All Done

I can't believe I'm all packed up. I feel like Taiwan has been a dream and all I've done is paused my life back home in the states. I really don't want to go back to reality...

Before leaving for the airport, my cousin took me on one last spur of the moment adventure. He took to me tofu alley to eat stinky tofu one last time before I departed. For some reason, this stinky tofu has been the best I've tasted since I came. I don't know if it's because it is actually good or because I know I'm leaving Taiwan indefinitely, so it tastes better. Either way, it was an adventure worth while before my flight....

The flight back wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was a lot more tired than I was going to Taiwan, but I guess it's because I know I'm coming back to reality...I really feel as if I just paused my life here in the states and now I've just unpaused it. Nothing here has changed, but it's as if I've changed the most. I'm already experiencing Taiwan withdrawals and it's not making adjusting to the jetlag any easier. lol.

Now, back to my regular routine of studying and going on with life. The experiences, friends, and memories I've gained from this Taiwan trip has definitely brightened my life and I couldn't have asked for a better summer. I will look forward to the next time I am able to go back to Taiwan. There is just so much to do and buy the next time I go!

Almost Done...

I only have four more days in Taiwan. It's been a bittersweet journey. I love the convenience and the experiences I've made in Taiwan thanks to people I've met, but I'm also excited to go back home to where I'm comfortable and where I can read signs. I'm so conflicted on the emotions I feel right now.

I haven't been updating the blog because,
1) I forget,
2) I adventure around, but I feel like most of the things I write about have already been written about in previous posts, and
3) I'm too lazy. lol.

I need to start packing and start getting my final gifts. This is going to be so sad...

Day 40: Work Cancelled!

Work was cancelled today due to the typhoon, so I just slept in ALL DAY. It felt awesomeee, especially after clubbing until early morning the night beforee.

Honestly, I thought a tphoon would be scarier, but its just rain and wind. -______-. Yes, it gets really inconvenient, but I assumed there would be like power shortages or something, but I'm glad it wasn't like that! Now one typhoon has passed, waiting for the second one to pass!

Day 38 & 39: Typhoon

Because of the typhoon, nothing exciting could be done except go underground shopping at Taipei Main...I've already walked that place so many times, I can tell you which stores are coming up and what they have inside or if they are even worth walking into.

Rainy days in Taiwan are such a drag....THE TYPHOON HAS RUINED MY ADVENTURES! ugh. all my plans have been cancelled, and I only have a few weeks left of Taiwan! Now is the time to squeeze adventures in, but I guess I can't with this BLAH weather.

I guess I will catch up on my sleep and stay in on this lazy, sluggish week.

Day 33, 34, 35, 36 & 37: Taichung

Hmm..I don't know if I'm getting lazier to write or if my life just isn't as exciting anymore, but I feel like I don't have much to say about my adventures anymore. lol...

Thursday, I didn't feel so well so it was just a really chill day. Did some underground shopping at Taipei Main, but went home early to shower and sleep. Took a nyquil and knocked out.

Friday, I felt a little better, but still not really feeling it. Went out again,but for some reason, it wasn't exciting like previous times. It was just...the usual...haha. I guess I'm just getting accustomed to Taiwan's nightlife.

Saturday, my roommate and I, who is also my sorority sister, went down to Taichung to meet an alumnae from her school. She was super chill and fun to hang with!! She took us shopping and night marketing and it was just super fun, plus a lot cheaper than Taipei. Shopping and eating were much cheaper than where I live in Taipei so it was good break on my wallet and a good break just in general. Even though I just met her, for some reason, I felt like I had known her before. The perks of being a sister of aKDPhi. :D

Sunday, we played in an arcade and worked out our arms. lol. Our sorority sister took us on her moped and it was reaally fuuuuuun with the wind blowing in your hair and everything! haha, except, it was kinda scary with so many fast cars and mopeds around you. Afterwards we went to go eat an all you can eat shabu shabu place (SO GOOD) and then headed back to Taipei. We rode the train both ways and both ways, we had to stand for 2 and a half hours -___- I don't think Asian people have the phrase "sold out" when it comes to transportation....

Today, Monday, was a chill day. A typhoon is coming to Taipei soon so gotta keep things on the dl and not plan too much. haha

Day 32: Tamsui

On our day off today, my roommate and I made our way to Tamsui, a 40 minute ride by MRT from Taipei. It was pretty fun with a lot of good food, however, we didn't get to stay as long as I wanted and I didn't get to eat some of the specialty foods Tamsui is known for! :( I must go again some other time before I head back, hopefully. Or it could be another reason to come back to Taiwan another time. lol.

It wasn't a super stressful day and it wasn't super eventful either. lol. Just a lot of eating. :P

Day 31: Red Hair

Today was a chill day at work. After work, I went to dye my hair with my two other aKDPhi sisters that I work with. I was going for a dark, purple red but instead, I get this bright, red with a hint of purple. lol. It's much brighter than I thought it would be, but I guess I will just have to get used to it!  Wonder how my parents will react to it...haha...

Day 27, 28, 29, and 30: I need to sleep

Day 27: Shrimping

Friday was a very tiring day. After two days of basically no sleep, it was really hard to stay awake. TGIF was my thought the whole day at work. haha.

I went to a birthday pool party in Xindian on Friday. It was fun, but I felt kind of bad because I didn't know the birthday boy. haha. All I learned was that he was loaded - rich enough to rent out part of a water park and hire tour buses to take us to and from the place. These Taiwanese people. -__-

After the pool party, my friend invited me to go shrimping. Even though I got back from the party around 12 AM, I have always wanted to go shrimping so stupidly, I said yes. Let's just say, shrimping isn't the most exciting activity, until you actually catch something and I rarely caught anything -__-. There was this whole street that had these shrimping stores and in these stores, there were a huge pool with murky water that people were sitting around with these thin fishing rods. I was excited at first because I thought I could catch a lot, but I didn't. We were there for two hours and I only caught 2 shrimp. -__-. Plus it was 500NT too! So expensive...250NT a shrimp T__T. Luckily, my friend caught 6, so in the end we pooled it together so i got to eat 3 shrimp, hehe better than nothing! I don't think I want to go shrimping ever again. First, it gets boring and tiring because shrimping is supposedly only to be done at night/early morning (they open until 6 AM), and second, it's so cruel. When you catch the shrimp, they have these pincer arms, so you have to step on them and rip it off so it won't cut the net you put them in. And then, you HAVE TO eat them if you catch them, so then you have to skewer them and cook them alive. T___T My friend was too much of a wuss (and a guy too -__-) so he had me do it. I felt like such a bad person doing all those things. The shrimp was good, but it was not worth the guilt I felt afterwards. We got home around 3 AM and didn't go to sleep until 4 AM. ..

But on a happier not, I BOUGHT FAR EAST MOVEMENT TICKETS! WEEE. I’m so excited! I get to watch Far East Movement on August 10th in Taipei. HEHE. My first concert! 

Day 28: Shopping

My roommate and I woke up relatively early (11AM) for sleeping so late. Our eyes were literally -__- when we woke up. It didn't help that we had small Asian eyes...

We headed towards Aranzi Cafe, but when we got there, they were already booked until 7 PM! So, we took some pictures in the cafe (because it was super cute inside) and we bought a cake to go because it was in the shape of a bunny. We then went next door to this cute little French cafe, Cafe de France, and just ate lunch there.

After lunch, we went to the Taipei Main Station and just shopped around. It was a really chill day, but it was also tiring at the same time because I was just walking around all day.

I wanted to take a nap before I went out with friends, but unfortunately, that didn't happen. We came home around 3 AM, but didn't even go clubbing. We went over to a friend's apartment and just chilled, but we still managed to come home so late! I really need to keep better track of time...

Day 29: Bitan and Hello Kitty Cafe

I went to Bitan in Xindian today with my group members. There were so many couples - it is such a date place. At Bitan, there is this really long bridge that crosses over the river and people can also sit in Swan, or other animal shaped, paddle boats and cruise the river. That's what my group and I did, but man, it looks easier than it was. My thighs had a good workout. It was nice seeing my group again, even though I see them every week. haha. I'll definitely miss them when I'm back in the states.

After Bitan, my group dispersed to do their own things and I went with my roommate to the Hello Kitty Cafe. Everything inside was pink and decked with bows and hello kitty faces. It's crazy how much people like Hello Kitty to have a restaurant dedicated to it.

The food was really expensive so my roommate and I just ordered a dessert and drink and it still cost us around 400NT each. -__- The dessert wasn't even that great...Oh wells, all for the experience and bragging rights, right? I got a creme brulee and this chocolate smoothie, but the creme brulee tasted like an egg custard and the chocolate tasted like chocolate and ice mixed together. MEH.The only good thing was that I got a lot of pictures out of it and there was Hello Kitty everywhere and on everything.

Day 30: Consequences


Today, I felt like such a zombie. I needed it to be a relaxing day with no side adventures and that's what I did today. I went to a birthday dinner, but besides that, there was nothing more exciting, which is GREAT. Time to catch up on sleep. I'm still suffering from last Wednesday. haha.

Day 26: The Dark Knight Rises

So to begin, let's just say I was extremely tired. I had only slept two hours before having to wake up for work, so I felt like a zombie all day. I have to rethink about Ladies Night...it makes me question my youth. lol.

After work, I went to dinner with my aKDPhi roommate and my high school friend who is also Greek. We went to this restaurant called San Yuan, where they served Shao Long Tan Bao. It was right next to Taipei 101 in the ATT4FUN building. It was really pretty inside, but unfortunately, the service was kind of slow. We had their shao long tan baos, these extremely cute porcupine shaped mantous, and CHOCOLATE DUMPLINGS. It was pretty cool, but it just tasted like mochi with nutella inside. lol.

Still hungry after dinner, my friends and I went to go get shaved ice at the movie theater food court to meet up with another friend. This shaved ice tasted better than Ice Monster's and it was cheaper too! After catching up, we decided to watch Batman: The Dark Knight Rises. I just have to say, Oh Em Geeeeeeee. It was sooo good. Unfortunately, we had to sit in the second row because we bought our tickets a little later and Taiwan uses the marked seats system, but it was still epically awesome. I think it's definitely worth watching it again, maybe this time in a different row, farther from the screen. lol. I loved it. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was in it. *swoon* He was just waaay too cute. haha.

AH it was such a good evening. I'm so glad I could eat and catch up with friends and watch Batman BEFORE people in the states. >:) HEHE, I will probably suffer at work tomorrow for the lack of sleep I haven't been getting these past two days, but man, Batman was worth it. :D

Day 25: A day full of eating

Today was a just a full day of eating. From the time I get up to when I went out, it was just constant eating.

Woke up today and ate at an all you can eat shabu shabu place. IT WAS SO GOOD. There was a huge variety of food, from all different kinds of fish cakes to different kinds of veggies. It was amazing how many different kinds of things I could choose from. Plus, the appetizers, drinks, AND desserts were filled with tons of choices, like gummy bears on a stick and chocolate fondue machine.

After lunch for two hours, my roommates and I headed over to a shaved ice place called Ice Monster where you have to wait in line to get in. It's supposed to be that good. However, I didn't think it was THAT good. It had some odd flavors that made the shop interesting, but it wasn't the greatest shaved ice I've had. We ordered the Milk Tea with Boba and a Mango Shaved Ice. Both were waaaay too sweet and the Milk Tea shaved ice gave me a tummy ache and head ache. Maybe we just ordered the wrong ones, but I was disappointed. I wish it was worth the wait outside in the smoldering heat. The shop had a cute mascot though!

After shaved ice, my roommates and I went our separate ways. One went shopping, the other went back home to nap, and I went to go eat dinner with my group mates. However, I didn't really eat. I wish I did though. The food looked really good. :(

With dinner over, I headed back home and changed really quickly to go out to Luxy for Ladies Night. Tonight was just not as popping or crazy as last week. There was no midget pirate crowd surfing in a life boat, but men carrying around bottles of Smirnoff and feeding the crowd still happened. I wanted to go home sooner, but I had to deal with some drama between a couple tonight, so I didn't get to go home as soon as I had hoped. Oh well....I have to wake up for work in 3 hours...maybe I'll just pull an all nighter..

Day 24: Orange Cobo

My roommate and I went to a buffet style place for dinner. We definitely ate our money's worth and came out with extreme food babies. The place is called Orange Cobo, and it's a type of buffet that they make everything by order, but you can have unlimited amounts of it and even try some other stuff. Plus, the include the drinks, salad, and dessert. The best one I had was probably the squid ink noodles with alfredo sauce. It looked odd at first, but it tasted really good!

After stuffing ourselves with yummy food, my roommate and I walked around the area, looking for cheap finds. Unfortunately, the area we walked around in was really expensive. -__- oh wells, at least we got to walk off some of our food babies.

Day 23: Harmony Home

It thunder stormed today. I usually like rain, but not when I have to travel around in it, and that's exactly what I did today. I always feel so awkward when I have my umbrella out, but I guess that's the only way to protect myself from getting too wet!

I was fortunate enough to go to Harmony Home during my second half of work. Harmony Home is a place where HIV/AIDs victims can go to to find shelter and support. It also reaches out to refugees and other less fortunate others. At the Harmony Home, I was able to play with the children that stayed there. They are the cutest things ever! I sometimes forget how cute, yet feisty, small children can be. A little boy fell asleep in my lap today and it was the cutest thing ever. Children can fall asleep anywhere, lol, no matter how loud it is. I'm so envious.

Day 21 and 22

It's been another crazy weekend, in a way.

Saturday, my roommate, our two mutual friends, and I went to Ximen to do some shopping and eat at the Modern Toilet. Even though I've been there before, it was fun to go with friends who have never been there. Their facial expressions were just too funny.

After lunch at the Modern Toilet, we did some shopping, bought many cute earrings for 50NT each! Still need to do some more gift shopping and self shopping though. hehe.

Eventually, we found our way to the Doll House/Swing Cafe. It's this place that has swings for you to sit on, instead of chairs, and stuffed animals surround you everywhere. It was really soothing that all of us just wanted to fall asleep.

When we got back home, we got ready for our other roommate's birthday celebration. We went to Babe18, an all you can drink club, and had a pretty nice table. I'm glad we got the table because the dance floor was waaaay too crowded and the couch was very comforting on my feet as well. lol.

I came back relatively early, 3 AM, and waited for my roommates to make their way back home. The last one came home at 5 AM, so thus, I did not sleep until 6 AM -__-. I spent my whole Sunday sleeping. I feel really bad since I had a lot of plans today, but all cancelled since I was too tired to wake up. lol. I'll have to plan this out better next time. :P

Day 20

Today was a super unproductive day at work. I kept getting distracted, but starting on Monday, I NEED TO GET WORK DONE. I have project due dates coming up, so gotta get on that!

After work today, I met up with some group members for dinner. We went to a restaurant called Pepper Lunch. It served steak, or whatever kind of meat you want, on a sizzling plate with an egg and vegetables. It was quite delicious. When we finished dinner, we roamed around the mall that the restaurant was in and I found the Gundam store where everything was Gundam. I had finally found the place my little brother wanted me to go to buy him his gifts. I spent almost 2000NT on Gundams for him. I'm such a good sister, right? -__- Bought 5 different Gundam figurines for him to build, so hopefully that will keep him busy for awhile. lol.

During dinner, we got a call from our counselor saying he was sick and couldn't make it out tonight to play, so my group members and I decided to surprise him at his place and bring him a bag of get well utilities. We went into the underground mall under the Taipei Main Station and bought him so many things. Fruit, water, cough medicine, vitamin C supplements, a mask, a donut, and even a little teddy bear. :3 I hope he gets well soon so we can go adventuring around as a group again!

Day 19: Maokong Gondola

Because of sleeping late, it was so hard to stay awake at work. I thought I was going to be able to take a really long nap when I went home after work, but instead, I got to go to the Gondolas in Maokong! It's always a place I really wanted to go to because these gondolas take you up into the small mountains of Taiwan where you can drink tea and view Taiwan's cityscape. My roommate's mom and grandparents were heading there that afternoon and she was nice enough to invite me out. :)

We got to go into the glass bottom gondolas, but there wasn't much to see, except green foliage. -__-. The idea is nice, but the view was all the same through the whole ride. lol. Still, it was a nice experience. When we got to the top (not that high up, but quite a distance), we went to go drink tea and eat dinner at this quaint, cute restaurant. The view we had was breathtaking. We got to sit outside with a view of Taiwan's cityscape. It was especially beautiful when it got dark out and all of Taiwan's lights were out. Totally a date place. haha.

Dinner was delicious too. Ate a lot of food that can't be found anywhere else, like these vines that only grow in Taiwan's mountains. After dinner and some talking, we slowly made our way back to the gondolas. It was nice sitting in these gondolas on the way back. It was calming as you float through the blackness, on one side viewing the lights of Taiwan and the other side, knowing you're surrounded by lush, green foliage.

Day 18: Dazzling Cafe and Shida Nightmarket

I finally got to sleep in today. It felt amazing. lol. I didn't have work today, so I was able to get a good night's rest and wake up refreshed; however, when I woke up at noon, I still felt pretty sleepy.

My roommates and I went to Dazzling Sunshine Cafe in one of the department stores next to Taipei 101 for late lunch. The place was in a little corner surrounded by shoes and clothes. I ordered the spaghetti with meat sauce because they didn't have the pesto pasta I wanted, and ordered a fruit black tea. I must admit, the food was pretty delicious. After lunch we ordered their famous Honey Toast. We picked the "Party in your mouth" honey toast. It came with strawberries, ice cream, and a strawberry macaroon. It was super delicious! This place is worth coming back for, just to eat the toast though. hehe.

Later in the night, my roommate's friend took us to Shida Nightmarket. Let's not mention that on the way there, we totally got lost on the MRT. We first took the wrong subway, and then we missed our stop. -__-. Oh well, we still made it there in one piece! Shida isn't as big as Shilin, but it was still good. There aren't too many options when it comes to food, but the food that they do have is delicious! I felt like such a fatty because I ate 5 different kinds of foods. haha. >.<

I have come to a revelation after the nightmarket. I don't have a boyfriend because I sweat like crazy. .__. hahaha. I was sweating balls at the nightmarket and it was just me and my roommates. Obviously, the Americans sweat more than the locals -__-. It's was way too hot to be wandering around, but it was all worth it. It's all for the experience right?

After going back to the dorm with the wonderful A/C and showering, my roommates and I got ready for ladies' night again. Except this time, we have promised each other we will come back home at an appropriate time so we can sleep and wake up in the morning to go to work. lol. Last week was a fail. We were too tired to do anything at work with just four hours of sleep. haha. Never again...

...Yet, it happened again. lol. Luxy was sooo much fun last night. Totally a club for ABCs. Everyone was speaking English, I can finally understand people now at a club! haha. It was crazy in there, confetti being blasted everywhere and mist spraying everywhere. I must say, it was a good night.

Day 17: Shilin Nightmarket

OMGOSH. It was SO HOT today. Apparently, it was a record breaking 38 degrees Celsius, so around 100 degrees Fahrenheit! I was sweating balls whenever I walked outside.

I had such a filling breakfast this morning. Sao bing yo tiao and soymilk is just too good! I was able to meet our newest intern and coincidentally, she's also an aKDPhi! From UPenn too! Hehe, now that's three in the office! KDPhi is taking over Taipei! 

For work today, I got to attend a conference to hear about the obesity issue in Taiwan and programs that have been created to intervene and decrease the rate of obesity. I felt super under dressed since everyone was in slacks and a nice dress shirt, while I was in a crop tank and shorts. haha at least I was wearing closed toe shoes!

After work, my roommates and I went to Shilin Nightmarket and met up with some more friends there. I really wanted to play the fishing game, since that is the only place I still know that has it, but I couldn't find it. :( Shilin Nightmarket is just waaaay too big. I did however, get to play the marble game that I played when I was younger. At the nightmarket, I had the huge fried chicken patty that was the size of my face, stinky tofu, and mango shaved ice. YUM. *Side Note: I never knew Taiwanese people didn't add tapioca onto their shaved ice with fruit. I got the strangest looks, even from the waiter, when I asked them to put tapioca on my mango shaved ice.* I also bought a very cute belt for only $3 and a handbag for less than $10! hehe what a deal. I wish I bought more things and got to shop a little bit more, but everyone was super sweaty and tired. That just means there is more for next time! hehe. I can't wait until I come back again. I become a little kid every time I go to a nightmarket. :3

When we came home, we had two cockroaches in our bathroom waiting for us. It was absolutely revolting. I don't understand why cockroaches are alive. Same with mosquitoes. I really don't understand what they do to help the ecosystem out. Spiders and ants I can understand, but no cockroaches and mosquitoes. *shiver* One was slowly dying on the floor and the other one (which was HUGE) was eating the poisonous food we put out so we had to wait for it to die before we could shower. It was so gross, but eventually both of them toppled over and we just decided to flush them down the toilet. haha. I really don't know what to do with them.

Day 16

I'm losing track of my days...soon they will all be clumped together. haha. I'm so bad at updating my travel blog >.<

I went to work as usual on Monday and did the usual. Nothing too exciting happened. After work, my roommate and I went to go get some Boba (it was delicious) and then we went into a small cafe to eat some afternoon tea cakes. Taiwan is pretty into afternoon tea, so we had a variety of stores to pick from. We picked the cafe that is next to where we live since it was SO HOT outside. It was super humid and I was just too sticky to walk anywhere else. The boba and the black forest cake I had was delicious. Nothing beats chilling in an air conditioned cafe with good food and good friends. :)

When I went back home, I changed into comfier clothing and knocked out. I napped for a good four hours and woke up to skype my parents. After skyping them, I went back to sleep. lol.  I slept for a long time, but I am still tired. I think all that lack of sleep from last week is finally catching up with me.

Days 13, 14, and 15

This weekend has been pretty busy. After work on Friday I met up with some high school friends and ate dinner. Later that night we went to Myst and again, I came home around 4am. It is so tiring when Taiwanese clubs close at 4. Back in the states when clubs close at 2, there is an excuse to go home, but here everyone parties until the sun comes up. By the time I got home, the birds were already chirping outside -__-.

Saturday, I had to wake up somewhat early to meet up with my group from orientation. It was soo good seeing my counselor and my other group members! I feel like after a week with each other, we've gotten closer than we were when we were actually together during orientation. lol. We ate at this really fancy Thai restaurant called RAMA, located right next to Taipei 101 on the 10th floor. It had a pool as part of the restaurant which was really cool. After lunch, we went to watch Ted as a group. Oh my, it was funny. When we finished the movie, we ate shaved ice. Hehe. I got mango shaved ice and it was delicious! Will definitely get that again, hopefully soon.

Unfortunately, it was time to depart. :( It was really nice seeing them and I hope I'll be able to see them again soon! When I went back home, I knocked out. I was so sleepy from the night before that I just in a constant state of sleepiness. lol. I felt bad since I asked my roommate to eat dinner with me, but I napped for so long that I missed dinner time >.< and even after I showered, I just slept even more. For once, I didn't go out on a Saturday night because I was sleeping lol.

On Sunday, my roommates and I went to Wufengpu. It's a shopping district where they sell a lot of clothes and  accessories for a cheap price. There was just so much stuff going on that it was hard for me to pick something out. I was worried that later down the line there would be something cheaper, but everything was around the same price -__-. My goal was to buy a few summer dresses and tops and maybe cute accessories and handbags, but I only got two things: a  coral high-low skirt and a copper dress. It wasn't such a big fail, but it wasn't as successful as I had hoped it would be. Oh wells, I guess I'll have to try to make it back another time before I leave! The rest of the day was pretty chill - just relaxed in my room in the A/C. Man, the A/C must be the greatest invention in the whole world!

Day 12

It was so hard waking up today...I was dying at work, but I guess when I'm super tired I also work the best too. haha. Probably because I'm too tired to talk with my coworkers so it's easier to not talk and do work. lol.

For lunch, we went to this really cute shop that served delicious food. I don't know how to exactly describe it, but basically it's a plate with three dishes and one main dish that is cooked over a teppanyaki surface and served over rice. It was delicious! It tasted like my mother's cooking. :)

After work it was communal nap time in our room. haha.

For dinner we went with one of my roommate's a-ma and she took us to this really good prok cutlet place. SOO good.

Nothing extraordinary happened today, but it was fun nonetheless. I have a feeling Thursdays for the next six weeks will be days I will be super tired. haha -__-

Day 11: Ladies Night

What did I do yesterday...

My roommates and I stopped by this sao bing yo tiao (my ping ying is really bad...haha) place for breakfast before work today. It was SUPER delicious. It just doesn't taste the same back in the states when my mom makes it. It's just flakier and better tasting. haha. There is just something about Taiwanese foods that I can't describe; once you eat it, it just can't be replicated back in the states.

Work was fine. Nothing too horrible. However, our supervisor took us out to lunch to this really nice dumpling house that served soup dumplings, shao long bao. I liked the crab egg one the best. Sounds weird, but it was so good!

After work, my roommates and I decided to celebrate July 4th by going to Dazzling Champagne and Bar for their Fourth of July Celebration! I'm not sure if there were a lot of ABTs (American Born Taiwanese) there, but it was just a super chill place. It wasn't too crowded, which I guess is expected on a Wednesday night. After we had our fair share of Dazzling, we headed to Room 18. It's pretty nice in there. The place is filled with blacklights and neon colors. It was kind of lame at first because no one was dancing since there weren't that many people, but it got better later on in the night. Wednesdays are ladies' night at the clubs, so girls always get in free. :D  I didn't think we would get back so late (3:30am) and I kind of wished we came back earlier because waking up for work was such a drag...I'm just trying to stay awake right now. haha.

Happy July 4th!

Day 10

Today was sooo hot outside. Hot and humid. Luckily, I work in an air conditioned building and I don't have to travel outside too often. hehe. :)

At work today I just did the usual. Editing and translating. Nothing too exciting to document on. However, for lunch I did get to go to the Jay Chou restaurant, Mr. Jay, that is on campus. EVERYTHING inside is Jay Chou. There are pictures of him everywhere and there are props from his movie and music videos in there. THERE IS THE PIANO FROM HIS MOVIE SECRET IN THERE AS WELL. haha I was such a tourist, taking pictures of random things everywhere. The food though, EH. I've had better French-Italian cuisines, but it was relatively cheap for lunch. I had their lunch menu which included my choice of entree, which was a smoked duck spaghetti with balsamic vinegar cream sauce (sounds fancy right??) with a salad and milk tea all for under 200NT; under $6! what. a. deal. My Taipei 101 juice was more expensive than my lunch -__-

After work, my roommates and I went shopping underground at the Taipei Main Station and then met up with one of my roommates' friend for dinner. We had beef noodle soup (nu ro mien) for dinner at the underground mall in the Taipei Main Station. Next stop, upstairs! Lol. This place is too big for just one evening.

I bought a lot of things when I went shopping down there today. There are just too many cute things to buy! I got a really cute umbrella, a stitch and a totoro phone plug, a cute Taiwan keychain with my last name engraved on it, and some random hello kitty stationary I plan on giving as gifts to friends. The pens here are also so cheap! I bought 5 for 50NT. That's not even $2! I will definitely be stocking up before I go back to the states. >:)

What really makes me mad is the fact that I am too fat to be in Taiwan. LOL. I'm too fat to fit into any of their clothes...but their clothes are cute and cheap! UGH. Why do Taiwanese people have to be so small and skinny?! I hate this one-size-fits-all crap.Oh wells, I'll just have to suck it up and move on or seriously lose some weight. haha. I think I'll go with the first one, but maybe one day...

Day 9: First Day of Work

Today was the first day of work. It was actually pretty fun, except I was super tired. During the morning presentation, I had to work so hard to keep my eyes open. lol. It got better throughout the day though. It's a good thing that I ate that Dan Bing (egg wrapped around a pancake sort of thing) before I left for work today. It was sooo good with some soymilk. Surprisingly, I wasn't allergic, which is super nice!

I work with my roommates so it's super convenient and really fun. We've gotten really close and it's just so much fun to live with them. I hope we won't be at each other's throats at the end of this internship though...haha.

I didn't do much today except figure out where my college I was assigned to was located and what they wanted me to edit and translate. It was actually kind of fun because we just had a tour of the school and the neighborhood without having to do much work. Plus, my supervisor is super chill. She brought us hummus and salsa she made herself and it was delicious. :) Never thought I'd eat hummus and salsa in Taiwan. lol and what's even more awesome is that I only work from 9:30am to 4:30pm and I don't work Wednesdays! WOOOT! That means I only work for 4 days. MUAHAHA. It just gets better and better. Plus, I get my own cubicle in an air conditioned room with no one supervising me. I can take super long lunch breaks just as long I get my work done. It's awesome. :D

For lunch, my coworkers and I went to the hospital cafeteria (the hospital is associated with the Taipei Medical University and is right next to the school). The food was actually pretty good and a good amount for the price. It wasn't anything fancy, just a typical Taiwanese lunch box with four side dishes. hehe still really good though!

After work today, we chilled in our air conditioned room and then went to meet with my cousin and her fiancee for dinner. I was so happy to see her. I haven't seen her for at least two years and she's eight months pregnant now! Ah I can't wait until she has her baby! We ate at this traditional Taiwanese restaurant with tons of dishes. I ate many things I wouldn't usually eat if I weren't with them. I felt bad because my cousin's fiancee took off work to come eat with me. >.< what a nice guy. It was so much fun though. For some reason, I always have so much fun when I'm with my cousin. I wish I could come back to Taiwan to visit her more often, but I guess I have an excuse now, to teach my baby cousin(is that what I even call him?) English. What's so awesome is that she said that I can choose his English name! What should I choose? Any ideas??

When we finished dinner, my cousin and her fiancee took me and my roommates to a dessert place. So it's basically a huge cup of toppings and ice, like shaved ice, but more watery. It was super yummy nonetheless. I had boba, grass jelly, red beans, and their special mochi/boba like taro flavored, chewy ball. haha. It's hard to describe, but just so good! You add ice over it and pour on brown sugar water and voila! Deliciousness in a cup!

Today was such a fun day. It'll be hard to top off this day.

Day 8

Day 8:

I woke up today relatively early for sleeping around 4:30am. I woke up around 9...dilly daddled and met up with more friends from TTT for lunch.

I went to so many places today that I don’t even remember where I went exactly. I know I went to eat lunch at this shopping mall’s food court. I had Korean food - bimbibap to be exact. It wasn’t as great as the Korean food I’ve had in California, but it wasn’t horrible either. Afterwards, we headed to the Taipei Main Station for some underground shopping, but we went through the underground way. UNFORTUNATELY, I got a warning ticket -__-….FOR CHEWING GUM IN THE STATION. UGHHHH. Not even in the freaking subway, but at the station!!!!! -___- Taiwan is so strict….well I guess that’s why Taiwan’s metro is so nice…ugh. Haha. I still can’t get over it.

Oh well. We then headed to Taipei 101. So pretty! However, too fancy. I felt so out of place. We went to this café on the 4th floor of 101 and totally got ripped off….a freaking juice was 240NT….wasn’t even that good -__-. Next time, I’m going to get afternoon tea somewhere else…

240 NT drink...that's like almost $10...

All-in-all, we just hung around Taipei 101 in the A/C and just chilled like a tourist. It was just a relaxing day since everyone was so tired from the night before.

When I came home, I ate dinner with my sorority sister/roomie and her mom. We had Japanese Tapanyaki (I think that’s how you spell it?) near our place. It was gooood. Afterwards, to burn off the food we just ate, we walked to where we work so we would know where we would have to go. There is such a nice view of Taipei 101 on the walk; it’s like a perfect view of it.

I need to learn how to kill a cockroach, or at least know how to keep them away from this dorm room. There was a cockroach in our bathroom and we all freaked out. Cockroaches are DISGUSTING. UGH. Why do they even exist?! Now I’m going to be paranoid about cockroaches from now on…

What makes it even worse is that I get bit by mosquitoes EVERYDAY. IT JUST DOESN’T STOP!!! >:O

Day 7

Day 7:

I started off the day with adventure in mind. My friend and I met up with some other people from TTT at Ximen Ding. Ximen ding is a shopping center that turns into a nightmarket at night. It also has a movie theater and tons of random shops. It’s actually pretty awesome. We just shopped around for the longest time and went into a T.G.I. Fridays to chill and drink a little bit since the legal drinking age in Taiwan is 18. yay. gaga.

AMF :)

We then went to watch the new Spider Man movie, The Amazing Spider Man. It was alright…not the best. The main actor looks better than Toby McGuire, but the plot line isn’t as nice as the original.

After the movies, we went to this restaurant called the Modern Toilet. It’s such an awesome restaurant. They serve their foods in poop shape and in toilet shaped bowls. Lol. Like the main meal is served in a toilet and their ice cream is shaped like poop. Their drinks come in urinals and we sit on toilets. Haha. It was such a fun and amazing experience, except the food was kind of crappy. I guess you go just for the experience.

After dinner, we went back home to get ready to go clubbing. We found out that Akon was in Taipei and the after party was at a place called Myst. The place is really nice. When you walk into the club there is a waterfall. It’s like a sophisticated club RIGHT next to Taipei 101. If you go onto the balcony, Taipei 101 is literally right next to it. The music was pretty good and there were go-go dancers everywhere on the dance floors. What was nice was that girls were invited on stage to dance. It was actually a fun experience. HEHE. Haven’t done that before in the states. Plus, we also got free drinks. Clubbing in Taiwan is so nice since girls get in free and get free drinks. J However, the guys were really lame…oh wells. I guess I won’t be finding anything here in Taiwan! :P

Oh, and did I mention Taiwan clubs don’t close until 4 am?! I stayed up ALL night which was really fun, yet really tiring. Oh man…

Day 5 and 6

Day 5:

YAY! Our counselor wore his shirt today! He told us when he saw it, he was first like “oh shit, why is it so dirty?” but then when he read the notes he said he was about to cry. SO CUTE.

lolol it has blobs of ink, but it's the thought that counts!

We did a lot of walking today. In the morning, we took a hike through the woods where we were staying. It was really pretty and scenic, but everything seemed like it was poisonous. Lol. Our tour guide was like “don’t touch anything or you will die!” Such a dangerous place to be….

look how pretty the bamboo forest is!

After our hike, we headed to Sun Moon Lake. It’s really pretty. We got to go on a boat and travel around the lake. It was nice to be on a boat with a breeze and cool water spraying everywhere.

Chicken stuffed with rice. A special Sun Moon Lake treat.

We headed to dinner after exploring the lake…this will be our last dinner together as group 24...

During dinner, we had to perform a skit in front of all the groups and for my group, wee mimicked the video “shit girls say” and changed it up to “stuff TTT makes us do.” It was pretty funny, but we never thought we would win anything. There are 27 groups and 8 prizes and amazingly our group won most creative. Haha. We only practiced a total of 1 and a half hours during the whole week while other groups practiced 5-6 hours. Haha. I feel kinda of bad, but not really. We got really good mochi and these Asian brown sugar rice crispies. YUMMMMM.

After all the skits were performed, it was time for the closing ceremony. I never believed I could be such close friends with the people in my group, including my counselor. My counselor brought out these little tea candles and then my counselor started crying. I would have never thought he would be the type to cry, but I just find new things about him everyday. He’s such a considerate and compassionate guy. I’m glad I had him as my counselor and can call him a friend. J Well, of course, the cry baby that I am, I started crying when he started crying. UGH I hate this crying reflex….haha

Anyway, we were all very sad and exchanged some few words among our group, but at the end of the night, we were rolling on the ground laughing. After dinner, we headed to my room and we played some drinking games with our counselor and played some truth or dare. We got closer than ever. I just wish we had more time together, but I guess that just means we’ll have to have reunions in Taipei later on in the coming months!

Day 6: 

Today is the last day of orientation.  I’ve really enjoyed my time with my group members and my counselor. In such a short amount of time, we became such good friends. It’s amazing what one week can do to 12 very different individuals.

We had one more stop to make as TTT before we all go our separate ways to our assigned internships. We were able to make lei-cha. Lei-cha is a type of green tea that contains grounded nuts and grains. It’s very good for your body as it contains many nutrients and it can be eaten as part of breakfast. It was a lot of work grounding the buts and grains in a powdery consistency, but the boys of our group, mainly my counselor, was able to make the tea just right for us. Hehe.

Unfortunately, after lunch we had to depart. It was such a corny parting. It started raining when we were going onto our separate busses and everyone saying bye. Haha

Group 24!

When I got to Taipei, I explored the city a bit; tracing my footsteps from my dorm to places around it. Even though I didn’t wander too far, I still had a hard time finding my way back to the dorm. EVERYTHING LOOKS LIKE THE SAME! Haha.

My dorm is about a 15 minute walk from where I work, Taipei Medical University. As I am walking to work, I have a beautiful view of Taipei 101. It’s amazing. My dorm is on the 5th floor and is a suite-style. The wifi is AMAZING, so skype me! I have full bars of internet everywhere, I can even use wifi calling, so text me people if you want!! I’ll answer when I’m in the room, but I can’t guarantee I’ll be there often. There is just so much to do in Taipei itself! Even though the internet is awesome, the dorm is alright…There is a living room when you first walk into the front door and then there are 5 different doors. In my room there are 3 beds. Luckily, I live with my sorority sister and this other really awesome girl; plus, we all are in the same internship together! We have beds, closets, and desks, all usable, but really crappy….oh well. The only horrendous thing is that the bathroom is outside…on the balcony…above the street…haha oh well. YOLO right? Plus, it’s only 2 months of showering outside in the humid streets of Taiwan. Thankfully there are blinds…lol.

Days 3 and 4

Day 3:

Haha, I feel like such a tourist…

We woke up at 6 this morning. SO EARLY O__O. Today, we went to many different tourist attractions, but gotta admit, it wasn’t really fun. I feel really bad for our tour guides because no one listens to them. Lol.

First Destination: Taiwan Glass Gallery. We got to see many things made out of glass, kind of cool I guess.

A path of sand that has glass over it. 

Glass Taipei 101

Second Destination: Lugang Mazu Temple. It was so hot today. Super humid. And what made it worse was that we had to walk to the temple and walk around. Luckily though, I was saved from walking….more on that later though. At the temple we watched a Neon Techno Gods Dance…it was so weird O__O. Ladies dressed up in these big costumes danced to this happy techno song. Only in Taiwan….After the performance we were supposed to walk around the temple and then walk to lunch.

However, the bug bites I got the day before swelled up to the size of a baseball. My bug bite next to my knee looked like a second knee. LOL. So I got sent to the doctors and he just gave me pills and this special cream. After the doctor’s the people didn’t send me back to the temple but instead brought me to the restaurant to wait an hour and a half, by myself. Haha. It was so awkward. But when my group came I was glad I wasn’t send back. They had to walk in the blistering sun for two hours and to the restaurant. Everyone looked like they were about to pass out and were sweating balls.

look at the size of that!

Third Destination: Shueili Snake Kiln. The bus ride was very long since we were driving up the mountain. Unfortunately, it was raining when we went. Actually, raining is an understatement,. It was POURING. We had to wear these yellow ponchos and walk in the rain to the pottery place. My shoes got soaked…whenever I walked, my shoes would squeak. Haha. The one day I decide to wear sneakers, it had to pour rain….it was definitely very uncomfortable. At the kiln, we got to make our own pottery and stuff. It’s not as easy as it looks…I was making a mug but it got too hard, so I just made a plate. LOL. Not very ambitious. *no pictures because it was raining too hard to take the camera out. Plus, I had to wear a poncho and couldn't even get the camera out of my bag.*

Today wasn’t a very eventful day. Most of the time we just sat on the bus and drove to our next destination. However, my group had a very good bonding time on the bus rides. We overtook the back of the bus and just left one seat open in between people. We would then call up our counselors and question them about their love lives. Haha. It was a very fun time.

Day 4:

Yet again, we woke up super early again. It’s good that I’m jetlagged, but I will soon be dying of sleep.
Currently, we are in Xitou, a place within the mountains of Taiwan. It’s much cooler than the rest of Taiwan, since we are on a mountain, but still very warm. I guess I can’t escape this heat!

After breakfast, we were taught how to make a bamboo basket. I have realized, I don’t have much patience for DIY crafts, especially if I’m not good at it. Haha. My basket was so messed up though that the instructor had to fix it for me, but then she couldn’t even fix it. Haha. I only have pictures of it because I just threw it away. Haha. I “accidently” left it somewhere. :D

finished product before it fell apart. haha

I gotta say, the last couple of days weren’t as eventful as the previous days. But it’s also because we’re all so tired.

After lunch, we got to tour a oolong tea factory, one of Taiwan’s famous teas, Dongpo Tea, and taste tea and learn how to make tea. Never knew it took a long time to made tea. Always just though it was just dried leaves, but there is so much to it. Props to tea makers. Then we headed to the National Fonghuanggu Bird Park, but it wasn’t that interesting because the birds we saw, were all birds I have seen at the San Diego Zoo. So many people were like “OMG a parrot!” haha but I’ve seen plenty of those to not even take a second look at them. Haha. It started raining again, but luckily, we were going back to the hotel for dinner.

look I'm a tea picker!

I'm making tea!

UGH, the dinners they provide for us all so…unpleasant…haha. We’ve eaten pig blood or pig feet at almost every meal. Only breakfast is the best meal. I should’ve gone to the vegetarian table since I only eat vegetables at my table anyway.  After dinner, and still hungry, I went to Hi-Life downstairs and bought a tea egg. SO MUCH BETTER THAN DINNER. Later though, 300 were put into a room, and we were forced to have a random rave. LOL. We played these Asian games and then randomly they pulled out glow sticks and turned off the lights. People were going crazy….it was really strange. I mean, I’m all up for fun, but this was plain weird. Haha. Thankfully, it was only an hour and then we just headed back to our rooms afterwards.

Hehe. As a group, we stole our counselor’s shirt and wrote little notes on the back and then hide it back in his room. It was good idea, but his short was wet when we stole it. Haha. We had to blowdry his shirt, but it was unsuccessful. Most of the notes we wrote bleed so it was just black blobs on his shirt. Oh well…haha

**I'm still in the process of writing the other days. I've just been so busy I haven't had time to sit down and write stuff out. Hopefully I remember stuff still! lol. Pictures will be updated soon as well!**

I have arrived!!!

Day 1 and 2!

**WARNING** This will be a SUPER long post, just because I am writing my week one as I go through orientation. I don’t post them immediately because I don’t have a long period of time (writing my blog posts on bus rides) and because I don’t always have internet. Enjoy my first week as I slowly post them! 

Day 1

I HAVE ARRIVED!!!! After a 13 hour flight, I have finally landed in Taiwan!WEEEEEE. Currently, it’s cloudy outside (since it’s 6:30 in the morning…) but it’s going to get sunnier later! Even without the sun, it’s super humid outside and REALLY bright. Also, it’s 81 degrees already -__-….

My flight was not as great as I had hoped it would be. First, the food was just disgusting. I didn’t expect much, but it was gross. The arrangements were nice and there was a variety of side dishes so I guess that sort of makes up for the disgusting entrée. However, thanks to my brother (life saver!) he bought me a carne asada burrito that saved me from hunger, except it made me really thirsty since it was a little too salty :P. Plus, I even got two meals on the plane, not counting the burrito. They served dinner first (at 1:30am, so I’m not sure that constitutes as dinner…) and breakfast a few hours before we landed! Breakfast was a lot better than dinner, but still, the scrambled eggs were kinda gross. Lol. Thanks to snacks and the huge burrito, I made it through the flight without starving. Yay!

Dinner

Breakfast

Maybe I was just cranky for not sleeping more than a couple of hours on the plane ride, but my seat was super uncomfortable. From my perspective in the aisle seat, my seat was definitely smaller and more narrow than the other seats. I was so cramped, but maybe it’s also because I’m fat…haha JK…but really, the seats were so small. I couldn’t even fit my backpack in the under seat carry-on area! It was a lot more narrow than the middle seat which made me kinda upset. Oh wells, I had to stuff it in the overhead bin. As for not sleeping, I, for some reason, CANNOT fall asleep on the plane. I can in a car, bus, train, or anything that has a rocking motion, but I just can’t fall asleep on a plane for the life of me. So, I just ended up watching countless movies. At the end of the flight my eyes were like O___O. haha, but later on in the day it was like -__-. Buahaha. 

AND I ALMOST LOST MY CHECK-IN LUGGAGE! Ugh, I am such a failure at life sometimes….The stupid immigration line took so long to get through that by the time I went downstairs to claim my luggage, my flight’s luggage was already gone! I had to ask a lady to direct me to my flight’s ramp. I looked like such a lost tourist. Lol. 

After I got my luggage, I had to wait for my internship people to pick me up at the airport. I thought it was going to be a long 3 hours wait, but luckily I met some people from my internship and we just sat together. One of them was even from my high school! What a small Taiwanese world. LOL. I skyped with my parents a bit and then hung out with the kids until the TTT people came to pick us up. 

When I got to the first location of the internship, we just ate lunch and bonded with our group. My group has a whole variety of people and we’re all so different, but we all get along. 

After lunch, we listened to the mayor of Taoyuan county speak and then we listened to this prominent writer. It was all kind of boring, but since my group was seated in the back, we just fooled around and talked.  We got these awesome goody bags with this really nice porcelin tumbler and these really nice re-usable utensils, plus other really cool stuff. They must’ve spent so much money on us since we have 300 kids participating in this program. CRAZY.

When the speeches were done, we rode in these super asian tour buses (9 buses total) and rode to Taichung for dinner. Dinner was super fancy, but unfortunately, the food wasn’t even that good. Haha. It was actually kind of bland and the meat was all super fatty. But the performance during dinner was really entertaining. We had many different Taiwanese indigenous tribes come and perform songs and dances for us. It was so cool!  After dinner, we just headed to our “dorms” for 2 nights. If these were the dorms that I had at school, I would ALWAYS live on campus. It was literally an apartment, with a kitchen, huge living room, dining room, AND laundry room. It was amazing. Plus, A/C was free, so me and my roommates just blasted A/C all night. Haha. It was too good. The only downside was, we didn’t have wifi.

Our Asian tour buses! There's even KTV and microphones lol

Since I was super jetlagged and had stayed up for a good 36 hours or more, I instantly knocked out when the lights were turned off. It was nice. Haha.

The living room of my "dorm". Super big

Day 2

I woke up earlier than the rest of the girls in my room since I was jetlagged. It’s kind of nice waking up early, but I know I won’t be able to do it after a couple of days when my jetlag wears off. T___T. Guess I have to make the most of my jetlag. Surprisingly, I am not tired at all, but that will change soon. Haha.

Today, we traveled to many places in Taichung. Right after breakfast we had this team bonding activity, but with all Asians, everything is a competition,. Unfortunately, it was a jump roping competition. -___-. It would’ve been nice if it was one v. one, but NO, it was our group vs. another group. We had all jump at the same time…and there are 12 kids in every group. BLAH. We didn’t even make one jump. LOL -__-. Ultimate fail. With no surprise we ended last, but oh wells, our group bonded over our loss by making up excuses on why we lost. LOL. The top 3 places won these HUGE watermelons, but I don’t even know when they’ll be able to eat it, haha, since our schedule is PACKED.

UGH BUT I AM SO MAD. I had only stood outside for less than 10 minutes and I had already been bitten twice. -__- right after I put on bug spray too!!!! These mosquitoes know where the fresh meat is at…Ugh, now the bug bites have swollen and are HUGE. It’s like a huge lump that is super itchy but it also stings at the same time. I hate mosquitoes -__-. 

Right after the jump rope competition, and everyone all sweaty and mosquito bitten, we had to listen to two more keynote speakers. The first speaker was so awesome and interesting. She came to talk to us about the Creativity Lab, where artisits/designers work with engineers/scientists to make these amazing works of technological arts, or media arts. It’s amazing how much we’ve come since pencils and paper. *Note to self, must attend Taipei’s Flora Expo since their main attraction is created by the Creativity Lab. The flowers in the expo interact with you! If I get a chance to go, I’ll definitely put more details up* The second keynote speaker was SO BORING. It literally was like a business/econ lecture…nothing special to note here haha. 

After the speakers, we were off to our next destination! For my bus, we went to a couple of Taichung’s top sites. First we went to the world’s largest power plant. Yes, you read right, We went to a power plant. -__- Of all the places they could pick….It was alirhgt I guess. Next, we went to a steel factory. This was actually pretty cool because we got a VIP tour and got to see how the steel was made. We got hardhats and got to walk around in the factory, except it got REALLY hot, but it was so cool! Not many people can get a tour in steel factory. *I feel so special :D*

As I said previously, our days are SUPER packed. Wake up at 7am and don’t get back until 10pm. 

Today, my group definitely bonded. We are a weird group. We’re super social with each other and our counselor is super cool, but we don’t talk to anyone outside of our group. Haha. I try to and have other friends, but I rarely get to see them! 

Our last destination was the Feng Jia Nightmarket, but we ended our tours a little too early so we chilled at this park until we got to go the night market. It’s so awesome. Our counselor each gave us a 100 NT to spend at the nightmarket for whatever we wanted, but what’s even better, he paid for all of us for our foods. FREE 100NT! He is super awesome! He even gave us little cell phone pouches that have a map of Taiwan on it. WAH I FEEL SO SPECIAL! No other group has it.

The nightmarket was sooooooo crowded. -__- sweaty people everywhere. It didn’t help that we got the weirdest looks from the locals. Haha. AMERICAN PEOPLE INVADING. Literally, there were like 300 kids roaming night market. My group stuck together and ate all kinds of food. The popcorn chicken was SO juicy and delicious. And the boba, stinky tofu, and shrimp omelets. YUMMM,. There was just too much to see and too much to eat! Can’t wait until I’m not on a schedule and spend more time eating and shopping. Hehe. However, nightmarkets are not a place to go eat dinner. I was so hungry after leaving the nightmarket. Haha. Those foods are good for late night snacks, but they’re not very filling for a meal….

I was so tired after returning from the nightmarket that the girls in my room and I just knocked out right after we showered. Orientation has been so much fun so far, but also so tiring. Can’t believe it is only the second day and we still have so much to do!

Less than 4 days until I go back to Taiwan! AHH!

I've been procrastinating a bit. Instead of packing and preparing for my stay in Taiwan, all I've been doing is watching TV with the little brother and throwing water balloons at each other at the pool. -__- Oh and the constant eating. haha.

However, today, for an hour, I decided to be productive and dug up clothes and random stuff I need for Taiwan. I don't even know if I've packed enough for two months, but I guess I can always buy more when I get there!

And look at what my mother got me! So cute!

Drool...

I still have a little bit more than a week before I go to Taiwan, but for some reason I feel like I have much longer. I guess a part of me doesn't want to leave by myself to a place that is flooding and raining a lot -__-. I'm dreading packing...there is so much I want to bring, but I can't.

However, I recently discovered that one of my sorority sisters that I met a couple of weeks ago will also be doing the SAME internship as me and we might even live together! WEEEEEE. I won't be so alone anymore!! It's going to be so much fun. >:)

Anywho, I have discovered this website, http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/eat/40-taiwanese-food-296093?page=0,0, and have decided, I WILL TRY ALL 40 FOODS (+ more that weren't on that site) when I am in Taiwan, or at least attempt to try all 40. lol. I've had many of those foods before, my mom makes a lot of them, but since Taiwan is mainly known for its delicious cuisine, what better way to spend my time than eat? I'm pretty sure that when I return back home to the states, I will have gained weight, but I will keep telling myself it's all for the better good. buahaha.

Just the beginning...

Weee! My first blog post...EVER! How exciting!

So my life back in California has just been eating, sleeping, watching Game of Thrones (SO GOOD!), other random movies, and playing around with the little brother and dog. Being back home definitely hits the spot. I'm so glad to be home and to be surrounded by my family and good food. Madison lacks both of those things. lol.

After reading a few of my friends' summer blogs about their internship, food, and travel adventures, I've decided to take up a blog of my own detailing my summer abroad in Taiwan. It probably won't be as awesome  or enticing as others, but it'll suffice in jogging my memories when I look back later in my life. :)

I still have a couple weeks left with family before I depart for Taiwan for my internship. I'll be in Taiwan for 8 hot, humid, and sticky weeks, so let's hope I come back to the states in one piece and maybe a little bit smarter! Let me know of any fun places to visit since I'll be adventuring by myself...NO PARENTS. O__O. I now wish my Mandarin was better, but I guess I will just have to practice there and be a total tourist. haha.

For the past couple of weeks, all I have been doing is preparing for my trip. Mom is deciding for me what clothes are appropriate to wear in Taiwan; for the conservative people and for the weather. Mom thinks I dress too casually or even sloppy sometimes. Ehh I guess I'll let her decide what to bring..not saying I'm going to wear everything she tells me to bring though >:).

Let's hope I keep this going when I'm in Taiwan. I foresee myself having a tendency to get lazy and stop documenting my days. lol. I'll update on the days leading up to my departure (maybe)! lol.

For 8 weeks, it will be me, myself, and Taiwan. :)