What is RSS?Check out this link sent by one of our readers (Thanks Philip !):
http://www.wretch.cc/blog/Turvey/21065037
The clip on the link provides an interesting perspective on how mainland Chinese select their English name.
In the course of my work, these are few of the more unique Chinese English names I come across:
Hunter,Pluto, Fly,Beer,Jazz, Du du, Shadow.
What are some of the more interesting ones you came across?
ZhuJiaJiao is an ancient water town located about 30 km from Hongqiao with a history of more than 1000 years. It a good place for a trip for those wanting to get away from the city for just one day.
Grace and I made a trip there. Maybe we didnt go to the right places, we left the place after about 3 hours inclusive of lunch.
To get there, you can take a bus from Shanghai Stadium. Just ask at the ticketing booth and a variety of packages are available for your picking. The bus journey is slightly more than 1 hour.
This is what you can expect to see:
(Picture contributed by one of our readers, Dheeraj)
Goodbye Taipei~
I hardly slept a wink and its almost 7 am in the morning.
After a quick breakfast, Hwang picked me up at the hotel and off we went to Jiu Fen! I got a pleasant surprise in the car. She brought me some breakfast to go with the trip. The journey was about 45 minutes. She dropped me at the foot of the mountain and I took another bus to go closer to the national park area.
After I alighted, I explored the town a little and saw a beautiful building with a vantage point. It turned out to be a church and I took this pic:
The journey was well worth it. The scenery was so soothing that I even took a chance to nap on a pavillion for a while.
Some other pics:
It was an early day. I met Lori and her friend, Hwang for a typical breakfast, Taiwanese style. During breakfast, Lori suggested I tag with Hwang to Jiufeng, a scenic mountain town at the outskirts of Taipei. Hwang teaches at Jiufeng and its on the way. I thought that was a good idea and we made arrangements to meet the next day.
After the quick breakfast, I proceeded back to my hotel for Winnie and Alex to pick me up. I arrived on time and we are off Yilan!
On route, Alex deliberately took the longer route going via Hsuehshan Tunnel, which is 12km long and the longest in Taiwan. The tunnel, 4th longest road tunnel in the world took a whopping 14 years to construct. Before and after the tunnel, I was amazed at number of mountains there are in leading to Yilan alone, not too mention Taiwan!
Once in Yilan, we stopped by an roadside restaurant famous for baked chicken for an early lunch. There was a long queue but the service was really fast. We ordered in the queue. By the time we sat down, lunch was served. The famed baked chicken, took a while more to arrive.
When I took this pic, the baker asked me how was the meal was and whether any improvements are needed. (Notice a baked chicken fresh out of the baking pot on his right hand). Of course we told him it was very good!
After lunch, we arrived at a popular trekking area and decided to to a bit of impromptu trekking ourselves to midway on a mountain where a church is located. The view from the church was magnificent and we stayed there for a while before trekking down again.
After the trek, we explored other parts of Yilan before heading back to Taipei for dinner. The plan was to have dinner and street food at the famed Shilin night market but the place turned out to be too crowded and and we had to made changes to our plans. Alex suggested an excellent place for pork knuckle, Taiwanese style. Another great dinner !
We even had the chance to visit the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall for a quick look.
Winnie and myself had a second round of drinks at XinMenDing till the shops closed before calling it a day!
Below : Toy plant spotted in Yilan
After half a day of phototaking, I proceeded to meet two other friends for dinner. It was evening by the time I made my way to meet up point. The name of the restaurant is Hsiang the Brunch. Like the name implied, the restaurant is a great place for brunch but we decided to have dinner there anyway. The decor is largely European style but the food is American. Thumbs up for the desserts.
Address:
HSIANG THE BRUNCH
No. 18, Ln 236, Dunhua South Rd Section 1
Tel: (02) 8771-825
Pei brought me to National Taiwan University (NTU) to take some photographs. The campus is huge and we spent almost half a day there.
Some background of the uni:
NTU was founded in 1928 by the Japanese during the Japanese colonial era and was then known as the Taihoku (Taipei) Imperial University. After World War II and Taiwan's retrocession to Chinese sovereignty, the Republic of China government resumed the administration of Taihoku University and reorganized and renamed it National Taiwan University on November 15, 1945
I have more than a few friends in Taipei. Evey now and then, I get quite a few invitations to visit the island from my warm -hearted Taiwanese friends. As such, I do try to make it a point to visit them once a year.
With ticket prices going at more than attractive rates, I decided to make the a trip there again.
It was transit flight in Hong Kong with 2 hours in between time. The time there was relatively easy to pass, given the very good amenities and food available in Hong Kong International Airport.
It was very much an uneventful first day. Arriving in the evening, I just had to meet Winnie for a dinner appointment a a buffet restaurant. Due to some gross miscalculation in the timing, I arrived 2 hours late and poor Winnie waited for me :P. That aside, the food was very nice with outstanding choices. If you are ever in Taipei, try this restaurant listed here.
Her friends, Alex and Juan joined us too. Over some quick drink at XinMenDing, we hit it off and made plans to visit Yilan two days later. Yilan is a place I wanted to visit in and I was already looking forward to the trip while we discussed. We call in a night soon nearing midnight.
Pic above : Taken at Hong Kong International Airport
Pic below : Breakfast on plane. Nice!
According to a survey by ECA International, Shanghai is the most expensive city in Asia, followed by Hong Kong. Beijing is the only other city in China with a higher cost of living. The most expensive city in Asia is Tokyo.
Check out the full survey, which includes an assessment on the cost of living worldwide, here.
I thought it would be a good idea to share what camera gear I use. I shoot (sometimes) with a Canon EOS350D with standard EF-S 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 II lens and EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM zoom lens. 
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