catching up

Of course, I haven't updated in a while!! Bad me!!!

February 10, 2010
I went to get a physical to reapply for a resident visa T_T. Fortunately, Taiwan no longer requires a No. 1 or a No. 2 tests =). Just a blood sample and an X-Ray. I'm so thankful! While we were waiting for the physical exam time, we went to eat some shabu-shabu all you can eat! Whew, I was stuffed!

oops. Mom blinked!

I saw the old north gate [北門] that functioned as one of the entrances into the city (when there were walled cities) when I was riding the bus. We stopped at a bookstore, and unfortunately, no english books =(. I had to resort to reading picture books because my Chinese level is too low!! Boohoo.

the old north gate

stopped by Taipei 101 as well

And, for dinner, it was shabu-shabu again with another friend =P. So much stuff!!

om nom nom

Off to the fashion district of Taipei, Wufenpu [五分譜]. It's clothes shopping galore where you can find lots and lots of different kinds of clothes.


February 11th, 2010
Today, we went again to Qidu [七堵], and actually got into the old apartment. Lots of memories there… We went again to the marketplace to try and find more to buy =). Got some fa gao [發糕] (kind of translates to fortune cake I guess), some red bean bread, and a teapot haha.

I met up with my cousin today to do some more shopping at Wufenpu. I only brought one long-sleeve shirt with me here, and tomorrow is going to drop 15+ degrees Celsius! So, time to stock up on some long sleeves. Yay for ~4 dollar shirts =).


February 12th, 2010
I went to see my other uncle today! We only talked for a little while because he still had work, but I found out my cousin's going to the NCTU too O_O.

Afterwards, more shopping!!! This time at the Taipei Main Station's underground mall [台北車站地下街]. And guess what we had for dinner with some friends? Shabu-shabu again! Lol. Everyone likes shabu-shabu I guess =).

Haha, my entries are getting shorter and shorter. I guess not much happens when I'm not in a touristy spot haha.


February 13th, 2010
Chinese New Year Eve! I think I did the least today. The only event that was very eventful was….making dumplings!!!! Yay =) So good!

mom hard at work (while I took pictures... jk. I made some too!)

my uncle with his super fast rolling skills

February 14th, 2010
Happy New Year, Year of the Tiger!

On the 14th, no one celebrated V-Day here, but that's to be expected. The Taiwanese version of V-Day is a different day which I cannot think of at the moment. Soon.

On CNY, I went to PingLing [坪林] with some Taiwan friends.

Di finally gets his completed state quarters collection

We looked at the sceneries, and tea farms. We took SO MANY pictures. Probably around 500 O_O. I cannot put them all up. We walked some mountain trail and take lots of pictures with very pink sakura blossoms and scenery. The weather was wonderful - nice and cool and breezy~

Ting posing with the sakura

fishies!

Ting and her mom

Di and his dad. such a fob.

cool leaf

play lots drink good tea

that's a large tea leaf field

so pretty =)

her dad = confused?

of course flowers

and a butterfly!

the C's

me and a 1970s bicycle

at a place called Helen Coffee

Helen of Troy Coffee

mmm cocoa...

coolio

boat ride!

aww aren't they cute?

Di likes his Heineken

no, that's sourplum tea in my cup

so yummy!!

one bridge?

nope, it's actually a rope bridge and a highway bridge in the back

Afterward, I stopped by my friends' house to help them organize and do some spring cleaning in their house. Their two cats are cute =) too bad I'm allergic T____T. My nose took a bad hit.

robin

peanut

A good night's sleep should have fixed it, but there were lots of firecracker sounds and and fireworks all through the night. Oh well.


February 15th, 2010
The next day involved more FOOD mmmmm..... I was so stuffed (as always). It was a family dinner and I had gotten invited because they had extra seats that needed to be filled. While all the kids got hong-baos [紅包], I was just quietly munching away on my fish or my vegetables. No matter, the food made up for it =). My mom and I also met some old friends there too. Pictures of course!

I bet he got a hong bao too =[

eh? a picture?

"I'm walking!"

"I fell!"

And it's off to Tainan [台南] I go. Even though Taiwan is around the size of New Jersey (I think), it took 5 hours to get to the other side of Taiwan.

on the road...

And believe it or not, it was actually cold! Brrr… I went with the C's to visit their relatives and watched Shark Tale in Chinese. We also had some bursting egg custards that were invented by the Taiwanese KFC - they have lots of cream inside the custard part of the tart; they were yummy…. =] =]