Juliet's Birthday Visit
*digs up fossilized journal from sandstone layer*
Juliet visited Taipei for her birthday on February 10th. I'm only updating this now because my month of February was devoted to pretending to write a thesis proposal. We do not talk about the thesis proposals.
Juliet arrived on the morning of the 10th, during which I wished her a happy birthday at the train station and then immediately took her to an expensive steak lunch. It's one of those restaurants where you don't go in without a special occasion, and/or being a highly influential businessman. It's one of those restaurants where they post the menu at the door, but not the prices, because if you have to ask about the prices then this restaurant probably isn't for your price range. It's one of those restaurants where the waiters introduce each dish with a history of its development.
I had vouchers for the place, so I got to take Juliet there without having to pay a dime.
The food was good, and very filling (there were a whole bunch of courses), and we were surrounded by many influential businessmen and people celebrating special occasions. Actually, they also came to us with a cake and a photo, since it was Juliet's birthday. They also offered to sing, but we declined.
In the afternoon, we headed to a new mall near Taipei train station. It's not very large, though quite stylishly designed. Reminiscent of some of the shopping malls in Thailand. For dinner we had crepes, since we were quite stuffed from our lunch. Apparently this was the first time Juliet had ever had crepes.
The next day, we headed to the zoo. We both like the zoo, and it's been a while since we visited. Juliet's favorite animal is penguins, which partly explains why she got a penguin-shaped boyfriend. We managed to see penguins. We also saw pandas and koalas, without having to stand in line for ages - one of the advantages of going on a weekday morning - as well as countless other animals and fish. There was also a rhino who farted at me, that was memorable.
Due to mom preparing a filling breakfast for us, we skipped lunch at the zoo, and just had some ice cream as afternoon tea. We also speculated what it would be like to bring small kids to the zoo, for example Makoto-chan. And, perhaps one day, our own offspring.
In the evening, we headed to a hot pot restaurant I pass every day but never had cause to try. I decided it would be a good idea to try it with Juliet for the first time. It turned out to be an all-you-can-eat hot pot buffet place, though their selection of materials wasn't as great as the hot pot place Juliet's family sometimes take me to in Tainan. We had a very spicy hot pot. A VERY VERY spicy hot pot. It was so spicy, my breath could've ignited matches. All in all, not a bad place, though I suppose we have many other restaurants to try too. Also, since it was a buffet style, I ended up eating more than I really should have.
On the third day, we got up early to visit the shopping mall again, because we'd found out two days before that they show Valentines Day in the morning. So we went and saw Valentines Day. It's one of those movies that combines a bunch of little stories into one big interwoven narrative, sort of like Love Actually. All in all, not too shabby a film, though Love Actually was probably better. For lunch we had some pasta with some REALLY spicy Chinese dough cakes (I have no idea what their name is in English). We hung out at home in the afternoon, watching television and recovering from all the chili we had consumed over the last two days.
In the evening, we headed to another mall next to the Banciao train station, where we had dinner at Movenpick. That's usually an ice cream place, but we had experience eating there. Pretty good food, plus they move fast, so we don't have to worry about missing our train.
Quite a nice visit, on the whole. Regrettably we didn't get to go ice skating, which is what we usually do when Juliet visits. Next time, I suppose.
Best girlfriend ever. :)
Juliet visited Taipei for her birthday on February 10th. I'm only updating this now because my month of February was devoted to pretending to write a thesis proposal. We do not talk about the thesis proposals.
Juliet arrived on the morning of the 10th, during which I wished her a happy birthday at the train station and then immediately took her to an expensive steak lunch. It's one of those restaurants where you don't go in without a special occasion, and/or being a highly influential businessman. It's one of those restaurants where they post the menu at the door, but not the prices, because if you have to ask about the prices then this restaurant probably isn't for your price range. It's one of those restaurants where the waiters introduce each dish with a history of its development.
I had vouchers for the place, so I got to take Juliet there without having to pay a dime.
The food was good, and very filling (there were a whole bunch of courses), and we were surrounded by many influential businessmen and people celebrating special occasions. Actually, they also came to us with a cake and a photo, since it was Juliet's birthday. They also offered to sing, but we declined.
In the afternoon, we headed to a new mall near Taipei train station. It's not very large, though quite stylishly designed. Reminiscent of some of the shopping malls in Thailand. For dinner we had crepes, since we were quite stuffed from our lunch. Apparently this was the first time Juliet had ever had crepes.
The next day, we headed to the zoo. We both like the zoo, and it's been a while since we visited. Juliet's favorite animal is penguins, which partly explains why she got a penguin-shaped boyfriend. We managed to see penguins. We also saw pandas and koalas, without having to stand in line for ages - one of the advantages of going on a weekday morning - as well as countless other animals and fish. There was also a rhino who farted at me, that was memorable.
Due to mom preparing a filling breakfast for us, we skipped lunch at the zoo, and just had some ice cream as afternoon tea. We also speculated what it would be like to bring small kids to the zoo, for example Makoto-chan. And, perhaps one day, our own offspring.
In the evening, we headed to a hot pot restaurant I pass every day but never had cause to try. I decided it would be a good idea to try it with Juliet for the first time. It turned out to be an all-you-can-eat hot pot buffet place, though their selection of materials wasn't as great as the hot pot place Juliet's family sometimes take me to in Tainan. We had a very spicy hot pot. A VERY VERY spicy hot pot. It was so spicy, my breath could've ignited matches. All in all, not a bad place, though I suppose we have many other restaurants to try too. Also, since it was a buffet style, I ended up eating more than I really should have.
On the third day, we got up early to visit the shopping mall again, because we'd found out two days before that they show Valentines Day in the morning. So we went and saw Valentines Day. It's one of those movies that combines a bunch of little stories into one big interwoven narrative, sort of like Love Actually. All in all, not too shabby a film, though Love Actually was probably better. For lunch we had some pasta with some REALLY spicy Chinese dough cakes (I have no idea what their name is in English). We hung out at home in the afternoon, watching television and recovering from all the chili we had consumed over the last two days.
In the evening, we headed to another mall next to the Banciao train station, where we had dinner at Movenpick. That's usually an ice cream place, but we had experience eating there. Pretty good food, plus they move fast, so we don't have to worry about missing our train.
Quite a nice visit, on the whole. Regrettably we didn't get to go ice skating, which is what we usually do when Juliet visits. Next time, I suppose.
Best girlfriend ever. :)