Went to another exhibition area which allows you to play with some of the technology and learn about how water can be used as a driver. It's a bit similar to the one I went for at Marina Barrage back in secondary school!:)

Hello hello hello, how may I help you? :D (Actually there's info sharing over the phone :X)

I like this candid shot under the bridge! :)

Headed for the dinosaur exhibition after that, and along the way we passed by this area. It's soooo pretty! :')

Group shot infront/behind T-rex!! It's so huge.

Hiak hiak!!

Kiwiiiii! Reminded me of Huiqi HAHA

My fave group photo, even up till today! :) :)

And we saw the Rainbow warrior, aka 彩虹戰士! Gave us a postcard each, and we took photos with him too :)
Went to our minsu after that to book in, unload our stuff and have our free-and-easy travelling cause there's some time restriction for the cab. Cannot expect the uncle to end late with us when he has to wake up earlier than us to get ready. And we realized we booked the place without finding a place for him so he also had to find some place to stay in Taichung if not he had to head back to Kaohsiung which was crazy.

Anyway, the place we stayed in was super cute!! 塗鴉小屋; it really has doodles around the place -  the stairs and even our room! :) The place was quite spacious too, we had separate area beside the beds to watch TV. Only thing is the toilet ceilings are not very high ah, so the guys... Idk if they found it a little inconvenient :S

Got ourselves those 四人房 kind of rooms! Cause it's cheaper than getting those 2 x 雙人房, and also having everyone in the same room makes it easier for us to plan our activities for the following days! And maybe... help to wake people up HAHAHA.

Look at the doodles, they're super cute right!!!! But too bad we cannot draw on the walls!

Ending Day 1 by visiting one of the 夜市 in Taichung - 逢甲夜市 :) :)

Our minsu was located near the entrance of the night market (actually it's inside the night market hahaha) so it was super convenient for us to head out for food and some sightseeing.

But thanks for being such a nice exex-roomie, always listening to me and giving advice :) Really appreciated it cause it's super difficult for me to open up so I guess having someone to share my concerns with is good :D But no, don't try to sell me off please :( Life is good enough with all these happy pills around already, so yes, things shall remain how it was all along!

And yes, life's been good this week :D Guess I'll start whining next week when everything starts crashing down on me! 

Lunch with Kary on Monday and as usual, we always talk about random stuff happening in our lives!

Lunch and movie date with Lisin and Janelle on Wednesday! Been really long since I caught a movie anyway. But even happier to have a girls' day out and some girls' talk! :) 

Dinner with badminton people on Thurs! Good time talking about scary stories and reminisce good old days in Taiwan, again. HAHA. And yes I talked to Alex omw back cause we both stay in Tampines; ironic how we're only going back together after 11 weeks. Lolol but I'm a little confused after all that I've listened (and what I observed) yesterday. Noooo must not be affected! 

Everything's on Dayre as usual! Decided to link up my Dayre instead of linking my blog from Dayre; I realized the cached pages can see the link when I search for my Dayre on Google. SIGHS.

Continued from the previous post in 16/2 cause it was tooooooooo long!

First time at Eda Theme Park (20/9)!
Decided to head towards Eda Theme Park during the weekends with housemates! :) Bought the tickets at student price, which costs about NT800, which is about S$35. It's quite affordable for theme parks right! And the place is huge, they have shopping mall next to the theme park :)

Group shot 1!

Group shot 2 :)

Tickets and the map!

Headed for the haunted house first cause it would be closed early for maintenance, thank you WS for agreeing to go for that cause I know you can't take horror and scares!! Thankfully it wasn't too scary though, guess it's because we're not the first pair standing right in front to be scared by the staff :)

Went for the indoor rides cause it was drizzling! Tried the Mini Viking that kids take LOL, I cannot remembered why we tried but I believe it was because we are young at heart :D We also conquered an indoor roller coaster yay, was afraid the guys may not want to take the rides after knowing they are not fans of such rides :X Not very scary though!! And how can we forget.. BUMPER CARS ^^ Went for that ride and the indoor roller coaster twice!

The mini viking!

After conquering the indoor roller coaster :)

WS with CK and Bryan! :)

And.. we also tried this up-and-down ride! (위 아래 위 위 아래 HAHA) Like you know those super tall infrastructure for such rides that are controlled by air pressure - you'd go all the way up before experiencing some free falling! We took the mini version of it.. 4 times HAHA.


Tried the outdoor (puke-inducing) Viking Ship after that!! Puke-inducing because CK really ended up feeling super unwell! Damn scared of Vikings last time but loved it so much after I grew up -  I like the super ticklish feel in my stomach when I take exciting rides though there is a chance that I may really puke :X Went for light lunch and to rest, there was a show going on in the theme park after our lunch so we just waited till the show was over before going for more rides!

Viking! Super fun cause they do go as high as if you're vertically looking down at the highest point :D

Indoor merry-go-round that we didn't try!

Spinning roller coaster as seen on the signboard! And note the weight imbalance HAHA.

Photo of the ride we took, captured by CK who didn't take it :)

Us in our ponchos! And Idk who is that in the middle. 不認識的 HAHA.

Super drenched after the water rides and braving the rain! :)

Decided to head towards the Ferris Wheel before it closed for the day. (Typhoon warning that day, so most of the outdoor rides were closing earlier) Super epic cause we couldn't really find the place at first until we realized we have to go into the shopping mall and run from A區 to C區 to take the lift omg super tireddd. We arrived late, but we told them we ran all the way there so that we can ride that so they let us in! HEHE :) If not I'd have ran for nothing. And we were really the last ones to take the ride! Nothing much to see though cause it was pouring :/

Teabreak after that + some shopping before heading back yayy. Happy day spent, and we were actually looking forward to the typhoon because IT'S THE FIRST TIME WE'RE EXPERIENCING IT :D
Typhoon experience (21/9)
We were warned about the typhoon that would hit Kaohsiung during the weekends, and it was already drizzling at night after our Eda Theme Park Trip so I headed out to test the wind HAHAHA. But I guess it wasn't that strong  until the next day when we woke up. Super strong wind + rain, but we still headed out to Hi-Life cause we needed our lunch, if not will starveeee. Hahaha it's magee + hotdog + cha ye dan day for us! :))


21st birthday celebration for roomie :D

Hehe headed out with Bryan to look for cakes to buy for WS, tried my first ever 丹丹漢堡 (fast food ftw, after not eating such food for so long haha) and went to Caffe Bene for ice cream! Super expensive, it's NT170 (~S$7) for 2 scoops, but it's still niceeee! :D Guess I started eating a lot of ice cream thanks to Michie! I swear I wasn't a huge fan of gelatos and all in the past okay!! I also don't eat so much desserts back in Singapore tbh. :X

And we decided to buy a slice of cake from there cause we really don't know where else sells cakes. (Tried cycling around the school area after badminton but didn't see bakeries around :/)

MATCHA x HOKKAIDO MILK

They also had nice Belgium waffles!!! But we didn't try that time (and never got to try them again HAHA)

Celebrated her birthday at night after their couple date :) Hehehe proud to say that for both occasions as your roomie I got the chance to "plan" your celebration! :) Still remember back in Year 1 we tried to scare you and the funny antics we had - like we pretending to run up the stairs at the corner flight of stairs after turning off the lights in the toilet to scare you hahaha :D  Even happier that I have celebrated your birthday for all 3 years! The second year when I didn't stay in hall but we cooked pasta for you! :)

But yay hopefully it was a memorable celebration for you still! :) Still found it quite funny when you mistook my written diary to be your present. "See I guessed it!!" HAHA. But no uh, it looked fishy cause I only update when you're not in, my personal diary maaaa. :D The actual diary was never really kept in our room lol, it was either with CK or Bryan. And I remembered I had to stay up till like 2-3am in Bryan's room to finish up the scrapbook (and telling Weishan the excuse that we had some work to settle hahha), so paiseh cause he was damn tired and sleeping already! Thanks for letting me use the table space to finish up the work!

Birthday girl!! :D

Shot with the housemates :D

Part of the WIP HAHA. Shall see whether to upload the video of the scrapbook next time! :)

"One fine day, a day I can never go back to."

It'd be good if we can go back to the past and reminiscence the good ol' times :D But we all know it's not possible to turn back time, so why not live everyday happily as though you are living in the same (blissful) moment almost everyday? ^^ 

My heart hasn't been feeling heavy yay! :) Which is why I have been quite gleeful these days though I'm soooo tired/sick. Think I know how to tackle my personal problem, shall believe that my assumption is correct so that whenever I see related stuff that can dampen my mood I'll just use this to remind me :) And when I have to rant to people it's more about school so it's a good thing HAHA.

But frankly, I don't really know what I have been doing that made me so tired; spent my Tuesday at town after collecting my passport! (I can finally go on my grad trips soon) Not exactly shopping though I wish I can buy new clothes but... not till I have settled the clothes in the luggage. Headed to Istana to pay my tribute; long queue but I think it's nothing compared to what he has done for us. 

(But I had an epic incident of losing the crowd that were headed towards the same place....... when I intended to head there at peak hours to follow people cause I'm not sure how to get there. Somehow, just somehow... I lost the crowd. That seemed worse than losing my own way ._.)

Wednesday was spent.. trying to read up on derivatives, trying to be the studious Debs that I used to be omgggg. But most of the time was spent sleeping instead cause I was just sick (and how many times have I fallen sick already?! Must be because of the lack of sleep. Must be.) Still proud myself that I did my tutorial though, almost died from rushing work at night.....

& Ended up being late for class. (I didn't wake up late though, justsaying) Thankfully I survived the lessons, and no Korean homework yayyy! And sort of settled our groupings to make Kimbap. I realised..... two of them don't eat vegetables also LOL. Really, birds of the same feather flock together manz. HAHAHA. But nooooo. I'll try my Kimbap with vegetables still!! 

Badminton was fun, same group as Claudia, Kim Rui and Cynthia again - the super entertaining bunch! But I didn't get paired up with any of them for doubles though, nevermind can play together can already! :) Dinner with Rachel, Yizhen and Bob after class, yummy food for my tummy :) :) Already dayred this so I shall not repeat everything again. But yay I tried seafood again!! Thanks for the push guys, really trying to eat more stuff for my own good! Like trying to be a lil' healthier.... and since #yolo, must eat all the different types of food around. And I'm thankful my stomach didn't really turn on me, if not... GG. 

Talked about the times in tw again, sigh at this rate it'll be so difficult to get over some stuff and move on though I wish all those happy memories can be etched in my heart forever too. Talked about how exchange can change your perspectives on a lot of issues too. I mean, sometimes you have to live with the person to really know them hahaha. 

Then again, despite people telling me the same stuff over, I still think that my exchange wasn't bad leh. I might have been unhappy at different points in time and lost some things in the process but I gained a lot too (except weight ah pleaseeee).

For instance, if not for the times I have to be left alone for various reasons, I wouldn't have the opportunity to hang out with other friends who were in NSYSU as well. If that was the case then my exchange wouldn't have been as fruitful. I probably won't get to go crazy over matcha desserts; I probably won't get the chance to try escape rooms in Kaohsiung, go hiking, or try different food from other areas in Kaohsiung cause I can never cycle out of Sizihwan alone. I wouldn't have gotten the chance to cherish other friends whom I may not see after exchange cause I'm with my housemates most of the time. 

Also, though I really really really really hate to eat alone or be left alone at home (which is why I'm always asking people out back then; when I'm alone I'm exceptionally whiny and temperamental) I guess it forced me to be more independent towards the end. Like how I cannot forever be relying on my housemates. Think I've really been sheltered by them; they really looked out for me most of the time. Totally felt like the maknae instead of the unnie back at home, and I'm super thankful for that :) 

Shall quote Yizhen that Bryan was literally looking out for me as a younger sister back in tw lolol. #sotrue 

But I think I've been treating them as close friends/family, cause I realized how hard it was on me in January; because I'm always with them so when they are all away then I had to keep myself occupied so that I wouldn't think/worry too much. Like whether they are safe/enjoying themselves/etc. Which explained why up till now I'm still trying to "stick" to them in a way - like at least still keep in contact occasionally even though we all have different schedules.

That being said, I think I did rant a bit too much on the irrelevant stuff to people - the past is the past, I have already lived with it so actually I see no point rambling over and over again. Cause at the end of the day if I still have a choice I would have stuck the same initial decision. WS is still one of my closest friends around now. And I feel comfortable to room with her after being roomies for year so I would till have chosen to go with her. Hahaha super picky Debs, I don't really dare to room with people whom I'm not familiar with - I'd always be so wary that I cannot really sleep. So...yes, some things may have changed but I'm still glad I was with them back then for exchange :) 

Was thinking if it was right/safe to say so much to people after yesterday. Sigh think when I'm happy I tend to be less tight-lipped. Hahaha must change this habit!! 

"Family Book of Gu" is ending soon but I have "Jekyll, Hyde and I" on the list too. Been watching a few episodes today cause it's the last week that I'm still freeeee. And not to mention "Superman is Back" is still on my watchlist HAHA, and maybe Running Man too.

Anw just a quote from the show! I think it's quite true! Like there's just a thin fine line that separates the two.

I'm back playing the piano!! Was thinking it is a good way to relieve some burden in me too!! Super happy that I can still remember the old song that I used to play for my fishes (HAHAHA I'm serious) or when I'm upset that I have to take the long route back home while humming the song. :) And printed a few scores to tide me through the rough weeks ahead!  

For the next two weeks it's all tests/assessments/presentations for both consol and Korean omgggg. Someone help me please!!

While I'm at it I'll finish up the previous tw post, and start with my Taichung one soon cause my memory is starting to fail again!! 

Song for the night - 왜요 왜요 (Why Why) Hahaha super cute song though my brother thinks otherwise! 

Taking the morning train, watching commuters heading to work and school as per normal. But something was off, the atmosphere was relatively more solemn. Radio stations are not playing their usual music to help kickstart our Mondays by fighting off Monday Blues. Scrolling through social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to know what happened, it's really sad to even read the tributes to our founding father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

He was one who strongly believed that we could survive as a small nation. True that he was strict and sometimes some of his visions sounded overly ambitious, but he has proved skeptics wrong. He held on firmly to his beliefs and help to build Singapore from scratch.

Though I have never met him in person before, I am glad to have benefited indirectly from all his contributions and policies that shaped Singapore. Some examples would include our top-notch education system. It's tedious and we have to go through the compulsory 10 years of education, take up bilingualism and work hard to strive in a stressful environment. But it's a fact that those who underwent Singapore's stringent education system have also benefited - there are many job opportunities, not just limited to Singapore, but across the world. Bilingualism has also proved to be very useful when you can communicate with other people in different languages other than our native language. 

Living in Singapore for the past 20 years, you can also see how has Singapore grown aesthetically, and how our standard of living has improved over the years. Also listening to people from the older generations, we know that he has really put his heart and soul into it to "construct" Singapore. Our parents and grandparents used to stay in kampungs without water and electricity, but he has painstakingly built a garden city for us and a roof for everyone to stay in. 

There are so many merits about his governance and leadership that Singaporeans know of, even though the younger generations are not appreciative of. Yes, he may have made decisions that we may not agree with, but under those circumstances I believe he did his best already. Without this influential leader, without his guidance, we would not even be here today, complaining about train breakdowns, COE hikes, etc. And if you look at what he has done for us in the past few decades, nobody would challenge the fact that he has indeed made Singapore successful - from "nothing more than a small red dot on the map" to being a first world state recognized by many.

Though I've been on exchange and been missing the laid back life in Taiwan and called it my second home - Singapore will always be the first. "Home is where the heart belongs." - I might have been physically away,  but I would miss my life in Singapore and feel very fortunate to have been born and raised in Singapore. I grew up here, enjoyed Mr LKY's fruits of labour over the years to live comfortably today in a very safe environment.

Even in Taiwan, when people asked about my nationality, they all would mention LKY when describing what they know of Singapore and praise us as a whole. They would feel envious about our exemplary education system and governance.

I still remembered when we talked to 邱先生 at Hi-life back in Kaohsiung, he mentioned that he has seen LKY on TV and he was admired him as a good leader who brought Singapore to great heights. Or when I talk to my Taiwan friends and they ask, "where are you from?", knowing that I'm from Singapore they would say things like "it's a beautiful city, I would like to visit someday." or "wow it's a great country with many positive attributes." At times like that I feel really proud to be a Singaporean.