Around Taipei, Taipei 2014

The August Break 2014, #10

And to all Singaporeans, a warm welcome home.

Around National Taiwan University, Taipei 2014

Snaps around NTU during the days I was on campus.

Rainy First Day, Taipei 2014

My trip to Taipei earlier in May was a milestone for me both personally and professionally. It was my first solo trip abroad and I was there to attend a conference at National Taiwan University (NTU) as a speaker. I had submitted a paper for consideration at an international conference and my paper was selected to be presented!

I landed in Taipei on a rainy and thundery Tuesday morning. According to student liaisons who picked me up at the airport, it was a freak thunderstorm rather than the regular, light, rain they were expecting. Although the rain continued relentlessly for the next two days, it let up for a little while as I walked through the NTU campus to the Main Library building to sign in for the conference.

Bali 2013

Earlier this year, I headed out to Bali for a quick jaunt with three junior college friends. We stayed in Seminyak, a fairly cosmopolitan area of Bali compared to Uluwatu where I stayed previously.

We stayed at a little place called Jas Boutique Villas, located behind the main Seminyak stretch, making it a very quiet spot which is a good thing in my book. We booked a 2-bedroom villa with a plunge pool. It has a small gazebo and a little open-air kitchen where breakfast was served daily. I made full use of the gazebo, lazing around when the sun was out, catching up with my magazines.

Every day of the trip, we were in the pool, splashing and floating around to our heart's content. We played around a lot with my Fisheye 2, using up one entire roll on underwater shots. This is my first time using a camera underwater. Not going to lie, it was a little scary the first time I brought the Fisheye into the water but I quickly got over it once I realised how secure the Fisheye Submarine case was. Shooting was easy. Even though you can't feel when the film stops turning, I just watch the film spool stop turning to know when it's done. 

Besides splashing around, we also headed out to Seminyak beach for the sunset and for massages at a nearby massage parlour. And although I have no dinner photographs because they all came out blurry on film, I managed to get them on instagram! We had bbq ribs at Naughty Nuri's (highly recommended) and Indonesian seafood at Bale Udang.

A fun, little trip.