Lakeshore Hotel (新竹湖濱館) - Room 8114 @ Hsinchu in Taiwan

Our fifth hotel in our tour to Taiwan; Lakeshore Hotel should honestly think about revamping their entrance for hotel guests who arrived via coaches as the so called drop off for us was essentially the carpark for large vehicles! 

It's a right pity as the scene changed after we exited the carpark; with buildings that magically brought us to Europe, where buildings had the name with castles; Chalucet Castle, Leith Castle and Windsor Castle. 

At Windsor Castle, there was even a grand staircase that would have been a perfect setting for a costume ball for all invited guests! I didn't explore much as I was busy that evening clearing work emails.

Anyway, our key cards for our hotel room at Chalucet Castle. 

Despite the number 8, our room was on the ground floor. 

Good thing about the ground floor; very spacious hotel corridor that didn't give me the eerie vibes. We were pretty near the reception, yet far enough to not be disturbed by the noise.

Our room 8114 - pretty spacious although I was most shocked by the size of the beds! I thought they were just queen sized but turned out to be two single beds combined into one bed. Just wondering why they have to go through the hassle as I didn't make any special request.

Still scratching my head as why the built in sofa was next to the television when norm would have been facing the television. Why? Am I expecting someone to be looking at me when I am sleeping?! Kidding as I don't recall having a restless sleep that night. p.s. might be because mattresses were from the brand "slumberland".

Ground floor view; we were so near our opposite "neighbours"! 

Washroom came with a bathtub, and a device that made me so happy; I wish I had the urge to poop! Look at that, the amazing Japanese electronic bidet! How I wish every hotel would install that in the washroom of every room! 

Loving it when hotel provides a shower cubicle, instead of asking guests to shower in the bathtub! It might have been fun as kids but for the older generation like my 70 years old ++ dad, climbing in and out of bathtubs can be dangerous! 

The lack of bathroom amenities was appalling! Wait, let me finish! For sustainability and to reduce waste, amenities can actually be collected from labelled boxes at the main reception, at no charge. p.s. they don't provide bottled water too but you can get water from the many dispensers around the hotel.

Photographs of the indoor pool and gym as above. The hotel was marketed as a family hotel and a separate pool was carved out just for the kids. I enjoyed the gym; it's big and surprisingly, very well utilized by the guests! 

There were also numerous recreation sections for the kids; like Brick Island children's playroom, Little Rainbow Baby Park and even an outdoor kids ride area! I also noted on the website that there's a color dimension which I didn't notice on my trip. 

Next morning, it's a walk to Leith Castle for breakfast! We were notified in advance by KK, our tour guide, that the hotel was known for its breakfast buffet, and I was gunning for a good meal even though I seldom have breakfast in Singapore.

You have your usuals of course; noodles, western, salad, fruits, drinks etc. Wide variety of choices and should you decide to stay at Lakeshore Hotel, please go to for the breakfast on an empty stomach! Don't drink your coffee first!

In Taiwan, eat Taiwanese food! You have braised pork belly rice (luroufan) and pork meatball soup in Hsinchu style, amongst many. And there's also a pot of flavorful lobster bisque! Luxy for the win!

For plain porridge, they had like sixteen toppings!

Including expensive ones like braised eel.

For toasts, you can have your choice of spread like homemade truffle butter, kaya, coconut paste, kumquat jam, longan honey or even kit kat! I would love to try some but my stomach will be easily filled up by bread! So no!

There's even a tub of beancurd and accompanying it was a glass dispenser filled with brown sugar syrup and toppings (bubble tea pearls, marshmallows, mochi, sugar barley, candied red beans etc)! 

Even the ice cream (yes, for breakfast too) wasn't your common vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. Selection was green tea milk, valrhona chocolate, black tea latte, tangerine and green plum snow ice. Atas. 

I noticed this pull up banner showcasing what appeared to be a michelin classic from this restaurant called LONGTAIL Restaurant & Bar, I checked on internet and it had a one-star michelin! Guess this was a collaboration between LONGTAIL and Lakeshore Hotel.

This so-called classic was a slider that seemed visually underwhelming. Nevertheless, I am never one to judge on appearance. My taste buds shall decide if it is worth the early morning calorie intake.

Patty was filled with shrimps and sandwiched between the patty and bun was a mix of pickled vegetables and onions! Absolutely delicious and for that reason; a second helping was needed.

No complaint for the the buffet breakfast; variety was massive and the food, while not everything was amazing, was easily the best hotel buffet breakfast I have in my entire life! p.s. do note that while I do travel occasionally, I seldom purchase rooms with breakfast. 

For ice cream, I got tangerine and green plum snow ice; former was nicer for featuring an intense orange flavor that I enjoyed. Latter was just too sweet for my liking!

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Address

No. 773, Minghu Rd, East District, 

Hsinchu City, Taiwan

Map

As above.

Map for the Hotel

As above. 

Click HERE for the Summarized Itinerary for Our 8 Days 7 Nights See Iconic Taiwan Anew Tour Package via Chan Brothers

Shaw Foundation Australian Outback Zone @ Bird Paradise Mandai in Singapore

Although Australia is known for having a lot of endemic species, I was thinking more of kangaroos, wallabies, quokkas, koalas; definitely not birds, except for emus.

But do you know that the world's smallest continent has half of the bird species that cannot be found anywhere else?! Let us now explore the Shaw Foundation Australian Outback Zone! 

As it was already high noon, many visitors were holded up under shelter, in a shed that I would best describe as a structure that came from the village I stayed at as a child. 

The aviary wasn't big but it was said to have 30 bird species from Australia! Given the open concept and my apparent lack of observation, I am keeping my fingers crossed on how many species I could catch with my naked eyes.

Hidden in the tree were some green parrots that looked quite similar to the red-breasted parakeets now commonly found in Singapore, except they had blue heads. 

Of course there's the emu. This kind is known as the common emu and is not endangered given their current population in the wild which numbers over 600,000!

Love this photo of a stunned parrot.

Magpie Goose - looking odd with a pair of out-of-place legs that had large, webbed feet said to be only partially webbed.

Beautiful pair of pink and black parrots. 

Red-tailed black cockatoo that was enjoying the attention from visitors. Fun facts: the species was "the official mascot of the 2006 Commonwealth Games held in Melbourne", and for one of the Australian aboriginal group, this species is also known "to accompany the dead to heaven".

Have you heard of this nursery rhyme called "Kookaburra"? I did but I didn't know how it looked like; hence, imagine my surprise when I saw it at Bird Paradise Mandai. Wasn't that a kingfisher?! Albeit a duller looking one.

Did you see what my dad saw? 

Blending in with the tree and somewhat like a wooden stump or branch, it's one of the few birds that I was curious about as their appearance was extraordinary! 

Known as the Tawny Frogmouth, it had an wide mouth similar to a frog (hence the name)! It was so beautiful; there's even a rainbow captured on the photo! 

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Location

Shaw Foundation Australian Outback Zone,

Bird Paradise Mandai, Singapore  

Fa Ji Noodle (发记老碗面) - Signature Biangbiang Noodles @ Northpoint City Mall in Yishun [Malaysia]

I self-professed to be a navigational expert for Northpoint City Mall, and when my sister suggested having lunch at Fa Ji Noodle; I was adamant there's no such eatery, only to be proven, embarrassingly, wrong via Google Map!

To be fair, it was at a hidden corner on the ground floor of the shopping centre and I did remember that the shop that it took over from was Maki-San, which had moved over to the basement 2 level as a takeaway outlet.

Serving China (Shaanxi) cuisine in a small premises with a Google review rating score of 4.6 from over 50 reviewers, the one thing that caught my eye was their noodle dish called biang biang noodle. Funny sounding aside, do you know it's one of the most difficult Chinese characters to write, with 58 strokes?! So difficult, my computer doesn't even recognize it! 

Scan to order but I would recommend getting a physical menu to look through before you order. Honestly, this scan to order initiative isn't "friendly" for the older generation as the screen size on our phone can be so straining to eyes affected by presbyopia. 

Self service seasoning counter - don't expect the variety from Haidilao; it's literally just cut chilli, soy sauce, vinegar and chilli oil. I am happy to go with just the original seasoning as part of the dishes! Let's begin with our weekend lunch.

Tofu Stuffed with Soymilk - with a thumbs-up, and two chilli on the physical menu, it's literally challenging me to order! And so, I did.

While I was expecting the insides to burst (they didn't), what really impressed me were the super soft and smooth tofu that contrasted with the thin, crisp shell that managed to hold in the tofu so well! Sprinkled with a special mix of spicy and peppery seasoning, I was literally eating them like snacks! 

Fried Potato and Mushrooms - another thumbs-up dish, you can imagine how bewildered my expression was when this was served. Large pieces of potato and what appeared to be large pieces of dried duck meat; visually unappetizing.

For someone who dislikes potatoes, these nuggets of fried potato were like a larger version of French fries and the only thing lacking for me would be Kimball Thai chilli sauce! Seasoning was similar to Tofu Stuffed with Soymilk and the mushrooms (the dried duck meat lookalike) had that intense, earthly flavor that I couldn't resist! 

All In One Biangbiang Noodles - signature for the restaurant that came in three versions, which were in fact just more and more toppings! To be frank, the picture on the menu for my five-topping biang biang noodles appeared a lot more generous. 

Shaped like a belt, long and wider than your conventional noodle, they were said to be handmade and known to be staple for workers who lacked the time to make thinner noodles! p.s. you do have the options for wide or narrow noodle and for the sake of tasting something unique, I would go for the typical thickness; wide! 

Once mixed up, my first impression was its savory delicious flavor. While a tad spicy, it's addictive to tackle the thick noodles and I secured satisfaction in slurping them down my throat! Only thing was that I could hardly differentiate the toppings like potato, tomato eggs, cucumber, meat as everything was just lumped as one. Maybe I would go for the less topping, cheaper option next time.

Chinese Hamburger - this was just S$1 so long you have a main dish! I have had roujiamo (known as Chinese hamburgers) twice before and I am going to be totally frank; I like western hamburgers better. Nevertheless, I am not going to give up this S$1 top up deal! 

To me, roujiamo is like a pastry bun filled with meat but the problem was, I didn't like the texture as the dough was dense and chewy. Please give me a burger from Woodfire anytime, or even a large bao from those dim sum takeaway stalls. 

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Would I be back? Strangely, the biangbiang noodles really appealed to my taste buds and I would love to re-order the Tofu Stuffed with Soymilk and Fried Potato and Mushrooms! Alex actually enjoyed the latter! 

Address

930 Yishun Ave 2, 

#01-172, Northpoint City Mall, 

Singapore 769098

Map

As above.

Menu

As above. 

Pricing

Tofu Stuffed with Soymilk - S$5.30

Fried Potato and Mushrooms - S$6.80

All In One Biangbiang Noodles - S$13.80

Chinese Hamburger - S$1.00

(Subject to GST)