Read a few blogs recently and this topic made me ponder...

FRIENDSHIP

" You cannot say you have lost a friend. If a Friendship is capable of ending, it is because it never existed. "

"When we slowly sieve out people and choose the reminding to be good friend/best friend, its because sub-conciously these people benefit us in some ways. "

"Human are actually very selfish creatures. "

"When friends lie or disappoint me time and time again,I get a little tired.But I still go along with them,Accept the lie,Continue listening to their mistakes,Struggle to be unaffected by the hurting words, actions, decisions,Just because i want to be there for them "

Does Friendships really exist ???

I really don't know.

One thing for sure : I am losing faith in them. Or do I really have friends ?

Recent happenings really make me ponder over and over again...Are they really my friends ?

Yes, maybe during my school days they are but not now...again this bring me back to the 1st quotation...if its capable of ending, it's because it never existed !

Well, all I can do now is to follow the flow...go along with them...pretend nothing has happened.

One thing for sure, I know I have my relatives to rely on. They are the ones who will not ditch me.

Friends...humph...if only I have REAL friends.

Off to Dubai and Moscow. Sign off.

My immune system is getting weaker...Just recovered from flu a week ago and now I am down with it again.... Damn irritating. Guess its my fault for not taking good care of my body. For the past few days, I haven't had sufficient amount of rest and that I haven't been drinking lots of water lately. Haiz...Chinese New Year is approaching and my body isn't in a good state to fully enjoy the festive season. Nevertheless, I still have 10 days more to recuperate...haha

Had a great time in Beijing despite the freezing cold weather.

Lunch @ one of the small restaurant near our hotel...

Ordered some beef slices, Gong Bao Chicken, Omelette and mixed vegetables as ingredients for our chun juan/bing (popiah like food)

That's how its done...Just place all the ingredients you want inside the popiah-like skin and wrap it.

Their version of porridge....looks like cous cous is used. I don't really know how to appreciate this...taste weird.

On our way to Forbidden City...

The Quiet Street on a Sunday Cold Afternoon

Anna & I on our way to Tiananmen

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen

Inside Tiananmen

Saw this at one of the stalls in Tiananmen...Nan...my last name in Chinese. Yi Shen Ping An.

Shan & I getting excited as we approached the Meridian Gate

Both the admission ticket and the audio guide (English) each cost RMB 40.

Anna & I all set and ready to begin our tour.

The Electronic Map of the Imperial Palace...

Inside the Forbidden City...

Hall of Supreme Harmony...Too bad its under renovation...Otherwise it be very grand and beautiful.

The roof of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Notice the number of beasts at the edge of the roof ? There are 11 of them and according to the guide, all the other buildings in the Forbidden City has no more than 11. This is so as the Hall of Supreme Harmony is the most important building in the palace.

Large Stone Carving - the largest stone carving in the entire palace weighing more than 200 tons !!!

Unique Lion Head Statue....Notice that there is a baby one under its left foot.

The 3 of us in front of Qian Qing Gong ( Palace of Heavenly Purity ).

The very famous Zheng Da Guang Ming in Qian Qing Gong. The 'Heir apprent box', a system set up secretly by Emperor Yong Zheng, was placed behind the board inscribed with ' Zheng Da Guang Ming' (Open & Aboveboard). The name of the emporer's successor will be placed in this box and will be revealed when the emperor passed away.

Kun Ning Gong (Hall of Earthly Tranquility) - the residence of some of the Emperors and Empresses.

The back of Chu Xiu Gong - one of the palaces in the west wing.

This is where Ci Xi once lived and where she gave birth to Emporer Tongzhi.

The Study Table of the last Qing Emperor Pu Yi - Westernisation.

A Palace within a Palace - Walking between the high red walls in the East wing of the Forbidden City.

The Hall of Water was left incompleted after the Qing Dynasty fell.

Before we head back...

The army troop outside the Forbidden City doing their exercises.

The day Shan became my concubine.... HAHAHA :P

Since we did not have a good shot in front of Tiananmen, we decided to have it at the studio...Look real isn't it :D

The real Tiananmen @ Night

Though we have a few hours to explore the palace before it is closed, we cannot finish exploring the whole place. Its huge. Will definitely go back there again when I get the chance. Plus there is this Temple of Heaven nearby I think. So many things to see n do in Beijing yet so little time.

CNY is coming and I will be away for 9 days and be back on 1st day of CNY. Though I won't be able to have my reunion dinner, I am still glad that I will be around on CNY. Hope to catch up more with my cousins during CNY...haven't been meeting them for quite some time already. Anyway, Congratulations to Jamie for faring very well in her O levels !!!!! Keep up the good work, gal !

Friends Forever. Dinner at Marche was great with such great company :D

When I got back home yesterday from Taipei, I was surprised to see this in my Dad's tank...

Yes, the same pair of Parrot fish had laid their eggs. The last time they did was about 3 months ago when they laid their eggs at the opposite corner and on the floor of the tank. This time they had chosen the other corner and laid the eggs on the walls of the tank as seen above. I have read somewhere on the Internet that the male Parrot fish is sterile. True enough, the last batch of eggs have all gone rotten with fungus surrounding them. Guess that this batch will be the same. Nevertheless, the parents are fending their eggs aggressively, chasing away the rest of the Parrot fish which had swam to close to their eggs.

This time in Taipei, I didn't do much. Wanted to shop initially but since I have just done my Shopping spree in HK and that Taipei hasn't much for me to shop, I decided to give it a miss and save my money :D

Met up with my other colleagues for dinner at Shilin Night Market. The weather was much colder than when I visited Taipei about 2 weeks ago. The wind was very chilly. Though it was a weekday, Shilin was brimming with people. It's so crowded that moving around did take abit more effort and time.

Featuring here are some of the food which we had ordered to be shared among the 6 of us...

The Chou Toufu...Yes the smell is overpowering but when it enters ur mouth, you will fall in love with the taste....crispy on the outside yet very soft on the inside. Plus the sweet sour chilli sauce that were poured over the Toufu make it more tastier.

Guan Cai Ban...This thick bread was deep fried and you can get to choose what to put inside. I chose the Corn with Pork Floss....very fragrant and tasty. A must try!!!

The Ou Lua (Oyster Omelette)....its different from the one sold in Singapore. Here they added vegetables together with the Oyster to fry with the Omelette. They also put a sweet orangy sauce over the Omelette. Kind of sweet. Prefer the ones in Singapore though.

Besides all these, we also had our Da Da Ji Pa, Ou Lua Mee Sua and some Xiao Long Bao.

If you guys ever visit Shilin, this stall is a must to visit if you intend to buy some Taiwan Tu Chang...They sell very nice and fragrant Peanut Candy.

Now I shall bring you back in time to the my Taipei trip about 2 weeks ago. This Taipei trip was one of the best I had and as I have 3 days in Taipei, we did manage to visit a few more interesting places besides the usual Ximending and Shilin.

On the first night, Karen brought us to this famous restaurant that specialised in Hua Diao Ji. Though its not that cheap, the food was nice and the way they cooked our food is unique. Shall tell u why in a while.

The group of us minus Stella ( the photographer for this trip and someone who refused to be photographed ) outside the famous restaurant. Heard that it appeared on the news before and if you never reserve a table beforehand, you may need to wait for a very long time to get a table.

This is the Main Dish...Hua Diao Ji. The gravy was very thick and a bit salty and the cubes of chicken were very tender. It goes very well with the rice. Nice

Now this is the unique part...when half the bowl of the Hua Diao Ji ended in our stomach, the waiter came with a bowl of other assorted dishes...mushrooms, some meat dishes and some vegetables...and mixed them with the remaining Hua Diao Ji. Next, he would pour some 'Shen Qi Shui' (aka...Miracle/Magic Water) into the steamboat bowl. When the soup boil, its time to tuck in again. This whole cycle repeated itself for the next 2 times depending on what u order from the menu. Of course, with each new cycle came with a new dish. All in all, the new dish is cooked in the broth/gravy of the leftover dish. In the end, the soup may become very salty and its time to ask the waiter to add more water. Quite a unique experience I would say. The service was great too. The price, however, is on the high side.

The satisfied us after the meal.

So what's next after a sumptous dinner that made all of our tummy bigger ?

Time to head for Shilin Night Market !!!

Before we start our shopping spree@ Shilin....it's time for some desserts. We came to this shop that sell dou hua.

Karen feeding me *Shy*

Ordered the Duo Hua with Zheng Zhu (Pearl)....Initially, felt that it wasn't that great because the ice shavings were too hard and big...so it affected the whole enjoyment of eating the smooth light dou hua. However, it got better towards the end when the ice shavings have melted. I still prefer the one I had in HK though for it was much smoother and lighter :D

As usual, Shilin is brimming with people.

One thing that I will not fail to buy from the night markets in Taiwan is the freshly cut fruits. Their fruits look so fresh and sweet. Damn nice. After one bad experience the other time, I vowed not to buy from the fruit stall beside the road near the entrance of the shopping street. That time, the lady overcharged me...Some Guava, mango and Starfruit cost me S$20 !!! So expensive. I prefer to buy from the Old uncle who will position his stall further down the shopping street. One packet of his fruits as seen above cost approximate S$1.5 - S$ 2. Much cheaper than the one outside.

The Chou Tofu stall....U will know that its nearby before you even get to see it.

Shilin...We will back again !!!!!

Of course, before we head back to the hotel, we dropped by the Shilin food centre to TP some finger food to nibble on. Had my Da Da Ji Pa again !!! Shiokness!!!!!

Met up with Stella and Jas the next afternoon to shop at Ximending. Managed to buy for myself some T-shirts, a unique shirt ( quite like it ) and a jacket. Actually, there aren't much things for me to buy in Ximending. Prefer HK though. The girls, too, did not manage to shop much. Anyway, before we head to Zhong Xiao Dun Lu, we had our ...

Ah Zhong Oyster Mee Sua...Slurping the hot tasty Mee Sua in cold weather was damn Shiok !!!

Saw this stall selling Strawberries in Zhong Xiao...Big and very Red. Nice.

Instead of going to the usual Shilin or Tong Hua Jie, I suggested going to Shida Night Market. It's a virgin trip for the 3 of us and be honest, I really prefer this night market to the popular ones like Shilin. Like other night markets, its very crowded and because its located next to the University, the things sold here tend to be a little cheaper and cater more to students.

You will see more locals and students here than you will see at Shilin where it's infested with tourist.

Jas & Stella picking what they want eat at the very famous Lu Wei Stall. Had my favourite Pigs' intestines and stomach...Ooooiiiishiiii :P

We shared this plate of Lu wei noodles. Its quite nice and taste a bit different from the Lu wei sold in Singapore. I will definitely go back and have it again even though the queue can be put you off.

Brimming with people and there's lots of shops selling clothes. I saw a Paul Smith shirt that was selling for less than S$30 (Sales). Thought it was an imitate initially, after a closer look at the stall, it doesn't seem to be...hmmm...still quite apprehensive about it. Saw a grey jacket that I really like it and even the gals agree with me...but the jacket was too small for me :(

As usual, before we head back, had our usual dose of fried Taiwanese finger food...this time I bought my ji pa, tian bu la and cuttle fish :P

The next morning, Stella and I went to have our breakfast at

Famous for their Dou Jiang. Though this stall is located above the wet market (aka quite ulu and not visible from outside), the queue can tell you how popular this stall is with the locals.

Besides their dou jiang, their Fan Duan (above) is very nice too. Dough Fritters, chye po and pork floss wrapped in Glutinous Rice...really damn nice. Their Dan Bing and Hou Bing is nice too. A must try.

On the last night in Taipei, We had a very sumptous Shabu Shabu dinner at this popular restaurant that I heard even the celebrities frequent regularly. The moment you entered the restaurant, you can tell straight away that the dinner is gonna be expensive.

Lets TUCK IN !!!!

Shabu Shabu

The super fresh mussles....hey...do u know that its still moving ? Its ALIVE !!!

Poor Prawns...You may not notice in this pic but I can tell u that when they were presented to us on the plate....they were still MOVING !!!! NO JOKE....They were still alive with the satay stick piercing through their back...OUCH!!!!

In the end, we each paid about S$50 for the dinner...as expected. Very nice and good ambience, service was great, the food was nice and most importantly, the seafood was very fresh !!!!!

I miss my Taipei and the peeps whom I went out with.