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Taiwan Pt 1

30.7.07

Sad to say, my holiday has come to an end. It was back to work for me today and I really struggled. Waking up at 7am to go to work was tough. I had no trouble waking up at 7am on my holiday to go out, but just thinking of work *blah* was almost enough to put me back to bed.

Taiwan was great! Three words to describe it - hot, bustling, delicious. My recommendation is not to go during summer, unless you enjoy 35C humid days. There's a tonne of things happening, the roads are constantly busy and in Taiwan, scooters are the main form of transportation. Quite similar to bicycles in China. Parking is shocking in Taipei so most people either ride around on their scooters or rely on public transportation. The public transportation system here is pretty impressive - puts Melbourne to shame. The MRT is the most convenient way for tourists like me to get around. It's easy and fairly cheap and the trains come every 5 minutes or so, so you don't spend 20 minutes waiting for trains that never show.

The National Palace Museum was one of the first places I got to see. It is probably one of the hugest museums I've been in with an extensive collection of famous artefacts.

Lunch time called for a yum cha / dim sum session. We pretty much ordered one of everything on the menu. There wasn't anything that tasted bad - I was in food bliss.

A little bit of history, a little bit of food, the only thing left to do for the day was shop! There are various shopping districts scattered throughout Taipei. There are more department stores than are needed - Sogo, New York New York, Taipei 101 etc - almost one at every corner. Prices at the department stores aren't much cheaper than what they would be here, but they were my to-go places when the summer heat became unbearable. I loved the outdoor shopping districts - XiMenDing (where the hip and young hung out) and WuFenPu (which was the place to go to for street vendors to buy stuff in bulk. Some local designers set up shop here, while others stock up on the latest from Korea / Japan. Also widely popular with celebrities who come out here to scout out the latest fashion).

Taiwan is also renowned for their huge night markets. Food Food Food! I gravitate towards these night markets for their food. The Shilin Night Market is one of the largest in Taipei. They've got food, clothes, games - it's like a mega pasar malam that opens every day of the week. Food is plentiful and cheap - smelly taufoo (which I didn't dare try!), oyster omelette, minced pork on rice, beef noodles, deep fried chicken cutlets, grilled corn, taiwan sausages, iced tea, shaved ice desserts - sensory overload!

*sobs* I miss my NTD20 minced pork on rice. It's the BEST!

almost over

27.7.07

2 more days and it's all over. Back to work for me. Back to the 9-5 office job. Back to the mundaneness of reality.
I had a sweet and short time off. What I wouldn't give for a couple more weeks =)

all drugged up

3.7.07

I've been all drugged up for the past few days - painkillers, antibiotics, more antibiotics. Popping pills like there's no tomorrow. But I'm not minding it as long as it takes away my pain. Pain, pain go away. Half my pain is probably psychological, but hey, even if it's in my mind, i'm feeling it.

My mouth is constantly dry. My face, well, think goldfish. I feel stitches inside my mouth. My jaw is stiff and swollen. Even my pee is starting to smell funny because of the drugs. I've been surviving on bread for the last few days - bread with butter, bread with jam, bread with condensed milk + milo, bread with tuna, bread with omelette. And soup. No congee - bad experience with cold congee on Saturday night. Don't ask.

Anyway, it's day 4 now. I expect to be eating normally by day 7. I better be. I'm going on a holiday!!! woooooooo.. and what fun is a holiday if you can't stuff yourself silly.

Sophia made me take apart my rubiks cube and now I can't put it back. This is going to do my head in.

WHO?