jour dix

Tis the end of the weekend and predictably, it was full of shopping and consumerism with a tinge of appreciation for the arts. I was feeling a bit lazy the last two days to blog about my shopping ventures. It was quite delightful to be by myself for a few hours on Friday after my mom left on the High Speed Rail to the south of Taiwan. I did quite a bit of shopping in 4 hours time and even managed to read a short story in my Alice Munro book, Too Much Happiness.

I've been in Taipei for over a week now, and I don't get that same feeling as I did during my prior visits. I don't see myself identifying myself with Taipei as much as I did before. Sometime in the last two years, there was a turning point - a transition - that made me identify with North America more than ever. It's ironic because during that time, I was longing to visit Asia but now that I'm here, I feel like a foreigner in my native country. Maybe it's too soon to feel "at home" here. There has been a lot of lifestyle adjustments within the last month and it's seemingly hard for me to make up my mind to what I'm used to.

Another factor is that Taipei has changed a lot in the last two years both physically and culturally. The youth have become much less naive and are open about a lot of topics that were more hush hush. They've also slathered on a lot more makeup and care a bit too much on their appearances in my opinion. The planning nerd in me of course, has noticed new MRT (metro/subway) lines, bike-sharing, more HOV/bus only lanes, new architectural development, and somewhat innovative ways of mitigating on-going building construction. I'll discuss the planning pros and cons another day once I have more material to write about. :)

Anyway, onto some of the things I've been doing the last few days and it can be summed up in the following sequence: Shop. Eat. Shop. Eat. Shop. Eat. Cook. Museum. Eat. Shop. Eat. Cook. :P

The visit to the National Palace Museum today was just alright. I always go there whenever I'm back so we just went to see the special exhibit today. The exhibit was called, The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece. There were Greek sculptures and pottery visiting from The British Museum. It was just really crowded and stuffy in there, which makes the experience a bit less enjoyable. The marble sculptures were really amazing though.

Anyway, here are some photos from the last few days :)

  Chinese Ikea haha..

National Palace Museum

I cooked.

I ate out (a lot)

une semaine!

This week has gone by so fast and I don't even know what I do most of the days...I just remember eating a lot. Today, had an early lunch at 鼎泰豐!! It was so delicious and the food I had kept me full until 7 pm!

 The fish dumplings. so good! 

 To be honest, I liked the fish dumplings better than the  小籠包 (xiao long bao)

noodles in a nice and light chicken soup :)

After lunch I had my hair appointment which took a long time as well. Many customers came and left during the time I was there. It was quite enjoyable though because my hairdresser, Jason, was very nice and we chatted for the four hours I was there. He was quite meticulous and taught the younger girls how to do things very patiently. The straightening turned out well and my hair is no longer poof (thank god). I'm going back in March to get it dyed (but also because I want to see Jason again haha).

Grainy...took it with my sister's shitty camera. 

Met up with the sister afterwards and had dinner with the parents! That's really my day, and not in a nutshell either. My mom is leaving to the south of Taiwan tomorrow a bit earlier before Chinese New Year so I'll be all alone!

This cute retriever who sits outside of a restaurant to draw customers (mostly girls)

The salad at dinner...there was more but I was too busy eating...

Wow Day 6 already?

This morning I went to the open air market with my mom. I never had fond memories of the market growing up - the crowds, the smells, the noise, the rude old ladies. Did I mention the smells? Well, that remains unchanged and I accept it as a part of Chinese culture (and probably similar in many other cultures). For those who have never been to one of these open air markets, it's really not THAT open air. It's not nice and pretty like a farmers market in North America. The one I went to had a skylight throughout the narrow strip of road with vendors and shops on both sides and even in the middle of the narrow road.

When I was there, I just wanted to get what we needed and get out. I didn't want to linger or anything. My mom just had to get her produce from the vendors furthest from the entrance we entered from (but closest to the exit). While struggling through the crowds, I noticed a cluster of people slowing down. I realized that there was a man on the ground. My first reaction was that he had fallen but no one was helping him. Then I realized he was handicapped and crawling on the ground begging. What was worse was that people were just disregarding him and stepping over him. I almost burst out in tears in the middle of the market. I know it's a common occurrence in many markets, but the disregard for his presence felt so cruel. Unfortunately, I didn't have my wallet on me so I wasn't able to contribute to his cause. I think many people also take this with a grain of salt because there have been incidences when people fake it or are used by "owners" as beggars. But still, the act of crawling on the dirty market floor and begging feels so undignified from my perspective. I don't even know what the man feels, but it must take a lot of courage.

After the exit (more like escape) from the market, I just stayed home, had some lunch, and planned my South East Asia trip with Denise. It's going to be a pretty fabulous trip! I also got a phone call from a friend I haven't seen in a while! The day withered away very quickly at Beard Papa's with a cream puff and a latte. Then it was time for dinner with my parents and another family friend.

 Beard Papa's! 

So delish

dinner.

Finally going to get my hair did tomorrow. I hope it'll look okay.

Day 5 - What did I do today?

I watched TV. A lot of TV. Started off the morning with a classic - Doraemon. I proceeded to watch Mythbusters on Discovery where they were busting some of the stunts/blowups in The Green Hornet. Then I started watching this other Japanese cartoon called 小红豆...I think it's called Azuki.

Azuki is really cute because it reminded me of elementary school crushes! Except the main character, 小红豆, gets a lot closer to her crush than I ever did haha. 

I then went up the Mountain (陽明山國家公園) with my mom to help her clean. It was freezing up there. Houses in Asia are generally constructed out of concrete, which is a terrible insulator. It's been "cold" for Taiwan standards but up in the mountain, in a house with no insulation, it is quite cold inside. After I cleaned, I watched some more TV - National Geographic. It didn't last long because I fell asleep on the couch. 

Time passed and I headed out to dinner with my parents and their friends. I really don't have many friends in Taiwan...so I hang out with my mom a lot since my sister works. I think it's time I make some friends. Unproductive day but I found out about a Wedgewood Cafe where they use Wedgewood china and such. I also found out that my favourite clothing store, Club Monaco, is open in Taipei! 

Anyhow, that's it for today. Shower and sleep. I think I'm gaining weight already. By the way, check out the cover of Damien Rice's The Blower's Daughter by the oh so cute Anthony Neely: 

Day 4 - in photos

I was supposed to write last night but I got lazy and tired. BUT I did take photos so that will be sufficient for my activities yesterday :)

 Puppies at a nearby pet store! Adorable! 

 Chinese New Year treats! 

 The street filled with Chinese New Year goodies! 

 Classic/colonial style architecture of Taipei

Ended with vegetarian hotpot!

Day 3 - eat shop eat groove eat shop eat

Yes...today was a day of eating and fruitless shopping with my sister. Did some window shopping at Mitsukoshi department store, looking for a nice winter coat and a pair of riding boots. The clothes were just really untasteful and I couldn't find anything I really liked. Shoes - overwhelming. Too many styles all clustered in a small square footage. I'm going to have to take my time with the shoes.

After a lunch at...Ajisen ramen (blah did not come all this way to eat this), which was unbeknown to me until we sat down and I saw the logo on the menu, went  to the Taipei Cultural Center to attend a free jazz concert. The description called it "French gypsy jazz", which is somewhat vague. It wasn't until they started that I knew that it was django - named after the founder of the style - Django Reinhardt, who himself was a gypsy of sorts growing up. I really do enjoy this style and I remembered the amazing performance I saw at the Vancouver Jazz Festival by Van Django. There were a variety of people who showed up to the performance, although there were many seniors (I think the Cultural Center was more like a seniors community center). There was a very supportive and enthusiastic uncle in the audience who clapped the loudest and was yelling "Bravo!" and "Encore" after each song. Yes, he yelled encore after each song. I really did enjoy this performance because as the band pointed out, there is a lack of a django band presence in Taiwan that are Taiwanese.



Headed over to Taipei main station to meet up with the parents at this new-ish mall to walk around and have some dinner. My dad really wanted to check out this new hotel next door, Palais de Chine. It was really beautifully designed inside. Afterwards, just window shopped and had some decent Thai food for dinner!

Now, I'm home. Showered. Brushed. Watching the American Idol equivalent. There's this really cute mixed competitor, Anthony Neely, singing Jason Mraz's "Lucky". Oh my he is really good looking and tall! I shall leave you with photos of him...as I did not bring my camera out with me today. Will borrow my sister's camera tomorrow when I head out!

Day 2 - a day of a censored event, applications, jetlag, and the beginning of family

OMG. I am incapable of staying up any longer. Jet lag is kicking me in the ass right now and I have to go out to dinner with family in 10 minutes when all I want to do is stay home and snooze. So what's up with me on day 2? No, I haven't gotten that straight perm, in case you're wondering. My hair is still tied up to prevent chaos in public. I woke up today with some great news from a friend who got a job at Translink! What a great start to my morning and quite energizing. The censored event ensued (not related to the good news haha) but I survived and rewarded myself with a cheap espresso which used fructose as sweetener (weird). Lunch at a family friend's vegetarian restaurant was great - smelly tofu pot! I proceeded home and Skyped with RMak for around 2 hours.

Job applications followed and my cousin, aunt, and uncle dropped by before heading to the Cirque du Soleil show (Varekai). I'll be going myself in February and I'm quite looking forward to my...4th Cirque show! My aunt wants me to send her my graduation photo so she can play matchmaker for me. Yeah. Never gonna happen.

Now I have to keep my eyes wide open and walk through the streets, keeping an eye out for dog shit on the sidewalk. Merde!

I apologize for my brief and irritable tone in this entry. I am attempting to kick jet lag in the ass back.
A demain tout le monde.

I'm in Asia - Day 1

I decided that I could really blog about my travels here in Asia. It's only been two years since I've been away but I don't know what it is about my first day here that feels like a culture shock in the country that I was born in. I'm going to be travelling around Asia until early April so I thought it'd be interesting to write down some of my observations now that I'm older (and wiser).

Current location: Taipei. My flight was long (12 hours) and turbulent but I got some sleep and watched The Social Network and The Switch. As an aside, I'm not sure The Social Network deserved all those Golden Globes but I'm no film critic. Anyhow, I arrived at 4:30 AM and was one of the first off the plane and through the customs (I walk much faster than regular people). The downside is that I waited forever and a half for my luggage since I checked in 2.5 hours before my flight. My parents were waiting for me as I walked out and I was ravenous. I had only had one meal on the flight (of congee) and it was lunch time PST. Got a couple of onigiri (yum) at 7-11 and an americano (bland) and set off back to my sister's place.

Maybe I've been studying urban planning too long or been living in North America too long but I felt like I was in a foreign country that I've never been to before. I think it was the fact that there were ongoing infrastructure expansions that did not exist when I was in Taiwan last. When I got to my sister's place, it wasn't really what I expected either. I've been spoiled by the North American vastness and square footage and also by my parents' significantly larger place in Taipei. I suppose for one person, her apartment is a good size, but I thought the bedrooms were so tiny.

I have not yet mentioned the humidity that is Taiwan. I felt my hair expanding as I walked off the airplane. This humidity keeps everything damp. It's time to get that straightening perm sometime this week because I doubt my efforts to straighten my hair will result in lasting results!

My Dad took me for a walk around the neighbourhood to get me acquainted and I quite liked it. I live across from an elementary school and there's an open-air market and several eat-in places and conveniences nearby. I can't wait for the rain to stop so I can go running along the river. I took a nap after some breakfast and unpacking and then headed out with my Mom to the Home Depot equivalent of B&Q looking for a new showerhead. Maybe it's because I'm jetlagged, but all the noises of cars was amplified. The air felt toxic and I was just a cesspool of negativity. I was nodding off a couple of hours later and was in desperate need of caffeine to keep me awake and fix this jetlag. Finally found a Starbucks and ordered a tall Americano. Then the guy asked me if I wanted it hot and I gave him a bit of unnecessary attitude: "Uhh, of course" I said in Mandarin. I guess people usually get more cold drinks in Taiwan so I was shocked that he would ask me such a silly question. I was then a bit more high-maintenance because apparently, people in Taiwan only add coffee cream to their drinks and not milk or soy...so I had to ask for their non-fat milk. The guy asked if he could add it for me but I wanted to add it myself! Ok, so I'm a bit of a coffee snob but I'll tone it down in the next few months!

When we got back to my sister's place, we had an ordeal with the key. The alarm kept going off and my mom rushed off to get the locksmith to come figure it out while I waited. While waiting, I observed the kids in the school across the street. The boys baseball team was still hard at work training and doing laps and cheers. It's weird seeing and hearing children after being in university all this time!

The next few days will be focused on getting rid of this jet lag and getting acquainted with this new neighbouhood. This initial shock will go away too after a few days. It's weird seeing high school kids now and how they dress, walk and talk. It's also hard to judge the ages of non-students on the streets. I just feel so out of place! I think I need to make some friends...maybe my sister can take me to work or something.

In the meantime, I'm going to stay awake for a few more hours and have some dinner! It's really been a wonky day. Honestly, I'm mostly irked about my hair!!!!

(Better) pictures...to follow.