Konnichiwa Nippon!!

Just booked two tickets to Japan using Krisflyer points.

No turning back. No point angsting about it (though for me, the anal retentive me) that IS part of the fun.

So Gillian, Trin and I will fly SQ. KH will take the rest on NorthWest. This is because we have a buy 1-get-1 free deal on the UOB Signature card. When I last checked, a ticket on NW to Tokyo costs about $840 with everything in. So we will buy two tickets and get the other two free. With 5 kids, we have to be creative in cutting travel costs and really maxing out the money.

I asked KH: eh, you sure you can handle Mr Owain for the flight? His reply: Can he handle ME??

Wah... okay, he is clearly ready for battle.

But by Nov, Owain would be 4 and hopefully not as attached to the breast as he is now. In travelling apart, we also have different arrival times and departure times - though I have chosen the flight which is closest to the NW schedule. It still means that KH and 3 kids would have to navigate their way via the Tokyo train and subway system (which is huge and can be mindboggling), with luggage, to find the ryokan where we will stay. And so will I, with Trin and Gillian. Hmm... I smell adventure...

Now got to source for backpacks to borrow. Brush up on basic Japanese phrases. And finetune my itinerary. Yippee!!

going, going...

This morning, I tried to squeeze facial wash onto my toothbrush.

Yesterday, I downloaded pictures from my camera onto the PC and did not switch off the camera. Camera battery finally died of exhaustion.

On Sunday, I left the computer running and went downstairs to see to one of the children. I never came back. Went out and left it on all day. KH found out only at night when we finally came home.

Two weeks ago I left a library book in the toilet of the Dhoby Ghaut MRT. By the time I remembered and went back for it, the book was gone. Asked the cleaner on duty, the MRT staff, all said they had not seen the book. Someone must have taken it. Now I owe NLB one copy of Lonely Planet Japan!! Called KH and practically cried over the phone, angry with myself.

What is happening to me?

My grandad had dementia and when he died, he was like a lost child. He had forgotten everyone around him. So I am conscious that this runs in the family.

I have been very forgetful lately. Something which is very vexing for me because I used to have such a sharp memory. KH jokes that it all went to the kids - I think so. So now I have bought a cheap $2.95 notebook/diary and will jot down all my thoughts and what I have to do. I am getting old... and sometimes feel I am losing track of my life.

The days pass in such a brisk blur. Take yesterday evening for a typical example - come home, before I can even change or take a shower, Trin hugs my knees and squeals: she wants me to pick her up and nurse her. So I do. Before she finishes, Owain is pestering me with a very annoying whine: I want nen-nen, I want nen-nen... I WANT NEN-NEN!!! So when Trin finally finishes and twists herself off my lap, Owain climbs on eagerly. We nurse. The children finish their dinner and KH has started. Then when Owain finishes, I finally get to eat. Midway, Gillian comes to me: mum, my teacher wants this to be done nicely - shows me a torn and tattered covered exercise book. I agree. Make mental note to re-wrap book after dinner. Check with Isaac on notes from school, do the homework checklist routine. Check Gillian's homework list. Wrap the book. Write note for Isaac's teacher. Stop Trin from playing with the sharpener and falling backwards off the table. Owain pesters me for nen-nen yet again. KH gets the drift of the wind and hastily scoops him off for a walk around the neighbourhood. Homework checks and corrections done. Mark English homework for Gillian. Cait says quietly amid the whirl: I need a family picture mum. Otherwise I cannot do the photo frame at school. All my friends have done it except me. With a pang I realise that this request was made sometime ago but I had forgotten. She gets a photo album. We choose an old picture taken when she was a baby - a trip to Cameron Highlands. I flip the album - Isaac looks like Owain. Cait is spitting image of Trin. Or is it the other way around. The kids have grown. The pictures are proof. Finally get a chance to shower and change. Shoo everyone into the room. Lie down and my eyes drift shut. Owain pesters me for nen-nen. I tandem nurse Trin and Owain. Cait comes over with a book: The Canary Prince. Please read it, she says. I am tired and sleepy but, ok. Wah... long story with many words. I cheat a bit - summarise and paraphrase. No one notices.

Today, pick Cait up from school, bring Owain to NSC for his hair check-up. Make mental note to give Lolita her salary, call the aircon man to doublecheck that he is coming and try to recall which day the kids are staying back in school - today I think its Gillian. Oh and the gas ran out.

Things move so fast. So many things happening. Small things. Daily things. I am getting old. And I didn't even notice it.

My Thomson washer finally died too. It served us so well - from our first home in Pasir Ris where it was just KH and I, to the early diaper washes of Gillian, then Isaac... it came with us when we moved to Jalan Riang and has seen its load gradually increase. I'm sad to see it die. We bought a new washer from Panasonic. It will come on Wed. It has all the bells and whistles. But I don't know how long it will last. Not likely for 12 years. Like the sales guy said: these things today are heng-suay. Heng if it lasts and does not give trouble. Sway if otherwise.

My washer got old without me realising it. I am getting old without noticing it. After this post, I guess I will go back to not realising it too. Back to the daily grind.

And now, wan ton mee calls from below. Gotta go.

Gillian turns 12

Last night we celebrated with a sushi dinner, and a cake of course. Can't believe that 12 years ago, I gave birth to a small, white-faced baby who came out posterior, eyes shut tight. She was only 2.95kg. The smallest of my babies and yet, today grown into a great strapping Amazonian warrior like her Aunty Vivian.

You know when you celebrate birthdays of children, you also celebrate their births and the mothers who were there, bringing them forth into the world.

Gillian's birth was everything I never wanted to have - induced, epiduralised, monitored, amniotomied, episiotomied, forcepted with early cord clamping, fundal pressure (excruciating!) etc. She had the formula, the vaccinations galore.

If you told me back then that one day I would have five kids and advocate for and teach natural birthing, I'd say you were stark raving mad. But God always has a plan I suppose and that day 16 January 1995 was really the first step in this path that I am now on.

I look at her now, poised on a whole new journey. I wonder how long more she will stay under our wings. She looks like an adult. But still a child. Look how far she has come. How big she has grown. What hopes I had when she was a wee baby, when I first held her in my arms. They have changed, but I still have hopes.

I look at her with love and with regret. All the pain I caused her. And she, me. All the anger that washed over me so many times when we did not connect - and still persist in not connecting. The underlying fear and despair that she will fall - and we cannot save her, hence the urgent desire to do something, to force her into a mold where she can be more responsible for herself. But yet, how can this be forced?

Maybe it is her nature, her happy-go-lucky nature. To be impulsive, to speak thoughtlessly, carelessly, to trust with abandon.

I will just have to learn to let go and find my own trust - trust that she will find her own path, her own journey and that she will be okay. And maybe as parents, we can never be our children's safety nets forever. We can never protect them from every harm. But hopefully, we can be there if they do fall, to soothe what we can or just cry together in shared pain without judgement. And for me, ever so critical, so judgmental, so damningly reliant on form, so dogmatic - it will be a huge challenge to let go and do so.

And speaking of car salesmen...

I'm probably going to offend legions of car salespersons out there, but this is my perception that there's just something about them - particularly used car salesmen - that I find a bit greasy. And I'm not talking engine oil here. Like an indigestible combination of Ah Beng and Shylock.

I've yet to meet one who will be upfront and totally honest with me from the word go. I find that they are always finagling to get the better deal - for the company but not for the customer. Like if they can wrangle giving you a single disc CD player in the car instead of the 5-disc changer you agreed on, they will. And this actually happened to someone I know. Finally the said disgruntled customer fished out the agreement signed in b/w and waved it around before the changer was installed. It's little annoying things like this which perpetuate the used car, parallel import industry.

Which always puzzles me because why?? If one works hard for the customer, a happy customer will bring in more customers and everyone benefits. But when a customer is left feeling like some sleight of hand has been performed on them, you lose them and more importantly, lose the good word of mouth. Common sense, no?

And speaking of service, interesting encounter I had on the phone lines with a premier airline's call centre service. I had called in to this airline to check on how much it would cost to buy an infant and child ticket. I met with the usual drone of "Press 1 for English... yada yada yada..." So I was pressing the numbers and of course, I pressed the option for Economy class when the Voice asked: Press 1 for Business and First Class and 2 for Economy. Then the next thing I knew the Voice said something like: all our operators are busy. Call back another time. And that was it. I was taken aback. Huh? Where was the option to wait on the line for the next available operator? Even taxi services offered this option - why not a premier airline? I knew that calling back was impossibly frustrating. You could call back 10 times and be met with the same message 10 times.

Intrigued, I wondered if First and Business Class passengers were told to "call back another time". So I dialled again and this time, I keyed in for Business and First Class. And true enough, as I expected, I was asked to hold, told my call was important, and an officer came on line in less than 5 minutes.

Ah so.

I suppose, on this airline, you get what you pay for. Yet, if this was the kind of service/treatment that we can expect for economy class passengers, why is it worth paying so much for an economy class ticket here? Why do people pay so much? As I told KH, if I didn't have to cash in the frequent flyer points, I would boycott this airline - definitely NOT a great way to fly!

For what its worth, this airline quoted me S$1190 for a child's ticket (including taxes) and $674 for an infant ticket to Osaka Japan.

Looks like we're splitting the family up - half will go on this premier airline and the other half will fly on another airline.

Always the little things that get in the way and trip over the service providers from making indifferent service good, and good service great.

KH's new project...

is to buy the Wish. I think he has more or less settled on this and not the Carens. This morning he told me that he stayed up till 2am last night working. Not on office work - but surfing to check out parallel importers here who bring in the Wish. And to construct an excel file, bursting with columns of features, prices, etc. He wants to print this out in an A3 format (!) and bring it with him when he goes to the parallel importers (whom, according to him - and I think I agree - can be wriggly slippery fishes when it comes to pinning down a deal on paper). I can just see him now - sitting there, ticking off the boxes on his A3 chart with the salesman looking on.

Wish-ful thinking

We've been going round to car showrooms looking for a suitable replacement for our Carens.

While KH and I are discussing financial terms, fuel consumption, etc, the kids are busy 'test-romping' the cars. They are in and out of the cars, opening and shutting the doors, going from front row to back to middle row etc. They are the ones checking out the features of the car eg the glove compartment, the power doors, the drinks holders, the reading lights etc. Standard line I hear: "Wah cool! This thing comes out when you press this button!!"

The kids enthusiastically report that they love the Estima (so do we, but not our pockets!) - "check out the sun roof mummy!" or "eh ma, this seat is like an airplane seat, got foot rest!" etc

They also like the Kia Carnival (which we don't cos we have heard its an oil guzzler) - "wah, so much space! Can stretch out and sleep behind!!"

They also recommend the Hyundai Trajet (which we heard is also a guzzler) because there is... "Mummy, can watch dvd!!"... yep, a dvd screen and player. Yes, thanks Aunty Rita - your car has inspired my children and is now THE car standard to aspire to! But KH and I think we can do with one less argument in the car about what to watch and WHOSE turn is it to choose a dvd and WHY is it... blah blah blah... As it is, we already have to contend with the "what to eat" argument and the "what to listen to on the radio/CD" argument. Thats already noise a-plenty.

Car manufacturers ought to hire the Chong brood to stress-test the car, the upholstery, the cabin features etc. 'Cos if it can survive the rampage (very enthusiastically conducted) and the take-no-prisoners attitude of the testers, it can survive pretty much anything and any other children!

So right now, we've narrowed it down to the Toyota Wish or the new Kia Carens. I think KH likes the Wish (better resale value) but is also a bit seduced by the sports transmission in the new Carens - also cheaper!

Me? I kinda have a soft spot for my present Carens. I think it looks roomier than the ones I've seen. I don't like the dark tinted windows of the Wish - think it makes the car look like a hearse or something a mafia family might use. But the Carens is getting on in age and showing it... so we don't really have a choice... I am a sentimentalist (very bad for the heart!) - it must be those asinine compos we were made to write in primary school - "Imagine you are a coin. Trace your life journey as a coin... etc!" Whoever thought of those topics???

So now when I think of my faithful car, who has brought us all over Malaysia and Singapore, through rain and shine, patiently forbore the children's sticky sweets, biscuit crumbs, shoeprints and who has heard the din we make when we're in it, party to our squabbles, our singing and the occasional wrestling match in the middle row, I do feel a bit sad to say goodbye.

Supermodels??

Come March 27 2007, Isaac and Caitlin will take to the runway as models. They will each be modelling an outfit by apparel design students in the design school. The clothes are anime-inspired. I've seen the sketches and the clothes look cool! The measurements are taken already and they will go for a fitting this week.

Isaac is excited-nervous about it and Cait is, the vainpot that she is, very excited and happy to be selected. It will be a good experience for them. KH thinks that Isaac will be too nervous and will want to back out. But I don't think so - I think there is a little performer in him just dying to come out for his walk under the spotlights.

Will keep updating this.

gungho girl

She cried and didn't want to do it. But strong-armed (yes we were rather heartless parents) into it, she just dived right in (literally) and did what she had to do.

I'm referring to Caitlin, my Ningster Mu-Mu. As KH observed this morning, the girl looks and can sound very fierce and aggressive and confident. But inside, she's still a marshmallow, still has her fears. But there is also a lot of strength and courage in her. She rises to the occasion so magnificently.

On Sat, she didn't want to go for her swimming lesson. We thought it was time she learnt how to swim. She didn't want to. We strong-armed her into this. So red-eyed, sniffly, she agreed. Later, I heard from KH and her sibs just how brave she was. She jumped in, didn't show any sign of fear, didn't cry, was never the least hesitant and encouraged an older boy who was also having his first lesson that day. She was the one who cheered him on and bolstered his confidence during the lesson. She did everything the instructor told her to without a murmur of protest, no baulking, no crying.

We celebrated by letting her choose her meal for the family treat. She chose Queensway McDonalds. Trans fat be dammed!

It was as if the swimming lesson broke through an invisible confidence barrier. The next day, she came up to us and said it was time she learnt to ride on two wheels. So KH removed the training wheels and off they went.

KH later told me that she picked up instructions very quickly and learned fast. Quite unlike her older sibs who took longer. She has enough in her to overcome her fear and when she does, she does it well full speed ahead, no looking back. She would listen intently, and do it, getting the hang of things very quickly.

I'm proud of her. Now its time to look for a new helmet and elbow/knee pads for her so that she can really go round the estate.

Lots of major stuff happening in 07. So many of my buddies are preggers - here and overseas. Just got wind that another friend may be pg and asked if I could support her labour in august. I don't know if i can support anyone's labour since Trin is still very needy for the breast at night.

That aside, and looking into my crystal ball, here's the major stuff happening to me this year:

1) Change car. The kids are getting bigger and so the fishbowl we travel in is getting smaller. hmm, could be a matter of perspective of course. But our current car is also giving us problems. Got a chesty cough when it starts up in the morning; sometimes steering wheel gets locked for 3 seconds while in use (frightening, this one!) and there is a leak in the radiator somewhere which sends the temp soaring up once in a while - which also means we gotta give it a drink once in a while before starting it.

So we sort of figured that changing a car is a sooner or later thing. We've looked a couple and the cheapest mpv on the market is the kia carnival which is going for 65k. The other 'better' cars ie the toyotas, the hondas etc are waaaay out of our sad budget. Still, the kids and i love the space in the Kia - they are thrilled with the aisle space. At 2.5l, its a much more powerful car than the one we have now. Looking at the financing etc, looks like we're able to afford it - minor increase in monthly installments and of course, the increase in road tax and insurance. So that looks to be in the picture sometime this year.

2) Reno the house. About time! as mom said. We're living in a hole of plaster and paint concoction that is slowly but surely falling down around our ears. So I got a main contractor to come in and have a look. To change the back gutter and bit of roofing, to change the whole of the porch roof (thats the one where the wooden rafters have rotted through and one of them fallen, taking with it the wiring and lighting - but thats another story, for your own safety, just don't stand too long under my porch roof) and to fix the water-proofing of the walls, painting etc, the whole damage comes up to 16k. Which was less than i feared. So I am wondering if I should do just a lil bit more eg change my bloody leaking toilet bowl.

From previous posts, you do know that it went on strike and we're on the bucket system - ie throwing water to flush... just the other day, someone must have done a real explosive poo and the stuff got stopped up. (Stop reading if you're not partial to descriptions of stopped up toilets - it ain't pretty) Which of course, my dear husband did not see and went on to contribute to. So we've got poo upon poo stopped up in there. Yes, the stink was unimaginable. The stuff legends are made of. He threw some of those anti drain clogging powder in there, left it for half a day and went to work. When he came back - tada! - the poo was flushed down and our risk of dysentery and cholera significantly reduced!

Aaaanyway, this adds to my point - gotta do something about the toilet bowl!!

3) Hanoi looks like its shaping up real nicely. So we will have a nice vacation somewhere that actually involves getting on a plane.

4) I am actually getting off my lazy butt and doing something productive abt birthright. sent my designer text for the web pages. so hopefully, birthright won't stay stagnant and may actually grow a teensy bit?

words of wisdom

"Mummy, is it right to love your job first?" Isaac asked.

We were at Yakun Kaya Toast at United Square having a tea break after his kumon class. He was referring to a quote given by the owner of Yakun in an interview, excerpted and framed up on the wall right next to us.

Before I could reply, he went on: "I don't think it's right to love your job first. I think you have to love your children and wife first. Then comes your job."

I couldn't agree more.

I read the rest of the quote. It was about the need to have passion in your job, to put it above all else. Maybe this is why Yakun is such a huge success. Maybe this is how millionaires are made. But, IMO, something does not resonate right with me.

I believe one should have passion for a job, to love it and to enjoy it. Otherwise, what a chore it would be to just get up in the morning and go to work. But not putting someone else first - a spouse or children or family, what or who is there to work for? What drives you? After a while, material and monetary acquisition does become hollow. Particularly when one is at the twilight of one's life.

Pity this is not obvious to many. But luckily, it is to my son.

I hope he holds this thought for the rest of his life.

Supermatafoottootportort! And others...

That's what Owain coined. That's what he calls someone who frustrates him. The other kids picked this up too. Isaac loves to issue the who-can-the-fastest challenge for supermatafoottootportort. And for short, we too call Owain that - portort! Teasingly and lovingly meant of course.

No real meaning. But linked to an impression of cussedness!

Just thought I'd write this down for the record in case we one day forget. That, and of course, Super YoYoMan!

Caitlin too, has a new word: Doofus Brain. She coined that one up herself too. So the other bigger kids are again, having a field day with this.

Happy New Year

No new year resolutions. I never keep them so why make them?

But here's one thing I am thinking of: I've got to get myself out of the paralysed by fear mode when it comes to BirthRight. Talked to Rita the other day and think I've just got to bite the bullet and do it. Do the business well. Get out my foxhole and not be so afraid of failing. Get the website out, do the marketing, run the courses. And if I fail? Then I fail. Move on. Standing still and not doing anything may be safe but so unfulfilling in the end. I'm so afraid of getting egg on the face that I dare not invest my time, my energy and give it my all. But I think it's time to just heck it and dive in. I have to remember why I am doing this in the first place - to give normal birth a voice, to let mothers know that they have a choice and that they can shape the birth they want. So first thing - get the website going.

2007 is a big year ahead. Gillian's PSLE looms large in the horizon. Asked KH teasingly if he or I were going to take leave, brew chicken soup or buy chicken essence by the cartload. We both laugh.

In reply, he told me that when he tells people about Gillian's grades, he is usually met with a horrified reaction along the lines of: OMG what are you going to do about it?? Are you getting help for her? Tuition? Is your wife quitting her job?

And they are amazed that he, well, we are not more concerned/worried/tearing our hair out etc. Because of our blase response, we are implicitly seen to be less than responsible parents.

But the thing is, we've tried everything under the sun and this is just how it is. Worrying about it, flooding her with tuition etc, stressing out, screaming and ranting just does not help. So we've kind of come to terms with it. Gillian is not going to be the wunderbar academic success most Singaporean parents want their child to be. She is going to go down a different path in life. And we are ok with this. We see what lies ahead for her - ITE, vocational training, possibly nanny school if that's what she is comfortable with and what she wants. It does not make us angsty that she is in EM3 or that she is definitely likely to go into the Normal Tech stream etc. Well, not anymore at least. We've gone past all that.

Are we bad parents? Irresponsible, unfeeling parents? Nope.

I think every child is different and we just have to accept who they are, what they are capable of. Maybe the world would be a more peaceful place if we all learnt to accept our children as who they are and what they can or cannot do.

Certainly, my world at Riang is more peaceful this way.

Boppin' Baby

Trinity is bopping. To some rhyme that the kids are singing. Goes something like this:

"Peel, banana, peel peel banana.
Shake, banana, shake shake banana
Cut banana, cut cut banana
Fry banana, fry fry banana
Nah! Goreng pisang!"

She does all the actions - including a very cute shake during the "Shake" bits. Actually, I think she shakes during the rest of the song too. Heh. The things the sibs teach her...

Trin eats a lot more junk food than my other babies. Actually, than anyone's other babies... She's hooked on sprite, chocolates, instant noodles, australian mangoes, grapes, hokkien prawn mee, wanton mee, toast bread, steamed threadfin and loves a good hot steamboat (fish, fishball). She hates (spits them out) bland tasteless porridge, all types of baby food (the only exception being Gerber's little banana puffs) and that includes cereal etc. Her diet is very very unbaby-like. Of course, a lot of this is because I am (a) too lazy (b) too tired (c) too many kids. So I guess that makes me a Bad Mommy.

Her favourite toys are: the steering wheel in daddy's car, any working handphone (she promptly lifts to her ear and says: "Ahguwah!"), the home telephone, the computer keyboard and mouse, the remote control and lift buttons. For Christmas we got her a toy steering wheel and dashboard. Didn't hold her interest for long.

And the cutest thing about her? She loves to hug and kiss. She'll toddle over to her kor-kor Owain and put her arms around him and kiss him. Ditto for her che-che Caitlin. I've also seen her hug Meghan, Rita's baby. And whenever I carry her, she'll give me a tight hug and pat my back. In the morning, she wakes up, rolls over and lies on my tummy. Then she'll lift herself up and mash her face on my neck or my cheek or nose - that's how she 'kisses' me.

She is so precious.

Knives over a second hand car

I have a new toy.

KH gave me a Creative MP3 player for Christmas. So I am now hooked up to my favourite tracks even as I write this.

Anyway, while at the Creative store, I saw a contest they were having and the prize was the CEO's car - as in Sim Wong Hoo's Lexus. I blinked and asked to clarify - is this HIS car or a similar model ie a Lexus, but a new one? They said: it's HIS car. So I'd be winning a second hand car? Yep.

Why would I want to win a second hand car? Why would anyone?

The obvious 'merit' or 'hook' in this promo of course is that its not just any old Lexus, but its HIS car.

But the guy is not some glam bigtime celeb that I would want his car. I mean, if it were... I dunno, who? Madonna or Bill Gates or somebody... maybe... OK scratch that - not even then! KH, ever the practical Singaporean says: still a second-hand car you're winning, so what is the value? With new car prices so low these days, what is a second-hand Lexus worth? Still, maybe a bird in hand is worth two in the bush.

Fundamentally an interesting concept, but still... don't think it would make people just run out and buy loads of Creative stuff just to enter this contest (which is the whole point of marketing yes?)

Sim Wong Hoo's Lexus aside, my favourite store promo over the past few months has got to be the NTUC Knives exchange! I (well, mom and I!) are busy chalking up (ie spending loads) at NTUC to score coupons so that we can exchange them for knives. Supposedly top grade kitchen knives, we have to exchange about 6 to12 coupons and top up some cash to get the knife we want. I've completed one exchange already and now have one large, Very Sharp and menacing-looking Chef's Knife. I've now got my eye set on the kitchen shears. There are about 4 days left before the promo ends but the shears are out of stock in many places (which just shows how popular and successful this promo is I think) . So I am going around, clutching my 12 coupons, over the next couple of days - in search of shears.

Italy is scrapped...

But looks like Hanoi is a go! :-)

Mum now says she can't imagine travelling with me, Trin and luggage. So Italy is out. With the Krisflyer mileage points, KH and I are thinking... hmm, maybe Hanoi? We should be able to get at least 4 tickets.

Couple of days in the Old Quarter (mucho shopping!), train rides up north and into the mountains near Sapa, short treks to waterfalls, villages of the minority tribes, junk rides in Halong Bay, punting in Tam Coc... this trip has a slightly more adventurous feel to it. Can the kids handle it? Am I out of mind to lug 5 kids (including baby Trinity) on this kind of trip? I actually think it is do-able and possibly, the kids might enjoy this.

The alternative is HK - which I know they will automatically love - Disneyland (blah from me) and Ocean Park, rides on the Star Ferries, tramming up to Victoria Peak... inhaling smog the equivalent of 8 cigs a day... hmm... I think HK might be 'easier' in that it is a city - something we are used to. Also lots of clear kid favourites in the theme parks. HK also offers the chance to get off the beaten path - taking ferries to the outlying islands, trains to NT to the old walled villages.

Still, I think travel should provide an alternative experience right? A fresh look at life? Inspirational moments? Challenging our concepts of what is the norm?

let's take a vote here?