namaste! (the post without many pics)

First and foremost, shout out to Courtney Power! Lol

In no particular order because I forgot the order of events already, the other day, I went to watch Harry Potter – which was awesome by the way! But watching it in a foreign theater is way cooler. In essence of course. I still prefer American movie theaters but it was still an experience to be had. I’ve come to realize everywhere I go, be it the theater or the market or anything, there are metal detectors and security guards and I get scanned and felt up everywhere. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to feel safe or unsafe or what – terrorist bombing may occur at any moment? It never really crosses my mind when I go anywhere but I guess for this part of the world, it’s an actual reality. Let’s just hope nothing happens within the next two months and then I’m in the clear. So anyway, movie theater… it’s an interesting system that they have, makes a lot of sense, but at the same time, promotes socioeconomic segregation (?) Basically when you go to the theater, there is an array of ticket prices depending on where you sit – much like Broadway. The prime seats which are middle and middle obviously cost the most, with the cheapest seats being front and side. It makes a lot of sense that better seats means higher prices but I don’t know… I still like the American same-price first-come-first-serve system. Anyway, I got there pretty late and didn’t preorder my ticket so I ended up sitting pretty in the front but luckily still middle. A good thing was that the seats reclined so it wasn’t so bad – still had the entire screen in my view. Another culturally different part of the theater was the moderate noise level that was pretty constant throughout the movie – little conversations were going on here and there, loud whispering and laughing, and phones rang every so often. The person next to me actually engaged in a phone conversation in the middle of the movie. I finally, truly understand the meaning of “silence is golden” because all I wanted was quiet during the movie. But I guess people don’t understand how to not talk during a movie so oh well. Lastly, there was an intermission. I mean seriously, it’s only like 3 hours tops – you can totally hold it. It’s cool and all if you really actually had to go to the restroom – then an intermission is a godsend but I thought it was still funny, never thought a movie would have an intermission. When I asked my friend, he said pretty much all movies had intermissions and that it’s kinda part of the culture now… weird. Well now I wish that Harry Potter 7 weren’t a two-part movie but rather, a full-length 7 hour movie that had maybe two intermissions. I would totally sit in the theater for 7 hours for Harry Potter.

The other day, I also drove my first stick-shift right-side steering wheel car – awesome! What wasn’t awesome was my poor performance but give me a break, stick shift is hard – the whole foot pedal changing gears thing and stepping or releasing with the right force and all… one day I will learn it and save tons of money when purchasing a car. One day…

Trying new beers! Well they’re not terribly unique or local but I guess it’s still beers I’ve never had in the states? Tiger and Carlsberg. Maybe I have tried Carlsberg but I guess I don’t remember? Anyway, as Jamie, Vivi, Andrew So, Jess Lee, and Eileen can attest – never drink after eating spicy food. I learned my lesson in Chicago but I guess I was cornered this time? Luckily I took it easy so it wasn’t too bad this time but yeah, life lesson #1, don’t drink and eat spicy food – you won’t like the outcome.
So in my spare time, I’m reading Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, which by the way is very, very good; totally recommend it. It’s a very capitalistic, individualistic, and very may-the-best-man-win kinda book – which I totally agree with. I believe in potential and ability, action over words, whatever. The poor shouldn’t leech off of the rich, many of whom rightfully worked very hard to earn their money. Many of the poor deserve to be poor because they are lazy and don’t work hard when others are. But at the same time, I’m terribly torn, especially now that I’ve seen India. The poor here really are poor. Like not your hobo sitting on the sidewalks of New York City who didn’t care to get an education and started using drugs and can only blame himself for his position poor. But like children sleeping on a piece of cardboard under a bridge 10 feet away from traffic with only a small dirty ragged article of clothing barely covering their genitals, some even without clothes at all poor. Do we act democratically? Do we help the poor? Sometimes I think we should, which is partially why I’m going in the direction I am going. But other times, when I read the newspaper of Bill Gates donating another 100 million dollars to fund cancer or aids research or polio vaccines, I think, “maybe making money is a good thing because in the future, you can use it to help others”. But then again, through the many channels of foundations and groups and, of course greed of the world, much of the money never actually reaches those who are desperately in need of help. So maybe money isn’t so great after all, and that it’s better to take actual action even if it means you can only save a couple of lives instead of impacting millions. But that’s all we really can do in the world isn’t it? If we can even help one or two children, then we’ve impacted someone’s life and made a difference. It’s the little things that count… maybe…

Ok that was terribly depressing. I just remembered that I never really described the place I’m currently staying. Not much worth noting except that our sleeping quarters are communal. Think of dorm rooms but worse – I share a room with about 6-13 other people. And people like sleeping together here. Not cuddling but like squishing on the same bed. Which is cool I guess. 13 people, 6 beds - go figure. Yeah, privacy was out the door a long time ago. but here's some pics of the place i'm staying at, for now...
it's actually really nice (minus no AC, sometimes no electricity, terrible internet, terrible phone service, no hot water, no cable... yeah something like that)

Everyone says when you think of India, you think of dust, which is partially true. Bags of potato chips at the local deli are covered with dust… for some particularly evasive reason. Everything is covered in dust, but… the weird thing is I’m not getting any allergy symptoms. I’m usually pretty allergic to dust – I guess not Indian dust. What I now think of when I hear India are house flies. Like ridiculous amounts of house flies. Everywhere, all the time. Even right now as I’m typing, there are like 10 house flies just roaming about, sometimes landing on my arm or my leg, flying in my face. They’re quite annoying if nothing else. Well the whole puking every time they land isn’t quite appetizing either when they land on your plates and food. Sigh, I despise house flies. And I’m not sure what they mean either. After I shower, they’re on me. If I don’t shower, they’re on me. So are they attracted to dirty or clean? Or are they simply testing my patience? Totally running out… but not as much as I despise mosquitoes... ugh mosquitoes…

I don’t understand why I am constantly sticky. 10 minutes out of the shower and I feel gross again… what to do…

The other day I was reading the newspaper about people faking being in a relationship to get into discoteques (or clubs in our American terms). Apparently, discoteques only allow couples in, and not stags – aka people flying solo, or basically a group of guys. Which in my mind is preposterous. Well… let’s analyze. On first thought, it’s pretty sound because it prevents sausage fests and keeps the ratio of the club at pretty even. But then when you think about it, if only couples are allowed in, then doesn’t it kind of defeat the partial purpose of going to clubs? The whole meeting new people, making new friends, picking up chicks thing… if everyone’s in a relationship, then where’s the fun of going to a club? No one will dance with you because they’re already in a relationship. Right? I don’t know… it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. At least not right now. Which was why we didn’t go to the discoteque the other night – because I was traveling with a pack of dudes. It’s quite unfair really.
One morning, at 8am, we did Tai Chi and tea meditation. It was painstakingly ridiculous. Lol, that is all.

in about a week, i will be traveling for a bit - to gaya and bodhgaya, to parasnath, and the ganges river, and lokhshala, and of course the taj mahal. probably wont have internet so cant update much but im thinking i will post pictures on the 10th of september. im leaving india early i think (wanted to visit Darjeeling but i was told its quite similar to nepal so not worth a separate trip). have to pass through taiwan again to fly back to the states so i'll probably do a little exploring on my own in taiwan and stay a few days i know that trustworthy starbucks and it's fast internet is waiting for me so i guess i'll post my pics then... miss yall! and i'll my video when i get a chance too...

Seriously Incredible India…

About a week ago, I watched Benjamin Button again and I had to take down a quote that absolutely pertained to my life right now. It goes:
“we're meant to lose the people we love, how else would we know how important they are to us?”
I knew you guys were all important to me but now I really know how important you guys are to me. Not that I’ve lost any of you but a separation of thousands upon thousands of miles of land and sea pretty much equates to losing you guys… sort of. With internet and phone, maybe not so bad but still – they’re inconsistent, especially out here in rural country, and contact isn’t as frequent either. Terribly not awesome…

Anyway! Back to adventures!
Before I get to india, let me finish with the remainder of Nepal. I got to visit bodhanath (sp?) stupa, which I wanted to see. It was beautiful, though if you asked me if I felt more spiritual, I would probably say no. (haha!) it was really cool seeing all the monks and just people walking around and praying.
I would totally move to Nepal if I knew the language. It’s such a beautiful country. Though on the way back, these kids came up to ask for money. Now, this is not an unusual ordeal. Lots of kids will come up to you asking for money all the time. Except this one kid stuck his hand down my pants. Luckily I had nothing in my pockets but I was like “woah!”… ridiculous!

The airport was an adventure as well. So this is Nepal we’re talking about. A little country, nothing very special. Before entering the airport, a security guard must check to see that you have a valid passport and ticket. No ticket, no entry into the building at all. Then the next security checkpoint, our bags went through the machine and we were scanned and groped. After checking in my baggage, I headed toward the terminal. The next security checkpoint involved our bags going through the machine and then us getting scanned again. That’s not all. Then our bags had to be completely opened and searched through. Ok, so then from the terminal, we take a 10 second bus ride to the airplane. In front of the airplane, our bags are opened once more and searched thoroughly. We are groped one last time before getting on the plane. A bit tight on the security don’t you think? Sigh…

Now india. I promised some pictures so here’s their famous mini-taxi as well as cows on the streets.
Everywhere. Like everywhere. So finally I know why im here or rather, what im doing in india. I am going to live a simple life while teaching and helping around the center and I am going to go exploring many places in india. They want me to travel and experience incredible india… but while im living at the center, I’ll be teaching, and helping around. The schedule changes constantly but in the morning, I teach typing and swimming to a couple of kids. In the afternoon, I teach English (and they want me to start teaching dance). And at night, I learn hindi. I have such a terrible accent – they all laugh at me – but it’s ok because their English and Chinese accents are terrible too so it’s all good. BUT im starting to develop an accent! My English is being changed!! Oh boy…

Im starting to relive the simple pleasures in life, like swimming, riding a bike, or walking the dog. I never had the time to sit down and read a book. It was always partying, hanging out with friends, going out, drinking. Now I can sit back and relax. And not just living life has become simple, but doing life is simplistic as well. The mop does not wring itself, it is not automatic. And the bucket cant wring the mop either so I wring the mop with my own hands. We clean the pool ourselves scrubbing the bottom with brushes and clearing the top of bugs. We make pancakes and noodles from scratch. And salt! Literally starting with a rock of black salt and crushing it by hand to get little grains of black salt. Awesome (?) oh and eggplant is white here. Well they have purple eggplant too but they also have white. I’m learning to live without and not depend on technology. We live in the countryside which by the way is amazing!!! I biked down the road the other day and it was like heaven (minus the hellish temperature)… but anyway, so many a times, there’s no internet because the connection is bad. There are also lots of power outages throughout the day, every day so I’m adjusting to inconsistent electricity.

There are flies everywhere. And at first I was like ehh, whatever. Theyre gross but it’s a reality so I have to live with it. Now I’m thinking they are unsanitary because my stomach is hurting lately. The food is delicious but it’s giving me aches so now I eat in moderation. And you can see the effects! The upside = between the sweating, and eating less food, and exercising and swimming and biking, I am getting in shape. Awesome!! Though lesson learned = do not shave. I sweat so much that it stings my pores. The sweat makes me shower so I shower twice a day but 10 minutes after the shower, im all sticky and sweaty again… sigh. My feet are getting real dry too. It’s too hot to wear socks and/or shoes so I wear flip flops but the dry heat is killing my feet. Poor feet…

Random thoughts:
1. There are peacocks in my backyard = awesome!!
2. I am a feeding ground for mosquitoes.
3. The other day I went swimming, there was a snake less than 3 feet away from me. Terrifying!
4. I can text!! (I hope it’s not expensive for you or me)
5. food is sooo good here!!! coke cans are beautiful! milk comes in little baggies! and chips are phenom...



I’m supposed to hang out with vikram (my freshman year roommate) in a few days. He says he’s gonna come pick me up even though he doesn’t have a car – he’s gonna bus it. I don’t think he understands that from his place to mine will be like a 3-4 hour bus ride and from here out to the city, it’s another 2-3 hours. I told him, but he says it’s ok. Oh well…

Word of advice: visit india but visit india in the winter (our winter). It’s too hot unless you like vegas hot but instead of staying in the casino all day, you’re just outside. Bleh.
Oh and remember how I’ve been talking about making a video of my college career? Well I’ve finally done it. And finished! After sifting through 6,422 pictures (and feeling many many heartaches because of missing yall, oh the memories) and 4,699 songs, I finally found 4 songs (though I’m only really happy with 2 of them) and a handful of pictures to recount the last four years. No short clips because I’m not that technologically advanced. But I’m pleased with my video. Now my only problem is showing it to guys. A couple of terribly inconvenient barriers: the internet here obviously wont allow me to post my video because it either sucks or is non-existent or is sporadic so that I’ll never finish loading anything or it’s insanely slow that it’s just not gonna work. Second is its size. The video is 14 minutes long so youtube wont accept it (?) I guess I could do google videos… we shall see. Maybe if I get to go to an internet café I can do it. Or it’ll just have to wait til I get back to the states.
Ok, back to life. I’ll try to post as often as possible but like I said, it’s gonna be heard. Hear from me soon…

I have climbed Mt. Everest! Sort of...

So the conference I am attending in Kathmandu, Nepal is on disarmament and shared security, aka the eradication of conventional and nuclear weapons, and the shifting of global government military expenditures to other areas such as health, education, etc. It was... nice. Vague but nice. I've attended a United Nations conference before and they were both very similar. Vague. Wordy. All talk, little action. But then again, that's what conferences are. Lots of dialogue. I did have the opportunity to meet new and interesting people from around the world. But what was most astonishing and impressive was the conference's ability to bring many world religions into one room. There were christians, muslims, jews, catholics, buddhists, hinduists, and others. It was all peace and no conflict - awesome! Oh, and we got to meet the first elected president of Nepal - legendary!

Anyway, my welcome blog picture (above) has been changed to a general view of the city of Kathmandu. Beautiful. I cant stop expressing how beautiful this place and these people are. Sigh... I wish I was born a Nepali. They have no worries or stress written on their faces. Now some pictures to show Nepal...



Oh! An interesting thing to note about their culture is that it is very normal for men to hold hands but a woman and a man showing public affection, even holding hands, is frowned upon. Interesting? I didnt take pictures because I felt awkward so I just dug up an internet picture by googling "nepalese men holding hands"... lol


The food hear is wonderful too; I could eat this stuff everyday. I thought I was coming to India and Nepal to lose weight but it seems like the opposite. The conference took us out to eat last night at this very traditional place where all the utensils were bronze and there were dancing performances and stuff. It was a lot of fun. I tried their local beer called Everest (hence the climbing Mt. Everest joke) which was pretty good. The thing the guy is pouring is rice wine. And boy was it not wine, it was like... whiskey. Strong and totally warms the stomach. The food was phenomenal and spicy and the dancers were beautiful.



Today, I bought a scarf. Like those hip hop Palistinian scarves. It cost 175 Nepalese rupees. Or the equivalent of 2.35 US dollars. You do the math. Ridiculously cheap... as is everything else here. And in India too... Awesome! Maybe I should buy like a thousand and bring them back to sell at Urban Outfitter prices ($20-25?)


Scarf purchase = win

Ok tomorrow, I hope to visit Boudhanath stupa before I leave Nepal for hot hot India again... hopefully I wont get pickpocketed... (crossing fingers (or joining palms here)) Once I'm back in India, I dont know when I'll have internet again so I guess just patiently await the next post. Til next time...

holy cows, mad drivers, and overly friendly (?) cabbies

oh where to begin! there wont be any pictures for this entry because i was too chicken to pull out my camera. everyone keeps saying how dangerous this part of the world is and how easy it is to get pickpocketed. anyway, right now i am in kathmandu, nepal but i was in new delhi, india yesterday. lets see...

first impression of india: boy is it hot. well let me back track to the plane ride to india. indian babies are so adorable. but babies aside, but many of them have improper perceptions of social etiquette and work ethic (which has been confirmed by a friend). i dont want to generalize to the entire culture because that would be unfair (and i personally know many indians and think theyre the best) but i guess now from firsthand experience and from hearing stories from others, it's starting to form a picture. there is no concept of waiting in line (or queuing up as they say). i was literally standing by the airplane stall waiting my turn and literally when the door opens, someone coming from out of nowhere, jumps right in. over and over. it was ridiculous. and the guy sitting next to me was so nosy. perhaps friendly but definitely nosy. i think it was because he invaded my personal space didnt stay on his side of the armrest. and he lost my pen! and it took over an hour to get my luggage at baggage claim. that's a bit outrageous dont you think? even JFK or LGA arent like that. everyones just not very good at their work, and it takes like 10 people to do the job of 1 person. i got sent to 5 different people at the ticketing counter. ehh... ok back to where i was. india is hot. im trying to decide whether i like the 85 degree but humid taiwan better or the 105 degree dry india better. i think there was a period of time where i just didnt stop sweating. gross.

second impression of india - crazy driving. lanes are only suggestions and their red lights are only our yellow lights. it's chaotic and almost wreckless. but if you can drive here, you can drive anywhere in the world. people think new york cabbies are bad. not at all. when i was little i thought taiwan was bad - with all its motorcycles swirving in and out. then i went to brazil and thought brazil was the worst in the world. now i think india beats them all. i dont think i can ever drive here (aside from the fact that the steering wheel is on the right side of the car and you drive on the left side of the street - which is super cool. i think this may be the first time ive seen right sided steering. do they have that in japan? ive visited japan before but i dont remember the cars there). anyway, traffic is bad but at the same time, impressive. i am super impressed with everyone's driving ability - to not hit anyone, to not cause an accident, to able to steer like that. incredible india they call it. i now see one aspect why india is incredible.

third impression of india - amazing food. oh my god is the food here good. but then again, when am i ever let down by food? it's super spicy but super tasty. but i keep hearing horror stories of how dirty it is here and how theres a lot of things i shouldnt eat because my stomach wont be able to handle it. i was told not to drink unbottled water (well that one i get) but also not to eat street vender food or local hole in the wall foods. i guess there's legit reasons but... boo i feel like im missing out. ooh!!! i had pomegranate for the first time. like actual pomegranate seeds, not the juice you have that come in bottles. it was... interesting. texture was like corn. tastes like pomegranate.

holy cows exist!! you know how you read about indian culture and how they believe the cow is sacred and thus cant be killed and sometimes, herds of cows roaming about can cause traffic in the streets? well it is all true. there are cows in the streets. and everywhere! i think it's super awesome.

so the place im staying at is a buddhist center located about an hour away from the international airport. so pretty far from the city city. it's a beautiful place in the countryside. really peaceful and nice. ive been told there are peacocks and monkeys that will come into our backyard. i have yet to witness such an awesome event. but there are some flaws to this place. for one, no AC. unless you're sleeping in which case they turn on the AC for your room at night. so it's pretty much hot hot hot all day. i cant stop sweating. there's like no point changing clothes because 5 minutes and the new shirt is already wet. second, the internet is bare minimum to none. i havent tried it yet but they said it's like slower than 56k dial-up modem. now that is bad. im not sure i can do that. lastly, i have to live a pretty ascetic lifestyle - waking up at 530am. lights out at 10pm. you get the picture. it's kind of gloomy, but in a way, i guess i need it (?) i need the cleansing. maybe i'll think of it as a prolonged detox period. get back in shape. read the books i havent gotten around to reading in the last 4 years. rethink my life, where it's going and what im doing with it.

i am so terrified of getting pickpocketed or having the places im staying burglarized. i do not want to lose my personal belongings at all. but i guess if it came down to it, the thieves can take everything but my passport and laptop. they can take the phone and ipod and camera and clothes and everything else. just please leave my laptop and passport!!

so right now, im in nepal in my hotel room awaiting the conference that starts tomorrow morning (we get to meet nepal's president, yay!) nepal is beautiful. like absolutely gorgeous. im in kathmandu which is in a valley surrounded by mountains. tall mountains. and the clouds are low so they cover all the mountain peaks. so gorgeous. the city itself is colorful and the people perfect. they have lovely tans and surprisingly a beautiful mixture of asian decent. theres a bit of indian, chinese, mongolian, southeast asian, even non-asian in them. so beautiful. i think i love this little country. minus the airport frenzy. so i get off the plane and exit the airport. i have no idea who's picking me up and if they got the memo or not. all i know is im attending this conference at the radisson hotel. literally the moment i step out, i get swarmed by a ton of people asking me where im going and if i need a ride and where im from and what my name is. and they got really uncomfortably close. some stood sketch-ily behind me and i thought they were gonna sneakily unzip my bag or reach into my pocket or something. i thought i was gonna get my money or passport stolen (then i would be doomed and stuck in nepal). or kidnapped and sold into slavery or prostitution. shudders. even when i said no thank you, i dont need your help someone is picking me up, they still want to know everything about me. i thought when i said "i was american" that they were gonna kidnap me and kill me, like in the movie hostel. luckily everyone spoke english (or chinese) and i found a phone and made a few phone calls. found the person that was supposed to pick me up and off we went toward the hotel. there was traffic on the road so we took detours (that didnt take us anywhere except back to where we started) but it let us see a portion of the city - which was pretty rural but so worth seeing. made me love the country even more.

everyone is so nice and polite here. the food is delicious as well. ugh, i am going to keep this food baby it seems, forever. i am here for a conference but hopefully i will have time to travel (it's looking slim but i can still pray). i really wanna see the famous stupa (google nepal stupa and you'll know which one im talking about).

3 more short things before im off to bed because i have to wake up early tomorrow. everyone is afraid of the swine flu. nepal, taiwan, india. many people wear masks in the airports and they make us read and sign all these papers. it's obnoxious. get over it! it's just a regular flu!!

my hair is obnoxiously long. i need a haircut bad but i think i will grow it out for the next 3 years. maybe barbers are hard to find in india or africa. maybe i'll get cornrows or something. ooh... many new ideas. and i want earrings. and i have a very nice tan right now but im thinking im only gonna get darker from here on out. and im getting bad skin, maybe even pimples because i sweat so much and my pore are clogged all day. my face is bad. really bad skin it's becoming. i need to stop sweating. but how...

and lastly, i thought my blood was bad back in the states because i wasnt getting as many mosquito bites as i normally get (i normally get a lot) but boy am i wrong. i have mosquito bites everywhere! and it's hideous because im allergic to the bites so they swell up big and i look like a monster. maybe i'll catch something bad - malaria, yellow fever (is the mosquito the vector for either of them?) - KNOCK ON WOOD! hope not!! omitofo pe pe pe...

ok must sleep!! write more when i have internet... whenever that is. and hopefully i'll have pictures of india and nepal to post next time. im sure 98% of you did not get this far or did only because you skipped the entire middle. lol...

mutant cockroaches, mini motor bikes, 7-elevens, and food galore... awesome!

so as im sitting in this fast food chain called mos burger sipping on my mango fruit juice, i will recount my last 24 hours, which has been pretty cool. (yay picture blogging!)

i went shopping around my neighborhood yesterday and little did i know, i lived right by technology central. literally street after street, building after building is devoted to computers, laptops, cell phones, you name it, it's here.

there's this huge building with a million floors (i exaggerate but theres a shit ton of floors) and each floor is just shop after shop selling anything your heart desires. need a new motherboard? we got it! need a new screw for this random awkward part? yup it's here. need that replacement battery that's hard to find? yeah, upstairs. ridic! i ended up buying nothing since i dont really need anything but it was still really cool to watch.

we then went to get some grub. i love late night grub. always delicious... had a bowl of noodles, steamed stinky tofu, and a beer. it's awkward seeing american beers in taiwan but ehh. but let me tell you, for those of you who've had stinky tofu, you know how great it is. well, steamed stinky tofu is even better. it's like an orgasm in your mouth in the form of rotten goodness, lol. on the way home, we passed a street vender selling...

yup. chicken hearts. on the right. and... rectum (?) on the left. i think that's what my mom said. translationing is quite hard. anyway, fried to order. gross, didnt have any. but it totally reminded me of cat disection in high school. yeah vivi, lovely aint it?

ooh before i forget, and because it's in the title, there are 7-elevens EVERYWHERE! like everywhere. you know how there's a starbucks on every block in new york? well, there's a 7-eleven on every block here. and theyre like really good too because they sell delicious food as well. not to mention the assortment of beverages capable of satisfying your every desire. ok ok, back to adventures.

so on the way home in the stairwell/hallway of our apartment, we saw... mutant cockroaches! ok theyre not mutant, they're just this big here, but still! they are ungodly big. like if cockroaches back home were the size of a penny, cockroaches here are like 2-3 quarters. theyre colossal. which means extra gross and extra scary. writing about them is giving me goosebumps so i wont anymore.


ok, so that was all last night. now on to today. everytime im in taiwan, i have to go to 2 places for breakfast/brunch. like it's a requirement. i would literally fly from new york to taiwan just to eat at these 2 places. then i would fly back. ok ive never done that but i would imagine that i would. the first place is for noodles and wontons. the most delicious mouth-watering noodles and wontons known to man. like couldnt be more heaven-on-earth better. and the best thing is noodles and wontons combined costs NT$70 which is like $2 in the U.S... nothing at all! it's probably one of the very very few things i crave in taiwan. the second place is congee and cha-sow (i have no idea how to spell it). it's pretty much just pork that's been roasted to perfection and then lightly fried so that's it's crispy on the outside. and the dipping sauce is phenomenal too. the congee is pretty special... not that white crap. it's called "farmer's congee" (i think) because it's got all this other gunk (delicious awesomeness) in it that makes it soo tasty. ugh, now i wanna get them again...



then we went to the outskirts of taipei where the coast is. it's a pretty beautiful place, not quite beach-y but at least there's water and where there's water, there's breeze. there were lots of little shops selling random local stuff like chinese medicine, pig's snout, and literally a fresh chicken. like the chicken are in cages underneath this table where the chicken is butchered. kinda cruel if you think about your kin being killed in such close proximity but i guess that's how you get fresh chicken? ehh... and they had these like foot long ice cream cones. not sure how that works for clumsy people like me so i didnt get any. but candid strangers pics - awesome!



it's a pretty long coastline so we saw this bike / motor-bike renting place so we rented motorbikes. it was fun - never rode on a motorbike before. or any two-wheeler with a motor for that matter. lol i got stopped by police because i wasnt wearing a helmet (wasnt given any) and apparently the motorbike required a license plate but didnt have one (uhh... tourist rentals?) luckily he let me go because i didnt have any ID on me nor was i taiwanese. foreigners can get away with things sometimes. i guess the rental place was pretty sketch but not my problem.



took some pics of nature (haha). these crab are about the size of your pinky. and the fish travelled in swarms. like literally i feel like if i stuck my hand in the water, it would come out hand-less. oh and the mountain view was nice so i took a pic of the peak hiding in the clouds...



i had to take a pic of this. so every american movie is played in taiwan theaters. but no taiwan movies are played in american theaters. oh well, too bad. but the point is that first 3 characters - that's vin diesel's chinese name. and the next four are paul walkers... sweet

last two stops were a shopping area which is pretty soho equivalent, for the young hipster crowd but i didnt buy anything. i have enough luggage as is to bring to india... and for dinner, we had this coal-heated hot pot which was super good.



ok gotta go. post more once i get to india (if i have internet that is)