A Proper Post For Taiwan

Okok, time to get down to business. Have to write down my thoughts before I flit off to Melbourne with the family.

Hate my life? Bite me. I've worked my ass off for the money and besides, I will be burning in intern and summer school hell next year. Need to build up precious memories now to sustain me through that trying time.

Ah well. Back to Taiwan.

Someone commented that we picked the possibly worse time to visit Taipei. The typhoon hit on Tuesday, we banged right into the first day of the 7th month and on the last day, a 6.2 earthquake hit the city. Luckily, we were already at the airport. Makes for great stories though.

Just a small digression. Traveling with the boyfriend was all great and dandy because he was my strong man and carry all my shopping, took care of me and let me sleep an extra 10 minutes every morning while he bathed first. But traveling with one of my dearest and oldest girlfriends was fantastic too. Sure, I had to lug my suitcase everywhere myself and there was the toilet issue, but hey, nothing beats being with a female while you ponder over a potential purchase, poking and questioning, before deciding 10 minutes later you don't want it. Girls never mind that. Fadz would totally have killed me.

Ah yes, so what did we do? Eat, shop, sightsee, eat and shop a lot more.

The boyfriend and parents formed my entourage. Muahaha.. The Rock Star has arrived!

I've now had the dubious honour of traveling on all 3 budget airlines. My conclusion? THEY ALL SUCK. It sucked so badly I wanted to chop my legs off and pry my brain out. And Pei Wen was extra fidgety which made the 5-hour journey excruciating. IT'S SO DAMN, FREAKING BORING, CRAMP, LACKING IN SERVICE AND THEY CHARGE EXORBIDANT PRICES FOR CRAPPY FOOD. Hummpff. I'm gonna kiss every bloody inch of SIA when I go to Melbourne.

I'm very messy meh? Both Fadz and Pei Wen complained incessantly. Look, I'm female, I carry tons of stuff in a ridiculously small bag. Need to find something urgently? Turn all the contents out onto the bed lah!

The hotel was okay, not as pokey as I expected it to be. They even gave us a whole freaking watercooler for all the water we needed. But dim lighting and a 10 minutes walk from Ximending can seem like an eternity after 8 hours of nonstop shopping.

Oh god, we ate so much. We were like heinous pigs devouring everything in sight. Gulp. FYI, smelly tofu is not so bad while consuming it, but leaves an aftertaste of shit. Remember the breathe mints. And Shilin XXL chicken chop is so overrated. Bleah.

The ubiquitous Ximending. The maze of shops kept us quite occupied for 5 days. Mostly Ah Lian fashion, with a quirky find every once in a while. So dig deep, dig hard, and haggle mercilously (not that it really worked).

Yes, we did sightseeing, ok. It wasn't just a debauchery of shopping and eating. Taipei 101 was brill, but a fucking pirates' den. Must pay for everything. Leave your wallet at the counter. But the view was killer. The memorials were... ho hum. But I wrote calligraphy for the first time!

I realise that we (fine, mostly me) did a lot of stupid things that made us stand out as bloody tourist. Oh well. You can only be dumb overseas, yeah?

The signs in Taipei are... interesting, to say the least. I felt terribly inadequate speaking Mandarin and was constantly at a loss for words (*sobz* I wept and cried out for people who would understand Singlish). But ha-di-ha-ha, I got my pride back when confronted with swoon-worthy and confusing English signs.

Pity we didn't get to go to Dan Shui for its hot springs, or planned for a trip over the weekend, cos S.H.E. were in town. Oh well.

Now I just want more, more, more! Let's see the world!