MaD Asia 2012 in Hong Kong

Reported from hongkong of MaD event on Jan 6 n 7 2012. MaD program is aiming to enlighten and enrich youngsters to Make a Difference. find out more here:)

although i am very tired now. imagine that we have to stair up to 9th floor, bcos no lift in our hostel, it is a very old building, n a bit scary here, but we have no other choice, we decided to book hotel in a very last minute, so other good hotel has already booked either it's fully/partially booked on Jan 6-10. so here we are; me, daning, n N (N is my new friend from cambodia, nice n a bit over-excited girl :D, we just met here in MaD, but actually we contacted each other via Skype before came here).

On 6th we had flight at 2.15 pm from Taoyuan airport, n arrived around 4 pm in HK, then went straightly to MaD venue in Kwai Tsing Theatre (around Kwai Fong MTR station). anyway, about the event. the show was started at 6 to 11pm. I lovee its opening ceremony. The stage was AMAZING! we had opening speech from foreign guest speakers also. here are some pictures of it..

The opening

Stanley WONG's creative input

Digital Hug by GayBird

MaD teams on registration day

On 7th, we all should queuing up to get in to the workshop, first come first serve, but so far went well. I attended some workshops in Auditorium. n at 1.30 pm we can reimburse the flight ticket for USD 300 as a subsidy. yeay finally we get our money back, n can have something to buy.

MaDee lined up to join the program

"What can we do with technology?" workshop

"What can we do with empathy?"

Open activities

What is actually in my mind? wait for it... i'm still thinking.... yes still thinking untill now, have no idea! =.=

After got our reimbursement, we had lunch at Kwai Tsing Plaza near the venue, and found this food, overall it's good, cost HK$50 per person. nyam nyam.

The last activity on that day was in open space, West Kowloon, we have to took train to get to the place. it's like 6 pm at that time, got night sightseeing there. so lovely. sounds a bit hyperbolic but suddely i fall in love in this city n want to leave taiwan, haha. but really, it's much better here. from the food, language to communicate, transportation, the direction, n rarely to see dogs around the street.

Kowloon MTR station

Music performa

Market street organized by MaD

Fishball, this food is really gooood.. want more *drooling*

Let's!!!

That is Hongkong island over there, across the island where we stand. Hongkong has few islands that get connected to each other by MTR system (the train). There are four big area in HK; Hong Kong island, Kowloon, New territories,n Lantau island.

that's it for today, going to sleep early n prepare for tmrw..

Chinese paper cutting class, Last day, & Christmas fever

2 weeks ago we learnt Chinese cutting paper in Chinese class. i love doing this thing. it's like in the kindergarten^^ then our laoshi told us about the history in the ancient time that if a girl doesn't have ability to do cutting paper no one will marry her :D but it's not anymore.

We were making chuan that has the meaning of spring. i thought it was christmas tree :D

Christmas fever in Taiwan, every Taiwanese will greet us 'merry christmas', even they know that we are not celebrating it. and i got chocolate from Linda, my roommate. well, i can't say no for a gift, so i took it, haha.. thanks anyway:)

This is our last class (thanks to mas donny for all the photos, always take a picture for every moment), next week is gonna be a final exam. wishing all a good luck! jiayoo~~

The Little Things I Need

I had bad impression when i first came to Taiwan, common problems that we all facing were the food.toilet.and have no mosque/mushola (place to take pray) inside campus. but since i live in their world.i am the one who should adapt myself, not them. so thanks to all who had help me to deal with these problems. i can now enjoy my life here;) n be grateful to have this experience.

*still not comfortable with the toilet though, have no water n bad smell~~haha

Thanks for all the support: my families, friends, professors, and for all the little things i need......

Classmates

My little hero, astro boy doll.. i was wondering when will my real hero come, haha..

Notes from my roommate:) i told you before i have 2 nice roommates. but most Taiwanese change my name from "R" to "L". haha, but never mind, as long as i still have a good name.

Wati and Daning birthday was on the same day, 11Dec11. it was the first time for Daning, so yes she cried:) Birthday song by William and us, in 4 different languanges; Indonesia.Malaysia.English.Chinese.

Time and venue: 12AM in front of Family Mart, female dorm I, YZU

Hotpot for our dinner, thanks for the treat :9

my tight schedule for these two months. Actually i only have three days on class (tuesday, thursday, n friday). but start on early Nov i took a job as TA to prepare class for morning study at 7-9am, twice a week (monday n wed). n i also set a schedule for routine swimming on friday n saturday morning, but it's really getting colder now, i should stop swim by the end of Dec. myb i should try gym as an alternate, only during this winter.

morning study for the undergraduate students. to be honest, this is an easy job, i only have to prepare the class and sit there for two hours long. but the hardest part is to stay awake at this very early morning! haha! look at them.. look at the difference on those pictures. what can i say, can't blame them:))

my made-self dictionary. i wrote all new chinese words that i heard anywhere n anytime. i hope i can speak chinese well when i come back to my country^^. I plan to take three-months chinese program in NTNU after i finish my study in YZU.

last Wed, my professor invited me to have lunch together with her undergraduate students. It was all delicious! Apparently, my friend said that this is a high class restaurant. my lunch package is NT600, only for me, wow. that chinese characters written on the plate was the name of the restaurant.

then on my way back to campus, my friend brought me here. oohh nooo, it's 17++, she's very sexy x_x, but my friend said they only sell food n drink, they are not bad girls.. yeah whatever for me it's still not good.

last but not least..my crappy-laptop that had been accompanied me travel around for almost 4 years. such a mess. that was on my first week here.

"What goes around, comes around"

If you have faith n always think positively, good things will come to you. and vise versa. so cheers up guys!!!:))

International Day

Had an international day on wednesday noon. consist of festival food n runaway show. me n other indonesian students, daning wati gunar muamar subhan dony n alfi, were in a group.

that is our stand. Welcome to Indonesia. ni hao~~

Daning as the masterchef. and ka wati as the chef-assistance.

while i kept busy taking photos here n there :p

anywayyy.. we sell nasi kuning(ind)/yellow rice(eng)/ huang fan(chinese) and fried tempe. laris maniiiss.. SOLD OUT.

we cook tempe on the spot. but apparently we didn't prepare well for that. we only had one gas stove there, n it causes a long queue in our stand = =' ..

13 groups from various countries joined this food festival

this group mix of indonesian, malaysian, indian, nepal, latino

they sell many kind of food; muah chee (malaysia), samosa (india), chaat (nepal), chilaquiles rojos (latin)

Alfi - Frank (labmate) - Me

i forced frank to come n also forced him to buy our food, haha duibuqi frank, im glad you enjoyed it;)

Santa, are you lost? christmas is not coming yet.

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Korean was performing runaway show with their traditional costume at the beginning of the show n modern dance for the closing.

Kyrgyzstan show

Vietnamese had a catwalk with traditional costume

other countries who participated at the show are thailand and japan, but i couldn't take photos of them I really hope we can join the show next year, we will prepare extra hard for that!

other article of this event, internasional food festival Taiwan, written by a friend of mine

[Taipei] Modern Toilet Restaurant

Modern Toilet Restaurant is a unique and famous bathroom-themed restaurant in Taiwan. There are several branches in Taiwan, and  this review is actually a combination of two-times visits to the one at Ximending. A three-story restaurant that has everything -from the dishes to decoration- in bathroom-themed. You will see all sorts of fancy toilet bowls, once you enter the room. The idea was inspired by the manga, Dr. Slump. It first started with selling a pile of chocolate ice cream in a squat-toilet-shaped plates and has became a great success. It then took step forwards by launching this restaurant.

My two visits were in 2011 and 2014. Some decoration have changed a bit, but I think the menu has largely stayed the same. First-time visit, I went with my two Taiwanese roommates; Linda & Chole. I was lucky to go with them. It was not easy to find this restaurant in a crowded place like Ximending. Ximending itself is a shopping district which you can find shops, cinemas, market, and restaurants along the road, and there's a bunch of people at weekend. When I went there for the second time (in 2014) with Indonesian-mate I almost got lost. Since it has been long time from my first-time visit in 2011. I eventually asked some locals for direction. Yes, you can too. Even though they don't speak English much, they are very friendly and will try to help. 

In 2011, the pink-poo character greeted us at the entrance


In 2014, the golden-poo character was sitting there and smiling at us.
Pardon my pose, there's nothing to worry about the smell.

The price range for each is NT$ 120-300. However, you can order a set meal of toilet menu priced at NT$ 240 or about IDR 75.000 that includes meal, ice cream, and drink. The menu is quite varied such as appetizer, curry meals, gratin, hot pots, spaghetti, snacks, iced shavings, soft ice cream, and drinks. All dishes are served on plastic miniature toilet bowls, and drinks in miniature urinals.

This is for real. You can actually drink from Urinal. Yaks!

Pumpkin soup with crumbed-bread for appetizer. 

When I went here in 2011 this was not included on the set meal, but now it is.

A Modern Toilet Beef Curry came in a mini toilet bowl that looks a bit displeasing for your appetite. Haha. The curry served along with rice, soup, and salad. That is for NT$ 200 or IDR 62.000 if you didn't order a set meal.

Seafood Au Gratin came in a mini bath tub. That is for NT$ 250 or IDR 77.000 if you didn't order a set meal.

Next up was mine, spicy seafood spaghetti served in a wash basin plate. 

A pile of vanilla ice cream in a mini squat toilet. 

This is Linda with her chocolate-vanilla ice cream in a mini squat toilet. 

Chloe and her sister found it funny.

This is actually just a plastic poo cover for salad.

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As I have mentioned earlier, everything at this eatery is bathroom-themed. The remaining pictures below show all sorts of fancy toilet decoration. The chairs where the guest sit are the unworking toilets. The table is a glass-covered bathtub. The lamp is the shining golden-poo. The walls are covered with shower-heads, urinals, and toilet covers.

Toilet chairs

Bathtub table

Golden-poo lamp

A set of shower-room decor

Toilet cover decoration

Toilet

At last, it's a real toilet over there. So make sure you don't get confuse with that :)) Another thing that surprised me was when I washed my hands, it's in a toilet bowl!

Overall, I think the taste of food at this eatery was just OK. But I still recommend everyone who are going to or in Taiwan, to enjoy the fun & unique ambiance at Modern Toilet Restaurant.

MODERN TOILET RESTAURANT

2F, No.50-7 Xining South Road, Taipei, Taiwan

Phone: +886 2 2311 8822

Open hours: 11:30AM – 10:00PM

Website: www.moderntoilet.com.tw

MRT: Ximending station

Direction:  Exit 6 and then walked for few minutes.

It is located across from a parking lot and near 7-11.

Visit reviewed: 2011 & 2014