Ian Ritchie - Lonely Planet Theme

Singapore Trip 2011 - (1)

At 5 a.m. in the morning, I was riding a cab on my way to Changi Airport. It's time to go home.

After 5 days of stay, I finally got to say goodbye to another stranger country. This time as usual, saying goodbye seems to be the hardest thing. 

On the beautiful highway to Changi Airport, the taxi driver explained to me how and why he doesn't like Singapore. You get to know the true color of a country when you talk to local people.

'In Singapore, everything is so controlled and controlled by the government.'

'There is no true democracy here. If you criticize the government, the government will sue you.'

'In Singapore, most businesses are owned by the government. You do not see much entrepreneurs here.'

'Singaporean government doesn't look like a government, it is more like a company, which makes many things very efficient, but too business-oriented. So there is not much you can do here, because most things are taken care of by the government.'

'And the living standard is too high, many things are expensive, especially housing.'

So what he said about Singapore is sort of a wrapping-up of my first impression to Singapore after this trip. However, I think those phenomena is just a result of a unique combination of several political/governmental models. I found that quite interesting and thought that might be a partial answer (not perfect) to a better government for Taiwan.

Key West

我在 美國的 國境之南 - Key West.

Universal Studio @Orlando, FL

Universal Studio at Orlando is ... HOT. But Blue man show makes everything worth it.

I am not a guy that enjoys roller coaster very much, so as you can imagine, some amusement rides in Universal Studio can scare me away. Therefore, on the first day of our Orlando Universal Studio tour, Blue Man show was probably the only show that I really enjoyed myself.

Fortunately, there are two parks in universal studio. The one that I didn't like is called islands adventure ;the other one, THE universal studio, is the one I enjoyed and had some fun. The reason is simple: there were not too much of those over-exciting rides and most were shows with express pass! A lot of shows means a lot of AC! I guess in this hot hot weather, AC is where the fun can start.

Anyways, blue man show is once in a life-time experience. You have to watch it but only once.

Tomorrow we are heading to Miami.

Winter Break in Europe II - Netherlands (2)

Several cities in Netherlands are visited during this trip; this is because they are not far away. Amsterdam, Den Haag, Delft, Einhoven, Leiden are what's on the list.

這幾個城市每一座給人感覺都不一樣。但整體來說荷蘭給我的感覺與紐西蘭相似，但卻比紐西蘭或是美國靈活許多。怎麼說呢?荷蘭雖不像法國或是西班牙文化上如此多采多姿(至少還是比美國紐西蘭豐富)，但他們對他們所居住的環境卻多了創意﹔他們對城市的規劃和市內空間的設計有許多時候是讓我驚艷的。

比較起來Amsterdam最像紐約，也是我在荷蘭最不喜歡的城市﹔Delft是TU Delft大學的所在地，所以基本上是一個大學城。TU Delft這間大學是我出國唸書後看過最棒的學校，整個校園非常的大，每棟建築都有很自己的特色與現代感，建築內所有室內空間設計也讓人覺得很舒服，整個環境充滿了啟發性。尤其是學校的總圖書館﹔我從來沒看過有圖書館的室內空間是如此設計的: 每一層都共同圍繞一個同心圓，很像巴別塔。

P.S.TU Delft就是當初我很想去卻拒絕我的學校。

Leiden是這幾個城市裡面最小巧美麗的地方，很可惜的是那天造訪實在太冷，完全不想照相，也不想久逛，不然就可以用像機紀錄下美麗的景色。Leiden是古典但卻美麗，可是住久了可能會很無聊，還好就是幾個大城都在Leiden周圍一小時內的車程，所以可以長到別的城市串門子。

Den Haag 是個美麗的城市，給人感覺有不同，可惜的是我並沒有在海牙待太久。Einhoven是個工業城，不是很美麗。不過Den Haag and Einhoven在我與Flora的評價都是屬於有很多地方可以Shopping的城市，有趣的是，他們的商品比Rotterdam的還要多樣性且便宜。

荷蘭的城市就是有個特色─有水。所以給人舒服的感覺。我希望將來有一天能生活在有水的都市。

Winter Break in Europe II - Netherlands (1)

Rotterdam is a city I had never been to before, but it is my first stop in this trip. My girl friend lives in Rotterdam, that is why it is my first stop. However, this harbor city welcomes me with light snow and chilling weather.

荷蘭的天氣幾乎一直都不好，即使我的確和Flora去了好幾個荷蘭城市，我並沒有太多機會好好探索他們。但就從路特丹開始了我與歐洲的第二次親密接觸。

陸特丹是歐洲第一大港，但是人口卻只有幾十萬人。由於第二次世界大戰被猛烈的轟炸，導致老舊的建築都不見了，所以城市的風貌相較於歐洲其他城市就顯得現代化許多。但是現代話與大城市並不代表建築就是單調的辦公大樓林立﹔相反地，在我眼中，路特丹每一棟建築都不一樣，一點都不單調，每一棟建築都有被設計過，光從建築來看會讓人覺得路特丹是一個很有創意的城市。

陸特丹也有所謂的中國城，但其實只是一條街而已，與紐約的中國城規模完全無法相比。但是平均品質比紐約中國餐廳要好，重點是不用給小費! 我痛恨美國機型的小費文化。我在紐西蘭生活不用給小費，我在法國不用給小費，我在荷蘭不用給小費，西班牙也不需要。偏偏他媽的紐約給小費還是Compulsory。這我實在無法理解。

我和Flora在路特丹享受了簡單幸福的兩人世界，我也嘗試做了幾次菜，雖不是非常好吃，但也算能下肚﹔對於一個已經一年半沒下除的人算可以接受了。我最得意的一道菜就是煎牛排﹔之所以想要嘗試間牛排是因為看過痞子英雄的三聯會會長在戲中煎牛排覺得很Man，所以覺得男人到一定年紀就應該要煎牛排。

兩人世界是很愜意，但是路特丹的天氣不是很賞臉，沒有幾天是好天氣的﹔通常都是濕冷加上有怪風吹。難得好天氣我們有到Euromaast上看全鹿特丹市景。然後也有參觀路特丹的Museums。大致說來，路特丹不是一個讓人覺得生活很豐富的城市，但是生活算是舒適，因為人口少，公共建設夠好，生活機能好。然後市容是美麗的，是有創意且靈動的。

Euromaast是荷蘭最高的建築物，有關路特丹的生活照片放於Picassa: http://tinyurl.com/ycrtl5v

Winter Break in Europe I - The Arrival

My winter break starts at Rotterdam...

考完試還來不及喘口氣隔天就直接跳上飛機前往睽違已久的歐洲大陸。這趟歐洲行是讓我興奮與期待的，因為我以許久不見的Flora就在歐洲等我，而且我早已厭倦紐約的生活，想找個出口好好休息。

剛抵達Schipol，卻不見那最急需想見的身影﹔於是我就先去將一些美金兌換成歐元。換完錢後再回到入進大廳就看到Flora朝著那入境出口殷殷期盼著﹔於是我就很開心的走上前去完成了我們久別一年後的第一次相見。

在Schipol裡面逛了一些商店和買了些日常生活用品，只能說Schipol給人感覺比JFK舒服吧。Schipol是個中央樞紐，一出來就可以直接接火車，地鐵等其他交通工具。於是呢，在逛完機場百貨後就直接跳上荷蘭的火車前往Rotterdam。

值得一提的是荷蘭的火車比我以前坐過的火車在外觀上看起來舒服多了，歐洲的火車站也給人比較有文化氣息的感覺。不過內部的舒適程度我覺得台灣美國歐洲其實都差不多。不過荷蘭的火車內部設計還是貼心一些，因為每四個座位都有小餐桌和垃圾桶供乘客使用。

火車很平穩，看著窗外那銀白色寧靜的世界，不禁覺得搭飛機的勞累都值得了﹔這趟歐洲行將會很棒。

待續...

旅遊的另一種選擇

融入生活的語言學校課程： http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUCnMWcXbxI&feature=channel I wonder how much the cost of this kind of class would be. But it looks fantastic. A week later, the same TV program detailed this language program further: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgHZYYSzWys&feature=channel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5X7kd8AtzM&feature=channel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAfkQY1t7Ms&feature=channel So romantic...

Yilan trip in winter break

I should start writing something about that trip; otherwise the memory will fade away again.

Travel Hua-Lien

Hua-Lien is considered Taiwan's last backyard by many of us. And I am glad that we had made this trip come true before going to the U.S.A.

Photos are the best diaries that describe my days in Hua-Lien. See links below. Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 (Taroko) Day 3 (七星潭)

WHEN EAST MEETS WEST - TRAVEL @ Hong Kong

April 03 ~ April 06 2008 精采的旅程, 總是在不經意中展開 ...

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April 03 早上抵達中正國際機場,在Check-in行李時, 還巧遇台積電董事長張忠謀先生. 登機後直飛香港. 一個多小時的飛行時間不知覺我們已經在赤臘角機場上盤旋. 我興奮的望向機窗外, 因為這是聞名已久填海造地的大機場. 不過窗外的景象並沒讓我impressive, 因為當天天氣灰濛濛的, 還漂著小雨. 不論如何, 飛機降落後進入機場, 我和Flora踏著輕盈的步伐快步走在機場的Terminal1中; 張著大大的眼睛怕漏看任何一個景象. 看人; 看飛機; 看停機鵬; 看建築物. 人, 很多; 且很多種. 飛機, 也很多; 也很多種(各種航空公司). 建築物, 大, 現代化. * (機場的照片1/ 機場的照片2) 然而, 我們即將入境 "小小" 的香港... 或許Flora會嫌我照相照很久,上廁所拖拖拉拉,提行李慢吞吞, 問問題傻呆呆; 但在香港, 他絕對不會罵我, 因為在香港的移動 = 效率 從要從機場離開前往我們下塌的旅館就可看出香港的效率: 機場標示清楚指引我們前往機場快線搭車處(不用問人) -> 搭到九龍站 -> 標示清楚指引我們前往搭free shuttle bus處(不用問人) -> 有服務人員主動指示我們搭哪一班次 -> 輕鬆順利搭上 -> 標示清楚讓我們知道在哪站下(不用問人) -> 目的地九龍酒店 Check-in. 以上動作一氣呵成.

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Tunghai University - Taichung

Today is a great day for soaking up the sun; therefore Flora and I headed down south to Tunghai University to take a walk and enjoy the sunshine.

Its campus is reputable for beautiful scenery and elegant architecture. The picture on the left is just a glimpse of the front gate in the campus; well, not as elegant as I thought, but at least there is a LOGO and the name of the univ. And that is the first step to get to know a school.

朱銘美術館

It is definitely the best museum I have ever been, EVER!! And the story starts from here...