Oh, Rachel. Back at it again with the backdated posts.
I feel like I can't move on and talk about more current events (as current as they can get, with my level of procrastination) if I don't at least write about my trip to Taipei with Nicholas from November last year. After all it was our first trip together so this milestone deserves to be documented beyond just photos. :)
Pretty sure most Singaporean couples start small with their first trips and pick nearer spots like the holy B trinity - Bangkok, Bali, Batam (all of which I've never been to). Wait, was it Batam or Bintan? I don't even know the difference between the two, they're both in Indonesia and sound similar and have pretty much the same activities so whatev HAHA. Anyway, I've had people asking me why we picked Taiwan for a first trip, isn't that too ambitious blahblahblah...nothing is too ambitious if you're going with the right person so I don't really see what the big deal is?
I also tend to operate by the GO BIG OR GO HOME philosophy.
The holy B trinity was never part of my travel bucket list. I've always set my sights higher on further places like France, Greece, Japan, USA, etc etc. Typical Singaporeans enjoy doing pretty much nothing but shopping, eating, and lazing about while on holiday, so the holy B trinity is ideal for them, but if I'm going to spend money on a vacation I'd much rather go for one where I can enjoy richer experiences (and by richer I don't mean in the monetary sense). I mean, why would I want to spend a few hundred bucks on a flight and hotel to do unexciting things like lying on a beach towel for hours and stuffing my face all day? It might be relatively affordable when compared to other destinations but I just don't feel like that $300+ spent is justified.
Sure, the clothes in Bangkok may be dirt cheap, but the clothes there are not my style so I'll probably walk away empty handed. I wouldn't fork out even just $3 for a basic bitch off-shoulder crop top that any generic Singaporean hoe is wearing. I would never go on holiday specifically to shop and as it is I'm perfectly content buying my Japanese knockoffs from Taobao.
That, and also 'cause I got stressed and started crying (for real HAHA) and saying we were gonna get mugged or kidnapped while attempting to book tix to Bangkok in 2016. So we decided to save up for a nicer, safer, cleaner destination instead.
In the plane!
Eww he's like a totally different person with his glasses on HAHAHA
Since we couldn't afford Japan at that time, Taiwan seemed like the most natural choice because it's like a more budget-friendly, Chinese version of it. And best of all there's no language barrier! (As shitty as my Mandarin may be I'm still adept enough to ask for directions and have a basic conversation okay) It was also supposed to be both our first times in a country we've never been to before, but work unexpectedly took that first Taiwan experience away from me a month before our trip. Luckily our itinerary was completely different and most of my work trip was spent in Taichung anyway, so everything worked out nicely yay.
~ Wonstar Hotel Ximen ~
Congratulations if you made it past my 600+ word intro
If anyone's interested, we got our Tigerair flights and 4-night hotel stay at Wonstar Hotel Ximen at about $544 per person (including breakfast, baggage, and taxes) off Expedia. It's quite a no-frills place, our room wasn't huge and there was no bathtub, but there was just enough space for both of us (and for me to leave my clothes and makeup all lying around). Well not like we were going to spend a lot of time indoors anyway so it was good enough.
The room was actually nicer than we expected and it had this simple but fresh design that was different from - and much better than - what we saw on Expedia. Turns out the hotel was recently renovated and Expedia didn't update their photos, so what we were met with was a pleasant surprise.
The corridors also had quirky touches like these:
With my pink luggage from Giant which I bought at 50% off ($35 only!!!) thanks to GSS. Haha don't be fooled, this photo was actually taken just before we left for the airport on our last day (hence the lack of eye makeup). Procrastination 101.
The buffet breakfast was cheena style - no croissants, no bacon. Even the eggs were cooked in a cheena way. I should've known, we were in Taiwan after all! I mostly survived on toast, braised tau pok, and sausages every morning and didn't touch anything else HAHA at least the sausages were the Western sort!!! The food wasn't bad, but I'm the kind of person who needs my pastries and English breakfasts.
~ Modern Toilet Restaurant + street mochi ~
We arrived in the late afternoon/early evening and by the time we checked in it was dinner time. So our agenda for the day was just to visit the poop-themed Modern Toilet Restaurant, which was less than a 10-minute walk from our hotel.
I love making poop jokes, telling everyone graphic details about my poop sessions, and well, pooping. And I've seen countless videos about this place since I was a kid, so I'm glad I finally fulfilled my childhood dream of visiting it! (Clearly I didn't have very high aspirations in life)
TOILET BOWLS FOR SEATS!!! Wow these toilet bowls are actually very pretty, if you look closely you'll see sand and shells and uhm dead starfish in the transparent covers. I need to have such a pretty toilet bowl in my future home!!! After all what's a queen without her throne?
We made a reservation in advance so we were led up to the 2nd floor which was empty save for another couple. This place will probably ALWAYS be a tourist hotspot, so unless you wanna sit with the crowd downstairs, it's best to make a booking online.
POOP, POOP EVERYWHERE!!!!! Hmm I wonder if they have regular patrons who are scat fetishists...
Even the table had a piece of shit in it, how very appetising
As with most themed cafes we expected the food to be not too great, so we skipped all the Western stuff like pasta and shared a hotpot - because it's quite impossible to fuck that up. I mean it's just soup and ingredients thrown in, right? The soup wasn't particularly tasty but it was decent enough with the sauce. We also ordered mozzarella sticks because you can't exactly fuck mozzarella up either, and that was quite nice.
The hotpot came with some ice-cream that was coiled up like a piece of poop. It was cute but tasted like blended up ice mixed with cheapo chocolate and we could actually feel some tiny ice chunks inside. Oh well. Guess you could say it was.............shit. *ba dum tss*
Imagine if someone actually shat this much in a urinal
I wouldn't visit this place again but it was something that definitely had to be done so I don't regret it! Not visiting this toilet restaurant when in Taiwan is like not going to Shake Shack when in New York!!! Except that I would totally visit Shake Shack again cos the burgers are SO. GOOD.
A random shithead
More shitheads. We grabbed the poop stuffed toy from the shelves as props. Check out the flies on the wall.
Booth seat shaped like a toilet bowl
EVEN THE SINKS ARE TOILET BOWL-SHAPED. They really pulled out all the stops, man.
🎵 I'M A POOPY POOPER,YEAH!!!! (Sung to the tune of the Spongebob Goofy Goober song) 🎵
Looks like pee but it's really honey
My favourite was the one with honey, but they also have other flavours like peanut and matcha. The milk one was horrible for some reason, it was supposed to be condensed milk but it had a very smelly taste?? Like, you know how when you eat mutton you can kind of "taste" the farm?? Yeah, this condensed milk had that kind of smell/taste bleaurghhhh after that I just stuck to honey all the way.
Check out the sign, they spelled Mochi as Mgchi HAHAHA.
