pretty sure i got ripped off by the fruit lady when she sold me 1/4 of a small cantaloupe for $60NT ($2 US). to make things worse i think im having some sort of reaction to the preservatives she probably put in there. tightening of chest, head tension, facial tension, prickly sensation. im so mad >( i hope swindler fruit lady gets swindled one day herself >(
since my last post, i went to nantou and yilan over 2 weekends.
nantou was a 2day 1night trip arranged by the dorms attended by 150 international students from all over teh world. we took 4 busses, i was on bus B, our bus driver kept getting lost everywhere so we were regularly the last ones to destinations. also the planning of the trip wasnt very well thought out as we took longer than planned to get to each destination. regardless , i had a good time. we gathered at 7am and left at 8am, had lunch, and made it to sun moon lake sometime in the afternoon where we rode cable cars over mountains and oceans and clouds and moons. then went walkign around the lake edge and curiously enough, many of the aboriginal shops there sold wooden ashtrays with an upright penis carved over it. i bought a pair of leather sandals and black sesame mochi. then headed to our hotel which was in the forest which meant that for dinner we had some legit BBQ with coals, matches, a grill, and asian style pre- packaged meat. hotel rooms were really nice and modern and i roomed with michelle harmonie and connie. we watched the ugly truth and devils wears prada hehe.
BREAKFAST!! was rice in a bamboo stick. yummmm. went on a beautiful morning hike into the woods and it involved crossing a stream , climbing countless stairs, walking amongst tree tops (true story), meeting germans.. later that day we bid adieu the comfortable hotel and slowly made our *LOST* way to a temple where it was crowded and hot. slept all the way back and this time it was a quiet ride, as opposed to the way down where the leaders tried to get us to know each other by playing games and blasting KTV on the onboard screens. all in all, the escape to nature was worth the initial frustration regarding the bus situation
dad came on a thursday and since then we have chilled, he has visited me at gongguan, we’ve gone to nangang to visit gramma, and we’ve gotten dinner with his old college buddy. THE DINNER WAS AMAZING. indian style curry. the amazingness resided in the puffy wheat bread that you dip in green sauce or mango sauce or other saucces that we didnt order.
(sundaY) the yilan trip was 1 day and only for ICLP students (aka california kids). we went to a cultural museum with sloped ceilings, a whiskey brewery, a tradiational taiwanese center where we played old games and won little prizes, made our own cotton candy, bought sesame/nut filled mochi shaped like cocoons, spent 2 hours painting mini wooden beijing opera masks… etc etc too lazy to remember the rest =p. it rained most of the time there. it was interesting to see the japanese colonization period type architecture and imagine my gramma walking around in yilan, her hometown.
earlier tonight i went extremely out of my way thru the rain on a bus and 2 metro changes to purchase my first pair of lacoste shoes, quite expensivee.. but they were so pretty..
