the only time when the city is drawn to a silent halt...

Every so often...or actually, every so many years now since WWII *edit: it's every year*, throughout Taiwan there is an air raid exercise. One occured today in Taipei at 1:30pm, just a few minutes ago. It is a military exercise to warn citizens of sneak attacks, bombs, etc. At 1pm in the museum was an announcement on the intercom about it. I couldn't really comprehend what the lady was saying--it was all in Chinese. All I heard was "....1:30pm", and it sounded quite serious. And then loud, deafening sirens go off at exactly 1:30. One of the anthropologists in the office explained to me what was going on since I suppose I had a worry face. They sound like what we hear from History Channel WWII clips.

From the China Post:

"During the drill, all vehicles are required to halt motion. Cars running on main streets are required to pull over or turn onto a non-main street and stop immediately, said the municipal officials.

Cars are not allowed to drive into the city during the exercise.

Taiwan Railway, Taiwan High Speed Rail and the MRT will run as usual, but passengers getting off will have to take directions from police to evacuate and seek cover, added the municipal officials.

During the 30 minutes exercise, people in all public and private buildings should abide by the regulation to close windows and shut off all electrical equipments.

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin will accompany military officials in monitoring the progress of the evacuation of pedestrians as well as the operations of the civil defense militia."

...They take this very, very seriously. Those who don't follow the rules end up with a hefty fine!

oh, what a day

There's nothing like a cherry on top of a sundae...sweeping up poo and mopping 20 dogs' pee in their sleeping area. That was the first thing I did this morning at the animal shelter. I was given a SARS mask to block out the stink, but I was still gagging. It was a good workout, though, I suppose since I was sweating so much. Afterwards, I took a quick break in an, thankfully, air-conditioned room. A fluffy white dog came up to me. I think dogs certainly have a sixth sense of people who are dog lovers. And you'd think that most dogs at animal shelters are shy and scared of humans because of their abusive past (majority of the dogs at Animal Taiwan). She jumped onto the sofa and pushed my hand onto her head. I have to admit that I get attached to dogs too easily. I immediately fell in love with this beautiful white terrier mix. It was time to feed the dogs, so I had to go back outside to the sauna weather. The dogs were crazily barking. I was told that they're fed only once a day at noontime. They are fed some kind of raw meat. Looked like ribs. Then they are dressed with some kind of orange sauce made from a yummy Taiwanese green veggie, carrots, and taro I think? I kinda felt like I was about to faint while dressing the meat. The meat looked so disgusting and bloody. Yuck. But I did it anyway and tried not to look at the bones. I was at the shelter for about 3 hours, but it felt like forever because it was so hot and I worked in the smelliest area for an hour.

I'd really love to go back to volunteer at this shelter, but unfortunately it's so far away from Banciao. I had to take the subway to Taipei Main Station, from there transfer to Jiantan, wait an hour for the bus because the schedule on the weekends is only every hour, and then walk from the stop to the shelter--which is conveniently right behind the stop. But still, that's a lot. It truly felt rewarding, though. Plus, I met a few fellow animal lovers. Maybe next time I'll just take a taxt from the subway station.

Xiao Mei A-yi came to pick me up in a taxi, and she treated me to huoguo (hotpot). I ate to my heart's content because this week I barely ate anything. It's so hot that I've lost my appetite. And, I have to buy lunch everyday so that adds up/I'm almost out of NT. Then, I went to SOGO at Zhongxiao Fuxing. It is sooooo crowded. Like Black Friday shopping at Best Buy. SOGO was having a summer sale, but I noticed that they actually mark up the prices and then say that there is a 50% sale. Ugh. I specially went to SOGO to buy a SIGG bottle. All this time I've been filling water in a plastic water bottle. That can get nasty with bacteria and such. So, SIGG is the way to go, considering it's easier to clean than my camelback bottle. Here I am at SOGO, going up and down the elevator looking for these bottles, fighting my way through the crazy crowds. Finally, I find them on the 8th floor. There was a 10-20% sale. I thought the bottles would then be around $10-20. No, I was so wrong. Even on sale, my 0.6L bottle was 840NT. I wanted to refuse to buy it...that's a damn $26. I know, expensive. But I was desperate. I came all this way to SOGO, in my dirty clothes and tired feet. So, yes I caved in. Sorry, mom don't be mad at me! It will last a lifetime!! And, I HAD to change my traveler's cheque anyway.

Anyhow, I am about to pass out right now. It's only 9pm...today felt so long...busily running all around Taipei. Sigh.

did you make it to the milky way to see the lights all faded

I gots a homesick pang today. It hit me earlier this morning while walking to work. I think I'm ready to come home. Maybe it's just cuz I have no one to hang out with, and that the sky is cloudy and gray (and there is another typhoon on the way). Ah, just a few more days it won't be so lonely at work. All the other interns arrive on July 1.

i no eat meat

I find myself having to remind my relatives over and over [and over again] that I don't eat meat. Being a vegetarian here is rare unless you are a Buddhist monk. The three basic meats--chicken, pork, beef--are staple foods in almost every Taiwanese dish. They have their niurou mian (beef noodle soup) which I used to love when I ate beef, jipai (chicken steak), zhujiao (pig feet)... I've been living with my aunt for four weeks now, and yet sometime last week she cooked jijiao (chicken feet) and asked if I wanted to eat it. Last night after we arrived at the Keelung train station, Xiao Mei A-yi and Jojo took me to Burger King for a quick bite before meeting with our tour group. I reminded them that I don't eat meat nor do I eat any type of burger [or greasy foods]. So, we trekked over to Starbucks next door. All their sandwiches had meat in it. Xiaomei Ah-yi points to a bacon and cheese crossiant and goes "oh, you should get that, it looks good!" And then at the night market later, they both ask me if I want to eat fried chicken.. Aaahhhhhh!!!!!!

daytripper ~ beautiful north Taiwan

Jojo and Xiaomei A-yi took me to Keelung/Chi-lung/Ji Long today (Saturday). Those three names are the same place, but Taiwan has 2-3 different ways of spelling words. Keelung, I believe, is Hakka or perhaps traditional Taiwanese. Chi-lung is Taiwanese, and Ji Long is Mandarin and how to pronounce the word.

Keelung is located at the north tip of Taiwan. It has a beautiful coastline surrounded by green hills and moutains. It's gorgeoussss, and I'd really love to go back again. The water is pretty clean...it's where the Taipeians go swimming.

We first rode the train from Taipei Main Station, and it conveniently goes straight to Keelung--the last station. The Keelung train station is next to the harbor. Right when we stepped outside, I could smell the ocean...that fishy, salty stink. Jojo had arranged for us to participate in a tour group. provided complimentary by the Keelung government. We still had about 2 hours to kill, so we headed to Burger King. As mentioned in the most recent post, I had to remind my uncle and aunt that I do not eat meat. So, we went to Starbucks next door. The cakes looked good, but who wants to eat that for lunch. All the sandwiches had meat, so we headed towards a cafe on the corner. This cafe looked really fancy (but very reasonable prices), and I felt underdressed until I saw a waitress wearing a super short miniskirt then I didn't feel so bad. We had a choice to sit on sofas or normal chairs. Of course, I chose the sofas, but it actually turned out to not be the best choice when eating, especially when trying not to spill my food everywhere.

We met with our tour group and guide and boarded a small bus that's so well air-conditioned...at least I thought so. Everyone else on the bus thought it was freezing. Within the six hours of the tour, there were six stop in total. The first top was a paotai 炮台, which is where the French fought the Taiwanese during the Qing Dynasty. There are built-in cannons, planes, and a view of the harbor (see first image).

The second stop was at the sea. We got a view of the Pacific Ocean and Jiu Fen mountains for a short ten minutes. So breathtaking...the view. The water seems very clean and not dirty like in Cali. You've got the mountains and the sea.

Our third stop was at a seafood market/Fisherman Wharf. There are salespeople waving samples of calamari and fried squid in your face and fish guts everywhere. A-yi bought me a bag of calamari--they were the freshest, tastiest calarmari I've ever eaten. The least greasiest too, which is a huge plus.


Keelung has their own Hollywood sign up in the hills. It lights up at night to purple, pink, and blue.During the fourth stop I ended up not going out because of the humidity and the climb to the destination. It was another paotai, and we would have to hike a steep hill to get to it. So, instead I took a short nap in the nicely air-conditioned bus!

The people in my tour group are travel poopers. We had the choice to get off the bus to get fresh air at the coast or to continue to our next stop, no one but me wanted to ugh. So I busily snapped away taking pics of the coast from the bus window. How fun.I wish I could go swimming in the ocean there. So clean!


The fifth stop was at a honeybee/elk/koi agricultural farm. I drank tea, from what I didn't realize what it was til after I drank it, made from elk antlers. Ewewewewew. It had a very strong Chinese herbal taste. Apparently good for my eyes, but I don't believe what they say about certain foods that would make my eyes better. My dad has been telling me to eat carrots all my life to improve my eyesight haha...these things Chinese people say....There is a pond there with sooo many koi and a random brown swan with a red beak. They jump out of the water when someone throws in fish pellets. They are HUGE...these fish. And they look disgusting when out of the water. I took a few pictures of them, but ended up deleting the ones with their mouths open. And then I played with the shutter speed on my camera--the fish look much prettier that way. Honeybees in Taiwan seem like they don't sting...I was standing near a box filled with bees, but didn't get stung at all.
Our last stop/dropoff was at the Keelung cultural center with a couple food stores giving generous samples. Youyu, whole grain rice crackers, and seaweed store--with green tea candy+seaweed. Then we went straight to night market. Ate sashimi + shaved ice with unique additions. It had sweet potatoes, taro, mango, and some kind of bean.

-

sepia tone lovin'

Every morning on the way to the museum, I always see a bunch of photographers equipped with their nice Nikon DSLR's and huge (not to mention, heavy!) macro lenses taking pictures of the pretty flowers and lily pads that made Monet famous. So, I was inspired to bring my DSLR to work one day (I wish I could carry it around everywhere, but it adds like 5 pounds to my bag) and take pictures. This is my favorite photo from the shoot:

On another note, I checked the typhoon news again, and it will be a light typhoon with max 25 km/hr winds. Relief.

typhoon this weekend ARGH :(

For the past hour, I've been obsessively clicking the refresh button on weather.com and Central Weather Bureau Taiwan. It is predicted that a category three (111-130mph) typhoon with 11 feet tall waves will hit Taiwan sometime this weekend. And, two medium-scale earthquakes hit south and central Taiwan earlier today. Well, this just about spoils my weekend plans of going to Chi-lung (Keelung,/Jilong) and Jiu Fen with Jojo (mom's youngest brother) and Xiao Mei A-yi (mom's youngest sister).

Jiu Fen image: http://www.pbase.com/adamslin/image/20027816

Chi-lung:

born to be....

...a veterinarian/animal rescuer?

I visited Animals Taiwan, an animal shelter in Taipei, today for orientation because I want to do something with my weekend mornings instead of sleeping in til 11am. The shelter is a little bit outside of the hustle and bustle of the city and more in the "countryside" as my dad calls it. Lucky for me, it's conveniently located behind the metro bus stop. The shelter is smaller than what I had expected and stinky as heck. I was plugging my nose almost the whole time, but I knew I had to endure it for the sake of injured dogs of Taiwan. While reading the shelter's brochure and flipping through the ready-to-be-adopted binder almost brought me to tears. There were pictures of dogs that were rescued and brought over to the shelter at near death, but are fortunately healthy and happy now. The shelter was founded by a British expatriate in 2004, and since then has rescued over 400 animals. Seeing these dogs, happy and healthy who were once very malnourished and near death point, touched my heart and felt like relief.

After visiting the shelter and walking around the neighborhood looking for a bus stop, there was a mommy dog with three little pups. One saw us and started to follow me. He was sooo cute--a yellow lab and looked like Marley (from Marley & Me film, and well don't all yellow lab pups look alike?). That was the moment that a light bulb went off in my head--I should be a veterinarian or something relating to rescuing animals, not someone dealing art or working in marketing. And, ugh, it took me this long to realize that I should be doing that?? My mom always said to me, since I was pretty young, that I should be a veternarian or zoologist because I love animals SO MUCH. But I always shrugged off her suggestion and would say "nah I don't think I can see myself doing that. I see myself living in a big city, wearing stylish clothes..." You know, living the high roller life.

Well, I guess I still have a while to figure it all out. Although I only have two years of undergraduate study left, and I am studying/majoring in something totally unrelated to animals, I know that whatever I study doesn't necessarily have to do with my career. I study X, and can still work in Y job (Raul's insightful advice).

Now onto updating posts from Macau/HK weekend...FINALLY :0)

reason why i am not going out today...

1. It is 104 degrees outside!!!!
2. A mosquito bit my eyelid, and therefore, my right eye is so swollen that it looks like someone wacked me with a golf club.
3. There is no such thing as Midol here...
4. I'm bloated like a balloon.
5. My upper back feels like it's tied up in knots.

/rant.

i sat on a toilet for dinner...[theme restaurant]

Yeah, I really did! Themed restaurants are very popular in Asia, especially Japan--where they have the some of the oddest themes. Tonight, Joy and I went to a TOILET-themed restaurant. The decor and menu items are all things bathroom related. I know, it's strange, crude, and kinda nasty but it was so fun!! It's all about the pictures hehe.

ice cream, or rather 'poo', in a squat toilet

The food was mediocre, although very cheap. The bill ended up 400NT for the both of us, and this is including drinks and ice cream! Entrees are served in a mini toilet bowl. However, mine wasn't for some reason.. I was pretty surprised the food wasn't greasy because most of the menu items are Western foods. But hey, it's Taiwan, they don't like lard/grease/oil/deep fried here--hence why the people are extremely skinny and barely have to lift an inch of weights.

I was a bit disappointed that this place didn't go all out. Napkins were normal--they should put toilet rolls on the table and drinks are poured in traditional cups. All in all, it was an.....interesting experience to say the least!

hot hot heat + adaptation

So, it is June. The sun shines stronger, and the heat is even more unbearable. There has been a change in my daily subway routine. Since the Ximen (where I transfer) train to Xiaonanmen (where I get off to get to work) is shut down in the morning, I now take the train to the stop after Ximen--Taipei Main Station [which means more crowds and fighting my way to get on the subway]--then take that to Chiang Kai-shek stop and then transfer again there to get to Xiaonanmen. Also, the shortcut to get to the front entrance of the museum is closed for construction. I now have to walk all the way around the museum. I mean it's great that I'm walking more, but it's not fun to show up to work soaked in sweat. And when I say soaked, I am honestly and disgustingly SOAKED. Additionally, my so-called sweatproof sunscreen, waterproof mascara, and Make-Up Forever eyeliner have all melted off my skin! Because of this, I show up to work with raccoon eyes, suncreen dripping from my elbows, and little sunburns here and there on my nose. Yeah, I despise this climate so much that I've thought about going home early and quitting this internship. I mean, growing up in SoCal all my life and living 10 minutes away from the beach [and rarely ever having to turn on the A/C or fans], of course I will hate this weather.

On a more positive note, I am finally adapting to this Taiwan lifestyle. I wake up no later than 7am the weekdays and 9am on the weekends. I sleep earlier--actually much earlier than I do on a normal school/summer schedule--between 10-11pm. My shower time has been cut short to less than 5 minutes. Shocking, Teresa? Yeah, both my dad and aunt have said that I take too long of showers. They tell me that Taiwan has a water shortage so I busily multi-task in the shower--wash my face before heading in, shampoo while shaving and scrubbing soap all over, then quickly condition, and done. And my aunt scowls when I do something she doesn't like or that doesn't comply with her ideals. Like yesterday, she wanted to give me a pair of flats she has never worn before. They were nice leather flats, but a half-size too small. I tried them on and told her she were a little tight. Then she goes, "Ni de jiao pangpang de" which translates to "Your feet are too fat." Well, those shoes were size 6.5--I normally wear a size 7. I gotta say that my feet are pretty narrow too. Whatever.

Anywho, I will start updating the blog about my weekend trip to Macau and Hong Kong within the next 3 days. Sorry in advance if my updates are infiltrating your inbox all at once! But I promise that they will be good posts and amazing pictures :)

hello hong kong

Tidbit of the day: danta egg tart origins from Macau, which was actually introduced by the Portuguese!

This morning, I turned on the TV and watched a really strange British children's show on BBC or some other British channel. The characters are very odd-looking...kinda like cabbage patch kids, but skinnier. And their voices? So creepy. Yes, I took a picture of them.

At around 10:30am, we take a turbo jet ferry to get to Hong Kong. I had to take dramamine because it was a rocky ride. I wanted to go outside for some fresh air, but they don't allow it nor is there a deck anyway. The ferry interior looks like an airplane. You have assigned seating--although, you can just about sit anywhere if the boat isn't full. After 70 minutes we arrived at the Hong Kong harbor. Earlier this morning, I sent Daniela an email to meet at 12pm at the harbor. We both are cellphoneless and facebook/email were our sources of communication. Well, turns out she didn't check her email that morning. But.....

After back and forth contact with Daniele [while Raul never responded to a single message poo] there'd be a small chance of us hanging out unless I told them a week ahead that I was for sure coming to HK that weekend. When we arrived in HK, we went to a Starbucks at the terminal to get free-wifi. Nope, no reply from Daniela. So we just hang out a bit at Starbucks, talk on Skype with my [half]sister, and head to the subway--which is conveniently two floors under the arrival terminal. We buy our tickets to Kowloon, one of the busiest places in HK, but nothing much to see except for the harbor, high-rise apartments, and a fancy mall. So, we are chance at Central HK subway station. Suddently, I hear a familiar voice shout out LIN CHEN!!! I turn around and there was Raul, Dani, and three of their Lingnan U friends. Crazzzzzy. What are the chances we'd end up here at the same place and same time??

Dad says I should purchase a lotto ticket when I get back because "it is [my] lucky day."

destination = ruins of a 17th century church

[continuation of last Macau post]

We lug our belongings around again...through downtown, still not having a clue where we'd be staying. My dad is so spontaneous and never plans anything. While being spontaneous is good and all, but not really when you're in a foreign place just following your dad and he assures you that he knows where he's going. Hah. It's blazing hot, and we're just zigzagging our way through the tourist crowds on the narrow sidewalks. Again, luckily, we happen to pass by a travel agency...and finally dad books a night at Metropark hotel. It's only a couple blocks away, in the heart of downtown. The hotel is really nice and looks like it belongs in Times Square. There are 25 floors. We get placed on the 23rd. So, yes, a nice view is to be expected. The view is of Grand Lisboa hotel (the 52-floor $2 billion casino/hotel) and of the rooftops of apartment buildings... There is advanced technology integrated throughout the hotel/room. The AC, lights, TV power and volume, and even the do not disturb (which displays a red light at the doorbell outside) are controlled by a touchpad. There are four elevators within the hotel. Two of them have a glass panel, so you can see how fast up you're traveling and all the cool lights at night. In dad's words, this hotel is "special."

After settling in, Dad passes out for 20 minutes when I'm starving and trying to cool down after walking around in sauna weather. We go eat lunch at a Taiwanese dimsum place Dad spotted earlier. The dimsum here is pretty different from Chinese/Cantonese dimsum dishes. But it's good, nonetheless. We ask the waitress if there are non-smoking zones in the restaurant because ew who wants to have tobacco flavored fish. I notice the 3 guys seated next to us, who were just finishing their cigs as we sat down, listen to our question. Ugh, no manners these people. After they finish their meal, each of them pull out another cig to smoke at their table while we're still in the middle of eating. I eat til my stomach is about to burst, so no dinner for us later.

Towards evening, we take the public bus to get to this beautiful facade of a church I saw on the "Welcome to Macau" billboard in the airport. Ever since I saw that picture, I knew I had to pay a visit. And, I have a deep appreciation for old architecture. This church was built in 1601 and originally called Church of Mater Dei. In 1835 it, along with St. Paul's College which was adjacent to the church, was burned down--hence the name of the place. We miss the bus stop, but the next is only a couple blocks away. The stop we were supposed to get off at is called Senado Square (see first image). It is a gorgeous outdoor shopping and gathering place with old Portugese buildings. And, it's where Ji Hoo (from the Korean drama) sang to make money [thanks to Carla for pointing that out]! Anyhow, the buildings here have Portuguese and Chinese writing. I think it's so cool that Macau is the only place in the world where Chinese + Portuguese culture meet. So, we walking somewhat aimlessly through the plaza. I stop by a couple stores, pull out my map, and point to the picture of St. Paul to get exact directions. Despite the heat and my lungs polluted with second-hand smoke and my very tired sore feet (wish I had brought good walking shoes I was wearing my nice J. Crew flats) I was so determined to go. Finally we were there. There were quite a few steps to climb...kinda like Machu Pichu stairs but of course not as narrow or steep. I sat down on a ledge and just looked upon the facade. All of sudden I felt so at ease. I don't know what it was.


One brief, negative, but very true note: Macau has the worst public transportation ever. We ended up getting on the wrong bus to get back to downtown and end up in a suburb/dead area. The bus route maps aren't very helpful. The drivers are rude and could care less to help out a lost tourist. Dad got on a bus to ask the driver whether the bus goes to Grand Lisboa (the hotel everyone in Macau knows), and the driver---he shooes dad off the bus flicking his hand like when you try to swat a fly away from your food. I dunno how a non-Chinese/Cantonese-speaking tourist would not get lost here.

Last backtracking post tomorrow--->Hong Kong!!

half-post of june 6, Saturday

Dad woke me up at freaking 5:30am to go jogging with him around the hotel's neighborhood. Uh, hello, I'm on vacation!!! Two hours later, I'm up and ready to sitesee, but by then it was flaming hot outside. Mind you, it is 10x's hotter in Macau than it is in Taiwan! The area around our hotel has a couple 17th century temples and churches. The neighborhood is very hilly, and my thighs burned as we walked up those steep hills ...hyperventilate...catch my breath...gulp down coconut popsicle..ah, relief. We arrive at the A-ma temple, which in the brochure that our hotel gave us does not note when it was built but it seemed pretty old anyway. The temple is beautiful with vibrantly colored details along the roof. There are a lot of people here, praying to the gods, leaving their footsteps in this possibly 2+ century old temple. Ah, more steep steps. I am about to give up, but I give in because my dad snarls, and well I push myself to go up one more flight--the last thank god--as a punishment for not waking up at 5:30am when it's not 80% humid. From the top is a view of the bay. There are huge incense sticks, that are maybe four feet tall and six inches thick. [CLICK TO VIEW DETAIL, I resized them to be bigger than what I usually size them to]

We check out by 1pm (extension) and take the shuttle to downtown Macau. And again, today we have no idea where we're staying, although I suggested that we stay at Metropark--another 5-star hotel that seemed pretty popular...when we waited for the Riviera shuttle bus at the Macau ferry terminal, I saw the Metropark shuttle bus coming back and forth every 10 minutes with a full bus.

Downtown is so cool. There are modern skyscrapers next to old Portuguese banks that are bright coral. At this time, we are still lugging our belongings around, and we get odd stares from people as if we were homeless. Good god, there is a huge Epcot center like building in front of my eyes. It belongs to a $2 billion casino/deluxe hotel called Grand Lisboa. The old hotel and casino are directly across the street from the new one. Can you be wasting anymore money?? I find it sad that Macau is reigned by casinos. Basically, these casinos and tourism are their only sources of a somewhat steady economy. Macau is a beautiful nation with a lot of ancient (okay, more like a couple centuries-old) ruins--most of which are churches, and Portuguese culture. Anyway, Dad has to go to the bank so we go inside one of the casinos. There is a line wrapping around the small bank because it is a Saturday, and this is one of the few banks still open at this time. I'm standing in line, and there are these girls wearing super tight minidresses and stilettos walking back and forth. The old geezers in front of me can't keep their eyes off them. I kinda can't too, not because I'm checking them out, but because I'm confused a little. They continue to walk back and forth, striding from one end of the hall to the other. Is this some kind of runway show? Then I realize that they are hookers, as Dad confirms. Aha. At this time of the day, it's only noontime? I guess they have nothing better to do anyway. We get out of the line because it'd probably be an hour til we get to the teller, and a guy in front of me just pulled out a cig to smoke in my face. Yes, people in Macau smoke everywhere you can imagine. There is no such existence of non-smoking zones here.

Okay, time to sleep, tomorrow is Monday and I have to wake up at 6:26am--will be updating the rest tomorrow, including more for June 6...!

spontaneity at its best

[backtracking]
Friday: I'm in Macau!!!! I didn't know I'd be here til today at 11am. Dad shoots me an email while I'm at the museum asking whether I could take off early. Cheng boshi encouraged me to go and "see the world" :) So I quickly pack up my things, powerwalk to the subway, and get home. I've never felt so rushed. The moment I got home my dad was busily packing away as our flight was at 4pm. I was starving so I was stuffing my face with burning hot noodles (ouch).


Arrival: Macau's tiny airport is adjacent to the South China Sea. As we landed, the plane's wings were skimming above the sea. It's located on a man-made island called Taipa. This island is where Venetian casino/hotel is....where Boys Over Flowers (Korean drama) was filmed!!! When I stepped inside I felt as if I were reliving Jandi's life. It sort of felt surreal. The hotel is beautiful inside, but it reaks of tobacco as all casinos, or rather Macau, do. My dad is so spontaneous that we didn't even know where we'd be staying. Venetian was too expensive so we took their shuttle bus to the Macau harbor, where lucky for us, there are travel agencies located inside the terminal. We scored a 5-star hotel, Hotel Riviera, by the bay for 550MOP (~$70).

The view is GORGEOUS from our hotel window. We can see the Macau tower, the bay, and lit up bridge.The hotel is rather nice too. It's not fancy smancy, but the bed is oh-so-comfortable that it was hard for me to get up the next morning.

Tidbits about Macau:
1. Macanese food is a mish mash of Portuguese and Chinese food. They use spices from Africa and the Middle East--such as tumeric and cinnamon--in addition to coconut milk and basil leaves mmmm. Unfortunately, we didn't find any Macanese restaurants :(
2. Mandarin and Portuguese are official languages of Macau while Cantonese is the most widely spoken.
3. Every street name is Portuguese. They are usually Rua de _____. Restaurants and store fronts all have Chinese characters, Portuguese, and sometimes English.
4. They drive on the other side of the road here, and the driver seat is on the right side. This was my first time experiencing this, so I always got confused when entering a bus because the doors are on the other side too.

vegas in asia

I'm in Macau right now!!!! updates and pics later because i only have 4 minutes left of free internet. for an hour of internet at our hotel, actually most hotels here, costs $4+ an hour!

Basically it's a lot like Vegas. People blow smoke in your face and there are casinos everywhere...there is one that is shaped like Epcot's sphere!

I hate buying clothes in Taiwan

yet I do love buying clothes in Taiwan. The clothes are incredibly cheap...every top I've been buying are around 420-500NT ~ $12-15.

I hate shopping here. I'd stop at a street market station...browse through the clothes and pick out a really cute blouse. The saleslady comes by to see what I'm looking at and says "Oh, that won't fit you." or "It's way too small for you." Then they point at this ugly top that looks like a hacky sack and say "This will definitely fit you." Um thanks. Then I shoot them my WTF face and walk away to browse the station directly across (and buy something). Boo yah.

Dui bu qi

I am sorry. I haven't been keeping up with my posts...at all. First the iphone fiasco, and now it's because I've been so lazy. And yeah, laziness is frowned down upon in Taiwan. I get home about 6pm, plop down on the couch, watch a little Taiwanese drama with my dad and cousin, eat a home-cooked vegetarian dinner, walk to the park to burn all the calories I consumed and have my heart broken from seeing too many homeless dogs, head back home after an hour, shower, and pass out by 11pm. So, really, it's because I don't have much time and well, because I'm lazy too.

I will try to have the blog updated by tonight. Not a promise, but I will try!

what i'm trying to say

Monday: Um great, I accidentally deleted all the notes I wrote for today on my iPhone. Apple should add a trash bin like a normal computer has. Note to self: sync phone or pay attention to what I’m actually deleting. Oh wells.

REWRITE: Ruckus at 5am this morning. The building shakes, ear deafening squeals, sounds like someone is moving heavy furniture down the four flights of stairs, echoes…earthquake?? No, just roadwork so damn early in the morning. They are paving the road. Riding subway alone today with dad for the first time. Fight my way to the entrance because some business guy is shoving people out of his way…must be nearly late for work. Crazy old lady blabbing away in Taiyu and Chinese to herself and to those sitting down—pretending to sleep because they don’t want to give up their seat. She comes to stand next to be and is now shouting. She looks at me. Don’t make eye contact with her. If people didn’t know the situation they’d think she was yelling at me.

Lunch outside as always behind the museum. Something smells like poo and blows in my direction. Maybe someone is chowing down on choudofu nearby.

Today I learned that Taipei 101 was designed to resemble a bamboo. Cool!

It breaks my heart to see all these homeless dogs at the park. Dad says to just ignore them and move on because there’s nothing Taiwan government can do about them :( Sorry, can’t do that. Sigh.

Happier note—jiejie (my cousin) took us to a shaved ice shop down the street from where I’m staying. For a huge size—35NT/$1.10!!! Ah, eating baobing at Cha or other places will never be the same!