Monday, November 29, 2010

Brief idea of our Taiwan Trip


Tada~! So this is TAIWAN.

Next Wednesday noon, we shall land at TTY (TaoYuan International Airport ).
Need to bring my Punjabi Costume as there's a welcoming party that night at Hotel Today.  Won't be expecting a 4/5 starts luxurious hotel, as our main objectives there would not be shopping, but experiencing Hakka culture and staying with host families. Wonder if i'd learnt to order my favourite Lei Cha in Hakka when i'm home. (^_^)




 On the 5th day, we'll be visiting Peipu Hakka Village, staying at Land of Mystery Forest Resort Village.  Honestly, the names of the hotels sounds close to nature =) Sadly, hot springs are not included in our schedule, but as I googled, this photo is shown at Peipu Township:


TAadda~ Seems like Lundu waterfall to me. haha! but it would be winter when we are there, so im wondering if the hotsprings are really warm.  So, organizers, can we go? Perhaps i should include hot springs visit in my email to my host family =P




Day 8: Homestay at Miaoli.  Wonder how'd my 'family' there be like :) We're going to cycle around this village~~! Still remember my childhood times with Pam, cycling full force from the main road down the small hill, handsfree, no breaks, syok~...and landed in the longkang! haha.


 Hualien: Taroko National Park.



Nice?? This is Hualien.  We'll be taking the train from Taoyuan to Hualien on the 10th Day.


We'll experience the Natural Ecology at this Chishingtan beach @ Miaoli in the afternoon.  Hopefully the weather is this good then! *smiling*


Shihling Night Market. 
Yang Ming Shan National Park

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fast forward to the second last day:


May God bless this trip!! (^_^)

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Thanks Giving :)

learnt from facebook that it's Thanks Giving today. Will just list down the ten things that i'm grateful of here as memory :)

1. My loving parents. They supported us financially, physically and emotionally. I must be an obedient daughter after i'm married :)

2. My siblings. Though sis is not staying with us anymore, and i really missed our pillow talk. Going to spend a happy day with her and brother in law tomorrow. Brother sprained his knee yesterday, hope he'll recover asap. Love lots!

3. Andrew. Thank you Lord :)

4. My close friends. Yvonne, pamela, ying ying, josephine, alice, huey, so many.. Thank you all :)

5. Going to Taiwan next Tuesday! Finally! After the big Aiesec disappointment last semester, i'm so touched that i'm being selected to go for this hakka trip, going with Pam and Kim somemore! Hope it's gonna be loads of fun and memorable experience!

6. Working opportunities. I love money. I hate boredom. I love travelling. Who doesn't? And, i find passion in teaching. i'm so grateful to have classes to teach this hols. With family's subsidy and these part time jobs, i think it'll be sufficient for the upcoming trip :)

7. Safety on the road. I confess i'm not a superb driver. And i'm extremely stressed when it's my turn to ferry juniors to church. But Thank God for the safe trips :)

8. Staying out next semester. Most likely, i'll be staying out with my practicum partner next semester. Gotta be more independent and tolerance and understanding are needed :)

9. My comforter. Ah, u made me warm tonight. Thanks! :)

10. N78 and wifi. Be good, and stay on with me for long ya.. :) sweet dreams all :)

Thursday, November 18, 2010

The wonder of English (@_@)

Let's face it -- English is a crazy language!

There's no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple.

English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.

We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, two geese. So one moose, two meese? One index, two indices?

Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend, that you comb through the annals of history but not a single annal? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? If you wrote a letter, perhaps you bote your tongue?

Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? Park on driveways and drive on parkways?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while quite a lot and quite a few are alike? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell another?

Have you noticed that we talk about certain things only when they are absent? Have you ever seen a horseful carriage or a strapful gown? Met a sung hero or experienced requited love?

Have you ever run into someone who was discombobulated, gruntled, ruly or peccable? And where are all those people who ARE spring chickens or who would ACTUALLY hurt a fly?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling out and in which an alarm clock goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race (which, of course, isn't a race at all).

That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible. And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it!





(This essay has been attributed to Richard Lederer.)