was lacking in something. I cannot se exactly what but perhaps the milk flavour doesnt blend well with the black sesamee coating we chosed.

There are alot of cafes lined along the waterfront, which are all fully filled by 5pm of course. Its a nice respite from the sun and fatigue but you will have to go early to grab the best spot. The only thing is, they are directly in the sun during the afternoon sun so you wont want to be there too early either.

The only thing I didnt quite try was the black eggs called 铁蛋, literally translated as metal eggs. There is nothing metallic about it but rather its just fermented shrunk chicken eggs. I am no fan of eggs so despite all the advice that I should try it, I politely declined.

All in all, another good day, especially when it all comes free and a day filled with good history of another place. Throw in great snacks and food, what else is there to say.

Checking into Far eastern hotel Taipei

Due to a Travel package offer, we decided to stay at Far Eastern Shangri Hotel instead of my ususal Le Suite Taipei.

One of the most distinct thing I missed from Le Suite is the use of free mobile phone, which i can make free calls. It was super convenient for me back then to be able to call the hotel concegiere at the push of one button if I had wanted to know where to go and have my fav food. It was really service at a touch of a button.

In Far Eastern, my first impression wasnt that great. We arrived at about 12pm and there was a mob of other check in guests due to some seminar. I was told my room wasnt ready but she will upgrade me and I should come back 1.5 hrs later. We left our bags with the bell boy and I bundled my husband into a cab and swiftly off to taipei 101 to get that done and over with.

We ended up having Japanese lunch at the top floor. I didnt want to ruin my appetite for my hotpot dinner later so I ordered a small sushi platter. My husband as typical man, refuse to heed my advice that it was too much and went ahead to order an udon noodle set for himself. (which did ruin his dinner appetite afterall)
The ironical thing was when my chef was preparing sushi platter came, my husband got all "jealous" that mine looked so inviting. As we were at our counter seat, the chef overheard my husband's playful indignant cries and started laughing when we started to banter, where I obviously refuse to share any of my sushi with my husband. I told the chef to proceed in helping me to "taunt" my husband in mandarin “请你继续吧！让他羡慕死吧！哈哈” The chef laughed and commented that my husband can always order another one which I explained he shant due to our early dinner reservations.

Of course, in the end, being the "dutiful" wife as I am, I split some of my sushi in half for my greedy guts husband to "appease" his gluttony guts. :)

We went back to the hotel 2 hours later, giving the hotel an extra half hour from the advised time. To my horror, I was told my room wasnt ready. Now, this really wasnt what I was expecting. In Le Suite, my room would always be ready before I am back, not to mention with the extra half hour I had given Far Eastern. I asked how long more I had to wait, and it ended up another 30mins wait. My husband was so dead tired (from all his biz trip flying and morning flight) that he fell asleep in the lobby lounge sofa. I was obviously not in my best mood either though I tried to be as understanding as possible. Still, I dont like to be "lied" to.

The room was unusually big and spacious. We had an extra living room area wih sofa set where the floor area could easily fit another kind size bed in the room and prob throw in another single bed and still have space to walk around. It was crazy that size.

The Tv however isnt plasma and kinda placed in a weird angle that can get pretty tirin to watch from the bed. What was the worst was the temperature. The room was perpetually freezing and the thermostat in the room didnt seem to work. We turn it up to 26degree and it still felt like freezing Antartic pole. However, under the bed quilt, it was all nice and warm and inviting to sleep. Just that everymoring we had to pile on the layers before shooting out of our room and bask ourselves in Taipei sunny warmth.

Housekeeping was efficient as well. The hotel has a rather nice rooftop view where the pool is.We get to see a good niteview of the city as well as Taipei 101 at nite with the lights all turned on. The pool is nicely deep at 1.95m but it so freaking warm that you cannot really do serious lap swims.

However lobby staff.... hmm.. receptionist isnt all warm and friendly, and concerige staff isnt all knowledgeable in the best travel time and methods. Other than that, the hotel is kinda out of the way from everything and a good 10mins walking distance from the nearest train station. Given a choice, I prob wont head back to this hotel in a hurry.

Taipei Travel Log: Dinner at spicy Hotpot (满堂红麻辣锅)

I have finally settled down a little to blog about my Taipei trip. After all the grieve from Dell, I deserve a little pockets of happy moment to get thru this brand new week.

I didnt take much sightseeing pictures in Taipei, since frankly....hmmm... there is really nothing to see within the city area itself. As my husband so aptly put it, it's really all about food for me this trip.

The first food review shall be 满堂红麻辣锅 [man tang hong ma la guo]

This is a specialty store devoted to selling nothing but hotpot soup with your choice of own raw ingredients. While hotpot stores are aplenty in Taipei and prob in Asia, this store is especially known for their spicy chili broth. The broth is supposedly cooked for over 8hrs to get the really fiery spicy flavor into the soup.

I went to the branch at ai ren street and not the flagship store because its much nearer to Far Eastern Shangri La my hotel. As I have blogged somewhere earlier, its a good thing I book a week in advance to secure a table for the 5.30-7.30pm seating.

Arriving and locating the restaurant is a breeze though one should walk to the side street for the main entrance, instead of looking for the entry along the main road where their logo sign is being displayed. Walk up to 2nd level, you are greeted by the bustling busy but polite young waiters. We were seated promptly at this huge table and immediately I was askd if I wanted the 鸳鸯锅 (yuanyang guo) [definition: half portions of normal broth and spicy mala]

As I had done my Internet research prior the trip and knowing the potent power of the dried chili broth, I had specifically asked for the mildest version. The waiter acknowledged and immediately my pot of soup was served.

I was given this checklist of items to order or rather select. The price of the meal is fixed at about 450NT per adult for dinner time, so we can select whatever we want and the waiter will serve the various selections to the table.. The only thing u need to get yourself are the free flow of soft drink coke bottles, as well as different type of sauces from a range of BBQ sauce, vinegar, Japanese sour sauce, sesame seed oil, peanut power etc etc...there must be over 10 types of assortment there.

I checked the most of the list of beef options minus the bacon (about 3 different cuts) , clams, prawns, veges, chicken, assortments of mushrooms. The meat came in thinly sliced ham format. For the beef, there were the signature version, near the belly and one shoulder beef area. However, my fav dish was actually the minced prawn in the bamboo tube. That is the BEST dish for me.



Ok for starters, even their mild version of the chilli broth nearly killed me. It was really really really spicy. I didnt choke on it but you can feel the warm fuzzy feeling in your tummy even if all I did was to cook my meat in the broth and didnt drink the soup, which prob would have been suicidal. I rem another blogger had mentioned how he was stuck in the toilet the whole of next day after his meal from over consumption of the chilli broth and he wasnt used to the spice, so I was determined not to make the same mistake and ruined my hols. Hence I threw all my veges into the normal broth.

I was really lucky to get a really attentive and friendly male waiter. He noticed I didnt touch the chilli broth and asked if it was still too hot for me. I confessed it was really too spicy for me and I wasnt used to it. He grinned and added more of the normal broth into the chilli broth to dilute the spiciness. Initially he had mistaken I had returned back to Taiwan from overseas and he joked that my tummy had forgotten its "spicy roots". After he realised I wasnt Taiwanese, he actually stuck around to cook my meat for me. I look around and didnt see any of the other waiter cooking the meals for the rest of the patrons. Ok, I confessed, I like the special treatment. I didnt have to lift a finger, all I did was to eat whatever the waiter dished onto my plate. haaa

Of course, special treatment couldnt last the whole nite since the place was really jam packed with customers :) I had a jug of the 乌梅汁 which basically is some black plum juice. It was alittle different from what I had in mind and it was alittle too thick before the ice melted. Plus it had kinda a strong herbal taste too. However, it certainly clam the "fire" within the tummy after the intake of the chilli broth. Unfortunately, my husband has no interest in such "chinese" beverage taking preference with his coke and I couldnt finish my plum juice of coz.

All in all a good meal for the first dinner of the trip, not to mention dirt cheap. 2 hours is just the right duration for the meal. We decided to free up our table for the next guests and had our icecream in a cone as takeway instead.

The only thing that had my husband stumped a little was the male washroom. He was kinda taken back that there was little privacy. The washroom toilet door was kinda tinted in red but it was seriously not hard to see the "men in action" doing their little business as the urinal was place by the side of the door. I was so amused I started laughing. I was telling my husband that no one would really be interested to "look in" and stare at them peeing but he wasnt all that convinced...


滿堂紅頂極麻辣鴛鴦火鍋．

ADDRESS: 仁愛旗艦店台北市仁愛路四段228號之4０２-２７０１６６６９

OPERATING HRS: 營業時間上午十一點半至三點．下午五點至凌晨一點
(11am -3pm lunch/ 5pm -am dinner))

COST: 每人午間399元 (noon)，夜間假日450元(night)，單點另計，加一成服務費用，

TIME LIMIT :限時兩個小時．

仁愛本店：台北市仁愛路四段454號．０２-２７２９６４４３．晚上只營業至十一點鐘

2nd episode with fu-ck up DELL

2 days in a row now that dell has completely ruined my day. what a fucking useless company, not to mention super irresponsible cooperation.

I have effectively wasted 3hours of my time today, just to be redirected from one person to another, one number to another, because all of them are too incompetent to resolve a simple problem. which is, the office 2007 cd they had sent me is corrupted and cannot be used. ALL THEY NEED TO DO IS RESEND ME A NEW CD.

BUT HELL NOOOOOOO... these fucking bastards decide to make my life hell. Of coz the sales department said its not their issue, and refered me to technical department. Technical department was even more useless, he suggested for me to reformat my whole new PC. I lost my patience after 1.5hrs and finally screamed at him. I know i shouldnt but I really snapped at this whole incredulous situation.

WHAT HAS A CORRUPTED OFFICE CD got to do with reformatting my whole harddisk. I am not IT IGNORANT TO THE DEGREE I CANNOT DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN A FAULTY CD VS A FAULTY HARDDISK.

So the technical guy then said since its the cd, it is out of his scope and bounced me back to the sales. The sales staff couldnt care less and ask me to call the complaint hotline, else to call microsoft since the cd is shipped from them. I told her the cd is NOT from microsoft because it has this lame homesticker and not a proper microsoft cd. I have worked with thousands of microsoft cd and partners in volume licensing, i know how an authentic MS CD SHOULD LOOK LIKE.

Anycase, i called microsoft. finally an efficient company that speaks english too. The girl explained to me that the cd isnt from microsoft which is exactly what I had suspected. What I had is a medialess activation key which is for preinstalled trial office version. I told her I knew as that was what I had been trying to explain to those nincompoops at DELL. They are just too dense to understand me. So the lady told me to download the trial software from microsoft website instead. However, if i want a backup copy i have to pay extra. If not, I have to call back DELL about my fault cd. So back to ground zero to talk to those fucking imbeciles again from DELL.

I called back the sales person in charge of my order and she lamented she cannot do anything. I asked her why is it sooo difficult to just resend me a new cd, she said she is not responsible. So she asked me to call the customer feedback hotline, or so called under the pretext of customer care. CARE my granny's arse. If they care, I wont be in this huge bubbling state of anger and grief.

I called the customer hotline again, by now, 3 hours have passed.
I was told to wait. The line was busy. To wait again.
Then a girl called and said she will logged my case but because it is NEAR KNOCKING OFF TIME, she asked me to call back tomorrow instead to discuss the case.

Is this really customer care?
Is this really DELL's way of treating their customer.
Is this really the way to do business?

I am so fedup that I can really murder someone.
I have never been so angry for continuously few hours in a stretch before in my life. Not even when I was working and dealing with lesser intellect people.

Dell way of handling their customer is shamelessly money driven.
If I can get hold of Micheal Dell, I would give him a good piece of my mind.

Osaka - Takosen

Go anywhere in Osaka and you will be greeted by a variety of food. However, one of the local staple is the Takosen. It is basically the tako balls sandwich between 2 crispy prawn cracker, mixed with mayo and other sauces. This is a must have in osaka.

we had ours along the way back from the Aquarium, stopping along the street for a quick rest and filling up our tummy with this yummy treat.

Osaka - ENDO sushi

During one of those days I was by myself roaming, I headed off to try Endo sushi which I had heard so much about. I woke up too late to go to the one in Osaka central fish market. So instead, i went to the one located in the mall off Kobayashi station 京橋店（京阪モール内）



address = 大阪府大阪市都島区 東野田町2-1-38 京阪モール5階

I didnt have a lot to choose from and the day I was there, they didnt have Otoro, so I settled for Chutoro instead. It was equally fabulous frankly. The pieces were delicate and sweet, freshness was second to none. I only remembered to take closeup pictures when I was almost done with my chu-toro sushi.





Service wise was a little lacking for a jap restaurant...polite but not too welcoming [warm]. Maybe it was the sushi chef's bad day.


WEBSITE = http://www.endo-sushi.com/shokai.html

Osaka - Jiyuken Japanese curry rice

Also tried out Jiyuken one of the older curry store in Osaka.

Frankly, I thought the food was only average and nothing to rave about. To be fair, there are a lot of varities to choose from, so maybe we didnt pick well and ended with something averageho knows... However, the lady owner looks really like those Japanese lady from older period with her rather whitish makeup and hairdo... she looks as ''vintage'' as the store itself.

Osaka Dodonburi - Kanidoraku Honten -Grilled King Crab Leg

When you are in Osaka DOTONBURI, you simply cannot miss out on eating the grilled king crab leg from Kanidoraku Honten.



It was fabulously delicious, sweet and juicy...i HAD several servings to sedate my cravings.... The store is the very first stall right next to the walkway linking to my Cross hotel.






After I had tried it and fallen in love with it myself, I instigated my brother and sister in law to go for it as well.... heee heee.





The store has a gigantic crab sign above. One has to be really blind not to see it....

address = 542-0071 1-6-18 Dotombori, Chuo-ku, Osaka City

website = http://www.douraku.co.jp/kansai/

Osaka Okonomiya KIJI

I just realised I had completely forgotten to blog about my Osaka trip...how lazy can i get..

Then again, there really wasnt much to blog about. It was all sightseeing and eating. Of course, I made my brother and sister in law walk so much [in osaka and nara and kyoto] that their legs were aching so much, and they actually lost weight after they got back. The funniest thing was that I was such a tough boot camp trainer that they relish the fact that I had gone back one day earlier before them, so that they can snooze till late and rest for their last day in osaka. haaaaa haaaaa. From there, my brother told me they decided to keep up with the 'healthy'' lifestyle and continue exercising back in sg.

Osaka is a great place for food.

One of our all time fav was the okonomiyaki place at the Umeda Sky building, which came highly recommended on the osaka tourist website, and other bloggers.

It is located at the basement, known as Kiji. A non conspicuious little store. we almost missed it. The store set up is simple, plain and old, reeking of cherished, sentimental nostalgia. The menu are written in Japanese on the wall, and there were sooooooo many name cards and photos plastered all over the place, with fond memories left behind from earlier customers, dating as far back as a decade.

The owner, a yasashii oji sama [kind old man] came to us and asked us where we were from. I managed to hold simple conversation with him and he was relatively 'taken by the fact I knew their language enough that he said he would make 2 special okonomiyaki for us. Perhaps he treats other tourists equally kindly, i dont know for sure but its always nice to be respectful.

We had countless servings, though some communication mishap had us landed with a few wrong okonomiya. so much so that we had too much noodles and too little meat... towards the end, my brother and i finally realised the name of the item we want, written on the picture on the wall to our left. damn... too late. we were completely stuffed to the brim.

When we were leaving, I thanked Oji-san again for his wonderful meal. He surprised us when he told us that he will give both the cutlery set to both my nephews as souvenirs for this trip. I was really thankful for his kind gesture. He didnt have to but his nice act certainly left a deep impression on this trip, apart from the fact that his food was delicious...

If i had a chanceto return or recommend, this is definitely the place to go. [ I cannot rem if they have any english menu] IMPT note, Do note seatings are limited, so it will be good to go early.

location = 531-0076 B1F Umeda Sky Bldg, 1-1-90 Oyodonaka Kita-ku Osaka
opening hrs = 11：30～21：30　

Dont make those rude noises woman

My morning started off badly. Firstly, the dell people screwed up my routine which i absolutely hate. So I was already in a relatively foul mood since I am late for my jap test with bus delay and all. I would not be in all this fix if it wasnt for dell.

In the mini-bus, I took the outer seat nearest to the door as i wanted to scramble down the bus quickly. Halfway thru the journey, this maid board the bus and headed towards me. I was texting my friend and so I moved my whole body and leg out of her way, to make ample room for the maid to move in to the window seat.

This dumb bitch simply assumed I would move inwards for her [even though my leg were already swinged outwards], and almost sat on me. When she realised she had to move inwards, this dumb cluck loudly made a clucking disgruntle sound to signal her unhappiness, AS IF I had made her do something so tedious and impossible.

Firstly, I must point out her hands were empty, the bus was stationary, and so she was in absolutely no danger of falling over or being rushed. I on the other day, had my hands full with my bags and files and phone. Plus i had already given her a WIDE BERTH to move inwards, so the bloody maid had absolutely NO REASON to make those rude noises at me.

So, I SNAPPED.
Just her luck to catch me in my worst mood of the year in HK.

The minute she made those rude sound and made that ugly face, after almost sitting on me, I Told her off [loud enough] for her in a rather non-forgiving tone ''DONT YOU DARE MAKE THAT NOISE AT ME''

The maid was stunned. She didnt expect me to catch her and actually tell her off. Probably she expected me to be some Hk person too who wont be able to put her in her place. Go learn some manners biatch.

She froze in her steps and everyone in the bus [who understood english] turned to look at her. She quietly moved in and sat down without further ado, nor protest. I was obviously in the clear and I dont deserve to coop it from her, esp when i already made concessions for her.

Sometimes i just dont get these people. Dont assume everyone owe it to you to be nice.

Till this moment, I STILL HAVE NO REGRETS telling her off.

DELL [HK] is useless and i hate their service

After coming back from TAIPEI, my days are crammed pack back to back.

So I was truly annoyed with the crappy service from Dell. Their service has hit rock bottom SINCE 2006 and CURRENTLY, they are totally, utterly unacceptable, deplorable and disgraceful. Whatever happened to MICHEAL DELL's biz model in HK has apparently been chucked out of the window and now leaving me as their customer disgustingly pissed off.

Not only did they fail to inform their customer about zero inventory for the monitor, they even lie about expected date of delivery, and when quizzed, acted nochalant and replied they have no idea how long it will take for the monitor to be shipped. All these lying just to secure an order, DELL, YOUR HK STAFF ARE SHITTY. Go fire them all including the managers and hire new people who appreciate their jobs more.

To top it off, the staff / our account exec is so incompetent that she not only mess up our orders, she didnt even relay the correct mobile contact to the delivery guys such that we couldnt synchronise a proper delivery date when the monitor was ready. She took off for her annual leave without proper handover, and the delivery guys made me wait from 6pm -10pm without appearing. Then without warning, the delivery guy appeared at my doorsteps unscheduled, expecting me to hang ard to accept delivery, thus making me late for my class. I was truly annoyed and the whole unpleasant experience with DELL ruin my day.

This is possibily the last time i will purchase any more desktop from DELL [HK]. i didnt even want to buy from them in the first place but my husband insisted, thinking it is the most hassle free. DELL [HK] IS NOT HASSLE FREE, THEY ARE A BUNCH OF INCOMPETENT NITWITS.

So if you have a choice, dont ever buy anything from Dell. THEIR SERVICE IS ATROCIOUS,
because they outsource everything, and i mean EVERYTHING to different 3rd parties. The software, the monitors, the pc all comes in different pieces, different dates, without coordination. The staff are rude and also very very very very unprofessional and non service oriented.

DELL deserve to slump and wind up for good if this is the way they continue to run their business in hong kong. They absolutely deserve to fail.

Buzzer beat special - buzzer beat 11 summary

buzzer beat episode 11 summary

The starting is a recap basically of last week's parting between naoki and riko.
Before riko set off, she terminated her mobile line without informing naoki either. She told mai that she wants to concentrate on her music when mai asked her if it was really ok. Meanwhile, naoki heard about riko's coming departure [the next day] from shuji and tried to call her mobile but heard the disconnected message instead. naoki felt a little lost....

meanwhile at the bookstore, riko finished her last day of service. As she was thanking her boss, he wished her all the best for her violin. just then, a lady appeared asking about some books and boss excused himself to get it. Mai was telling the lady could be their boss's 2nd wife to riko and stopped when she saw the lady looking at them.


The lady recognised riko as the girl who had previously played a mini concert at the mall. The bookstore appeared and asked what is it and naoki sister explained that last summer, she recalled naoki seemed to have bought a sunflower to present to one of the concert performer, but in the end, he didnt manage to and gave it to a little kid instead.


[read more]

Buzzer Beat 10 Review and Summary

omg omg... its out its out. I waited till 5am but nothing was posted and finally its out. let me warn u..the ending is depressing for me....i cannot wait for the 75mins special ep next week...

buzzer beat episode 10 synopsis
ブザー・ビート 10話：最終章・別れ

Naoki bumped into the coach who was leaving the apartment. Seeing the expression on his face, naoki chased after him. Naoki started to apologise for falling for riko. ''i am sorry. I have fallen for riko but its not her fault. we started out just as friend, but i cannot control my feelings, so...''

The coach cut him off.
''naoki. did u know what happened in the room between me and riko earlier. because of u, i had tenderly hugged a crying girl tightly. i dont think you can protect her.'' the coach said.

''no i disagree. i want to protect her. maybe i am not strong enough yet, and always lacking self confidence, and filled with inferority complex, but she knew that me and accepted it, my basketway and way of life, as long as i have her by my side, i can become stronger. she is a very important person to me, so i need to protect her carefully and cherish her. i want us to chase after our dreams together. so, i am truly sorry.'' naoki shared as he bowed politely to the back of the coach in apology and added', ''but i will never let go of her.''

the coach gave a weak smile to himself before turning ard to say in jest. '' u are both indeed a detestable couple. earlier, riko has said exactly the same thing to me.''

READ MORE

meanwhile for those who can access veoh, here is the raw video link to watch.

taipei trip hot spring research

wanted to plan for hotspring in my taipei trip. decided to head to yang ming shan this time instead of peitou. the last time i went to spring resort with my mum. it was ok but i felt alittle steep for a small room with no view.

i personally thought spring resort at wulai was so much better...come to think of it, i felt a little bad that my mum didnt get a even better experience than what she could [since that was her first experience] have coz i didnt have any time to do any research straight after being back from my jap trip... i made up my mind i must bring her there again and plan it much better for her since she liked taiwan. the more i think about it...damn, the more guilty i am feeling now.

this time, while armed with good info from my gf since her hubby is taiwanese... i also did my own research. after a few days of googling, i found a pretty good website - taiwan spa that list all the hotspa in taiwan. this is good because it saves me pretty much a lot of hassle wondering where and what are available. and the best, it is catergorised by the region like yangmingshan, peitou, jinshan etc... some are rated some are not but to me, i just need the name reference and location map to jumpstart.

for my own future reference, this is a pretty good overview link as well. it comes with weather forecast by region, and scenic spot highlights. its good for someone who is clueless i suppose.

Moving moving [again].

one of my most unwanted ''nitemare'' has materialised. sigh, guess we are shifting again. christ how many times do we have to move before we can stay put for more than a year at each place. this is really getting tiring and a hassle but oh well, dont have much choice.

couple of reasons why we decided to end the lease and move to another place. primarily, we think its ridiculous to pay astronomical rent and the landlord is unwilling to come down by much. good luck on his next tenant search since our opposite unit owner has been hunting for tenants for at least 3months now, with asking price even below what our landlord is willing to come down to. people come and go to view the flat but no takers. well, with bloody renovation going on every other month, who the hell want to pay ridiculous amount of money down here for at least 14months. the whole complex is overpriced honestly so we are shifting. oh well, at least it has been a relatively good 14months staying here with all the convenience...but it doesnt warrant the price i reckon.

so the hunt begins. just given landlord 2 mths notice to vacate unit. so that means, i have from now till nov to hunt for our new place, as well as storage holding since i vote for going smaller size place with cheaper rent. At least a storage place rent would not be a fraction of the money we are paying. the problem is that my overly spoilt husband is so used to ''space'' that it would be hard to convince him to get used to staying in small ''compartment'' units.

My headache will be packing all over again. if I had known, I would have adopt the same stategy as in sydney and not unpack everything. now, it will be such a bloody tedious efforts to pack everything back into boxes... i am already shuddering from the thought. my husband always think ''its easy''. he just doesnt get the amount of work involved, [since he has never been involved], and so he always try to cut everything so close together. After the last time where we took off to canada right after australia and left us scrambling for flat viewing and moving and getting our frieght....This time round, i had to put my feet down from travelling near end of lease so that i can have time to settle logistics and administrative issues. at least he dint argue with me on this.

how on earth did our stuff grow unknowingly in a year is amazing...
i have to stop hoarding things and throw away old stuff... sentimental doesnt makes packing easy...

guess after the taipei trip, i will have lotsa things on my plate.

BURT'S BEE - Thoroughly Therapeutic Honey & Bilberry Foot Creme Review

Are you one of those guilty people who walk around in sandals and flip-flops, unknowingly inviting unwanted stares at your dry cracked heels...if you are suddenly looking down at your heel and gasping in horror now, well here is one quick tube of feet lotion to carry around with u.

Not many cream will entice me to buy them because i find them too greasy. One of the reason I read up on burt bee was the fact that it is mainly natural without harsh chemicals. I decided on leap of faith to try this product as it felt pretty non greasy during finger test while i was shopping at watsons at causeway bay.

Try BURT'S BEE - Thoroughly Therapeutic Honey & Bilberry Foot Creme, which is 99percent natural [accordingly to the ingredient list]

REVIEW

True to the finger test, the creme is neither heavy nor overly creamy thus non-greasy. However, it tends to take a long while to be absorbed else u will be leaving your "cream" foot prints all over the floor if u dont let it dry out.

Being a foot emoillent, it will naturally be richer than body lotion as the skin on our feet are thicker. It has a plesant coconut kind of smell rather than honey to me. Still, your feet feels smooth instantly and the minor cracks and dry patches are visibly smoothed...and to those who hates greasy hands, this positively doesnt leave your hands feeling icky after application. Instead, it is also kinda absorbed into the hands i suppose. 2 way benefits.. ha.

Then again, if you are like me who at times absolutely doesnt want to use my hands, i would suggest you squeeze the creme onto the sole of your feet directly, and then clap both feet and rub them together as if they are hands...

The najor complaint i have is that the creme is not easily squeezed out from the tube, but i assume it is rather due to tube opening design rather than anything else to fault with.

I dont have serious cracked heels so I am not sure if it makes greater difference. My advice is still to make sure u scrub your feet with pumice feet scrub [ from muji or body shop are great buys] daily during shower before applying teh feet creme for maximum effect.

Product ClaimThis foot cream is loaded with some of nature’s most therapeutic ingredients to soften and moisturize rough, dry feet. Bilberry extract, a natural alpha hydroxy acid, gently exfoliates skin and helps prevent the formation of calluses while honey and quickly-absorbing jojoba butter, replenish moisture leaving feet smooth and healthy.

Featured Ingredient
Honey — This sweet, fragrant, syrupy substance produced by bees soothes and adds softness to the skin, and is an excellent natural moisturizer.

Crabtree and Evelyn - LA SOURCE RELAXING BODY SILK review

For the longest time, the LA SOURCE BODY SCRUB is the only product i LOVE and would faithfully purchase from crabtree and eveyln.

However recently, I decide to add another item to my list. LA SOURCE RELAXING BODY SILK [海洋SPA柔丝保湿精华175ml]. It functions like a body moisturiser except it is in the form of a spray bottle rather than a normal body lotion.

Now, I have used the La Source relaxing body lotion before. My gf had given me a set as xmas present previously. while i profess to like the crisp relaxing scent of the lotion, I dont quite like the after lotion feel. It isnt exactly greasy, and it does absorb into the skin, but yet it leaves a film such that I know the lotion is there. Thus subsequently, I never bothered to restock when the lotion bottle was done.


REVIEW

NOW, the precise reason why i am raving about the body silk spray is how it differs from its lotion counterpart. It smells exactly like the la source range body lotion, and it works perfectly too, leaving your skin silky smooth. However what i really like about it, is that it is waterbased and after you rub the spray in, it simply get absorbed within seconds and viola, you dont feel as if u have applied anything. I LOVE THAT. The only giveaway is the faint scent and how your fingers can glide across the skin feeling the gentle lustrous smooth skin after application.

So if u are tired of hunting down a good body lotion that leaves your skin smelling great and feeling nice, without the ''after application feel''. This would possibly be your best bet, that is if you are like me who prefers a crisp sea scent than floral scent after shower.

ps - what is rather strange though is that while i can buy if off the HK STORES, I cannot seem to locate this item off their official website.

Calvin Klein Torque Steel Bracelet

Got myself 2 pairs of new CK jeans recently. It helps when they are having 20percent discount off for 2 pairs, and they fit me nicely, not to mention with the cute label strip that can be seen when one fold the jeans inside out at the helm. My husband was so jealous that his CK jeans doesnt have this unique quirky thingie.

However, I was more pleased with my CK Stainless Steel Torque open bangle purchase.

At least compared to another one-size bangle silver piece that I liked from Tiffany, this is a fraction of the price [at HK900 after CK VIP discount] and it wont oxidised, and best of all, it has XS my size. I loved it for its simplicity, and angular design that simply catches my eye. Its simple enough to match and go with most attire esp simple monotone one-piece, or causal jeans-gear. I felt it gives a touch of difference to the overall appearance.

Its not too big that becomes a statement on its own but it stands on its own well, and its definitely not heavy that will weigh my wrists down.


What can i say. I love it and its a keeper for me.

SHISEIDO Super Mild Chikara shampoo and conditioner

I recently swapped from Shiseido TSUBAKI to this special edition - Shisedo Super Mild Chikara Conditioner. Reason being, what can i say, its even better.

PRODUCT CLAIM　「concept of mother's milk」

Contains the components of a mother's milk. These components help increase the thickness and resilience of the hair. It will strengthen thin and weak hairs and protect them from damage. The amazing soybean is so full of linoleic acid, proteins and other beauty-enhancing gifts from Mother Nature.

Review

I started with using the Super Mild Chikara 「チカラ」Massage Super Mask 「マッサ—ジスパマスク」 conditioner and recently upgraded to include the bottle conditioner after my tsubaki ran out.

One of my fav reason for using it apart from the nice light floral scent, is that the conditioner and treatment actually works well to detangle long hair during wash and the weightlessness effect even thru to the next day. My personal advice, Leave it on for a while for couple or more minutes before washing it off immediately greatly enhanced its effect. [best for about 5mins, go scrub your back while you leave your shower cap on doing the leave on]

I personally love the effect of the super mask treatment more than the daily conditioner. However, u can only use that once a week accordingly.

One difference i felt was how my long hair remains easily manageable to comb through and leaves your hair feeling light and airy when it dries. It doesnt stimulate any oil glands off your scalp so you dont feel as if your hair is oily or heavy after use. Being marketed as ''nurturing like mother's milk'', I vouch his product works well to deserve a spot of recommendation here.

While it is marketed as a family product, some may find the scent a little more feminine perhaps, though frankly, the fragrance is so light to me that it is hardly noticeable once it is rinse off. It is definitely not overpowering that will plunder and distort your senses.


Super mild original range has garnered rave reviews from many other users but I myself have not tried that. However this super mild chikara version is already a pretty superior product in my book for now.

SHISEIDO MAQUILLAGE lipstick review - AUTUMN 2009 RANGE

I have never tried shiseido makeup range before. I never thought to primarily because I find it a hassle to apply makeup and costly to keep buying them.

My STILLA lipstick ran out and so I thought I would give MAQuillAGE a try. To be honest, I kinda regret buying the lipstick.

REVIEW

I got the new limited colour RD732 for the autumn 2009 range. The collaboration with upcoming NY based young fashion design - alexandra wang...blah blah blah

I tried a series of colour and frankly, I like very few of them. The biggest problem I faced was that the colour u see on the stick, differs rather vastly when it is applied on your lips. What looks brownish red kinda look more purplish red and brown looks nude on me. So it was a challenge already in picking the shades i normally would like.

The issue I have with this lipstick is that it has very very short staying power. I dont mind this colour because it looks nude on me. I did say I didnt want a matte finish but one with a little shine, but still, I wasnt all convinced that the colour should stay so shortly on me. Without a lip pencil, I think the lipstick is gone pretty soon. SO if you want a proper lipstick that has the colour staying on your lips but not staining them, I advise u to stick to stilla which has fab range of colours and works like it should. I will prob go get another refill of my fav stilla shade later.

The good thing about shiseido lipstick is that despite the unsatisfactory shades and staying power, it does work as if it is a lip balm. It kinda moist your lips upon application and takes the need away for a gloss for me. And since this shade i bought is so light, i can use it anytime without concern about what attire i am wearing. So for a better effect, i prob would use my mac lip pencil, colour in the shade and then apply the shisedo lipstick to get the final finish i want.

Plus this lipstick has no taste which is a bonus for me. I hate lipstick that comes with a funny taste. It is definitely a no no since i have a tendency at time to purse my lips together and i hate to feel as if i am eating some chemical off my lips. I DUN think anything that taste horrible can be all that good for u either...not that the tasteless one necessarily means it fares better...

Beauty; SHISEIDO 'Future solution LX- softener review

Out of partial curiosity and shopping urge that fine day while at IFC, I decided to give Shiseido a try. I am no stranger to their products but it has been donkey years back in school years, since i last used their stuff - esp so after my fav line was discontinued.

They have recently launched a new line called 'Future solution LX'. I tried the facial foam on my hand and it works with the same concept as menard products, one has to work up a dense foam for the cleanser. It didnt feel spectacularly different for HK400 a tube so i didnt get it.

I went on to try the concentrated balancing softener lotion, which is step 2 in place of normal toner step. I decided to give it a leap of faith and bought it at about HK800 for a 150ml size bottle. I just feel like a sucker that day.


PRODUCT CLAIM

An enriched softening lotion that immediately infuses generous moisture into skin, providing an unprecedented feeling of suppleness. Dramatically refines skin texture and minimizes the appearance of conspicuous pores


REVIEW

Been using it for a week now. As expected, no retail product in this world can actually minimise the appearance of any facial pores. I didnt expect that to work, so I wasnt overly disappointed. So if you are expecting some miracle to tighten pores with this lotion, forget it babe, aint happening, and especially NOT DRAMATICALLY as claimed.

As for refines skin texture. That is a little more tricky since i cannot verifiy it via naked eyes and i have no scope to actually review my skin under the lens. I can only say my face doesnt feel significantly better or worse.

On a more positive note, the product did deliver its promise on enhancing suppleness. After each application, the lotion gets absorbed pretty fast into the skin, and it leaves a gentle nice smooth feeling. u can feel your face feeling softer, and combined with a refreshing nice floral scent. If your face often feels tight after a wash, this lotion does takes away that feeling splendidly. Plus the product is suppose to be safe to be used round the eye area as well.

However, a personal note. while the instruction says to saturate a cotton to apply, i would not recommend that unless u have a gianomous face. A light pump is really enough to cover the whole face because otherwise u will end up wondering why your skin seems more oily than usual later on.

Between a toner and thos softner, I am undecided. A toner would appears to rid excess residue and dead skin cells off my face as i pat my face with the cotton. This softner, i aint sure if it does that but it definitely soften the skin as promised. So it really depends on what sort of self satisfaction u are looking for before purchasing it though i think it is more suited for people with drier skin.

Note: After over a month's usage, I am not sure if it is a common "problem" but my skin seem more prone to zit outbreaks everytime it was used in the day. So perhaps it might be more adviseable to use it at night only. For me, I have decided to use it on other parts of my body instead of face since my face (with oily surface and dry under) dont seem to react well to the purchase.

Others
At the end of the day, I personally would prefer using Menard products rather than Shisedo. Menard is also another established Japanese brand, comparable if not better than Shisedo. While Menard might seem a little bit steeper in price, but I love their products better because Menard never cause zits outbreak or allergic reactions after use. My skin often feel calmer even when I am using the less expensive basic care range.

buzzer beat episode 9 summary

buzzer beat 09 summary

the episode starts with recap of shameless natsuki holding on to naoki tightly. naoki gently reached to her hands and took it away from him. he turned ard and ask natsuki ''what is it'' and then he said he has something to attend to. natsuki beat a hasty retreat and claim nothing is wrong and told him to be on his way and nothing is wrong. she asked if he has dated someone and he replied yeah a friend and have to leave. natsuki said she is really alright and ask him to go ahead. naoki passed the towel and brolly to her and told her not to catch a cold before dashing off in the rain to meet riko.

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