OELP Trip Advisor

Check out: http://2k14oelp.tumblr.com for respective photos 
Day 1 

Kaohsiung International Airport

This international airport is comparable to the one in Singapore as it is clean and spacious ☺️ The airport is also easy for navigation and has smaller but basic restrooms. 

Taking a class picture together upon arriving at the airport, meeting teachers from Sacred Hearts as well ^^

Ten Drum Village 

The ten drum village was the better hotel of the two. It has really good wifi and the room features a unique traditional design with Chinese characters printed in some parts of the room. The room has a very spacious bathroom, clean wooden floors and many basic toiletries for us to use, and all in all felt cozy and comfortable :) It also serves a very scrumptious breakfast with many dishes to choose from.

     Entrance of the hotel

    The comfy beds > <

Day 2

Meinong Hakka Culture Museum 

Starting off the day with a museum >< We had already been to a 茶阳大埔会馆in year 1, thus some of the information was already mentioned before. However, this museum showcases of more on the lifestyle of the Hakka people and their music . They also used modern technology so that we could interact more, which made the experience more engaging and interesting.

Meinong Folk Village 

The first lunch we had in Taiwan at Meinong Folk Village was the best as there were many delicious dishes served. One of the few places where we were served dessert as well :)) However, the place was a bit small. They sell many pretty souvenirs, such as keychains, etc. 

    擂茶～～^_^

Eating lunch with our groups and the teachers at Meinong Folk Village

KaoHsiung Hakka cultural museum 

 This museum talk emphasizes more about the oil paper umbrella and their lifestyle in the past. Like how the Hakka woman in the past had to continuously work for the familly, working from the wee hours in the morning till late at night. We got to learn more about the different types of competitions and festivals the Hakka people have as well. There are also videos showing how to cook Hakka food, and included several interactive games, which was a fun experience. However, it was very tiring for us as it was the second Hakka museum we had visited for the day. 

Kaohsiung Museum of history

We were given explanations and lessons about the 228 tragedy that took place in Tainan which left a great impact on the history of the nation. There were riots and many casualties. The place also featured many images and facts about this tragedy. 

Grand staircase near the entrance of the museum 

Former British Consulate 

The architecture of the British consulate is very similar to that of buildings in Britain. It has many little gift shops and snack stops outside. The British consulate also featured beautiful greenery and a breathtaking sunset. It also holds certain Great Britain culture as they feature many things that the British had used. However reallyyyy hot... Even the shops inside were not air-conditioned.

    Amazing sea view~

LiuHe night market 

This place was the main highlight of the day. The night market was very spacious and mainly targeted at tourists. The food sold there were cheap and delicious. However, some of the stall owners do take advantage of the fact that we are students and did not charge the prices properly or accused us of not paying for the food when we actually did so. 😥 Overall, it was still an interesting experience and some of us even tried the smelly tofu. There were also small station games set up there, such as balloon-shooting, where prices, mainly soft toys, could be won. It was a great way to introduce us to the different types of food in Taiwan. 

Crowded night market street

Day 3

Anping fort 

 There are display of weapons from both the westerns and Ming dynasty which was quite cool . There is air conditioning in the display room which was helpful during the hot weather. One could also go up the tower and view the AMAZING scenery of the city. We also learnt how the fried oyster came about, from the hero Zheng Cheng Gong.

    CANNONSSS

Climbing up the tower~

    

    The city view from the tower~ 

     ( ^ω^ )

    Weapon displays inside (^-^)/

    

Anping old street

 Honestly, not a lot of things to buy here. Things sold here were almost the same as what we had already seen before in MeiNong Folk Village. The food served was nice, as we got to taste the many types of Taiwan's delicious 小吃s, for our lunch. However, the quantity was quite small. Each of us having only about 1 serving of each dish AND THAT'S IT. The coffin toast being the only thing that was worth trying! 

Anping Old Street- where we got to shop around for about 20 minutes... 

YUMMY COFFIN TOAST~

Eternal Golden CASTLE

The castle, built in 1874 by the famous Qing official Shen Baozhen in order to safeguard the coast and to defend the island against the Japanese invasions, was another tourist attraction we visited. We did not learnt much there as there were little stuff there, only the cannon displays, the trees and other greenery. There wasn't much stuff we did there, and we were out from that place in no time. Though at least the place was not that hot, due to trees shading us. However, the place had a nice atmosphere to it, with the nice scenery of the greenery there, good for relaxing the mind :)

     At the entrance of the Eternal Golden Castle

 

 

Chihkan tower

 We learnt the history of the Chin Kan Tower and some that people will pray there to god before their examinations for good grades . This shows us part of the culture in Taiwan .The building is huge but the staircase should be wider and less slope-ish. The thing that  attracts us the most was that it shows the type of ship models.

     The ship models 

 

      Woman preparing her offerings ready to pray...

    

     People's wishes~ ^^

Confucius temple

 The place was nothing exciting, much like the Eternal Golden Castle :( We placed our wishes on some board with our names written on it. And that was pretty much the only interesting thing there was to the place. We were given some free time to walk around, however most of us just sat down and chit-chatted among ourselves, disinterested. It would have been better if there were guides there to tell us more about the place, and the displays there. The scary thing is, there are a lot of  memorial tablets in some of the rooms. 

Day 4

Our first day attending Sacred Hearts High School! It was a fun experience and the Taiwanese people were really hospitable >< Giving us a very grand welcome ceremony. After briefly getting to meet our buddies for the first time and the five student helpers that accompanied us throughout the 3 days in Sacred Hearts,we were split into different groups that went to different classrooms for different classes. There was English,Geography, Chemistry etc. We then had lunch at their school and we found out that the students there took initiatives to clean up, for example managing that waste buckets and the leftover food. This really showed how the Taiwanese students were mature enough and were all educated morally. We then proceeded onto the pineapple factory.

Pineapple Tart Factory/Plantation

Over here, we made pineapple tarts! Where we were given the filling and dough, and formed them into pineapple tarts. The room was spacious and cozy, definitely much much better than standing out under the HOT sun outside, listening to the guide talk for the several museums we  visited. The dough was really oily and greasy >< but all in all it was a fun little D.I.Y activity which we’re certain everyone enjoyed as it was a first time any of us had handmade pineapple tarts. The guide was also really friendly, which made the experience all the more enjoyable J Even posing for us, holding the tray of pineapples she had baked earlier, so that we could take a picture of her. We were then brought to the pineapple plantation nearby, where she gave us more background information about the pineapple tarts of Taiwan.

Although it would have been more fun if we had more to do, like baking the pineapple tarts ourselves. As all we did was roll the dough and stuff the filling in L too bad time was a constraint…

We then visited the elementary school, “华山国小”, after which we went back to the factory to collect our now baked and ready pineapple tarts, which most of us gobbled down on that day itself during our break time at the hotel. DELICIOUSSS~

                                         Busy washing our hands before our D.I.Y activity...

                                         

                                           Our friendly guide ^^

Oily, greasy hands~~

    YUMMY PINEAPPLE TARTS READY TO BE COOKED:)

     

                                         

Day 5

Towel factory

One of the more interesting places we visited in this trip we feel :) 

It is great for people that has little knowledge of towels and has a little DIY station whereby you can make your own cute towel figures. The place is perfect for children not because of the DIY feature but also, the overall layout of the factory is very colorful whereby almost every inch of the factory has a piece of colorful towel or towel figurine placed for sale or decoration. They sold towels made into cakes, flowers, cars, etc. Overall, it is a family friendly place and is also a place to learn about the towels like the manufacturing process and how to find a good quality towel. Also, the explainers of this factory is very friendly.

                                         

                                            A worker folding the towels~ 

Puppet museum/布袋戏馆 

As much as I think how the Chinese culture should be receiving more recognition, the puppet museum is not really a good place for you to visit. Firstly, even though the explainer was kind and patient, the bad weather and the Mosquitos bugging us did not made us feel comfortable, the fact that we needed to stay outdoors listening under a tree did not help. Upon entering the museum, we anticipated for some air-condition. To my horror, the insides of the museum was even more humid then the outdoors. The museum indeed had a Air-conditioner, however it was NOT switched on. Probably saving money or just thinking that we were not worthy for them to switch the air conditioner for. Although the ice-cream in the end did cool us down, I still think that the fact that we have to listen to boring introductions of Chinese puppets in a humid compact room to be excruciatingly painful. Also, the weather became cooler when there was a sudden downpour about an hour after our visit to the puppet museum outside the story museum.

THESE ARE THE FIVE STUDENT HELPERS!!!^^^

                                        WATCHING THE PUPPET SHOW~

                                         Standing in the rain while we listened to the guide talk

Sacred Hearts School Performance 
5 stars

Personally I feel that Scared hearts emphasizes on the esthetic development in their students which I feel that River Valley lags or should I say the Singapore in general. The 2h long performance was indeed spectacular, not only was it embodied with the students' effort that was clearly shown on stage, I also feel that the performance really showcases the students' passion towards music. Also, the performance was held in a huge grand auditorium that was not owned by the school, which makes the overall performance a lot better than just any other school performance.

Day 6

Fun Activities in Scared Hearts!-5 out of 5 stars
The day started early in the morning as usual when we arrived in Scared Hearts, anticipating the list of activities organised for us. We had a Magic class where we were taught on how to do simple magic tricks and balloon making class comes afterwards where we were each given balloons by the instructor. In no time, we all had our own pretty balloons. The next activity was one of our favorites, Food and Consumer Education!!! We all got to cook! We entered the kitchen and started frying, peeling, cracking, beating, decorating with our paired Taiwanese group partners. To be honest, even though the kitchen might not be as clean as compared to our kitchen, I would definitely prefer the Taiwan's better as they were given more freedom and own working space. After this, it was time to say goodbye to Sacred Hearts. It was a good 3 days well spent in the school, meeting our buddies, helpers, and enjoying the activities planned by the school, as long as the Taiwanese culture. We also did not forget the 5 student helpers that accompanied us through our days in Scared hearts, therefore we made a last minute enlarge card for them, along with the hearts shaped balloons that we made.

                                               

Going out with buddy and buddy's parents- 5 stars out of 5 .( This is a paired buddy activity, thus everyone's experience was different) 

My buddy was very friendly throughout the whole trip which they planned. I also had a Cappuccino at my buddy's house. The place was quiet and air-conditioned, adding that to the taste of the coffee made the environment a perfect place. Next, my buddy and his parents also brought me to a Soya Sauce factory. The factory has a lot of facts and history of the Soya Sauce and its delivery methods during the early age. I also got to taste the soya sauce afterwards. Lastly, I had my dinner on a mountain, as much as how the food was tasty and delicious, it has a lot of insects and the place is quite humid. Our buddy then sent us back to the hotel at 8 and it was time for us to say our goodbyes. Even thought we might not meet each other, maybe for the rest of our lives, we still managed to get their emails and social media address to continue our friendship. This is definitely one of the highlights of the trip!

Day 7

912 Earthquake educational Park 

This educational park was a very interesting place to visit. It features many remains left from the 912 earthquake and has a gallery that educates the public on how an earthquake can be detected and the disastrous impacts of the earthquake. 

We got to tour around the site, and got a close up view of the many collapsed buildings and infrastructure. We really got to see the extent of damage of how an actual earthquake could cause. 

We even got to watch a 3-D show after the site-touring, about the experiencing of an earthquake, which was a really cool experience. Recommended for families to go to :) for parents who might want to educate their children and expose them to how an earthquake would be like,etc. Maybe even instilling in them a sense of gratitude and appreciation for their fortunateness.

Taoyuan Airport  

This airport is bigger than the one in Kaohsiung and also features the basic needs of a decent airport with nice facilities and good customer service. This is also the last day of our trip to Taiwan.