One day in KL

50km from KL a bus landed on its side across three lanes on the highway. Traffic can only pass through on the hard shoulder. Wonder how could the bus be in such position? Saw two ambulances pass through the massive traffic jam & I hoped none of the passengers involved would be injured bad.
The sight of the Concorde Hotel was a relieve, for we were delayed for almost an hour. I was pleasantly surprised when told that there's a standard room available when I made the call earlier in the morning, I thought the cheaper room would be difficult to get during the school holidays. Room costs RM220++ per night.
Lots of people at Bukit Bintang, mostly youngsters and tourists. Too many people in some places and that makes walking difficult. Too many people on Low Yat too but that's all right for it makes the place vibrant. Bought a few things: (1) SE W880i (RM750), (2) 2GB SD memory card (RM20), (3) Garmin Nuvi 205w (RM1399), (4) TriaxC6 heart rate monitor watch (RM400), (5) Guess lady watch (RM500)

"Long" ride.

Managed the longest ride thus far on the bike - 28.5km in 1 hr 40 minutes. Max speed 31km/hr. All the distance on paved road except for a stretch of about 500m. It was cloudy most of the time since morning & I quickly went out riding when the sky clear out a bit after 4pm. The makeshift gps holder held firm throughout the ride & now I don't feel there's a need to purchase a proper one, unless of course there's one dirt cheap.

Scooter & bicycles

An old classic bicycle used as a decor in a restaurant.

A smallish foldable Dahon bicycle.

A group of cyclists taking abreak.

Lots of bicycles and accessories came from Taiwan one would think that Taipei is full of people cycling. But no, in Taipei people prefer to use the scooter instead. There is no mass use of bicycle unlike in say Beijing. Scooter rules.

Taipei Day 2

It's raining most of the time with the sun appearing only briefly in the early afternoon. That means the day is cold - I thought not more than 20 deg celcius. Went to Taoyuan today on a 10-lane superhighway. Lots of greenery on the left and right views. Later in the evening took the high speed train the way back & what a smooth ride it was. It took 20 minutes to reach Taipei from Taoyuan & the one-way journey costs NT$150.00. They sure have very good transport infrastructure in place in this country. All work today & no play.

Beauty Hotel, Taipei.

The flight from KL to Taipei took about four hours - just about the right time to be on a plane if you are travelling coach class. A bit rough on approach otherwise the landing was smooth. One hour on the MPV to the hotel and there was no traffic jam - perhaps because it's a Sunday. The highway was superb and the "smartag" lane was fast and without a barrier unlike the one we have at home.
This Beauty Hotel is located in a very secluded location though it looks like it's in the middle of the city. The lobby is rather smallish but the room is excellent and it has some very nice touches: the slim 42" LCD TV is in the middle of the room & can be swivelled to face the sofa or the bed; need not bother to bring the adapter for the powerpoint has a universal adapter built-in; all food items in the room is complimentary (that means coffee & tea, 3 cans of soft drink and a short tube of potato crisps); a smaller TV is in the bathroom facing the tub; the view though is not great - you can't have everything!