Doggies make lots noisy
Sooo much to write about.
It's hard to believe that I've only been here for about 3.5 days. I've already seen so much, done so much, and FELT so much that I feel like it's been much longer than that. I'm overwhelmed with people and language and culture. Not in a bad way! I feel a bit overstimulated. I guess when I left home being bored to tears with routine and normalcy and got here where I'm constantly wondering what the hell is going on... it's like an explosion in my brain!
Okay, here we go. On Saturday, Pei-Ling, Sandy, and I woke up and took the bus to Taipei to meet Vincent. First we had some lunch. We got the bubble tea (mmmm) and some other foods. So far, I've let everyone else do the ordering, since I can't read a damn thing on the menus (usually). That's fine, because even if I could read it, I still wouldn't know what it is! We brought our lunch back to Vincent's apartment. I like his place. On one side there is a mountain. On the other side there is Taipei 101. Awesome scenery. After lunch I took my first trip on the MRT. We tried to go to the Taipei Zoo, but it was one hour to close and they wouldn't let anyone else in. So instead we went to Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. I think there are three or four buildings that make up the whole thing. They have concerts and theater performances in the big halls. Vincent and I walked up the stairs to the tomb to see the man himself. Well, maybe not himself, but a big Abe Lincoln-like statue. I was amazed by the vastness of it all. Then what... We had dinner in a place called Stone Age. The food and service... left something to be desired. Oh yeah, I tried some spicy tofu business. And first of all, I was already feeling queasy from jet lag. Then I tried the tofu, and I swear... it had a very pukey taste to it. I don't know what it was. BOOARF! Some kind of acidic taste. But really, that is the ONLY thing I've had since I've been here that I've disliked.
THEN - we went to a KTV place. What is KTV? I found out at the last minute! Karaoke! Now, I've never done karaoke because I was too shy. But I've always wanted to because I looove to sing (usually alone or in the shower). This situation is better than a normal karaoke scene because you get to rent a room and only your friends have to hear your icky voice. I found out at that this is what our plan was as it about to happen and suddenly there was no way to get out of it. I sang some really choice stuff - "Kiss from a Rose" by Seal, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" by Elton John, "All By Myself" by Eric Carmen (and no, I could not hit the high note), and by far my best number of the night - "Venus" by Bananarama - the one that I wasn't too sure about but Vincent made me do. HA! I think sometimes it takes being pushed into something to make you do a thing you want to do but are too scared to do... and having friends who can help give you a little push is really great. Ming-Yi and Chris came too. So many friends! Anyway, the absolute star of the night was Vincent. Wow. He has an amazing singing voice and supreme confidence on the mic. I was really pleasantly surprised! KTV is very very popular in Taiwan. And you don't have to sing well. Your friends really don't care. Everyone gets applauded and everyone is happy. We rocked the mic. The people who work there even bring you water and tea for your throat. After a while, my friends brought me a birthday cake and sang to me. It was so so so nice. What a wonderful birthday. I could not have asked for a more special day!
I love how things are so cheap here. I can't imagine the pain my friends went when they went to England and had to pay SO much for so little. Haha. I mean, it costs about NT$50 to ride the bus to Taipei from Keelung. It's about a 30-40 minute ride. That's the equivalent of about US$1.50. MRT trips cost $20-35 (US$.60-$1). I mean, I put $400 on my MRT card and still have about $230 left after using it for three days. It's amazing how inexpensive it is. And the food is great - you get a lot and pay a little. I haven't been able to finish any of my meals (partly because I eat slowly, especially with chopsticks! and because of the jet lag).
Sunday! The four of us met up again in Taipei. My friends ganged up on me and tested my skillz - like finding where we were going on the MRT maps, and buying some dried plums from a drug store. And my favorite meal so far - Shabu-shabu, a Japanese-style restaurant where you pick a soup and some meats, and they bring you a big bowl of veggies and other interesting things (still not sure what they all are, the most often answer when I asked was that it is made from fish). You also get a bowl of rice to eat with the ingredients that you boil in your soup. Soooo good! Mmmm. We also went to a place where they were selling all kinds of things for Chinese New Year - dried goods, something that looks like a turd, fish, tea, etc. The street was so busy though. DAMN. It was wall to wall, balls to the wall with people. Thennnnn we went to Taipei 101 (the tallest building in the world!) and just walked though the mall and out to the other side. We had to leave early that night because Pei-Ling's parents were having a dinner with a bunch of family members and we had to be back for that. Whatever else there was planned in Taipei, I hope we get to do it soon. The dinner with Pei-Ling's family was pretty overwhelming. Don't get me wrong, they are all so nice! But you know me, being the center of attention is stressful for me. Especially when I can't understand what is being said. Ha! But they tried to speak a little English to me. The food was great there too. Yum yum. I was exhausted after that though.. whoa.
On being a racial minority: I mean, bigtime. I don't really think about it until I realize someone is shamelessly staring at me. It feels kind of weird, but it's not my problem. But it's rude to stare! Come on, people! At least if people are talking shit about me I can't understand it. But I know how to say "American" in Chinese, so don't try it. I've seen a few other westerners, but not talked to any of them yet. I'm much more interested in my own friends. :)
Monday. Okay. Pei-Ling had to go to work very early. Sandy and I went back to Taipei and went to a big bookstore called Eslite. There are tons of floors and different sections and so much to look at. We had a coffee in the café there. Then Vincent called me to make sure I was still alive. I got Sandy to convince him to come out of his cave and do something with us. We had more food (of course) and hung out in Vincent's apartment until it was time to meet Bill, who had taken the bus from Taoyuan to meet us for dinner. We went to the Shida district night market and found a Thai restaurant. Yummy. Then we had to get back to Keelung.
Traffic in Taiwan. What can I say? It's crazy! I had my first scooter ride the other day (as a passenger). Scooters really rule the surface streets here. They go where they want, when they want. And there is no such thing as a lane, and no such thing as "too close". You need a firm stomach and nerves of steel to drive around here. As a passenger, all you can do is grab your skull bucket and hang on to your ass.
I'm slowly building my Chinese vocabulary and ability to recognize characters. I understand snippets of my friends' conversations. A few phrases here and there.
So. I think that's enough for now. I have some more thoughts, but for a little later... and a filter.
PS - New Pei-Ling-ism to add to the list -
(Tan-tan is one of her dogs)
"Tan-tan is like glue; she always sticks to people's body."
HAAAAAAA
It's hard to believe that I've only been here for about 3.5 days. I've already seen so much, done so much, and FELT so much that I feel like it's been much longer than that. I'm overwhelmed with people and language and culture. Not in a bad way! I feel a bit overstimulated. I guess when I left home being bored to tears with routine and normalcy and got here where I'm constantly wondering what the hell is going on... it's like an explosion in my brain!
Okay, here we go. On Saturday, Pei-Ling, Sandy, and I woke up and took the bus to Taipei to meet Vincent. First we had some lunch. We got the bubble tea (mmmm) and some other foods. So far, I've let everyone else do the ordering, since I can't read a damn thing on the menus (usually). That's fine, because even if I could read it, I still wouldn't know what it is! We brought our lunch back to Vincent's apartment. I like his place. On one side there is a mountain. On the other side there is Taipei 101. Awesome scenery. After lunch I took my first trip on the MRT. We tried to go to the Taipei Zoo, but it was one hour to close and they wouldn't let anyone else in. So instead we went to Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. I think there are three or four buildings that make up the whole thing. They have concerts and theater performances in the big halls. Vincent and I walked up the stairs to the tomb to see the man himself. Well, maybe not himself, but a big Abe Lincoln-like statue. I was amazed by the vastness of it all. Then what... We had dinner in a place called Stone Age. The food and service... left something to be desired. Oh yeah, I tried some spicy tofu business. And first of all, I was already feeling queasy from jet lag. Then I tried the tofu, and I swear... it had a very pukey taste to it. I don't know what it was. BOOARF! Some kind of acidic taste. But really, that is the ONLY thing I've had since I've been here that I've disliked.
THEN - we went to a KTV place. What is KTV? I found out at the last minute! Karaoke! Now, I've never done karaoke because I was too shy. But I've always wanted to because I looove to sing (usually alone or in the shower). This situation is better than a normal karaoke scene because you get to rent a room and only your friends have to hear your icky voice. I found out at that this is what our plan was as it about to happen and suddenly there was no way to get out of it. I sang some really choice stuff - "Kiss from a Rose" by Seal, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" by Elton John, "All By Myself" by Eric Carmen (and no, I could not hit the high note), and by far my best number of the night - "Venus" by Bananarama - the one that I wasn't too sure about but Vincent made me do. HA! I think sometimes it takes being pushed into something to make you do a thing you want to do but are too scared to do... and having friends who can help give you a little push is really great. Ming-Yi and Chris came too. So many friends! Anyway, the absolute star of the night was Vincent. Wow. He has an amazing singing voice and supreme confidence on the mic. I was really pleasantly surprised! KTV is very very popular in Taiwan. And you don't have to sing well. Your friends really don't care. Everyone gets applauded and everyone is happy. We rocked the mic. The people who work there even bring you water and tea for your throat. After a while, my friends brought me a birthday cake and sang to me. It was so so so nice. What a wonderful birthday. I could not have asked for a more special day!
I love how things are so cheap here. I can't imagine the pain my friends went when they went to England and had to pay SO much for so little. Haha. I mean, it costs about NT$50 to ride the bus to Taipei from Keelung. It's about a 30-40 minute ride. That's the equivalent of about US$1.50. MRT trips cost $20-35 (US$.60-$1). I mean, I put $400 on my MRT card and still have about $230 left after using it for three days. It's amazing how inexpensive it is. And the food is great - you get a lot and pay a little. I haven't been able to finish any of my meals (partly because I eat slowly, especially with chopsticks! and because of the jet lag).
Sunday! The four of us met up again in Taipei. My friends ganged up on me and tested my skillz - like finding where we were going on the MRT maps, and buying some dried plums from a drug store. And my favorite meal so far - Shabu-shabu, a Japanese-style restaurant where you pick a soup and some meats, and they bring you a big bowl of veggies and other interesting things (still not sure what they all are, the most often answer when I asked was that it is made from fish). You also get a bowl of rice to eat with the ingredients that you boil in your soup. Soooo good! Mmmm. We also went to a place where they were selling all kinds of things for Chinese New Year - dried goods, something that looks like a turd, fish, tea, etc. The street was so busy though. DAMN. It was wall to wall, balls to the wall with people. Thennnnn we went to Taipei 101 (the tallest building in the world!) and just walked though the mall and out to the other side. We had to leave early that night because Pei-Ling's parents were having a dinner with a bunch of family members and we had to be back for that. Whatever else there was planned in Taipei, I hope we get to do it soon. The dinner with Pei-Ling's family was pretty overwhelming. Don't get me wrong, they are all so nice! But you know me, being the center of attention is stressful for me. Especially when I can't understand what is being said. Ha! But they tried to speak a little English to me. The food was great there too. Yum yum. I was exhausted after that though.. whoa.
On being a racial minority: I mean, bigtime. I don't really think about it until I realize someone is shamelessly staring at me. It feels kind of weird, but it's not my problem. But it's rude to stare! Come on, people! At least if people are talking shit about me I can't understand it. But I know how to say "American" in Chinese, so don't try it. I've seen a few other westerners, but not talked to any of them yet. I'm much more interested in my own friends. :)
Monday. Okay. Pei-Ling had to go to work very early. Sandy and I went back to Taipei and went to a big bookstore called Eslite. There are tons of floors and different sections and so much to look at. We had a coffee in the café there. Then Vincent called me to make sure I was still alive. I got Sandy to convince him to come out of his cave and do something with us. We had more food (of course) and hung out in Vincent's apartment until it was time to meet Bill, who had taken the bus from Taoyuan to meet us for dinner. We went to the Shida district night market and found a Thai restaurant. Yummy. Then we had to get back to Keelung.
Traffic in Taiwan. What can I say? It's crazy! I had my first scooter ride the other day (as a passenger). Scooters really rule the surface streets here. They go where they want, when they want. And there is no such thing as a lane, and no such thing as "too close". You need a firm stomach and nerves of steel to drive around here. As a passenger, all you can do is grab your skull bucket and hang on to your ass.
I'm slowly building my Chinese vocabulary and ability to recognize characters. I understand snippets of my friends' conversations. A few phrases here and there.
So. I think that's enough for now. I have some more thoughts, but for a little later... and a filter.
PS - New Pei-Ling-ism to add to the list -
(Tan-tan is one of her dogs)
"Tan-tan is like glue; she always sticks to people's body."
HAAAAAAA