Highlights of Taiwan trip!

I went to Taiwan again! Yes, its my second trip to the same country again and it may seem a bit excessive. But its with different company and agenda this time - went with Ms G to indulge in handicraft, fabrics, crafting and zakka related things.

So, what's the most memorable part of my taiwan trip this time? It has to be "Sew Easy", The Young Hotel and Toilet Food. All in that order.

(1) SEW EASY
"Sew Easy" that's the place where we went to 'bai4 shi1 xue2 yi4' aka learn crafting from a very experienced teacher Ms Yeats. We wouldnt be there if not for Ms G who actually chanced upon a magazine featuring this place many years back. She then filed the pages, waiting for the time to come when she can finally pay 'pilgrammage' to the place - and the time has come after many years! Sew Easy is located in Hsinchu, which is about 40 minutes bullet train ride away from Taipei. Briefly - Sew Easy has 2 shops and we visited both shops and we spent 2 days making our own "Made in Taipei" bags.

Here's the first shop we went to. Its also the one which was featured on the magazine. Lucky we had the address for its located out of no where and there's no way we would have gotten there/ chancing upon it by wandering around. Loved crafting here - the students here were very warm and friendly and chatting away like old friends and made us feel very welcomed.

And here's the second shop. The second shop has more interesting stuffs on display but more 'cold'.

And proudly presented our prized handmade in taiwan bags! Ms G's in light color,mine's in dark. and Teacher Ms Yeats standing in between us in the picture! :D We had all those patchwork pieces individually sewn onto the fabric which took us a long timeeee. The opening for this bag works somewhat like that of metal clasp purse except there's no 'knob' on top to secure it. Had wanted to buy a few more of these frames back to craft but due to the need for a very heavy duty sewing machine in order to craft this, i didnt. Super pretty and one and only! :D Beats having branded bag... :P at least for now la.

THE YOUNG HOTEL
It sure looked pretty decent on the website. But turned out pretty dodgy. I sense it was weird (not in the supernatural sense) when we were checking in - another couple came for a 3 hour stay and it was only afternoon then!?!?!? And the receptionist was pretty discreet in giving them the keys. Anyway, then when we went up to the room, it was weird to see all the doors to the empty rooms opened except ours. Anyway, we still went ahead to stay there for the night cuz its paid for and there's lack of alternative accomodation. The most sleazy of it all was when we were at the lift landing waiting for the lift, we hear noises from one of the rooms and when a guy stepped out of the lift, he gave us a head to toe lookover.. .ewwww.. anyway , all ends well & lucky thing we only stayed for a night.

TOILET FOOD
I remember watching news some time back and they introduced this novetly-styled eatery in Taipei, near XiMenTing. Ms G reminded me of it and suggested going there for dinner since we were around the area. Well, rather than to eat the same food which i do on every trip, why not try something different. On hindsight, wrong choice! Its the first time in many many years that i left my food almost untouched!! Food served in toilet bowls, urinal, sinks, bath tubs CANNOT be good! Do not be fooled by our seemingly happy faces. We are actually suffering inside. I highly reccommend that you avoid this place at all costs! ahhaha learn from our mistake :P

Well, this summarises my latest trip! And since i came back, i have been busy crafting again! See my latest batch of bendys @ the shoppe! Comes with pretty lace this time!