keykey travels round the world

Transfer of funds, Currency Conversion aka Forex and Purchase of stocks/ETF

2019-07-18T14:57:00.000+08:00

I have been using the app instead of website to buy stocks for the longest time as it is far simpler. However, I still conduct the fund transfer part through desktop as i find it easier for this part

Below is a guide on the entire sequence of Fund Transfer > Conversion of currency (ie. FOREX) > Purchase of stocks. To note, the Conversion of currency & Purchase of stocks are actually done in the same manner, just that the former is to purchase a certain currency while the latter is to purchase stocks. For the sake of simplicity, I will assume that the account is a cash account and not a margin account.

The general steps are:

1) (Using desktop) Fund Transfer

a) After logging into the client portal, go to Menu> Transfer & Pay> Transfer Funds

b) Choose the currency of the funds that you will be depositing. Then click "How to transfer funds" for the Bank Wire.

c) Thereafter, key in the details of your bank account that you will be transferring from. It is recommended to save bank info to speed up subsequent fund transfer (this allows you to only key in the amount for future transactions without keying in the account number and sending institutions). Press "Continue"

d) Congrats! Now, you have created a Notification in IB to inform them of the incoming funds. You will also be given the details on where to transfer the funds to. For SGD, you will typically be given a Citibank Singapore account to transfer to (this acc number is unique to each IB acc).

e) Now, head to your bank internet banking and transfer funds to the bank account number as per the bank wire instructions in step d). Recommend to use FAST transfer. There will be no charge for this transfer, both on IB and the bank sides.

2) (Using App) Conversion of Currency (FOREX)

a) After logging in, go to "Portfolio" to check if your funds are already in.

b) It should be reflected under the cash balances. In this example, there is SGD1.08k inside.

c) Now, we are going to convert the SGD into USD as we want to buy IWDA which is denominated in USD. Go to "Order Ticket" to find USD.SGD. This will allow you to buy USD using SGD.

d) Search for USD.SGD pair and click on "Forex".

e) You should see this which indicates the current price. In this example, it indicates the price of 1USD is now 1.36115. People are bidding (ie. trying to buy) at 1.36110 while people are asking (ie. trying to sell) USD at 1.36115. High and Low simply indicates the highest and lowest for the day. You can also see the chart on the changes across different time period. There is also a section on your position. I find that part helpful on informing me roughly how much USD have I bought and what was the average price. Now, click on buy (ie. I want to buy USD)

f) You will reach the "Buy Order" page where you can set the parameters of your order. In this example, I want to buy 100 pieces of USD (ie. USD 100) at 1.36115SGD per piece. Limit means an order to buy or sell at this price of better (eg. If it is 1.35, it will go through too) while Day means that this order will be active for today only (will be cancelled at the end of the day). Thereafter, slide the bar at the bottom to confirm.

It is recommended for you to quote a price that is slightly higher than the current price (eg. 1.3615) so that you can get your order filled (ie. make a successful order) immediately. This will allow you to quickly use the money for purchase of stocks.

g) After confirming the order, you should see your order being reflected at the previous screen (both on the graph and at the bottom). (Pardon me, this example indicates a buy of 100 at 1.35 which differs from the previous step). When the order is filled, you will see the side will be Fill 100@1.35 or Fill 80@ 1.349 (could be partially filled at times or filled at a better price), etc. You can search online to find out what limit, day, etc means. Alternatively, buy and read ST book. He has quite a good explanation of them.

h) After the order is filled, you can go back to "Portfolio" and should see the USD that you have under "USD Cash" (can't see the exact amt in this screenshot).

3) (Using App) Purchase of Stocks (IWDA in this example which is denominated in USD)

a) With the USD funds, we can now buy the IWDA stocks. This is essentially the same step as that of the FOREX. Go to "Order Ticket"

b) Search for IWDA and click on "Stock" under "IWDA LSEETF". Take note there is AEB and LSEETF. You will want to buy the one under LSEETF

c) Thereafter, you will land at the page of IWDA. Refer to Step 2e) for the explanation on this screen. Click on "Buy"

d) As per step 2f), indicate the amount you will want to buy and at what price. Slide the bar thereafter. In this example, a limit order of 100 at 58.7000USD is being made. Similarly, you may want to put in an order that is a bit higher to ensure it is successful.

f) There will be a pop up. This simply means that the 58.7 market price indicated is delayed (ie. not live prices. Think the delay is 15mins?). Just press Yes as it is not important in this case to ensure that you have live prices.

g) There will be another pop up. Just press "Accept and continue".

h) Your order will be reflected in the "Orders" section. In this example, there are 2 orders - 1@58USD and 25@58.2.

i) Once it is filled, you should be able to see it at your portfolio page with you having a position on IWDA and the numbers of pieces possessed. Take note, you will also see a position in the USD.SGD. Don't worry about it. It just indicates the amount you have exchanged. I find it useful to track the average rate that I have exchanged my SGD to USD.

j) Alternatively, if you want to check on the trades, including a few days ago, you can go to "Order & Trades".

k) You should be able to see the trades at the price bought and commission incurred.

The above will apply to any other buying of stocks. Hope it helps!

Moving/ Converting From a Single to Joint Account in Interactive Broker (Continued)

2019-05-07T14:49:00.000+08:00

This is a continuation of the previous post and focus on:

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b) Send in a request from your individual account to ask for transfer of everything to the joint account

c) Submit whatever is required (This took the longest due to replies to and fro through the request ticket)

d) (Optional) Backup/ download all statements from the individual account

e) Wait for everything to be effected

f) (Optional) Ask for IB to close the individual account.

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b) After your new account is up, go to message center and compose a message. This is what I wrote using my individual account. Feel free to use (do update the part in yellow with your 2 account numbers):

Summary: Transfer from Single account to Joint account

This message request and authorise IB to manually transfer everything (stocks owned, positions, cash available, reports, trades data, etc) from my single account U1XXXXXX to the joint account U2XXXXXXX.

For assistance pls. Thanks.

c) Thereafter, you will receive replies asking for documents and verification. Below are what to expect and to provide.

You will get the auto reply before a few days later, asking for documentation.

The above is the request for documentation. There are quite a few things and I missed out a few, resulting in the process to be a bit longer. The items required are:

1) Proof that the deposits done thus far were not third party - For this, you can just give the bank statements that contain the bank account number and your name. Better still if the statement contains the transactions to IB
2) Completed transfer form - You will receive this through email. Need you and your spouse to fill and sign before sending it back (through the ticket is possible). For the reason, I put "To change account from individual to joint with wife". For the signatures, may sure that they are consistent with whatever you are providing for s/n 3) (eg. passport).
3) Identification cards for all parties - Initially, I provided NRIC pics. However, they said that signatures are required. This is tricky as the NRIC does not have signatures. You can consider sending in pictures of passports instead as there is a place for signatures in the first page of the passports (of course, do take picture of the first page and second page with your particulars)
4) To do verification over the phone - This requires both you and your spouse to call in for verification. They will ask you a few questions, akin to bank verification over the phone. Do note the hours on the website before calling in. For me, I called the HK office and did a conference call with my spouse to settle it fast. The HK office was quite well versed with this and speaks fluent english.

This is the pic of the transfer form you will receive in the email.

After everything is done, it will take a few days before they inform you on the actual day they will perform the transfer. Do remember to d) (Optional) Backup/ download all statements from the individual account if not done so. Avoid performing any transactions too and stop any ongoing trades.

Do also remember how much cash/stocks you have so that you can check back when the transfer is completed.

e) After that, you will receive the above message informing everything is done. Just go in and ensure everything is fine. You should still see 2 accounts, switch accordingly to check. I took me around 1 month for the entire process above (mostly due to misunderstanding on the documents to be submitted)

f) Thereafter, you can ask IB to close the individual account. I am at this stage and they are taking a while to close the individual account.

Hope the above sharing helps.

Moving/ Converting From a Single to Joint Account in Interactive Broker

2019-05-06T07:02:00.002+08:00

A while ago, I thought of how to manage my estate should any untoward happen to me. The key is how to allow access/ transfer the interactive broker portfolio to my spouse in a most fuss free manner and to avoid estate tax.

I went to shiny things thread and the other interactive broker thread on hwz to ask around (Credits to BBCWatcher) and what i learnt are:

a) To avoid estate tax legally, keep your total U.S estate taxable assets - which includes any assets individually or jointly - across all accounts (worldwide) at or under USD$60,000.

- IWDA is not part of the taxable assets as it is Irish-domiciled

- I understand US Treasuries are not counted as taxable assets

- Monies in Interactive brokers are considered as taxable assets

- US Stock in any broker are considered. Do take into account those under your Standard Chartered or other brokers as they will sum up together

- If it is a joint account, it will count towards you and your wife. Eg. Person A pass away, it will count fully towards his taxable asset even though it is a joint account between Person A and B. If Person B later pass away, these monies will count towards her taxable assets too.

b) Alternatively, buy insurance to offset the tax

Nonetheless, there are benefits to a joint account which is ease of access. I figure that as long as I keep within the taxable limits (which is easy for me), i can reap the benefits of a joint account - Tenants with Rights of Survivorship.

The definitions of the different types of Joint acc under IB (with the key benefit highlighted in yellow) are:

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Joint Account

An Interactive Brokers account owned by two individuals. A Joint Account can be associated with one of three customer types:

Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship - A form of ownership in which two or more parties have equal interests in the account and in which title to the entire account goes to the survivor(s) upon the death of one of the account holders. This process avoids court probate of the property, but may have some tax consequences which should be reviewed with a tax advisor prior to opening the account.
Community Property - Community Property is property received by a husband and wife during the marriage, except inheritances and specific gifts to one of the spouses. This form of ownership is recognized only in certain states which have community property laws and each spouse has an undivided one-half interest in the account. The states with community property laws at this time are: Louisiana, Arizona, California, Texas, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico and Wisconsin. Upon the death of one spouse, the community property in the account generally passes to the other spouse with certain exceptions, including Texas, Nevada and New Mexico.
Tenants in Common - A form of ownership by two or more persons in which each person has an undivided interest in the account even though the percentage of interests may not be equal. Unlike joint tenants, there is no right of survivorship if one of the account holders ides. Upon the death of one tenant in common, a probate proceeding (court-supervised administration of the estate of the deceased) must be held to transfer the ownership interest in the account. This type of joint account requires that you enter ownership percentages in the account application.

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I figured that this can resolve the issue of transfer in the event of demise.

I set out to get this done and the instructions are at this page.

I must say the process is not complicated but very long as it took a while for IB to get back on the required documents and that some of the terms/requirements may diff and we need to find the appropriate documents that are relevant to their context.

In gist, the steps are:

a) Create a new joint account with you and your spouse name from your account setting.

b) Send in a request from your individual account to ask for transfer of everything to the joint account

c) Submit whatever is required (This took the longest due to replies to and fro through the request ticket)

d) (Optional) Backup/ download all statements from the individual account

e) Wait for everything to be effected

f) (Optional) Ask for IB to close the individual account.

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a) Create a new joint account with you and your spouse name from your account setting

This is a fuss free process just like how you set up your own account, except that you login and create from your account setting.

These are the steps. The parts to note are some of the headings refer to (primary holder) while some are (secondary holder). Pls fill in correctly. Other than that, should be quite self-explanatory.

Will create additional posts on the steps b - f

Transferring USD from DBS eMulti-Currency Autosave account into Interactive Broker account

2019-04-22T18:14:00.001+08:00

Scenario
The scenario here is that I have a USD dollar cheque issued by a Singapore company which I want to bank into my Interactive Brokers account.

Approach
The best approach is if the amount in USD can be deposited directly into Interactive Broker without any FX conversion, thereby avoiding any losses due to the conversion.

Based on the thread, it appears that one can set up an DBS Multi currency Account (eMulti-Currency Autosave (eMCA)) and then bank in the USD cheque at no cost. Thereafter, you can do a DBS remit which is at 0 cost currently for USD to the USA bank account for IB. I tried it on a working day and it only took less than an hour for the money to be updated!

To note
To note, IB does not accept third party transfer and for the account, there is min 6 months opening (to avoid early closure fee) and fall below fee for average daily balance under 3k sgd. Hence, if you have a cheque issued to your family member but you want to bank it into your IB account, you can create a joint account and then do the transfer (proposed to have your name as the first name to avoid issues with 3rd party transfers). I heard can create 3 names joint account from the CSO but have not tried before.

I also understand that for individual eMCA, you can just apply online if you have an existing DBS account. (Only need to go the bank if you are doing joint acc)

Steps (Press the pics to scale it up and see in higher res)
(Assuming that DBS account has been set up and the USD cheque has been successfully banked in)

1) First, create a transfer instruction in Interactive Broker, just like what you will do for a SGD inward transfer. After selecting USD as the currency, press Bank Wire

2) Fill in the details of your DBS MCA

3) After confirming the details and pressing continue, you will get the details on where to deposit it to. Take note that it is a US account in CITIBANK US.

4) Now, your job on IB side is done. Now to DBS ibanking to remit the money. Log into DBS ibanking and press the "DBS Remit and Overseas Transfer"

5) Select United States as the destination and make sure both the "sending" and "receiving" are in USD. Key in the amount that you want to transfer in. As the fee is $0, both amounts should be the same. Press "Start a Transfer"

6) Make sure that the right account is selected. It should be the USD multicurrency account. Increase your daily transfer limit if need be. Check that the amount is correct and the currency type is correct.

7) Fill in the recipients details as per the routing instructions created at IB side. Recipient name and payment details for recipient will be the same. "/" is not accepted, can just drop it. For the recipient address, use the Interactive brokers address and not the bank address. Make sure the account number is the unique number given to you in the routing instructions. Choose Citibank US.

8) After you press next, you will need to verify the details. Make sure all are in order. You should see something like this. When all is good, press next and the transaction will be completed.

9) The money will be immediately deducted from your DBS account. I did it on a working day and the money is immediately reflected in Interactive Broker side (less than a hr, around 30mins)

Shiny Things on Hardwarezone forum

2019-04-22T17:44:00.005+08:00

A bit out of place.... But have been following Shiny Things thread on hardwarezone forums for quite some time and have been following his investment method. Got his ebook too (pls note that the current updated version is 3rd edition)!

Learnt quite a lot from him and the others who are on the forum thread. Been trying to optimise the methods along the way. Decided to add to this blog to chronicle some of the things I learnt, especially the methods, so that I can come back and refer to, especially for Interactive Brokers.

Other than the usual buy and sell transactions, I have learnt these:
a) Transfer of USD from Singapore account to Interactive brokers.
b) Creation of Joint account and moving all from individual account to joint account

Taiwan 2017 - Day 2 (Part 1) - Supermarketing, Toufen Backyard Garden

2017-05-16T22:21:00.002+08:00

It is only 5.40am and the sun is shining brightly on Keykey ass! What an early daybreak. Looking out of the window, Keykey can see that a lot of people are walking/jogging at the track in the park. The park looks very popular.

As per the routine for every trip, first stop will be the supermarket! To stock up on water. Checked out the map and found that Taiwan has quite a few supermarket chains - 頂好Wellcome (equivalent to Sheng Siong), 全聯福利pxmart, Carrefour, A-mart, RT-mart.

There is one pxmart a few blocks away and Keykey said let's drive over. It was only around 7am but

it is already quite bright outside.

Parked along the street, just outside the supermarket. Take note not to block the small lane leading

onto the main road. These small lanes appear to be quite narrow but apparently, are still being used

for residents in coming in and out of the neighbourhood.

Big Key said.. "You know vehicles are cheap when a vehicle can be used as a advertisement board!"

Fellow counterparts of Keykey in the supermarket

Yummy food for Keykey

Wide range of milk powder for Baby Key

Not forgetting the diapers too

Lots of diapers and prices are a but cheaper than Singapore.

Keykey and co lugged back many bottles of water. The rented car was definitely useful for it. After returning to the hotel, Big Key volunteered to go out to buy lunch. Initially, he wanted to try this noodles stall just next to the family mart but found out that it was not opened.

However, just in front of the noodles stall, there is a small stall selling breakfast. Big Key spoke to the auntie and she shared that she open everyday except Sundays, 4am to 11am. Big Key loves buying food from these stalls, not sure if it is due to novelty, cheap or both!

The stall just beside family mart

Lots of selection. Apparently, the auntie also sells noodles though it is not on the menu.

After buying from this stall, Greedy Big Key went to Family Mart to buy even more food! Those precooked food are very enticing.

Big breakfast for 2. Guess which are from the auntie and which are from Family Mart.

These dumplings were oily and nice.

Chosen by Lady Key.

Looks normal.

But apparently, the patty is made up of ham cheese and flour. Yum yum.

Prata wrapped egg wrapped fillings is a common breakfast in Taiwan

After breakfast, Keykey and co. made their way towards Nanzhuang Old Street. It is the equivalent of Jiufen and is a must visit at Miaoli. Along the way, Big Key suddenly said that there is a place call Toufen Backyard Garden that everyone could visit. He was so proud of it and everyone just follow him.

But who knows... Keykey and co. got lost in the area looking for this backyard!

The location as pointed out by google map... but it is not the actual site!

Turn here turn there, even pass through a cementary! Finally, Keykey and co. realised that the backyard garden is not a specific location but the entire area. Google Map does not incidcate all the teahouse and sights at this area. There appear to be trails here too but there were not enough time to explore.

This is one of the location that Big Key parked the car for everyone to walk around. Went into this garden with a tea house. The tea house looks to be very popular and offer a good view of the surrounding.

Views from the place. Check out the blooming white Tung flower in the distance.

Taiwan 2017 - Day 1 (Part 3) - First Taste of Miaoli

2017-05-14T11:28:00.002+08:00

Reaching Miaoli, Keykey can see that the neighbourhood is visibly different from Taipei. The pace seems to be a bit slower and people more relaxed. The buildings are also shorter and more spaced apart. This was something which Keykey quite enjoyed.

Upon reaching, Keykey dropped off the luggages and Big Key went to park the vehicle at the hotel carpark. The good thing is.. parking is free!

Keykey is impressed by the hotel lobby!

Appreciating art.

Although Keykey and co. arrived a bit later than the check in time, the room was not ready yet. However, the room more than make up for it. The big is king size and there is also a long table on top of the study desk (not shown) in front of the bed, allowing all Baby Key's steriliser and food equipment to be set up.

Welcome cakes in the room.

Guess this was the cause for the delay. Big Key had requested for a cot and bathtub which was provided complimentary. The cot is good and clean!

Pom Pom for Baby Key

After resting for a while, Keykey and co went out to look for dinner! Initially, Big Key wanted to bring everyone to this Hakka family restaurant recommended by the front counter. It was only 2 blocks away and they started walking but quickly realised that pedesterian walkways are patchy and the existing roads and not good for stroller. As such, they went back to get the car and drove over.

Passing by the restaurant, it looks a big old and they decided to go another place. hahaha.. (though Keykey went back there on the 2nd night).

They went driving along Zhongyang Road as it was supposedly full of restaurants. Driving in Miaoli is quite an experience as the road took into account motorcyclists (extra lane for them) and you will need to move slightly left and right after junctions.

Parking wise, you can park at those white lots along the road and parking attendant will come by to put a parking ticket on your windscreen which you can take to convenience stores to make payment.

Keykey finally decided to settle for this Zichar like place!

Looks popular. Lots of people drinking and eating.

The menu. Quite affordable.

Buys for 4 adults. Include 1 fish, 1 meat, 1 egg, 2 veg and 4 people worth of rice (was given much more though).

Keykey gave the fish 5 thumbs up! It was nicely fried and not too dry. It comes with sweet sauce but Keykey didn't pour it over. It is only 200nt! Very value for money.

The elusive egg (taken by Big Key who was too hungry to stay still)

Gongbao chicken. Nicely fried though portion not a lot.

This was the wild card chosen by Keykey. Supposedly it is lotus roots leaves. Big Key thought it was lotus roots and ordered. Quite a unique taste though.

Kangkong. Normal. Nothing to rave about.

Big Key took the namecard and said that we could ordered beforehand and go down to collect on other days.

It was overall a nice meal and Big Key started looking out for the phrase 快炒 for the next few days, equivalent to our zichar in Singapore. Overall, it cost around 30sgd only.

After dinner, Keykey decided to go out for a jaunt! To walk off the dinner he claimed. (Secretly, wanted to check out the area around the hotel.) In front of the hotel, there is a big park and even though it was 9pm, there are still a lot of people running there. To the left, there is a family mart. Keykey decided to pop by to check it out.

A mechanic shop just outside the family mart. Nice colours!

No one in store?!! Free for all!!! Coffee, Oden, Hotdogs, Precooked meals! Spoilt for choices.

Lady Key decided to get tea eggs and the roasted sweet potato

Nice packaging for the sweet potato

The yummy sweet potato. It is indeed SWEET.

Upon returning to the hotel, Big Key was tasked to do the laundry. There is a laundry room at the 3rd floor.

Opening hours for it. Though Big Key thinks that it is accessible 24-7.

Comes with 3 washing machine, 3 dryers and 1 iron. All free to use.

Taiwan 2017 - Day 1 (Part 2) - Rent and Drive to Miaoli!

2017-05-14T00:43:00.003+08:00

Keykey had a hard time figuring out the transportation means to Miaoli. He had booked rooms at Maison de Chine Hotel Miaoli which is at Zhunan part of Miaoli. Initially, he had thought of High Speed Rail and then taxi but it does not really solve the downstream problem of travelling around Miaoli where a lot of sights do not have easy access to. Next, he thought of chartering a taxi for the 4 days but there may be a lot of scheduling issues as Baby key feeding time is not so fixed and he may need to head back to hotel at times to rest.

In the end, Keykey decided that we should just rent a car and drive around. This will provide us with a lot of convenience and at the same time, offered a new experience. This is not without challenges though.

Firstly, most of the rental vehicle website are in Chinese. Though the booking process is fairly easy, the terms and conditions are hard to read in Chinese (eg. some companies charge extra for returning the car at a different location from pickup. Known as甲租乙還)
Then there is the challenge on integrating the pick up and drop off into the itinerary. For instance, most companies do not have the vehicle at the airport and there is a need to figure out how to get to the rental company.
There is also the need to get over the fact that the Taiwan is Left Hand Drive, different from Singapore which is Right Hand Drive.
The vehicle must also be right sized. Keykey is travelling with 4 adults, 1 baby (who requires baby seat) and 4 pieces of luggage. Keykey thought of getting a Toyota Wish as it is quite affordable but worried that there may not be enough space.

As this is the first time that Keykey will be renting a car at Taiwan, he decided to choose from the major companies and narrowed the following companies:

Avis - They have a booth at Airport and vehicle can be collected from there.
Easyrent aka Hotai Rental aka 和運租車 - Very popular company and they appeared to be affiliated to Toyota. All vehicles are Toyota and there are many good reviews only. Key point is they don't charge for 甲租乙還.
Car-plus
Pony Rent

In the end, Keykey booked Easyrent as it provides pickup to the company office to collect the car, no charge for 甲租乙還 and the return location is conveniently at Taipei Main station, fitting into out itinerary.

Big key booked through the weblink provided earlier and communicated with them through email. No payment is required for booking. Interesting, when Big Key tried to book more than 1 month in advance, there is no Wish available for the Taoyuan Airport branch but when he tried again nearing the date, there are Wish available.

After Big Key told the rental car counter of his booking with Hotai, the counter guy gave Hotai a call and the Hotai guy said that he will be down in 10 mins. Keykey then led everyone out to the pickup area where the Hotai guy arrived soon. He then drove everyone in a van to the Hotai office at Dayuan area which is around 10mins away

The office to do the paperwork. The paperwork took a while around 30mins (took a while to understand where to return the car at TPE main station. More on this on day 4). They accept, visa, mastercard, jcb, amex and cash. Got a baby seat together with the Wish. The baby seat is quite dirty and Keykey used muslin cloths to lay the seat for Baby key to sit. In total, we book for a total of 3 days, 3 hours. The salesman gave us a bit of discount and rounded it off to 9k nt.

The car that we rented. It was quite well maintained.

The last row was put down to fit all the luggages. Take note that the GPS (Garmin) is in chinese, a bit outdated (2015 version). The rental company shared that we can use it by typing in Chinese or the contact number of the place we want to go. However, we didn't try. The GPS was simply used for highlighting to us where all the speed cameras are. hahaa. Lady Key's dad brought along a Phone holder and it was used to hold Big Key's phone and Google Map (tethered to the earlier Simcard) was used throughout the journey. It was very reliable and sufficient for the drives.

To note, the rental for the car excludes the payment for the usage of the freeways (aka erp like prices). This will be paid when you return the car. They will pull out the total cost for it. The company said a ball park will be around 1k to 1.5k nt. However, our 3 days of drive only cost us 220nt.

Big Key drove all the way to our hotel at Miaoli. It took around an hour and the freeway was well maintained and good to drive on. Interestingly, motorcycles are not allowed on the freeway. Big Key said to ensure you are on the right side of the road, just remember as the driver, you must be closest to the mid of the road and indeed, he didn't go wrong!

Taiwan 2017 - Day 1 (Part 1) - Singapore to Taiwan with Baby Key!

2017-05-13T23:30:00.001+08:00

It had been a while since Keykey had blogged. Over these years, Big Key and Lady Key had gotten married and gave birth to Baby Key.

Keykey is very excited and wanted to bring Baby Key overseas to take a look at the sights. Keykey fondly remembers his trip to Taiwan back in 2011 and decided to bring Baby Key there!

It was one of the most memorable trip where Keykey, together with Big Key and Lady Key travelled to Jiufen, Hualien, Taichung and Cingjing, catching the sunrise at Hehuanshan. Keykey particularly enjoys the process then of planning the visit and executing the plans.

Similarly, Keykey will bring everyone along on a F&E trip. The participants include Big Key, Lady Key, Baby Key, Lady Key parents and Keykey!

It will be a 8 days trip, covering Miaoli (4days) and Taipei (4 days). Keykey researched intensively and found that it is the Tung Flower season this May. The Tung Flower is something special to the Hakka community and the Hakka community is quite big at Miaoli County which is in between Taoyuan and Taichung. Not too far off from Taipei.

For the trip, Big Key and Lady Key used their miles accumulated to book SIA business class tickets for the leg to Taiwan so that Baby Key can have a more comfortable journey and economy class for the return leg.

This is the first time Keykey is taking Business Class!

After collecting his tickets SQ876, Keykey headed straight for the SilverKris Lounge at Terminal 3 Changi Airport. Yum yum! The food selection is not bad and more than enough for his tiny stomach!

Big Key Portion! Not Keykey's portion

Futuristic looking LG machine to iron clothes automatically. Too bad Keykey does not have clothes to iron.

Keykey has not gone to the airport for far too long. There are now many new machines for Keykey to tap tap tap. This is a machine to change leftover foreign currency into gift cards.

Then, there are these machines where Keykey can buy overseas sim cards, socks and even diapers for Baby Key! There is also a mystery surprise which Keykey tried. He dropped in $2 and got a pair of ankle socks.

The business class seats. Very comfortable and can be lengthened to almost lying position. Baby Key had a fun time climbing on Big Key throughout the trip. Baby Key's box of puffs at the cup holder!

The air stewardess gave Baby Key some toys to accompany him. Keykey wanted one for his very own!

Hi fellow plane on the right!

Clear skies ahead

Appetiser for Big Key. The breads are hot and nice

Before the trip, Big Key had ordered a Grilled Angus Beef Burger through the Book the Cook service. It was very good!

More pics of the juicy burger

Lady Key's Poached Egg served with Hollandaise Sauce through Book the Cook service too. Nothing too special though.

Baby Key's meal is not featured though as he slept during the flight. Luckily, Keykey kept it safe for him. It consists of numerous bottles of baby food.

The flight took around 5 hours and soon we landed at Taoyuan International Airport. Upon touch down, Big Key headed straight for Counter 3 Unite Traveler to collect his 10 days Chunghwa Telecom Sim Card. It consists of 10 days data (in fact a bit longer as the first day of activation is complimentary and not included in the 10 days) and NT$100 credit for calling. He bought it through Klook and only paid $18.50 for it (after USD 3 aka SGD4.50 discount). It is far cheaper than the original price of $23 due to the referral code from his friend. You can sign up through this link to enjoy the USD3 aka SGD4.50 discount! 3/5/7 days plans are available too.

After exiting the arrival hall into the public area, turn right and turn right.

Further details at the booth. Do bring along your passport and another photo ID. It took only 2mins to get the card with pre-purchase through Klook. Simcard needles are available there for free usage. Keykey used it to hotspot everyone with an old iphone and it works well. Fast internet speed and good coverage throughout Taiwan (impt when Keykey starts his adventure in the woods of Miaoli!)

After getting the sim, we went to get our rental car. There is this booth on the left side just outside of the arrival hall. Approach it and tell him about the rental or rent direct. He will know what to do and who to contact.

Europe in Autumn - London Day 1

2014-11-24T17:01:00.003+08:00

After so many hours later that Keykey could not count on his tiny fingers, they reached London Heathrow airport!

While waiting to collect their luggage, they found a SIM card vending machine with several telcos. Would come in useful for those who need to stay connected at all times. Such as Keykey!

Prior to their trip, the Keys had already decided on which SIM card to get. They wanted to have 1) internet on the go, and 2) needed free roaming as they were visiting several countries in Europe. After much research, they read that SIM cards from three network had free roaming to 16 countries under their 'feel at home destinations' scheme and it seemed like a godsend!

They ordered a free SIM card to be delivered to their hotel and were happy that the hotel had received it. The topup can be purchased from the cashier at supermarkets. They went for the all-you-can-eat data deal at 15 pounds which would last for 30 days. Keykey heard that tethering is not allowed, but that was fine with them.

Instructions in the SIM card package.

Futuristic looking airport

Train station is linked to the airport

Look out for the 'Underground' logo when trying to find the station.

Also known as the tube =)

Do note that some stations may not have lifts. This might be a consideration when lugging huge luggage.

Keykey was hungry after the hard work of sitting on the luggage which the 2 other keys carried it! The trio headed to a nearby Sainsbury supermarket to get food.

Meal deal at 3 pounds which included a bread, a snack and a drink! Just look out for the labels that states the item is part of a meal deal.

Pizzas

Europe in Autumn - Singapore to London

2014-11-24T15:08:00.000+08:00

Big key and Lady Key strike again! This time to Europe in autumn!

They bought tickets from Singapore Airlines during a sale and paid around 1.2k per pax. Keykey as usual stowed away in their luggage and flew for free.

They visited: London - Paris - Venice - Zurich

Off we go!

It was the trio's first time on an A380 plane. Exciting!

USB port available to charge handphone. Movies on the in-flight entertainment await!

Breakfast

Keykey's first time seeing cereal and milk that comes in a easy-to-eat packet. Just pull open the blue foil and pour the milk into the cereal bowl. Viola~

The plane was fairly empty and the trio managed to grab a 3-seater each. Nap time after breakfast!

Very glad to be able to lie down and snuggle in blankets for the 13+ hour flight!

Phuket in June - Day 3

2014-07-03T11:59:00.000+08:00

The weather in June was mostly hot with heavy showers. We were fortunate that it rained mostly when we were indoors and didnt get wet. But do be very careful when driving around at night on wet roads.

View of roads

We made a trip to Promthep Cape which was around 30+km away from our hotel. Wanted to make a trip there on the second day but it was already dark. So decided to go off early on the third day!

Reached just after noon and there were not many people around. Bring along sunblock/cap/umbrella as it can get very sunny

Great views at Promthep Cape. Saw many people climbing down the end. Keykey would have loved to climb all the way there!

Big Key and Lady Key bought ice-creams (Magnum icecream very cheap!) at a Family Mart just at the foot of the hill up to eat. Super nice!

After finishing, Big Key and Lady Key decided to head to Kata to have lunch. They remembered this Orchid Restaurant outside Sugar Palm Grand Hillside Hotel which they visited previously. The food is good and cheap! Decided to go again!

Too bad the restaurant has been taken over. The whole deco and prices are similar though.

Nice view from the restaurant which is on a hillside

Our orders. The lemon squid is the best! Very fresh and light on the palate.

After finishing lunch, the 2 Keys went to window shop around the area. Big Key managed to find his all time fav phuket food

Banana pancake with condensed milk! This is the nicest one he has ever find. It is from the motorcycle stall just outside the 7-11 at Kata, next to Mali restaurant.

After the lunch, the 2 Keys decided to go for a massage at Let's Relax Phuket. It is just near to Jungceylon Shopping Center, Patong. Though not very cheap, it has a very good ambience and professional masseurs.

Do drive back from Patong to the Laguna area early as the road is steep and windy!

Last night of the Phuket trip!

Phuket in June - Day 2

2014-07-03T11:58:00.001+08:00

Wakeywakey!

Woke up for breakfast! Lots of selections!

International selection with thai food, continental breakfast, etc.

There is still egg benedict!! Nice Nice.

After eating, Big Key and Lady Key set off to Patong for more food!! Guess where is this next place...

It is No. 6 restaurant! Just outside Jungceylon shopping center, Patong. It is a favorite among most Singaporeans. The food is cheap and not bad. Lady key's first time to the place though.

The ginger chicken is quite nice and fragrant.

After eating, Lady Key wanted to buy souvenirs and thus, they went to a 100 baht shop. It is quite a distance away from the shopping center, around 10 mins walk but all the things are very cheap. It is the cheapest place the pair had found thus far. They bought all the things from there. No need to bargain. Just buy and their mission is completed. Hahaha.

Shop and shop.. Soon, it was time for them to go back to the hotel. They initially thought of eating near the hotel but soon, realized that there was not much selection and the food are super pricey!

They ended up at this restaurant called Chaba. It is like a Chinese seafood restaurant.

Situated around a lake. The view is quite good.

The food price was around Singapore standard.

Back to the hotel....

Surprise from the hotel!

Phuket in June - Day 1

2014-07-03T11:57:00.003+08:00

Big key and Lady key decided to fly to Phuket for a short holiday. Keykey was left at home and could only look at the photos afterwards.

Free sim cards are available at the arrival hall at Phuket airport. Let the friendly counter staff know the type of phone/sim card you need. As we were using an iphone and didnt bring the pin, we asked the staff to help us insert the sim card. It's a true move sim card. The staff recommended us to get the unlimited data package for 150 baht for 7 days. We bought the topup card at a 7-11 and asked the staff there to help us with it too.

Do grab the free hard copy maps at the airport. These were very useful as we didn't manage to top up our sim card immediately and relied on the old trusty hard copy maps to get around!

Prior to the trip, Big key booked a Honda Jazz from Hertz to zip around town! After coming out from the airport, walk all the way to the end (near the exit glass doors) to get to the Hertz counter. We made a reservation online and paid upon collection of the car. It costed us around 2.6k baht for 3 days rental. The company also offers an full insurance package with no deductible called SCDW, however our travel insurance already covered the deductible so we just have the normal CDW..

There are many car rental company in Phuket. But this is the first time we are driving overseas and thus, decided to get the bigger names (Hertz, Avis, Budget, National, Sixt) for credibility. Do note the thailand version of the website is cheaper. The numerous car rental are situated inside the airport and the cars at the carpark, so no need to find transport to another place to pick up the car.

Big Key said that it was actually a choice between a vios and a jazz but due to the curvy phuket road, a jazz will be more maneuverable and we also no need so much space (Keykey was left at home.. LOL)

The car rental companies in phuket airport (HKT)

Off we go!

Roomy boot. We had a mid sized luggage and there was ample space.

We headed for Dusit Thani Laguna which was a 20-30 mins drive from the airport. Parking at the hotel was free. In fact.. in thailand, almost anywhere is free parking.

Drinks, cold towels and flowers to welcome us!

'Deluxe ocean front view room' with nice views of the ocean from the comfort of our room.

Our private balcony overlooking the beach.

We love hotels that are generous with their water!

4 bottles were provided on the first day. We finished up all, and on the 2nd day, we were given 6 bottles. Wonder if we had finished up all, will it be 8 bottles on the 3rd day? Lol

We also thought that it was a nice touch that there was a complimentary cake and a bottle of wine for honeymooners. There was also turndown service in the evenings and sweets were left for us ;)

View of the pool. Didn't swim so can't comment. Had a view of the sea.

We went grocery shopping at this supermarket called "SuperCheap". Its a warehouse-like place with all kinds of things for sale. From food, to toiletries, to electronics.. Worth a visit if you like browsing supermarkets. It is equivalent to our Tampines Giant in Singapore.

Super Cheap

Lots and lots to buy!

Our lunch was at this Corner Restaurant, 1st on tripadvisor. But we were the only table, i guess because we were having a late lunch. It is nearby to the laguna area and the boss is super friendly.

The german pork chop with fries is superb!

Bintan - Day 3 - Back to Singapore, Bintan tours, etc

2013-09-22T13:01:00.000+08:00

Soon, it's time for keykey to bring everyone back already..

The breakfast he went is soso.. Nothing fantastic.

Have his favourite egg omelette!

After the breakfast, he decided to roam around, along the shoreline.

Found this weird building. But not opened.

Chanced upon the villas. Seems not bad for a family stay.

Saw a turtle hatchery. Peeked inside but nothing. Looks like a cordoned off sand area. May be seasonal in nature.

This is the Jap like building previously. Think it may be some restaurant. But does not seem to be in operation.

There are numerous such huts along the beach. Can do your massages here.

Seems affordable but Keykey said too exposed. Embarrassed!

Went back to the room for a nap.

Keykey peeked out to look at the zoo

Can't really see his friends.

Time to go off. Went to the lobby to look around

Polo stores. Not too sure real or not. Didn't buy

Our ferry back

1 free coke!

During the trip, Big Key took a lot of pamphlets and all. Some Keykey used to make his paper boat to float in the water. Some as his pirate hat.. The ones left are below.

This is the ticket for the shuttle service. In sgd.

The behind with the timings. Must get it right.

There also appeared to be numerous food places and massages at the oleh oleh place. The pricelist are also included.

Mayura Spa

D' Bintan Salon Day Spa

Aura Spa & Health Centre

Tickets for Emerald Class

Timings for the ferry

Bintan Natural Spa Centre

Tours around bintan. Didn't really go for it. Although Big Key is very interested in the Mangrove tour

Rental of cars

Map of bintan

They also have packages including food with massage which seemed quite worthwhile.

This has an in house counter at the hotel lobby. This looks to be quite worthwhile and good.

Matha Tilaar Salon Day Spa

Overall, Bintan is quite a nice place to relax. The spa and massages are just ok. It is more of hanging out at the beach kind of place.

Bintan - Day 2 - Paser Oleh Oleh, International BBQ Dinner

2013-06-18T00:05:00.001+08:00

Day 2 started with a breakfast at the restaurant facing the sea.

Nothing special for keykey

Meat red red!

The stations

Back to the swimming pool. Nice view of the sea while swimming.

Keykey went towards the sea and found numerous shelters and day beds for lying down.

Nice shoreline.

Exploring the beach

Finally decided to settle down for a lie on the day bed. Surprisingly, there are not a lot of people vying for the beds. Most people are hanging out at the pool area. Lady key was reading there while Big key was snoring away for at least 2 hrs! Nice breeze, sheltered beds.

After the morning relax session, Big Key wanted to go to Pasar Oleh Oleh. There are specific timings for the bus. It is not free though

Welcome to Pasar Oleh Oleh!

The map. Actually, it is like a small village built for tourist only. Was a bit letdown by the variety and things to do there. Can finished walking in a hour or so.

Was very hungry and went to eat at Cafe Helo Helo. Cheap and good

The menu

Fried Kway Teow

Mee Goreng. Sedap!

More walk about after that

Got some souvenirs

Went for a massage. Both Big Key and Lady Key thighs were very sore after it. Not sure good anot.

Went back to the resort and decided to check out the mini zoo just in front of our room

Crocodile! Keykey said it is fake 1. Doesn't move at all!

Emu

Birds

and birds..

and more birds.... (kissing)

Someone came out to see keykey

Want to play?

From the mini zoo, we were able to walk to the other resort.

There was restaurant pub style place. Wonder if at night, it is happening.

Went to the other beach. More people playing water sports here

Nice rocks to the end

Big key wanted to kayak. Only $12. But they close at 5pm

I want to swim.

Maybe not.

Together.

Another of keykey's friend.

Was wondering what to eat and saw that there is a International BBQ dinner at the poolside restaurant at night. It is only available on Saturday I think. Decided to go for it!

There is also BBQ at the other coffee shop restaurant but does not look as good

Going to the BBQ!

Lots of stations

There are performance too. To get a good seat, can go by the place to make a reservation during the afternoon. Some other people even proposed then!

Ordered this alcoholic drink. Lady key ordered. In the end, Big Key finished up.

The highlights! Crayfish!

Go up and dance if you want!

Went back to room with a full stomach!

Bintan - Day 1 - Nirwana Gardens Here we come!

2013-05-21T23:50:00.001+08:00

Keykey is having travel itch again. He needs to go find somewhere to relax! Or maybe, it is just the ticks on him. lol

He decided to go explore Bintan! Heard that it was more relaxing than Batam. After much searching, he decided upon Nirwana Resort Hotel & Villa for a 3 days 2 night stay. It cost $320 for the 2 nights stay.

The Nirwana gardens group include: Nirwana resort hotel, Mayang Sari Beach resort, Banyu Biri Villa, Indra Maya Pool Villa and Nirwana Beach Club. The Nirwana resort hotel is like the mid range brother of all.

Keykey booked the ferry tickets separately. He took the Bintan resort ferry from Tanah Merah ferry terminal. There were the normal tickets and the emerald class ones. It costs $218 for a pair of round trip tickets. Keykey's ride is complimentary as he will be hiding in the bags!

Reached the ferry terminal. First time to this terminal! The terminal seems not very accessible by public transport.

Can book tickets at the numerous ticketing agents here too.

The red carpet queue for the emerald class and the normal queue for normal tickets. Not much difference actually.

The Difference between economy class and emerald class. On hindsight, the relatively higher price is not so worthwhile. But as Keykey commented, "Try la!"

The baggage check in area is just next to the checkin in counters.

The departure hall entrance next to 7-11

The lounge for the emerald class

Sitting area in the lounge. Frankly speaking, there is nothing much inside other than the newspaper which Big Key is hogging! Light snacks include coffee, milo, tea and some biscuits. You will also be told to board when all the economy class are up.

Boarding!

Emerald class seats are on the top floor which has bigger seats and 1 free drink/bottled water.

Keykey sneak out to see the sights.

Setting off

Blasting away!

1 of the tour that Big Key was interested in. Keykey wanted to go too! to meet his fellow friends.

Reached the terminal

There is a free shuttle bus from the terminal and you can recognise the elephants for the nirwana resort hotel stop!

Welcome dance

The lobby of the resort. Nice and airy.

Can arrange for tours, massage at the stalls at the lobby

Welcome 'tadpole' drink- claimed keykey

Nice swimming pool facing the sea.

Giant chess

While waiting to check in, Keykey roamed around to look for lunch. He saw this coffee shop which is a restaurant at the hotel. The buffet looks expensive. In fact, all the food at the hotel are like Singapore restaurant/ café prices. They accept SGD. Or rather it's the norm for payment.

Keykey sneaked up on sleepy komodo dragons

Keykey finally settle on this café by the pool.

Hardworking chefs.

A coconut cooler to cool down first. The coconut is super big and nice!

Super thick 'skin' like keykey!

Lady key satisfying her craving for burger. The burger is very nice. A must try!

Spaghetti was not bad too.

After checking in, Keykey brought everyone to walk on the beach. The beach was quite clean and within the resort. Can see the staff cleaning the beach every morning. Didn't see any oil slicks.

The whole stretch of beach to relax.

The map of the entire resort. The place is quite big and you need to use the internal shuttle bus to get around.

Keykey decided to go the Kelong for dinner.

The kelong is literally a restaurant built on stilts. It is like Chinese Zichar

A small bar resides after the Kelong

Lobsters!

Keykey decided to have a feast and to get this Golden Sunset set meal.

The internal of the Kelong looks not bad

Shark fins. Can taste the shark fins meat.

Sotong

Our dishes!

After eating a while, the storm started outside. The wind was super strong. But the Kelong is very stable and there was no swaying at all.

Our Chilli sauce crab

The prawns were ok only.

The set meal is really enough for 2 pax.

The bar at a distance. Seems like a nice place to hang out with friends.

Taiwan - Day 8 - Danshui, Bali, Formosa Fun Coast

2013-04-30T23:18:00.002+08:00

Our last day at Taiwan. Decided to go for some swinmming!

Took a train to Tamsui aka Danshui. This place is famour for the tiedan aka iron egg.

Keykey wants to row the boat!

Was famished and decided to just enter a restaurant to eat.

The lunch looks very healthy. Not amazing but light enough for the exercises later.

After lunch, Keykey and co took a boat to the opposite bank known as Puli or Bali. Keykey thought we going to Indonesia Bali. So Silly!

IT was only 10 mins away. Soon we reached!

There were a row of shophouses there and Keykey bought a 1L drink to cool down! Too large for him!

After that, we took a bus to Formosa Fun Coast.

Directions by Keykey: Take buses 關渡-渡船頭-八里 R13, R22 from Pali ferry wharf to end ( Formosa Fun Coast) OR [三重客運] 北門-八里線：北門-三重-蘆洲-八里 .

These 8 statutes in front of the water park symbolise the Chinese name of the park which are the 8 deities.

Our tickets! We got the tickets from the Taiwan Tourism association in Singapore. They were complimentary!

Keykey started running around naked!

Keykey end off his trip with a icecream!

Bye Taiwan. Keykey will be back!

Taiwan - Day 7 - HSR back to Taipei, National Palace Museum, Ximending, Shida Night Market

2013-04-30T23:00:00.001+08:00

After a good night sleep, Keykey woke up for his journey back to Taipei. He didn't want to waste time and thus, decided to take the HSR back to Taipei. FYI, Taipei and Tiachung and linked by both HSR and normal train. The stations for them are at different parts of Taichung.

Keykey stayed at Galerie Hotel as it is near to Feng Jia Market and also near to one of the stop for the free shuttle bus to HSR station.

The bus stop for the shuttle to HSR. The shuttle bus is near to McDonalds and is once every 20mins. Specifically, it is at Intersection of Qinghai Rd and Henan Rd

The shuttle bus.

Soon, reached the station and checked out the timings. In fact, Big Key had bought the tickets before hand online. There is early bird discount online when booked early.

HSR!

Inside the train.

Keykey smuggled something onboard!

A cute lunchbox!

Looks nice but wasn't that tasty.

After reaching Taipei, Keykey checked into TS hotel aka Tashun Hotel. It was very near to Ximending and Keykey selected it for this reason. After checking in, they set off for National Palace Museum. The museum supposedly contains lots of Chinese heritage. As such, ig Key and Lady Key went to check it out.

The way there by public transport.

Keykey found a friend in the hat!

National Palace Museum

Sorry, no photos allowed inside! The museum was not for Big Key and Lady Key who can't appreciate art. Keykey saw the 2 famous items - this lor bar and the lettuce!

They then went to Ximending for some food.

Mini doughnuts for Keykey

Keykey saw this guy spraying paint everywhere. Went over to peek.

So nice!

After that, the trios went to Shida night market. Shida night market is located near the shida university and thus, there are a lot of shops catering to the university community and food at night.

Saw a lot of people queuing for this and went too.

Nice and value jap food!

Went to some other shop for dessert to end off the night.

Taiwan - Day 6 - Up to Hehuanshan 合歡山

2013-04-30T22:30:00.002+08:00

Keykey decided to go up Hehuanshan 合歡山 to see the sunrise! The peak is more than 3000m high.

It was an unplanned detour. Recommended by the owner of Cingjing Starry Minsu. He is a very caring uncle and very hospitable. Though we are just there for a night, he introduced the place to us with passion and wasn't pushy in anyway.

He thought that we might want to see the sunrise at the mountain the next day and helped to arrange for it. It was only like less than $20 per pax. He even offered Big Key and Lady Key some jackets to fight the cold up there. Big Key and Lady Key didn't bring any winter clothes. Keykey was naked!

Furthermore, he and his wife also provided a hot water bottle and hot water for Keykey to bring along. Perfect for his morning tea at the peak!

Early morning, keykey woke everyone up! He rushed out and saw this at the balcony.

"The sun is waking! Hurry up!"

This is despite the starry skies. So many stars~

No time for the starry night. Soon, we were off in a bus. Heard that we are the last few up the buses as our minsu is highest of the town.

The journey took around an hour. The route just winds around the mountains. There was a sense of urgency in the driver. Somehow, it appears that we might miss the sunrise. Keykey was very anxious too!

Our destination finally. It was somewhere along the road with a large balcony. Hehuanshan.

The sunrise.

Keykey amazed by how the sunrise lit up the entire place. It was freezing cold, especially for naked keykey.

The amazing scenery around.

Keykey was left out of this pic. Hehee.

After watching the sunrise, the driver took everyone to several viewpoints to look around.

This was particularly special to Keykey. He was told by the tour guide that on a good day, he can see until Hualian side. Keykey has never been so high up a tree before.

The temperature up here. This is when Taichung is like 20 - 30 degrees Celsius!

Keykey enjoying the warmth of the sun.

Keykey went to so many places to see and cannot remember all with his teeny weeny head.

After the tour, Keykey headed back to Starry minsu for his breakfast. Prepared by the owner and his lovely wife.

Keykey fav food!

Keykey then spent the rest of his morning walking around. He wanted to stay for more days but sadly the itinerary was too packed. The minsu is really relaxing and the owner is really very nice.

Keykey snooped around at the garden in front.

One last look at the homely minsu.

Last play with the windmill.

One last swing?

Keykey tidied up the room before leaving.

After checking out, Keykey took the nantou bus down to Taichung area. This time round, he stayed at the Galerie Hotel 拓程商旅 as it was near to Feng Chia Night Market ( 逢甲夜市). It was the most happening night market there.

After checking in, Keykey brought Big Key and Lady Key to eat western.

After that, they all went Fengjia night market to shop! And eat!

Some budget fried Maggie mee. Lots of students eating inside. Big Key rushed in too!

Followed by some youtiao with zhuchangfen.

The trip up to Hehuanshan was the best moment of the trip. Not sure if it was the impromptuness, the nice sunrise, the cool weather, the cheap price or just the company of Bigkey and Lady key!

Taiwan - Day 5 Cingjing Here We Come!

2013-03-31T16:53:00.004+08:00

Our aim of staying at Taichung.... to go up to Cingjing early to enjoy the view and air up there for as long as possible.

Also for Keykey to tumble down the rolling hills~

There are 2 ways to go to Taichung - HSR or normal train. As the normal train station is nearer to the bus station which goes to Cingjing, Keykey chose to stay near the normal train station instead. Keykey found a hotel - Holiday Inn Express nearby which suited our needs. Its a bit more expensive but just beside the bus companies to take bus up to Cingjing. Giving him more sleep!

Bus stop: 台中市雙十路一段35-8號 (just outside hotel along main road)
Tel: (04)22256418

View from hotel room

Comfortable room in Holiday Inn Express

Messy bathroom after keykey used it!

Breakfast

The Bus stop to take our bus to Cingjing: 台中市雙十路一段35-8號

Bus tickets to Cingjing for 2 pax. No seat for keykey!

Different bus companies

Off we go~

Bottle telling us to 'drink more water' =P

Scenery along the way

We stayed at a minsu called Cingjing Starry/ 觀星園景觀民宿(address: 南投縣仁愛鄉大同村博望巷９６號). Upon alighting at the last bus stop at 松崗, we called the owner who came to pick us up. More photos of the minsu later~

We wanted to go out explore while there was sunlight, and the minsu owner offered to send and pick us up. Nice of him!

Map of CingJing

Bought tickets to 'Evergreen Grasslands' to see big and small sheep

Lovely grassland with cooling weather!

Remember to apply sunblock as the sun and UV rays can be quite strong

Are you a sheep? =P

Cuteness!

Bah bah~

Hungry little sheep~

Keykey loves this place!

Hi sheepie~

The bigger sheep are allowed to roam free. So be prepared to have sheep walking right up to you!

Sleepy sheep

There are performances at scheduled timings

Horses

Lucky sheep get to enjoy the nice view all day

There is a little zoo with animals, which kids may enjoy

Creepy crawlies

The place is pretty big, so bring along water (and food if you tend to get hungry easily)

Cartoon King Restaurant

We missed it as it was closed when we were there in the late afternoon

Small Swiss Garden (清境小瑞士花园)

Do note that admission tickets have to be purchased separately

Flowers galore

Fountain in the lake

Great for phototaking!

We found them hiding in a greenhouse. Any fans?

Mandarin ducks

A souvenir shop selling quirky things. Below are paper structures which light up.

On our way back, we stopped by at the highest 7-11 to take a photo

Hotspot dinner provided by the minsu waiting for us. We could choose to dine indoors or outdoors. We choose outdoor! Hotpot in the cool weather was heavenly~

View of the sunset and mountains as we dine

Very tranquil and peaceful

At night

As we were high up, with little 'light pollution', it was a great place for star gazing~ Lets count the stars!

Dog that the minsu owners had

The next day, we woke up early at 4am to go for a sunrise tour at He Huan mountain!

(Our minsu was quite highup - for those staying lower on the mountain, they would have to wake up even earlier!) It was an impromptu tour that the minsu owners suggested the night before. It became the highlight of our tour!

It was very cold, around 0 degrees, during summer.

Lovely view! Would love to return someday

ps: Apologies that some photos are out of alignment. Somehow having some trouble with rotating them.

Happy Holidays!

2012-12-27T09:05:00.002+08:00

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Have a great 2013!

Taiwan - Day 4 - Travelling from Hualien to Taichung

2012-11-13T16:40:00.001+08:00

It was the 4th day in Taiwan and the trio were to travel from Hualien to Taichung.

They rose bright and early and the pretty sunrise greeted them from the balcony

View of the town at sunrise

Tranquil town in the morning

After watching the sunrise, they looked longingly at the bed, wishing to jump back into the comfort of it!

More photos of the interior of the room

Keykey loved the chandelier in the room

A shower or a bath~ Your choice

Washing up at the waterfall tap!

Breakfast place - The place filled up fast and late risers had to wait for a table

Dining area

Keykey went exploring in the hotel - He was a sailor for the day!

Such a nice painting on the wall. Keykey was inspired to draw something like this too.

View of the lobby

The friendly receptionist

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After monkeying around the hotel for the morning, the trio finally decided to set off for the train station.

Lady key could not resist popping by the shops at the train station

Freshly made mochi in different flavours - Big Key loved them!

Getting take-aways (bian tang) for the train ride

Reasonably priced

Pork and Chicken Set - Keykey preferred the chicken set

View of train station

Choo choo train moving off~

Train uncle selling drinks and snacks

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Finally reached Taichung!

After putting down their luggage at Holiday Inn Express hotel, the trio went out for a walk at Taichung Park

As their tummies started growling, Keykey led the way to dinner

Keykey brought them to a restaurant called Wu Jiao Chuan Ban 伍角船板

Interior of the restaurant - Keykey thought that they had gone to a cave~

Unique looking place - a must go if you have not visited it before~

Yummy!

Time for shopping after dinner - Feng Jia Night Market

Food again after the shopping!

Taiwan - Day 3 Part 3 Bayview Hotel at Hualien

2012-11-12T10:25:00.000+08:00

We were spending the night at Qi Xing Tan (7 star lake) and Mr tour driver drove us there after we had finished with the sightseeing at Taroko Gorge. It was evening by then and we were looking forward to rest and food after the exercise.

We were staying at Hotel Bayview and we knew the hotel had free bicycles which we could use. The bike rentals stop in the evening, and wanting to catch the daylight, we quickly hopped on out to explore the area.

With our noses leading us, we headed for the little city square (actually just a parking lot where there were stalls operating out of vans)

Quite a crowd waiting for the food

The stalls were mostly selling the same food, choose the stall with the shortest queue!~

Sausages which were grilled on the spot.

Coupled with the sea breeze, the food smelled and tasted especially nice!

Smelly tofu (Chou ToFu)

Grilled squid

View of the hotel

Hotel Bayview - Honeymoon suite NT2900 (at Qixing Bay)

The bathroom had glass walls so that you could soak in the tub while looking at the sea view. However, if you wanted privacy, you could just tap on a button and the automated shower curtains would close. Keykey thought this was so cool!

The room also had a balcony where we got up early to watch the sunrise.

Keykey decided to check out this goat farm restaurant nearby for dinner!

All the way to the end!

After running away from a few stray dogs, keykey reached the restaurant

Quite empty

Nice tablecloth with goaty goats.

Our salad! Too raw for keykey

The mains. This is good!

Tubs of sauce for keykey

More tubs for keykey to swim and eat in.

Pork knuckle for Lady key. Too much for Lady Key. Good nonetheless.

Big key also tried the goats milk for dessert but he could not take it.. hahaaa.

The counter

Super goat? Super Key?

The view from our balcony at night. Nothing much to see. Just the ocean

A brightly lit castle hotel beside us.

The beach was covered with pebbles instead of sand. Quite interesting, and good for foot massage =p

Taiwan - Day 3 Part 2 Taroko Gorge Tour

2012-06-11T17:16:00.001+08:00

More pictures of the pretty view.

Swallow Grotto

Signs explaining how the 'holes' at Swallow Grotto came about.

Ci Mu Bridge

Tien Hsiang! the place for lunch

For those who prefer not to climb, there were some shops selling snacks and souvenirs

View at the bottom, from a distance

Eternal Spring Shrine (Chang Chun Shrine)

Waterfall

The shrine is to honour those who died while building the Central Cross Island Highway.

Keykey decided to climb up from the temple to explore!

Up and up he go, seemingly with no end.

Finally, he reached a tower! A Bell tower

The bell tower was the highest point

Keykey rang the bell!

Looking down at the tiny vehicles. This is another temple. Not the eternal spring shrine. It is on the other side of the hill.

Beautiful scenary! Worth the climb up the steps

The steps were rather steep and tiring for keykey who had short legs and seldom exercised. The bottle of water and sweets we brought along were a lifesaver!

We took it slow and it was an accomplishment when we reached the top!

Opps.. Need to go down.