National Palace Museum

Ok, before I start..Here are some facts bout National Palace Museum which I copied from Wikipedia..lol..I'm never a histrory-like kinda person..So, I couldn't really remember the history..hehe..START!! The National Palace Museum is an art museum in Taipei, Taiwan. It is the national museum of the Republic of China, and has a permanent collection of over 650,000 pieces of ancient Chinese artifacts and artworks, making it one of the largest in the world. The collection encompasses over 8,000 years of Chinese history from the Neolithic age to the late Qing dynasty. Most of the collection are high quality pieces collected by China's ancient emperors. In 2008, it was the 15th most visited museum in the world. The National Palace Museum and Palace Museum, located inside the Forbidden City in China, share the same original roots, which was split in two as a result of the Chinese Civil War.

Basically, we planned to go around Taipei for the weekend. So, the @ers planned the itinery for us..We heard that NPM is a tourist attraction and a must-go..So, we went there the day after the Welcome Party. 2 @ers ( Will and Vincent ) were nice enough to accompany us and be tourists on that day..lol..We started our journey as early as 9am~

We sat bus from somewhere ( can't remember =.= ) to NPM which costs 15NT..

The bus dropped us off just opposite NPM ( as you can see behind)~

The ticket..very ancient kind~ :)

The prices..

Student cards/Youth Travel cards-50% discount!! :D

Before entering the museum..

NOTE : No pics to be taken inside the museum..arghhhhhhh!!!! *kinda frustrated and dissapointed..

The artifacts and artworks collections are damn SUPERB!!! Eg, painting, jades, ceramics, calligraphy, rare books, documents, pottery-You name it!! They will make your jaws drop and you will start to think 'how on earth did they carve/made these?'

Ohhhh..wait..I happened to find some pics of some collections online~~ wohooooooo~

Pics credited to : Wikimedia Commons

Cabbage carved stone-Jadeite cabbage..Look like real one!!

Meat-shaped stone..Look like real pork can?!!

Chinese painting..Mountains and Pines in Spring~

Stem cup with dragon motif made of porcelain..The carving is damn precise..

Chinese vases..

These are only 5 out of thousands of the collections that you can see in NPM..

Today the museum is said to house some 93,000 items of Chinese calligraphy, porcelain, bronzes, landscape paintings, portraiture and figurines from Beijing's Forbidden City and 562,000 traditional books and documents. There are 6,000 bronzes, 5,200 paintings, 3,000 works of calligraphy, 12,000 pieces of jade, 3,200 examples of lacquer and enamel ware, as well as assorted carvings, fans, rubbings, coins and textiles. Awesome!!! Too many to see, too lil' time!!

The ceiling~

Some outdoor pics of the museum...

Even the dustbin is in a shape of 'vase'..lol

Me with Taiwan flag!

ME, Shereen, Su Ying, Vincent

ME, Shereen, Su Ying, Jomel, Anna, Vincent~

L.O.V.E

The flowers matched my top eh? lol..

More TW flags!

Group pic..

(L-R) Mei Ling, Eunice, Fannie, Su Ying, ME, Will, Vincent, Jomel, Anna and Natalie..

Overall, NPM is recommended!! Even though you're not fancy of history, you will not get bored in there..It will leave you with amazement and wonders..Besides being more knowledgeable bout China's history through artifacts, it's such a great chance to see ourselves how things have evolved from B.C till now.. :D

@ Welcome Party for DYCE Project Trainees~

It was the 1st week in Taiwan, well, basically in Luo Dong, Yilan where all of us have to adapt to the unpredictable and ever-changing temperature during this winter season..It could be freezing cold today (12 degrees+rain+cold breeze) but summer-kinda-feel the next day (23 degrees+sunny+no wind) which made us went gaga.. =.- I would wear 4-5 layers of clothes+one winter jacket almost everyday depending on the weather..One thing for sure, I've never cared of the weather forecast ever in my life but there, I MUST because I have to wear appropriately (how many layers) according to the expected weather and temperature..lol..Well, I was sick during the 1st week itself, partly because it was too cold for me..I didn't have enough clothes to make myself warm~ Besides, the sudden changes in the weather and temperature was too swift for me to bear..It's as fast as like it could be super cold in the morning but kinda warm in the afternoon.. :/ Especially the place that we went, Yilan is very famous for its cold+wet winter plus super strong breeze/wind..So, I could feel the coldness ran right through my spine even though I was wearing so many layers like a dumpling!! Neverthless, at times, I love when it didn't get that cold, just bearable because it just felt like natural 'air-conditioner' outdoor-cooling and damn syok when went for some strolling around.. :D

I'll talk bout my experience in school in another post~~

So, AIESEC NTLC had planned a Welcome Party for DYCE Project trainees 1 week after we came..There's 5 of us who reached Taiwan earlier ( Mei Ling-Singapore, Stan-Canada, Shereen, Su Ying and I-Malaysia ) and another 5 who reached later on ( Anna-New Zealand, Jomel-Australia, Fannie-Indonesia, Natalie and Eunice-Malaysia)..So, here's where global diversity happened..lol..

Waiting for bus to go Taipei..

( L-R ) Mei Ling, ME, Su Ying, Shereen, Stan (Photographer)

After 1 hour, the bus stopped us at Taipei Bus Station and we sat MRT by ourselves to Gongguan Station..1st week already can go on our own, not bad eh? :P

Waiting for Yule, our TN Manager..

Walking towards NTU..We're gonna meet the other trainees..Yeah!!! Excited!!! :D

Then we walked to a cafe where the Welcome Party is held..It was a 15 minutes' walk but I guess we walked longer than that with all the talking and giggling..lol..There's like more than 15 of us and we kinda rock the street!! lol..So much so that most of us were tired after a long journey to Taipei, we kept asking Yule, 'Are we there yet??'..lol


Then here we were..


Tadaaaa...

How common is it? lol

Welcoming us!! :D

The @ers formed 2 lines and we have to walked in the middle..They were chanting some welcome song, I guess..Felt so warm!!!

Our NEW Boots!! Yipeeeeee~~ In Taiwan, boots is IN and a-must!!

Some of the @ers..

So, we were assigned to groups..2 trainees a group-the ones that were going to be partners in school..And other @ers just joined any group~

Each of us were asked for some self-introduction in front~

My table here was kinda special..The table was long enough so there were 2 groups..4 trainees and a few @ers..All of us were given a name tag, which always fell off :( and they threatened that we will be punished if we lost it..gosh!! Felt like small kid but we're scared anyhow!! lol.. and all the trainees were given a balloon each..4 shapes-love, diamond, spade, club~

And let the ice breaking begin...

My partner, Jomel and I..

Anita and Yule who were sitting on the same table with Jomel and I..

Chit chatting..

Jacky and Will..

We were given a paper bag on each table..Every one has to take a paper with questions inside and has to pick someone to answer..Some questions like 'How do you feel bout NTLC', Where are you from' etc..

And then, the game started..

It's the BOOM game..Well, each group has to choose a leader-must be trainees..And we have to give a group name..So, I was my group's leader..Everyone named their group as their name ( Natalie, Eunice etc )..I wanted to name MY NAME too but someone suggested PEACH ( Well, we were having some crazy photo frenzy back in Yilan just few days before..I was wearing a jacket with hoodie and I pulled my hoodie over to cover my head..And they ( YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!! :P) called me Peach cause I looked round just like one.. =.= And so, I said 'Ok, my group's name is Peach'..Kinda regretted lo..Each and every group BOOMED my group cause PEACH IS EASY TO REMEMBER!! It's like we kept booming other group but right after that, we got boomed straight away..arghhhhhhh!! No time for us to think which group to boom.. :/ As a result, I got punished!! Damn..Cause I was the group leader mah.. :@

So...I was asked to go in front..and Yule too..

They asked me to do pole dancing wor..walao!!!! Kidding is it?? In front of so many people and damn, I can't dance when everyone set their eyes on me.. :@

Yule was to be the pole and I'm supposed to dance..Like denggggg! And they on the music and everyone was cheering..Gosh...Some even happily and cheekily took out their cameras ready, even right before I moved..Video mode ON and ready to press shutter button anytime! =.=''''

Paiseh dao~~~~~ Well, I kinda moved 1 round but the applause and cheer were too over-whelming that I kinda freaked out and stopped.. *blushed

SO....SO....SO....

They still don't wanna let me go...And asked Yule and I to choose whether we wanna hug/k***..walao!!! Of course HUG la..Phewwwwww~~

So, we gave each other a friendly hug..Even that also, everyone was so excited..Eg. Look at Su Ying on the right..She was like 'Go, Shi Wei! Go, Shi Wei!!' Arghhhhhh..This gal.. =.= And I know others too..When I see back the video, rofl..Everyone's expressions were so funny!! lol..

Stan was asked to carry Vincent..lol..Vincent was shy all the way..haha..Being carried by a guy wor..Neh, don't think wrongly!! haha

Haha..This picture looked 'wrong'~~ Hmmmm..Hmmmm...lol

Yule again!! This time Jomel was asked to go in front..They were asked to share a stick of love letters..Jomel was very shy..Of course la!! lol..She just took a small bite..haha

Julian and Cira were the MCs for that day..Su Ying's turn to be called out..

This picture also looked 'wrong'..lol..nahhhhh, Jacky was the base..Su Ying was to burst the balloon using her butt..She has to run all the way to him (The ballon was placed on his lap) and sit hardly on him..Poor Jacky..He must be saying 'Su Ying is very heavy!!!'..lol

Stan became the base too..lol

After a fun and damn high night, it's time for some pictures with one another and then bid goodbye..Ahhhhh..It's such a short time that we spent with one another especially with the @ers cause we could hardly see them..They're in Taipei and we're in Yilan~~

Anita, Stan, ME, Becky~

Don't need to see also know I'm the shortest one..Ahhhhh..Did I mentioned that everyone is very tall?? And for some period, I was like a lil' low self esteem with my height but very soon, I got over it..Short is CUTE!! :D

Naughty Su Ying trying to disturb me to get a nice picture.. :@

Ohhh ya, all the trainees were given a love-shaped balloon..awwwwww..So sweet! and the @ers wrote sugar cubes for us and pasted them on our balloons..

ME, Shereen, Yule and Su Ying..

All of us!! 10 of us..But for don't-know'what-reason, I couldn't find a pic of Mei Ling smiling and posing in all the group pic of 10 of us..weird!!

(L-R): Eunice, Fannie, ME, Su Ying, Shereen, Jomel, Anna, Stan, Natalie and sesat-ed Mei Ling (behind with Julian)

Group pic..With the @ers~

The Welcome Party was fun..And all of us have enjoyed tremendously..It's the night that made us knew one another..and there was where friendship is built.. :)

AIESEC NTLC ROCKS!!!!!!!♥

P/S : This was also the day that everyone started to call me Peach..I repeat..It's EVERYONE including the @ers and all the trainees~~~ It's kinda funny somehow.. :D

Back from Taiwan~~

Helllooooooooo!! I'm back from Taiwan!!!

I'm back for bout a week plus..OMG!!! I've abandoned my blog for more than 2 months!!!! :/ Was too lazy to update and too many stuff happened that I can't manage to update right away..Will update SOON!!! Lots to tell!!! hehehehehhehehehe~~~

Love my winter look~~ :D