MIRI TRIP 2016

Hey Hey!

I got back from my recent trip to Miri like 2 weeks ago, so I decided to write about it today. This is the last short getaway for me this year and I have only one trip coming up next year. So sad so sad. Normally, I will have few trips ahead before the coming year but this time is a no no.

Ok. Enough with the complain. 

Nothing fancy about this trip though, it's meant to be relaxing trip. Let's get started.

DAY 1

7.20AM

Depart to Miri

8.45AM

Took a blue cab from Miri airport to the hotel for RM30. Staying at Kingsley Hotel for the first night in Miri.

Because it was too early, we were not allowed to check in yet. So we just leave our luggage and off we go.

P/s : The hotel is very convenient to all the places we went on the first day and it is quite spacious if compare with the one we stayed for the next few nights.

9AM

WZT Cafe (online recommendation)

Business Hours : 6AM - 2PM (Daily)

Kueh Chap (RM6.50)

Bread with Kaya Butter (RM2.70)

9.30AM

Permaisuri Mall & Imperial Mall

Waited at the food court for the shops to open at 10AM and spent more than 2 hours walking around both malls.

Permaisuri Mall & Imperial Mall is connected with each other. 

12.30PM

Desserts (online recommendation)

Imperial Mall, Ground Floor near the main entrance

We chose 3 flavours for RM11 (Durian, Kalamansi & Coconut)

I personally think Veda Blue's coconut flavour taste better but the other two flavours taste great. As you can see, the shop might not look attractive but you should definitely give it a try. 

1.10PM

Tasty Point [1] (Online recommendation)

Business hours : 7.30AM - 2.30PM (Daily)

Laksa Special (RM8.50)

Madlis (Online recommendation)

Business hours : 8AM - 12AM (Daily)

Wheatgrass tea with milk

-Looks like Teh C Special, taste like it as well

Sau Pau Cafe (Online recommendation)

Business hours : 7AM - 6.30PM (Daily)

Bought cheese tart, green tea tart & butter bun before going back hotel. 

2.30PM

Since I'm having a migraine, I took a long nap before heading out for dinner. 

6.30PM

Ming Cafe (Online recommendation)

Dinner here

Fresh Ming Pork Pizza (RM19)

Pork Spare Ribs (RM30)

Both of us don't really like their foods, just not as good as we thought. 

8.30PM

Since we got no car, we went back to hotel after dinner and played a game. The new game I learned, I named it "Dot-Dot''. 

"Dot-Dot"

P/S : Google maps helped us around the city on our first day at Miri. Everywhere we went today was within walking distance. 

DAY 2

11AM

Checked out from Kingsley Hotel leaving our luggage at the reception first and headed to Bintang Megamall that is just few minutes walk away.

2PM

Back to Kingsley Hotel to get our rented car.

Initially, we booked Axia for RM116/day but they upgraded us with Myvi without any extra charges. 

You can booked in here : http://www.greenmatrixcarrental.com/

Very good service and not strict in certain circumstances. (Highly recommend)

And the driving journey begins, drove to our next hotel at Imperial Palace Hotel.

The hotel lobby

After checking in the hotel, I took a nap again because I was having migraine.

P/s : Changed to this hotel because we wanted to enjoy the hotel facilities whenever we are bored. 

4.45PM

Headed to Canada Hill - The Grand Old Lady 

After that, we went to look for the "Seahorse Lighthouse" but no where to be found. Google said it is nearby Marina Seafood but the restaurant already closed down and they closed the section to prevent people from entering. So my plan to take a photo with the beautiful seahorse had failed.

Seahorse Lighthouse (Photo from google image - Not mine)

P/s : Anyone please tell me if this seahorse still exist in Miri or not? 

6.30PM

Excapade Japanese Cuisine (Recommended by friend)

We knew it would be pricey so we went there just to give it a slight try since it is quite famous right? Taste ok only but you definitely can see their quality.

7.45PM

Miri Taiwan Restaurant (Online recommendation)

Stir Fried Dumpling

We ordered stir fried dumpling, hot & sour soup and passion green tea. The stir fried dumpling is acceptable but not the soup. The soup is really really bad that it taste sour only. Not a good choice.

9PM

We wanted to go for a walk at Saberkas Weekend Night Market but it's not open. Like seriously? 

What am I doing while doing research on the trip...

What else? Went back to hotel and play game again. Played "Reversi" this time.

DAY 3

8.45AM

At this hour, went to gym and sauna.

11AM

Lao Yang Dim Sum (Recommended by friend)

After brunch, I wanted to buy some souvenirs for myself and colleagues from Miri Handicraft Centre. And you know what? It is demolished. 
Guess I really need to improve in doing my research huh...

Demolished

There's really nothing much to do in Miri city unless you wanted to visit their caves. But I'm not interested in visiting caves yet. We wanted to check out their other malls, so we went to Bouvelard Shopping Complex to have a walk instead. 

After a really short walk at the shopping complex and we still got space in our stomach, we went to try Face to Face Noodle House (recommended by friend - within walking distance from Bouvelard Shopping Complex).

After that, we head to The Maker Cafe (online recommendation), just within walking distance as well. They said must try the "Pate a choux", because the name is so unique that I decided to visit this cafe actually.

The Maker Cafe

Business hours : 10AM - 10PM (Mon to Sat)

  "Pate a choux" (Try it! You won't regret) 

3PM

I was feeling nausea this time probably due to the excessive sauna and hot weather. So I wanted to go back to hotel thinking of getting a rest. But I ended up loading youtube videos.

6PM

Went out to dinner early to catch our movie at 8.15PM.

Kent's Garden (Recommended by friend)

Lamb Chop

Fried Kuehteow

Rootbeer Float

Thankful for the recommendation. The foods are really good, it's definitely a MUST try place. But make sure to cover yourself from mosquitoes. My foots still got bitten by the mosquitoes even when I already wore long pants. I can't imagine how the girls at the next table survive wearing shorts. 

8.15PM

Watch movie at Permaisuri Mall - TGV Cinema.

Jack Reacher for the night

DAY 4

It's sad to think that the trip has come to an end and we have to face the reality again. 

Had free breakfast at the hotel and rest awhile to digest then go for a short swim before checking out.

Checked out 12.30PM. Had lunch at Madam Wee Food Cafe (recommended by friend).

Laksa

After lunch, we did some final shopping for 'kek lapis'. We went to 3 famous shop that people recommended online. 

My first recommendation will be Embun Citra Cake House. As you can see, they have many choice to choose and they will wrap it nicely for you. Price is the cheapest among 3 shops. I bought 4 from here.

Second choice will be Siti Payung Kek Lapis. The price is slightly higher and the choice is not that much if compare with Embun Citra Cake House. Because this is the first shop I went since it is the nearest, so I bought one only and maybe that's why they don't wrap it nicely for me. By the way, they do sell some other local things as well.

Lastly, it will be Habibi Cake Shop. It is like a normal bakery selling 'kek lapis'. The price is highest and the choice is limited as well. Since we bought nothing from here, therefore no picture taken. 

P/s : No worries, all 3 shops provide tester for certain flavours.

Remember the tart I ate on the first day? It was too good to not to bring back for my families to try. So we went back to that shop just for it. No picture of the tart though.

Last destination before heading to airport is to refill the oil tank. Refilled RM15 for the past few days of driving. You do the counting. 

At 2.30PM, drove to airport as we will be returning the car at the airport at 3PM and wait for our flight at 5.25PM.

Home Sweet Home

TAIWAN - TAIPEI / KAOHSIUNG

Hello hello!

It’s been few months since my last post. During the last week of September, I went to Taiwan again with my sister and friends. This trip, I planned to visit Kaohsiung since I already went to most places in Taipei last year.

DAY 1

6.10AM

Depart from KKIA (T1)

9.30AM
Arrive at TaoYuan International Airport (T1). 

Bought two Plan B from 中华电信 

We're taking the High Speed Rail to Kaohsiung from Taoyuan Airport. 

In order to get to the HSR station, you have to buy the shuttle bus ticket from UBUS service counters at Arrivals Lobby of Terminals 1 and 2 first.

Kaohsiung located at Zuoying station – R16. 

At HSR station, it was 10.35am after we bought our ticket and our train time is 10.43am. You can imagine how rush we were at that time, running around with luggage. Bad idea! Almost lost inside the station but luckily we managed to catch the train on time or else our ticket will be burn.

Train ticket

P/S : Actually I did ask the lady counter if we manage to catch the train on time and she said it is alright if we go there directly. But yeah..lesson learnt from being too confident in a new place. 

Kindly visit their website for more information : https://www.thsrc.com.tw/en/

1PM

Backpackers Inn, Kaohsiung

MRT Pink line Central Park Station (R9) - Exit 2

Cross the street and walk straight for about 3 minutes until you see our hostel on your left-hand side. Very easy to locate.

Recommend this hotel. It is very convenient and the room is just nice too.

1.30PM

駁二藝術特區大義倉庫  The Pier-2 Art Center

MRT Orange line YanChengPu - O2 (Exit 1)

Lunch first before continuing the journey.

No. The food doesn't taste good at all. Mostly tasteless.

Banana Pier – Signature banana crisp (I just realize I’m lame enough to locate this shop in a different area so we didn’t get to try it!)

As you walk along The Pier-2 Art Center, you will eventually reach 駁二蓬萊倉庫

From here, it is also walking distance to Qijing Ferry Gushan Station ( with the help of google maps and local people) where we gonna hop on a ferry to Cijin Island.

 Qijing Ferry Pier

4PM

CIJIN ISLAND

Ferry to Cijin Island

 

Spent 2 hours (NT600) riding the "four-wheel automatic bike" (what do you call that in a correct term?) and getting lost on the island because the attractions on the map that the local gave seem near to each other but the truth is they are very far from each other. 

Ice cream

Local said MUST try BUT it doesn’t taste as good as we were told. (Forgot the name of the shop)

Because the previous ice cream was bad enough that we had another sweet tooth before leaving to next destination.

7PM

Liuhe night market 六合夜市

MRT Pink line Formosa Boulevard Station – R8 (Exit 11)

"Dome of Light" at the Mrt Station

Quite nice but very pricey.

It's nice. Give it a try.

Best papaya milk ever!

9PM

新堀江商场  XinJueJiang (also spelled Shinkuchan) Commercial Zone & 玉竹商圈 Yu Zhu Shang Quan

MRT Pink line Central Park Station (R9) - Exit 2

Business hours: 11am to 11pm

Trust me. This is the best chicken chop I had here! 

DAY 2

9AM
Had our free breakfast provided by the hotel.

10AM

E-da Theme Park

MRT to Kaohsiung Zuoying Station R16 , Exit 1.

Opening hours: 9am – 5.30pm (Mon to Sun)

Admission Tickets: NTD899 for Adults, NTD799 for students, NTD580 for kids from 120-150cm and NTD450 for senior citizens over 65 years old

Proceed to Platform 3 after exiting and take Bus 8501 to E-da World.

Platform 3

Bus 8501

 One of the scary ride. (I don't dare to ride it.)

Some performance available too.

Had our lunch at the food court inside the theme park. 

 

There are platform outside the theme park to wait for buses. Take Bus 8501 as well if you're going back to Zuoying station.

Platform outside the theme park

Official Website: http://www.edathemepark.com.tw/Website/info_Price.aspx

6PM

瑞豐夜市Ruifeng Night Market

Kaohsiung Arena Station, R14 at Exit 1

Be careful with the station name. It is quite similar with Kaohsiung Main Station. That's what we experienced. We went to Kaohsiung Main Station instead and only realize the mistake after getting out from the station. 

Walked straight for a few minutes before we reach the night market.

Ruifeng Night Market Entrance

I don't get it why is it called "Mongolian Bbq". Does it look like bbq to you?

They are selling this as well. (In case you wanna try)

The drinks doesn't taste good at all. My papaya milk taste bitter and my sister's avocado milk is tasteless.

There are some other foods we bought but didn't manage to capture them. The taste is not that great afterall. 

8PM

新堀江商场  XinJueJiang (also spelled Shinkuchan) Commercial Zone & 玉竹商圈 Yu Zhu Shang Quan

Coming back here to shop. The good thing is, it is nearby our hotel. 

If you're looking for Abercrombie/Hollister brand & etc, they are selling in this shop. I'm happy because we don't have any Abercrombie outlet in Malaysia.

10.30PM

We brought back all the foods that we bought from night market and enjoyed it at the rooftop of the hotel.

DAY 3

It’s time to leave to Taipei today. Took the HSR from Zuoying Station to Taipei Main Station. 

Just realize that we can actually top up our easycard credit here. 

1PM

Diary of Taipei Hotel - Ximen Station (3rd Floor)

Ximen Station - Exit 6

1.30PM

阿宗麵線- Ay Chung Flour Rice Noodle

Operating Hours : Mon to Thu [10am to 10pm], Fri to Sun [10am to 11pm]

My boyfriend favourite food here.

2.30PM

淡水老街 - Danshui Old Street

Tamsui Station 淡水站 - Exit 1

The rain is pouring when we arrive at Danshui. I guess it's the beginning of typhoon then. 

This one not bad.

Yummy cheese sponge cake

Mister Donut

Initially the plan was to go Shilin Night Market on the way back from Danshui but we bought many things from Danshui. It’s heavy to carry around so we went back to our hotel to put the stuff and then we didn’t bother going back to Shilin Night Market since we;ve been there last year.

6PM

台北地下街 - Taipei Metro Mall also known as "Underground Mall".

Taipei Main Station 台北车站 - Exit 1

This is Zone Y. (There are a few other zone)

Had our dinner at another zone where there is a food court available

9PM

Because it was already quite late for another mall. We googled and found out that there is a grocery store not so nearby from Ximending and went there to buy some local food since we might not able to go out next day. 

DAY 4

Today is the day where the typhoon hits Taiwan. I thought the typhoon gonna hit Kaoshiung first (one of the local told me that it will start from north Taiwan which is Kaohsiung) then only hitting Taipei at night. But that is so wrong!

Basically, today is wasted. At 11am, we try to go out even there’s typhoon and managed to have Yonghe Doujiang 永和豆漿, 三兄妹 and 阿宗麵線 at Ximending.

Mostly tourists here. I don't think the locals will even dare to come out today.

Bacon egg roll (if not mistaken)

After having all the foods, then we walked to 诚品书店 Ximending branch but it was close (almost all the shops are close). Then we wanted to try our luck to 五分埔 (Houshanpi Station 後山埤 - Exit 1). As we got out from the Houshanpi station, there, we got shock by the strong wind. We tried our best to get to the destination but we got stuck half way and stop by in a shop. After stopping for about 15 minutes and the wind is still going strong, we decided to ask the cashier if 五分埔 will be opening today. Obviously the answer is NO.

What else can we do? We planned to go back to hotel and I thought, “hey, why not we try the underground mall since it is in the underground...’’. And we went to Taipei Main Station for the underground mall again, but this time we plan to go for another zone. With disappointment, almost all the shops are close as well. Since there are not much shop opening, after a short walk, we went back to hotel around 4pm.

What about our dinner? We bought instant cup noodles before we were back just now. 

DAY 5

The sky was so clear today, but it’s time to say goodbye to holidays.

We booked a cab last minute the previous night for NT1200. Wanted to booked it from the hotel but we were told that no taxi services available during typhoon season (our hotel actually provide taxi services to airport for NT1000). No choice but to pay extra. You will never know what will happen the next day when you experienced the typhoon. 

Oh btw, before we went to Taiwan, we did an online purchase from chiate88.com in which they will delivered it to your hotel on the date stated by you. Very good service and of course their products are nice too.

That's all for this trip. Till next time again!