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[victakestaipei]

Final Blog Post: Thank You

Today I’d like to thank God for a number of things:

1. I’m thankful to have the most resourceful, selfless, and resilient mother and woman I have ever known. I’m thankful to have someone whose love is so expansive and endless and who will willingly bend over backwards and jump through rings of fire to give me the absolute best life. Who continually puts me before her, encourages me when I feel doubtful or insecure, is my number one fan, and teaches me that love really can be unconditional. I hope to one day be half the mother to my children as my mom has been to me. You really are my idol, Momma.

2. I’m thankful to all the people I’ve encountered on this journey here. I’m thankful for all the kind and generous souls I’ve met, from my new friends in my classes, to the kind stranger who helped me by buying my hotel room when I was stranded in China, to even the elder Taiwanese people who stare at me on the bus… I know that sounds strange, but I’m also thankful to those people who make me feel uncomfortable. And who remind me that it’s okay to not be okay all the time, but at the same time, who push me to find peace and remain calm in my utter discomfort.

3. I want to thank my roommate, Bunny. For laughing with me, singing with me, running to catch the bus with me, doing homework with me, and spending basically every waking moment with me while on this journey here. I couldn’t have asked for a better roommate to grow with and also to joke around relentlessly with. Thank you for always unlocking the doors and swiping your ID card, for spotting me with coins when I don’t have enough change, as well as turning off the fan and AC when I forget to... and not to mention letting me use your laptop on the weekends so that I can blog from home. I hope you have the best time EVER in Spain this coming semester, and that we continue to keep in touch. I will definitely miss your constant company. I love you man, you a real ride or DIE!

4. I’m thankful to everyone back home who made me feel loved and important despite my absence. To those who told me they missed me and who continually called to check up on me and make sure I’m okay. Who updated me on their lives so I wouldn’t feel so completely out of touch and left behind. You are appreciated more than you know.

5. I’m thankful for the ability to feel things so deeply. I’m thankful to be so in-tune with my emotions…To be able to cry and be overwhelmed, and to worry and be stressed (even over the small stuff). It makes the happy and blissful moments all the more great. It’s a blessing to know yourself, and to be able to process and clearly identify the things that make you upset or emotional or sensitive. So many people our age struggle with this sort of thing.. I’m happy to know and to love who I am. I’ve cried a lot on this journey, from feeling lost, to missing home, to feeling forgotten, to being stressed with schoolwork. But I’ve also cried tears of joy/laughter and of sheer wonder and appreciation for this blessing and opportunity to travel, and I wouldn’t trade these past two months for the world.

6. I’m thankful to have experienced this culture on another level. To be able to witness all of these happy people, who love and look out for one another. I’m thankful for those who ask me if I’m lost or need help, and for those who give up their seat on the bus/MRT to anyone with a baby, or is a bit older, or has a suitcase, or who just looks like they could use a break. I’m thankful to those who leave their umbrellas outside shops when the rain ends, so that if someone else happens to get caught in the rain (me, multiple times), they could pick it up and continue on with their day. I’m thankful to those who are willing to share something they care so much about (culture/tradition/way of life) with foreigners, and who welcomed me with open arms. I’m also thankful to those who are willing to struggle to understand me and communicate with me, and who realize that there's always enough love (and boba) to go around.

I just feel happy to see it, and to be a part of it… even if only for a short time.

7. I’d also like to thank my readers...You guys. Who pushed me to write everything down and share my experiences, even though I lagged a few times (due to computer issues and utter laziness)... It takes a lot out of you to sit down and really think in order to re-live everything that happened during the week... It also takes a lot out of you to be funny, charismatic, and all the other things you need to be as a writer in order to keep your audience interested. But I think I managed to do a good job, especially since you all are reading this blog post. My final blog post. I really appreciate you all sharing in this journey with me. And thank you to those who messaged me and told me how you enjoy my blog, or commented on some of my stories!! Half the time it was the most unexpected people, which made me all the more flattered. Being so transparent and consistent with this blog was definitely harder than I expected, but I know this is something that I will always cherish and be able to come back and re-read. I would love to keep blogging in the future, but I guess I just need to find a new topic to blog about... we’ll see. If you have any ideas, let me know!

…

I am grateful for all that I am and all that I'm becoming, but most of all I’d like to thank God for fear. Without this component it’s almost as if this experience would not be half as resonating. 

Fear will always be there, ready to wreck havoc and make your life miserable, but it's up to you whether you engage with it or drown it out. Now don't get me wrong, I've experienced a lot of fear, worry, and stress on this trip.. but you start to realize after a while that fear isn't even real. It lives in the future, meaning, whatever you fear hasn't even happened yet, which makes the idea of fear itself, all made up. And most of the time, you have no guarantee that what we fear is going to happen, will ever happen, or let alone if it will actually even be scary. I look back to the post I wrote on my flight to Shanghai ( “Pre-Arrival Doubts”) , and it’s crazy to think about how far I’ve come, both mentally and emotionally. But it's even crazier to think that half the things I feared on that list, didn't even occur!

One thing I've had to ask myself over and over again, comes from this book I read while on my trip ("You Are A Badass" by Jen Sincero) 

"Is your fear greater than your faith in the unknown (and yourself)?" 

"Or is your faith in the unknown (and yourself) greater than your fear?" 

At first it was hard to wrap my head around, but I proved to myself over and over again that the second question always trumps the first. My faith in myself, God, and the unknown is greater than all things. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I am unstoppable, invincible, full of light and love, and a total badass.

Until next time,

xoxo

August 23, 2017.

[victakestaipei]

WEEK 8 RECAP: The Journey Home

Monday:

Today was a struggle to get up. I sat there all day in class zoning out. We had a vocab quiz today and are working on finishing up lesson 10, our last chapter. We also talked a lot about our bonding event last Friday and poked fun at Felix who was acting a fool at karaoke after drinking too much booze. 

We had such a great time and it hadn't fully sunk in how much I'm gonna miss this small class. After class Bunny and I went to the computer lab to work on our listening homework, but not before I asked my teacher to write a recommendation letter for me. Which she happily obliged. I'll probably get it emailed though since I asked her pretty last minute. I also went down to the main office in the building to request my grade (Record of Study) for the month of August to be mailed to my house back in Reno. It's all really coming to an end. Bittersweet. After class today Bunny and I went to one of our favorite potsticker places right by campus. We stuffed our faces with veggie, curry, and spicy Korean style potstickers while reminiscing over the past two months. After we ate we headed home to relax and start the packing process.

Tuesday:

Today was our last day of class. Our teacher brought us egg scallion pancakes as a parting gift, as well as my letter of recommendation in a sealed envelope. I’m so surprised!! Our class was pretty laid back today. Wednesday is the actual last day of class but both Bunny and I leave Wednesday to head back to America. I'm so excited to surprise my friends and roommates by landing in Reno on Thursday instead of Saturday!!! It's going to be great. After class, and taking our last pictures and giving our last hugs, Bunny and I headed home as we weren't too hungry and needed to finish up packing as well as do laundry and a bunch of other stuff.

Here’s some Taipei flicks I took from the bus window... I’m going to miss this city!!

Later in the evening Bunny got us some boba, as I wasn't too hungry still.. I also got Bunny to start watching Insecure. She loves it and I'm so happy she's watching it!!!

For dinner we ate at the soy sauce braised place. Everyone there was so happy to see us and loved my hair (it was in a fro). When we left we told the workers we were going back to America and that this was our last meal here in Taiwan, and one of the workers even hugged us goodbye. So so sweet. We rode the bus back home and took the scenic route to take in the last few sights of Taipei night life.

We also watched the live stream of the eclipse tonight. It was cool!!!! I watched it on twitter because the US is like the only place where it's a full eclipse. It's only partial in other countries.

Wednesday:

Today I got up at 9:30am to get ready. It was so sad seeing Bunny’s stuff all cleared out already. She had left early this morning around 5:30am. I got up, and went to breakfast alone at our neighborhood spot. It was delicious as always, but I was eating all alone which made pretty sucky. I hadn't realized how attached to Bunny I was until I had gotten back to the room and was sitting on my bunk bed steps crying. I had an emotional moment and I was SO happy to be by myself. After I pulled myself together, I packed up the rest of my stuff and headed down to the main office to return our keys.

I left the house around 11 to head to the bus with all my luggage. It was a struggle getting around but I managed to make it to Taipei main station and onto the express train to the airport by 11:45am. I got to the airport around 12:30. I tried to check into my flight just before 1, but was told it was too early to check in for my 5pm flight, and I had to wait until after 2... So I found a table and an outlet and just sat and waited it out. I came back down to the ticketing area around 2 and was able to weigh my bags and my big bag was only a few pounds overweight!!! PROUD!!!! So I switched some stuff around and got the weight down with no problem. I was checked into my flight by 3 and headed to security. I got some food at Burger King (it was cheapest) and ate there in the food court. I headed to my gate and sat there a while before they moved our gate and delayed my flight by an hour. So I switched gates and waited at the new gate on a lower floor. We began boarding at 6:20ish... and our original flight departure time was 5:20. But the flight is only 2 hours and I have an aisle seat, fairly close to the front of the plane (because I checked in so early), that it shouldn't be too bad. Part 1 of my journey home begins NOW!

After getting off the plane I went to baggage claim and got my bags. My smaller bag came out first. I originally thought my bigger bag didn’t make it (because it was taking so long) but then I saw a small woman dressed as a flight attendant standing next to a huge burgundy bag (my bag) and looking around. She retrieved the bag from a separate baggage carousel, right next to the one all the other bags were coming out of. This other carousel was labeled "oversized baggage claim"... lol of COURSE. So I waved her down and rushed over and took my bag off her hands.

After getting through customs which was a breeze, I looked up the hotel on my phone to see how far it was. It was only an 8min walk!! So I decided to hit the road, dragging my suitcases behind me. It was dark at this point as it was after 10pm, but I found the hotel with no problem and checked in and went up to my room. I was exhausted. I talked on the phone with my mom and some friends (those of which still don't know I was at a hotel in China rather than in my dorm room), and I took a shower and knocked out. I woke up fairly early, around 6:30am and forced myself to go back to sleep for a few more hours. After 10am I checked out of the hotel, and caught the free shuttle service the hotel provided to drop me off at the terminal up the road.

I got in line at the ticketing counter and none of the workers had arrived yet. There were other passengers waiting too, but they weren't behind the ropes like I was. So when the time came for everyone to get in line, I was first in line bc best believe I didn't move when all of them tried to cut the line ;) lol.

I checked in and checked my bags with ease. I had to go to baggage inspection after ticketing , and I found out I couldn't bring lighters back to the US from China. So I had to throw away two really cool lighters I got as gifts for my stoner friends lol. The guy who was also working the baggage inspection was a total prick. HE BROKE THE HANDLE OF MY SUITCASE!! Asshole. But it's okay. I got through immigration and security pretty quickly and now I'm sitting at the gate eating a subway sandwich. I also got two cookies but they aren't half as good as they are in the US. The 12in sandwich and cookies cost me about 95 RMB.... Money of which I didn't have to spend because I was given some money by that kind Chinese guy who helped me buy my hotel on my way here back in June. This journey back to the US is 99% better than the journey here, and for that, thank you JESUS.

I board my plane in about an hour and 15 minutes (1:15) and from there I'll be on the plane for 12 hours before landing in LAX at 11am (pacific time).

My flight to Reno from LAX isn't until 6:30pm, so I'm hoping I can hop on a standby flight earlier so I can get home earlier... I'll keep you all posted ;)

On my flight to LAX from Nanjing, I got another awesome aisle seat only 4 away from first class. I’m feeling BLESSED to be at the front of the plane, but I know it's due to me checking in so early yet again. Thank goddddddd. Emptiest plane I've ever been on. The flight attendants started to close the overhead cabinets, and each row, including mine, had 1 or more empty seats in it. I was the only one in my row. Best believe I'm about to lay down and nap. 

Update: Our flight has been delayed an hour and a half on the tarmack. We are just SITTING HERE!!! Doing NOTHING!!! This is the worst ever.

Second Update*: I could not sleep a lick on the plane. I am delirious. I have watched what seems like a million movies and I feel like my eyes are BLOODSHOT.

I also have had to pee a million times since I’ve gotten on the flight so I keep getting up to run down the aisle to the toilet in my socks. HELP!!! This flight feels like an ETERNITY!!!

Our flight landed in LAX around 1pm (the original arrival time was 11am) and I can say I’ve never been more glad to be in America!! GOD BLESS AMERICA!!! After speeding through customs, and baggage inspection, I headed towards Southwest to check my bags for my evening flight to Reno. While I was in China, Karis texted me saying that she will be able to pick me up from LAX and spend some time with me before my next flight, so that’s exciting!! I can’t wait to see her!!

Update: Karis never showed. She texted me as if she was waiting for me at the Southwest counter, but come to find out, MY MOM COMES WALTZING FROM AROUND THE CORNER!! I AM SHOOK!! AND ECSTATIC!! MY MOMMA SURPRISED ME!!! Her little devious self. So SO cute. She made plans for us to grab lunch and catch up. I’m so so happy.

For lunch, my mom and I visited this restaurant on the marina that we’ve been going to for as long as I can remember. The food was so good, and you already know I had to order a MIMOSA!! God bless America.

After lunch, I actually still got to see Karis, despite her LIES!! Momma dropped me off at the LMU campus and I spent about 45 minutes with Karis catching up, before she dropped me at the airport. I’m so thankful to have a best friend like her. The surprise was the best welcome home present ever.

I boarded my flight to Reno with ease and am scheduled to land around 7:30pm. I am probably going to Uber home because no one knows I’m coming hehe. I can’t wait to surprise everyone. It’s going to be so great. 

[victakestaipei]

Final Weekend in Taiwan :’)

Friday:

I woke up around 10:30am today... I was looking forward to sleeping in, but it didn’t really feel like I had because I was up at 4am on the phone with my mom. I’m trying to get my work schedule altered for this semester because my boss gave me a few too many hours and I don’t feel comfortable working them all on top of my 18 credit school schedule... so my mom was helping me draft my email to my boss lol

Bunny and I were supposed to leave the house by 11am but we ended up leaving late, and on top of that I left my glasses in the room and had to go all the way back and up the four flights of stairs to go get them from my bunk bed. Damn.

We hopped on the bus, and for the first time ever, the bus driver was ACTUALLY driving safely and SLOWLY. We were late to the 11:30 meeting spot, and the last to arrive (hehe). But everyone was super cool about it and greeted us happily when we arrived, and we all walked together to the AYCE Hot Pot/KBBQ place.

Once there we spread ourselves amongst two tables and started on the buffet. We also ordered our KBBQ meats and got busssyyyyyyy!!! I was having the best time. I love food.

THERE WAS SO MUCH FOOD!! I had a salad to start, and then udon noodles with meat and veggies from the hot pot, as well as squid rings, chicken, beef, mushrooms, and prawns that we grilled on the KBBQ grill. 

Everything was super good and I was SO full. But I may have been partly full due to the 6-7 glasses of beer me and some of the other classmates at our table pounded. We kept holding up our glasses and shouting “Gan Bei!” and toasting. “Gan Bei” means “finish your glass,” so we proceeded to chug to the last drop. I was lit as hell at 2 in the afternoon. It was a fun time lol.

But I wasn’t the only lit one... LOL at my classmate Kokoro! He’s from Japan and he drinks on the regular. But I’m sure you can’t tell from the photos.... my guy looks like he’s contemplating his entire existence

After we finished eating, we paid the bill. We decided to all pitch in and pay for our teacher’s meal, as our treat. So each of us paid around 600 NT ($20 US), not bad at all compared to US standards, and the company and food was worth it!! :)

When we left the restaurant we took one last class picture. Next week for our last three days of class, not everyone will be present on each of the days (due to travel or friends coming into town, etc) so this is the last time we will all be together as a big multi-cultural fam... aren’t we cute??!!

After we left the restaurant, we headed to a nearby 7/11 to buy more alcohol so that we can stick it in our bags/purses to sneak into the karaoke room. 4 of us (myself included) were already fairly lit, but the party must go on! We stopped by the 7/11 but they didn’t have as many options as we’d hoped, so we kept walking until we got to a grocery store instead.

After buying our drinks and snacks, we headed to the karaoke place. We walked up to this huge building and I was surprised that it was the karaoke place itself. You walk in the building and it looks like a hotel almost. It’s hard to explain. But it was all decked out and sophisticated looking. And not to mention pretty dang busy for a friday afternoon. You step up to the counter and pay for your ticket. We each paid 365 NT for the karaoke. And that ticket includes the room booking (which we held for 4 hours), as well as points to buy food in the food court area. After we paid, we had to wait because the rooms were full, mind you, this building probably has 4 floors, all filled with private karaoke rooms. We waited for about 45 minutes before our buzzer rang (similar to those buzzers you get at restaurants and they notify you when your table is ready).

Notice how on the blue ticket there’s that box that you scan? Well in terms of getting food at the food court, they had all of these kiosks in the food court area where you scan your ticket (which comes with 50 points) and you order your food that you want, given it’s within the point limit. A few hours into karaoke, I ordered some pineapple and some popcorn chicken nuggets (which came out to 45points total). When my number popped up on the television screen hanging over the counter, I went to retrieve my tray of food. They also had free popcorn too, so I treated myself to that ;) 

The other food on the tray is some dim sum that my classmate got. Just in case ya’ll were wondering. lol

We left the karaoke place around 8pm shortly after one of our too-lit classmates threw up in the karaoke room. Not fun. I also had a wicked headache from all the beer and singing and not drinking enough water, so I was ready to go home and take my butt to sleepppppp.

We took the bus because it was quicker than the MRT and drops us off right in front of our campus. It was a short 20 minute ride and all I could think about was the long shower and ibuprofen I needed to take. 

Tonight was so so so fun though. I wish we had done class bonding sooner!!

Saturday:

I finally left the house around 11:30 to go get some breakfast with Bunny. We went to our normal breakfast spot to get some eggs and hashbrowns, before later parting ways for the day. My mission today was to find some jade for my Momma. She wanted a new jade bangle since the last one we had got stolen when our house was broken into back in the day. So after breakfast I hopped on the bus and set out on my mission to the jade market.

After about two hours of looking and talking and asking a million questions, I finally settled on this bangle. It’s not the highest quality of jade ever (because it’s more milky than pure/bright green), but its beautiful and was within my budget and I know my mom is going to love it. I spent about $90-100 on it, which is a good price simply because jade itself is expensive! I asked around about the other brighter jade bangles and jewelry, and those cost thousands of dollars. The milkier jade is more common to wear because it’s a bit cheaper, but it’s still just as real and genuine as the bright green stone. The brighter shades of jade are more expensive because they truly are a rarity, compared to the milkier jade or to diamonds. Here’s some pics of the bangle! I’m hella proud of myself because I spent like 30 minutes talking to the same old woman before agreeing to buy it lol. I know Momma’s gonna love it :’)

After the jade market I headed home to relax. I didn’t leave the house again until a few hours later when Bunny and I met Mika at Gong guan for some dinner. We went to this ramen place (Bunny and I hadn’t had real ramen at all since we’ve been here... shocking I know). 

The ramen was really really good and we got all of this food for about 180 NT ($6).

The food in the top left corner is a small salad that I ate first. It was very bean-sprouty... I know that’s not an adjective but I’m sure you all get the picture either way. It was good. Had a sort of vinegary tangy-ness. The small bowl to the right of the salad was a steamed egg. It comes with shrimp and mushrooms and it was something I have never had before. The consistency was like a pudding. So, like an egg pudding... it wasn’t too eggy though. It just wasn’t sweet (like normal pudding). It was good!! I really liked it.

The slightly bigger bowl on the left is a bowl of rice topped with scrambled egg and fried chicken nugget pieces. This was super duper good, but I wish it had come with a sauce of sorts. And finally, the bowl on the right is the ramen. A+++++++++!!! I really really liked it. It came with pork, green onions, and bamboo root(?) I’m not totally sure. I plucked them out of the bowl though and put them on the side because I didn’t like the texture. Overall though it was the best ramen I’ve had!

But, the best thing about the entire restaurant/meal was the tea. It was so good and just sweet enough to not be overbearing. I had like 6 cups (lol) because they had it sitting out in a container for you to self-serve. 

After the ramen we went to a souvenir shop on the market and dinked around for a bit. Then we went to get boba. I was so full from dinner that I just chilled while Mika drank hers because my stomach was too full to even think about fitting anything else in there. And the boba pearls at the bottom of those milk teas are oddly filling! 

After spending about 20 minutes teaching Bunny how to play solitaire (with actual playing cards that I laid out on the table) we parted ways to head home.

Sunday:

Today I was a bump on a log. A couch potato. I did nothing all day and I have no regrets. I spent today looking through my blog and my camera roll and just re-living my journey here as a whole. I can’t complain. I saw a lot, did a lot, and learned a lot. I’d say it was definitely a successful trip.

I didn’t leave the house until the afternoon to get a late lunch. Bunny and I opted for this Japanese curry place that Mika had recommended. It was pretty cheap for the amount of food, and pretty dang tasty!!

I ordered curry with fried chicken pieces and rice, with a fried egg on top. It cost about $4 US. And it was pretty filling!

Afterwards though I grabbed some boba because my head was starting to hurt from not having my daily tea (caffeine). I’m the worst, I know.

Once home Bunny and I just relaxed and prepared for our quiz that we have tomorrow in class. It’s so hard to believe that there’s only three more days of class left!!

I made it! I survived!! Remember when I couldn’t write traditional characters?....Wow. What a wild ride.

xoxo

[victakestaipei]

WEEK 7 RECAP: “The Tile Stairs Slip n’ Slide, Night Markets, and Hella Class Selfies!!”

So as you all have probably gathered at this point, this is my last full week here in Taiwan. I am experiencing a lot of conflicting emotions about my trip as a whole: about missing this journey (despite the struggles), missing the scenery (temples, greenery, etc), wanting to come home and see my friends, starting school in two weeks (senior year...holy shit), and hearing all over the news about the white supremacist bullshit going on in the United States....What a joy to come home too.

Also it doesn’t help that one of the white supremacists who attended the rally in Virginia ALSO GOES TO MY UNIVERSITY!!!! LIKE WOW!!! The photo of him at the rally spread like wildfire and everyone in the twitter-universe has seen his face, holding a torch and shouting passionately. He was easily identified through social media as a Reno native, named Peter, who’s a current junior at my university. Awesome. Students at my school even organized a petition to send to our school’s President to get Peter fired from his on-campus job, and expelled from our school (since he obviously doesn’t represent the school’s values), but, our President declined to take any sort of action, and said how Peter “apologizes” and included his claim that “that angry guy you see in the photo is not who I am...” 

Right. Sure Petey... You got caught at your Klan march and now you want to claim to not be racist??? HAH.... There are STUDENT TESTIMONIES OF YOUR RACIST OUTBURSTS IN THE CLASSROOM!!! I literally cannot.

I honestly don’t even know why he would want to come back to our university though, everyone knows his face, knows his name, and when they see him, I’m sure they won’t be greeting him with friendly “hello’s,” especially our black population here. He’s going to be like the next Casey Anthony. A social outcast.

Anyway, let me digress.. This blog is about my trip here in Taiwan, not all the other bullshit going on back home, so let me just change gears here--

Monday: 

Today I got up on time (hell yeah!) after struggling for a good ten minutes...  I set three alarms on my phone daily (8:30am,9am, and 9:30am), as well as an alarm on my desk under my bunk bed so that I get up on time. It’s always a struggle though. I am SO tired. I got to class, tea in hand, and took our lesson 8 test. 

We have about 7 days left of class, and we have to get to lesson 10 before the end of the semester, so our teacher is flying through these last few lessons before our last day next Wednesday (August 23rd). After class I finished updating my blog (5 posts total) and then headed to the gym around 3:30pm. I didn't really want to go to the gym, but I took the weekend and last Friday off so I NEEDED to go. I’m really trying to be consistent but dang it’s hard. I only stayed at the gym for like 45 minutes because I was starting to see the mosquitoes literally flying at my face and I wasn't down for that. But at least 45 minutes is better than nothing!.... I still left the gym with battle wounds from the mosquitoes though... they got my ass SMH. 

After the gym I showered and relaxed. I tried to take a nap because I was so tired all day and I had a wicked headache, but after laying there for 15 minutes I decided to just get up and be productive. I practiced writing the characters for our vocab quizzes tomorrow. Since we're trying to fit in 2 lessons in such a short amount of time, our teacher is quizzing us on two vocabulary lists tomorrow... totaling to about 45 phrases. Wooo.... But on the bright side I caught up on my shows Power and Insecure while writing, so that's good!!! Lawrence really be having me feel some type of way...*eyeroll* But every time he takes an “L” in the show (more often than not) I just laugh because he’s really just a headass.

I LOVE those shows hehehe 10/10 would recommend.

Bunny left the room to check out the botanical gardens today but I was too lazy to... plus I honestly wasn’t really that interested either. So I stayed home while she explored for a few hours. But I took that time to blog and stuff and watch my shows so it's all good.

For dinner we had potstickers from the place by our house.. I don’t know if I can really eat those anymore. Today they made my stomach feel kinda funny after I finished...

Tuesday: 

So on the bus to school I saw through the window that a guy had fallen over on his moped in the street. There were like 5 guys around him trying to help him get on his feet. Everyone here is so so helpful, and it was really sweet to see something like that at 10am, when I'm sure these people were on their way to work or something. This just goes to show how caring all of these people here are.... In the US I’m not sure if you'd see that. 

But little did I know this would be a foreshadowing event for myself...

Once on campus I got some tea and a piece of bread from the bakery. (This is the last time I’m eating bread for breakfast I swear!!!) Class dragged so slowly, and I took my two quizzes which took up a lot of time in class today. We also covered grammar and a bunch of other hum drum stuff. Nothing special. 

After class let out, as soon as the bell rang, I fell down the tile stairs on the way to the computer lab. I don’t know what happened. I had slides on (which I wear all the time in the US), and I honestly just don’t know how it happened but before I knew it I was on my ass and flinging my hydroflask in to the air. It was as if the holy spirit or Jesus himself pushed me down those stairs because I have never been that clumsy. My tailbone HURTS. It’s probably going to be pretty bruised. But I have to say that the event itself was more embarrassing than actually painful. I guess when I was walking down the tile stairs my slides, slid, and so did I. HARD. Like I was riding a fucking slip n’ slide. A tile slip n’ slide.

After I stopped sliding I just laid there for a second sprawled out on the stairs trying to wrap my head around what happened. I was SHOOK. 

Bunny helped me up, and kept saying “dayummmmmm Vic” because we both knew how hard that fall really was lol. But everyone was super nice about it. Everyone was asking if I'm alright, and picking up the shit I threw mid-fall. I wanted to die of embarrassment. Transfer schools. But at least no one laughed!!!

After finishing my homework in the computer lab we went home. And as soon as I stepped foot into my room I laid down on stomach because of my sore tailbone. I took some ibuprofen but it didn't help. 

Around 4:30 Bunny and I left the house to head to the Sun Yat-sen Memorial. The bus was about a 30 minute ride, and we met Mika there, because she rode the MRT. It was a beautiful building and just a hop, skip, and step away from the famous Taipei 101.

We spent about 45 minutes there looking at all of the documents and art galleries before the memorial closed at 6pm. Here are some cute photos I got of the various galleries and the memorial sculpture itself!

We also caught the sunset in the pavilion/park area outside of the memorial. It was beautiful!!!

There’s nothing better than Taiwan’s golden hour.

After the memorial we were pretty hungry so Bunny and I parted ways from Mika and went to check out the Raohe night market. We caught the bus there and it took roughly 20 min. We are headed to the area where my airbnb was,  but I haven't been over here in Songshan district since before classes started.

I have to say Raohe was a pretty poppin night market! Especially for a Tuesday night. There was hella food, and souvenir shopping! I was surprised to see a lot of seafood like fried crab, clams, oysters, and even snails. And I also wish I did my souvenir shopping here. But you live and you learn! We ate xiao long bao (dumplings) for dinner, we each got 8 for 100NT! Not too shabby. And we got some soft serve ice cream too before hitting the road towards the bus stop.

Wednesday: 

Today’s class was uneventful. I got my two vocab quizzes back, with a 100% on one, and a 96% on the other. After class we wanted to go to the soy sauce braised place but it wasn't open yet, so we hit up a curry spot instead. Afterward, I headed home and Bunny went to explore a bookstore. I took this time to lay in bed and relax because I didn’t have any homework (we have a test tomorrow). I also just wanted to lay down because all the walking and going up and down stairs on campus makes my tailbone hurt. 

Oh!! Also!! Today I got stared at at two different bus stops. The first one was on the way home from the Shi Da market, by our school. And the other was when Bunny and I were on our way to the Gong guan night market to get dinner. So the second stare instance was definitely weirder than the first. As you all know, this is not my first staring rodeo/showdown, but this instance really made my skin crawl. So it’s about 9:30pm, and we stroll on up to the bus stop by our home campus. There is only one guy at the bus stop, standing at a tall 5′3 (roughly). But, he had a wonky glass eye on his right side. As soon as I got within 6 feet of him his stares were like penetrating my soul. And he had NO SHAME! Usually when I stare back for a certain amount of time they look away, but nope, not this guy. Let’s just say I lost the stare down.... And this wonky little man even went through the effort of making a 180 degree turn so that he could stare at me with his good eye too. 

When our bus finally came (it felt like forever), Bunny and I boarded the bus, leaving the wonky little man at the stop all alone. After I boarded the bus I could see that the man was STILL staring at me through the bus window as our bus pulled away from the stop. He definitely gave me the heebie jeebies. 

When we got to the night market it was completely dead. This was odd because 9:30 is usually prime time. But there were little to no food stands, no one walking in the streets, it was eerie. I have never seen the market like that. We found a spot to eat at this restaurant, and ordered a chicken platter (of sorts). The platter included spicy fried chicken, rice, greens, tofu, onions, and something else (not sure honestly it was brown and I didn’t like it so I didn’t eat it) lol. The platter itself was mediocre... the chicken and rice was good but everything else was a bit disappointing. I think because I was so dang hungry. After dinner we walked along the empty streets and saw a dessert place that was still open. We got a huge strawberry ice cream with kiwis for dessert. Bomb. But definitely toooooo much food for two people. 

Thursday: 

Today class breezed by. After finishing our test, we took selfies in class and joked around for a good half hour. It was all pretty laid back.

HOW CUTE IS MY TEACHER AND CLASSMATES!!!! I love them. I’m going to miss them so much wow wow wow :(

I also realized that I haven’t really posted alot of pictures of my campus itself so I figured I would include a few below for you all to see as well (better late than never).

We also talked about our class field trip we will be having tomorrow! We are going to AYCE hot pot and KBBQ (alcohol included ;) ) and then hitting up KTV for some karoake afterward!!! Exciting! I’m pumped to spend time with my classmates outside of the classroom. We always have a fun time together in class, so it’d be great to spend some time in public and a more casual setting.

We went to check out the track after school to possibly get an outside workout in (we’re still trying to find alternatives to the mosquito infested gym). But it started to rain pretty hard so we did the next best thing: got something to eat and then headed home to be bum asses.

Around 9pm Bunny and I headed to the Linjiang night market to check it out and find something to eat. It was about 22 minutes away and turned out to be a smaller night market but still had a ton of options. It was a bit bigger than Raohe where we went earlier this week, but smaller than Gong guan (where we frequent multiple times a week). Also it was less crowded. 

For dinner I got some dragon fruit and a beef dish with rice. It was about 115 for the dish and the dragonfruit was 30. It was a really good dinner. Pretty tasty!! 

After we ate we headed home to relax and for once SLEEP IN for tomorrow. We don’t have to show up to class (on campus) at all tomorrow, we are just meeting at the MRT station at 11:30 to go eat lunch and have a good time. I’m so dang happy!!!

More to come,

xoxo

[victakestaipei]

The National Palace Museum

The bus ride was a bit shorter than I expected, and the lady sitting next to me ended up tapping my arm and saying “this is the museum,” so that I would get off in time before the driver closed the doors and sped off to the next bus stop (I had my earphones in).

Once at the museum I was immediately taken aback by it’s extravagance. This museum was so beautiful I can’t even describe... just LOOK at these pictures.

The museum had four floors, the first floor (more like the basement floor) had the huge museum gift shop, and then the real first floor was where all the ticketing and information was, along with the introductory galleries. They had all kinds of showcases, from paintings, to pottery, to jade, to old written documents... It was incredible all the information this place held. I got to the museum just before 4:30 so I only had an hour to really enjoy it. But I’m glad that I still went today because it’s so far from my house that I didn’t think I’d find the time if I didn’t go today. I also got to see the world famous “jade cabbage,” I’ll include a picture below for your viewing pleasure ;)

Riding the bus home from Shilin MRT station was a trip. I had taken a bus before this one to get from the museum itself to the MRT, but I had to transfer to get back to my house. Like I said the bus may take longer, but it's cheaper.  And now that I’m getting down to the wire in terms of my trip, my finances are also pretty down to the wire as well.

I’m watching the sun set through the bus windows as I whiz by all the sky scrapers and trees and it's starting to hit me. Like, really starting to hit me. My time here is coming to an end soon. I want to cry so I'm biting my lip trying to stop the tears from welling in my eyes. There's a young guy wearing an adidas shirt sitting across from me eating dumplings. I'm not sure why I'm so emotional?? These last two months have been some of the hardest yet most rewarding of my life. I know it sounds cliche but I really have learned so much about myself and my grit and that’s exactly what I wanted from this experience. And I've seen places that I could never imagine existed, not in my wildest dreams. I didn’t know places could be THIS beautiful. I guess that goes to show how much I really know about the world itself.... just some exquisitely beautiful places man...

The photos don’t do it justice, it’s something you need to be present for I think... But anyway, I’m starting to realize that maybe I'm emotional because despite being exhausted in all forms (physically, mentally, emotionally) and constantly sweating, and thrashing/fighting to keep my head above water and be resilient against my hardships... the sun always sets at the end of the day. And I see the pinks and oranges and God himself, and it's always always worth it in the end. I realize that no matter how much I complain or look up to God like “Really? You serious?” I wouldn't have wanted this experience to play out any other way. I’ll miss you so so much Taiwan.

[victakestaipei]

Tamsui, the land of Fried Squid

This morning I left the house at 11:30ish... I made plans with Jeannie last night to check out the Tamsui harbor and Fisherman’s wharf area (it was on my list of “to-do’s”). I met Jeannie at noon at the Chiang Kai Shek MRT station to ride the red line up to Tamsui, where we will be spending the afternoon. Tamsui is the port harbor, with a lot of great food, docked yachts/boats, a fort, and a beautiful white bridge. It took about 35 min to get here via the MRT, since it was the stop furthest north on the whole subway system. 

Jeannie and I walked the famous Tamsui Old Street, where we ate some BOMB and FRESH fried cuttle fish (squid). It cost about 100NT for the bowl but it was worth it. 

Then we walked up the street parallel to the water towards Fort Domingo and the Fisherman’s wharf. We also saw a beautiful temple while walking too! I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing them so often.

It was hot as hell and super humid (since we were by the water), and we walked about 1/3 of the way there, but there was still 2 miles to go... so I’m sure you can guess that we hopped on the bus for the rest of the way there hehe. When we arrived we crossed the famous and picturesque white bridge and took a bunch of pictures. The winds were super strong though so my hair looks crazy. 

After we were done at the bridge we walked around the area a bit more before getting back on the bus to go back to the MRT station. Once there, we went to a SUSHI BAR. You choose your fish by the piece or you can select pre-made sushi dishes. I chose my own. I picked 8 pieces (3 of them being salmon) totaling to 80 NT. THATS LIKE LESS THAN 3 DOLLARS FOR A WHOLE SUSHI ROLL. Shook.

We rode the MRT down the red line, but I got off at Shilin station instead of riding all the way home with Jeannie, because I wanted to stop at the famous National Palace Museum (another one of my “to-do’s”). I got off at Shilin, found the bus stop, and got on to head to the museum all by my lonesome...

[victakestaipei]

My Souvenir Shoppin’ Saturday

Today Bunny and I left the house after 11am. Today was our souvenir shopping day! We got breakfast at the spot by our house before heading to DaAn park. I showed Bunny around the park and also revisited the flower market and jade market too. I thought of Margaret the whole time. We bought some souvs for our loved ones at the jade market before heading to our next stop. 

We originally had planned to go to the Taipei city underground mall afterwards, but since we took the bus and passed by the Chiang Kai Shek memorial hall, we decided to hop off on a whim because Bunny hadn’t seen it and it was on her list of “to-do’s”. We spent about a total of an hour there, taking in the architecture and the exhibits, then off to Taipei city mall. The memorial was as beautiful as ever.

We spent longer than I wanted to window shopping here at Taipei City Mall. My feet had begun to hurt from all the walking (I was wearing slides) and the Taipei city mall was a bit more expensive that I imagined... When we tried to leave the mall it took forever to get home because my phone died while we were out, and Bunny’s doesn’t have any data. We were trying to figure out the bus route home, but after a while we just gave up and rode the MRT (we try to avoid the MRT at all costs because we are penny pinchers). On the way home we stopped and got boba at the Gong guan market and I was able to charge my phone a bit. 

Bunny and I made plans to see Annabelle tonight so we also checked the movie times for that while we were there. THE MOVIE WAS REALLY GOOD. I was fairly impressed. I love scary movies and the suspense/thriller/horror genre as a whole, and a lot of movies don’t really even get under my skin or make me the least bit scared/entertained. But this one was actually a bit scary at points, surprisingly. I even made Bunny shower in the stall next to me when we got home LOL just in case

[victakestaipei]

Temple Hopping, AYCE Hot Pot, and Ximen Shopping

Today (Friday) we skipped the gym entirely. We are running out of time here in Taiwan, and are scrambling to see the places left on our lists. So because of this, our gym time had to be sacrificed. (sorry not sorry.. especially since I have what seems like hundreds of mosquito bites on my body from working out there). 

After class, Bunny and I instead visited two temples. The first temple we went to is called “Temple of Xia-Hai City God.” This temple is pretty famous here, as a temple of loveeeeee

Tourists and locals come from all over town to pray for Mr. Right, or other aspects of love/marriage (like having a big and healthy family). While there, Bunny and I decided to join in the festivities. We paid 10NT for some incense, and walked around the temple starting from outside (in a clockwise motion) and bowed to each of the deities. The Matchmaker had the biggest display, and the biggest crowd bowing to it. This god would find you your Mr (or Mrs) Right.

There was also the City God’s Wife’s display, who was the one you prayed to if you were already married and wanted to have a long and happy marriage, with a big and healthy family. 

There was also another display which would give you wisdom and peace of mind if you prayed to it. 

It was a pretty fun and new experience. I enjoyed it. I was also pretty surprised to see how poppin’ it was on a Friday afternoon. The temple was located in the textile and herbal tea district. So the shops lining the street surrounding the area were filled with colorful prints and herbs and teas. It was so quaint and cute. Part of me wishes I could sew so that I could buy just the cloth and make something cute... *sigh*

The second temple we went to was the Longshan temple. This one was breathtaking. But the surrounding area? Not so much. I officially found all the homeless people in Taipei.. turns out, they camp out right outside the Longshan MRT station.  

Nontheless the temple was very beautiful. The front gate featured an LED screen, which I found to be pretty comical... but I guess it’s a sign of the times. 

Once inside the front gate, there’s a waterfall to your right, and another beautiful pond and fountain to your left. Very calm and scenic. 

When I walked into the actual temple area, I walked in during prayer song. This was the first time I heard this before. Everyone was singing and praying, in almost perfect unison. It was beautiful to see and hear and experience. And everyone knew the words?? At first I was so caught off guard with the whole thing that all I could do was be still and just bask in the brilliance. Then after about thirty seconds I wrapped my head around what was going on and tried to pull my phone out to record it for you guys, but by the time I did, the song was over. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be, but just know it was one of those moments. One of which I won’t forget. 

After Bunny and I finished temple hopping, we met up with Mika for dinner at all you can eat Hot Pot. She had also invited her American friend Kirk who goes to her same school in LA. The restaurant was set up buffet style, with all you can eat dessert and drinks, in addition to the display of veggies, seafood, and other fun stuff to add to your hot pot soup. After we sat down we ordered our meats. We ordered beef bacon, pork bacon, and plain beef and pork. I didn't know what I was doing 90% of the time we were at the restaurant so I harassed Mika with questions constantly. But she was really patient with me and answered all of them hehe. 

After dinner we went to Ximen to walk around. Ximen is a huge trendy shopping area. It definitely featured the younger crowd and a lot of tourists. When you approach the Ximen “square” the first thing you see is a 5 story H&M (if that gives you any sort of idea of where I’m headed with this) lol. They also had a bunch of street food vendors and street performers. But, the street performers were ASS, but there’s no doubt in my mind that they were making a lot in tips. They just didn’t know how to dance, and being from Vegas I guess I was just unimpressed. 

After Ximen we rode the MRT home. I was exhausted from the long day. I showered and knocked out around 2am while on facetime with Teejy lmao. (Sorry bud).

[victakestaipei]

WEEK 6 RECAP: “New Foods, Xiangshan, and FIRST SUCCESSFUL MEDITATION”

Monday: 

I had breakfast at the cafe in front of our class building again today. I ordered a milk tea (definitely my fave drink ever) and a hash brown and egg sammich. Not something you’d normally expect, a hashbrown inside the sandwich, but it is pretty dang good.  In class we got our quizzes back from last week: on one I got a 98, and the other I got a 96. I’ve gotten pretty used to pulling these A’s, can’t say it’s a bad thing though! lol. I suppose the only thing I have to worry about is not getting comfortable/lazy. Which brings me to the test we had today… it was harder than expected, maybe because I didn’t review as much as I should have, since it was the weekend. 

Class otherwise flew by… Bunny and I went to the gym at our Gong guan campus. IT. WAS. AWFUL. There is no AC, and the gym reminds me of an empty warehouse… but with a track inside going along the perimeter. It’s hella dirty and not well kept. All the machines are dusty (if they even work at all) and it’s just a struggle to find weights and stuff because everything is flung all over the place. I was sweating profusely and constantly. It was all dripping into my eyes and down my nose and neck. Extremely uncomfortable. I felt like I was in bikram yoga but 100x worse… or, better yet, like I was in the 7th ring of hell…. or maybe those two go hand in hand?

I did mostly floor work today….so I managed to find these styrofoam matts and pushed them together on the floor to make a little bed of padding for my back. But the matts were pretty gross (like dirty) and mixed with my dripping sweat it was almost MUDDY. Ew. I’m sure you can imagine my disgust when trying to do my sit-ups and leg lifts... SMH. Also!!! There was a huge class being held in the gym. They were near the weight lifting area, but it was like a dance/martial art class… and needless to say I was getting some pretty hefty and blatant staring by the students… I think they were just shocked that other people were in there working out. But either way no one wants to be stared at when they’re working out! No one!! Pay attention in class! Do your dance moves!

After the gym I was pretty winded and didn’t even want to leave the house to get food. So Bunny and I ate curry with chicken, rice, and a fried egg on top that we made in the dorm… it was bomb! We had the curry packaging left over from when the typhoon hit, and we also had eggs and rice from last weekend too. The fried chicken I picked up from a small mom-and-pop shop that’s right outside our dorm… the one that we always get our pot stickers at. It was such a filling dinner that I plopped down on the bed after and knocked out with ease ;)

Tuesday:

So remember that test I mentioned yesterday? Well ya girl got a 99%!!!! HOLLA!! We also had a quiz on the vocabulary today….Our course material and testing is pretty intense, I suppose that makes sense granted the course is labeled “intensive.” I guess I just didn’t expect us to have so many quizzes or tests basically every other day/week.

Today I didn’t want to go back to the gym, yesterday was pretty discouraging. So instead, Bunny and I decided to hike Xiangshan mountain (elephant mountain). We invited Jeannie to tag along too and made a plan to eat tacos after which made the idea of a hike all the more bearable.  

When we got to the base of Xiangshan, I soon realized that the hike is all steps. The steps were all varying sizes... some you barely had to pick up your foot to move forward, and others felt like we were doing box jumps at the gym...

Overall though it was a great workout! It took about 25 minutes to get to the top, on a good day, and there were multiple places to stop along the way to take in the sites. The view was beautiful!! 

We got to the top of the mountain and watched the sun set and the lights of the city and Taipei 101 light up. There were a lot of people up there with us... and a lot of couples too, which made sense because the view was so incredibly romantic. I’m standing there thinking “damn, where my mans at???”

After the sun had set and it was starting to get pretty dark we headed down. That was the scary part because like I said earlier, the stairs were all varying sizes and steepness. Also, there wasn’t a lot of lighting on the mountain (as I’m sure you can imagine) and my legs were super jelly-like from the tough workout getting up there. My legs would shake uncontrollably if I put too much pressure for too long on one leg or the other. So I found myself gripping the railing and going down at turtle speed. Better safe than sorry, right?

On the bus ride to taco night at Macho Tacos, I was sitting in the window seat. We were waiting at a stoplight, and talking back and forth. I look out the window and see two different men on mopeds staring up at me through the glass. I look back and forth between them multiple times and they’re still staring … so I found myself staring back down at them like until they finally look away.

When we got to Macho Tacos it was super busy. But after we ordered we found a booth and sat to eat. I ordered a fish burrito combo with a drink and churros. The total came out to 220 NT (around $7.50). The fish burrito was super filling, but the fish was wayyyy to crispy it felt like I was biting into glass in the middle of my burrito! Not fun. But the churros were good. So I guess there’s that.

Wednesday: 

This morning I went to the cafe in front of our class building. When I was ordering my food, my ID cards fell off the counter and down between the floor boards of the patio in front of the restaurant. My luck is impeccable.

The lady behind the counter spent a good 5-7 minutes fishing it out with these long skewers while the line to order piled up. She was incredibly sweet and I got my ID cards back!!! Without them I wouldn’t be able to take the bus, get into my dorm, etc... so I’m feeling super thankful today!

In class we got our vocab quiz back from yesterday, and I scored a 97%. And today we also had a written dialogue quiz, which I scored a 99% on.

After class I went to this kiosk to print my Record of Study. The document cost 50 NT to print. A Record of Study is basically my grade for the month of July (from July 1-31.) We get two grades for the term (since I’m here till end of August)... and my grade for July was a 91%! I’ll take it. I also noticed that their grading system is a bit off, where an 80-100% is an “A”. 

After class we headed home to change and go to the gym on our campus. There was no one there this time, which made the gym seem cooler. I did legs today… lunges, squat bar, abs, and I was dripping sweat yet again because there’s no AC. I’ve also noticed that I have a bunch of mosquito bites. Some from Xiangshan last night, and some from the gym itself. I even have one on my forehead.... Ugh. 

I got like four bites in a row in my knee armpit, that spot is the WORST!!!

I only stayed at the gym for 45min - 1 hr because I didn’t even want to go... Bunny dragged me (thank you Bunny!!!) but I’m grateful that I went now. After we worked out we showered and changed our clothes to go eat. We tried a new place today, called “Sababa Pita bar”. It’s a Middle Eastern/Mediterranean food place that I found on google. It was less than a mile from our campus so we hopped on the bus and headed out. 

All the waiters there spoke English because I’m assuming this place is frequented by foreigners. It had free wifi too and cozy chairs. I ordered us the pita and hummus to share as an appetizer, and then for myself I ordered a chicken pita with falafel. THE HUMMUS IS SO GOOD HERE WOW WOW WOW. My chicken pita dish had falafel, egg, chicken, hummus, and veggies. The pita was very good and fairly big!!! I added minced jalapeño sauce to mine for an extra kick, and I really really enjoyed it.

The restaurant was playing all the top 40 hits, for a second there I forgot I was in Taiwan. My pita only cost about 170 NT, and the appetizer we split was 150 total. After we ate we walked about 10 minutes to the Gongguan market, where I went with Bunny to shop around. I didn’t buy anything, but Bunny was looking for sportswear specifically and so we only went to stores like Nike, Puma, Adidas, etc. I tried on some leggings that were on sale at Nike and neither the L or the XL fit me. Asian sizes suck. Sad sad day :( 

After about a half hour or so we headed home to relax and do some homework. We also started planning our trip that we’re going to take at the end of our time here in Taiwan! So exciting! More details to come…

Thursday: 

I went to sleep pretty early last night (before 12:30am)... and I woke up around 5:30am. I rolled over, looked at my phone, and back to sleep I went. I’ve been having these pretty vivid dreams lately, and all nightmares. I don’t know what’s going on lol. I wake up shook as hell, but can’t seem to remember any actual details of the dream. BUT ON THE BRIGHT SIDE: I HAD MY FIRST SUCCESSFUL MEDITATION LAST NIGHT OMG!!! Can I get a round of applause?? 

After consistently trying since last week to get it down and clear my mind it finally happened. I had put my beats on and played my Apple music “meditation playlist.” I layed on my back and thought about relaxing every part of my body. I started at my toes and worked my way up my legs, then stomach, then tips of my fingers up to my chest and neck. By the time I felt my whole body relax, I sunk into the bed and could feel myself starting to fall asleep almost. I’m not sure how to really describe the feeling. It was so peaceful though!! I liked it. Right when I started to feel myself slipping into sleep, I paused the music, pulled off my beats, turned on my side and KO’d.

I got to class on time after getting my morning tea and snack. We had a vocab quiz today, which I got a 100% on, and spent the class going over most grammar rules. So lame. Class dragged on and on and everybody seemed pretty lazy and tired and out of it. Tomorrow is Friday though so that’s good! After class I went to the computer lab to work on the listening portion of our homework. Bunny and I went to two different labs before going to the third lab on a different floor and finally finding open seats. People in the other two labs weren’t even on the computers! Literally sleeping at desks or doing textbook homework, or even just leaving their stuff at the desk and weren’t physically there. It’s kind of annoying when I actually needed to use the computer for its software... But luckily I brought the disk (included with the textbook) with me to class so I was able to physically insert the disk with the listening material, rather than rely on finding a computer that already has the downloaded software. After finishing my listening homework I printed off my travel itinerary for coming home to the US. I am SO excited and I’ll be heading back about 2 weeks from now!!! WOO!!! I miss my mom and my friends and the rest of my family... and even Reno itself (surprisingly).

After the computer lab we headed home to change and gym. There was that huge group of kids again doing their dance class. *eye roll* But their class ended shortly after we got there, so it wasn’t as bad. Today I did dead lifts, the bench press, abs, squats, etc... I was kind of just all over the place at the gym today... Afterward I showered and relaxed a bit before heading to DongMen area and YongKang Jie to eat at the famous Din Tai Fung and try their xiao long bao (dumplings).

I don’t know if you all remember but I visited YongKang Jie once before with Margaret at the beginning of my Taipei stay. She took me here after the flower and jade market that one saturday afternoon. Now I’m back to finally try that internationally famous dumpling restaurant I spoke about. Woo!!!

The wait time for Din Tai Fung was about 30-35 minutes. We got our ticket number, and walked around to pass the time. Bunny hadn’t been to YongKang Jie yet so I was showing her the ropes. When the time was up and we went back to the restaurant, we were seated fairly quickly and ordered our food. The food was pretty expensive to say the least, so we only ordered a 10piece xiao long bao to share, just to taste what all the hype was about. 

The dumplings were GOOD! I don’t know if they were worth all the hype and price, but the juice inside was really really tasty. I enjoyed them. But we were still hungry after we left (since we shared a 10 piece and went to the gym earlier today) so we found a small vendor making egg scallion pancakes on the same street and ordered some food from them. THEY WERE SO GOOD. Knocked my socks off. I’m going to have dreams about those pancakes when I come home. Wow. I might miss those the most when I get back to the USA. 

Anyway, after we ate and were full AF, we caught the bus home. I immediately crawled into bed, meditated (succesfully YET AGAIN) and knocked out. 

I can dig this new meditation thing.

xoxo

[victakestaipei]

Maokong: “An Unexpected Friend, A Lesson in Tea Preparation, and some Otherworldly Scenery”

This morning I left the house by 9:45am and arrived at Taipei Zoo Station (to go to Maokong) at 11am. Maokong is famous for its Emerald hills, teahouses, and temples. You have to take a gondola to get up to the top of the mountain, which is basically like a pod that you climb into and you are carried up the mountain by a cabling system.

The ticket was 120 NT ($4 US for a one-way) to go all the way to Maokong station at the top of the mountain. The gondolas carry you up the cable line to the top, but there are other stops along the way. I wanted the full experience and to go to the tea houses, so I chose the top of the mountain, but at the stop right beforehand, the Zhinan Temple stop, there are three beautiful temples there on the mountain side that I plan to check out on the way down.

There were two types of gondola cabins: regular and crystal. The crystal cabin was a 40 min wait (in line) and the regular cabin line was a 20 min wait. The reason for this was because the crystal cabin has a glass flooring and can only hold up to 5 people, whereas the regular cabin has regular metal flooring and holds 8.

I elected to wait in the line for the crystal cabin because I figured it was worth it. And since I was traveling alone, I didn’t have to wait too long at all because they just fit me in with a party of four. 

After climbing into the gondola, the five of us got a feel for each other and did the normal small talk. There were two younger guys, from China, who were traveling together, and an older couple, local, from Taiwan who were in the cabin as well with me. The older couple asked me about where I was from, and come to find out, they have a house in Henderson, NV, and have been to Vegas dozens of times! Such a small small world we live in.

All of us got out of the cabin at the top station, Maokong station, and shortly after, parted ways. I had done some research on the area, so I already had in mind what I wanted to eat/do/see. I went to the information center to grab a map, and set out on my journey to find the Ayishi Teapot Restaurant, where I could have a small/early lunch. While walking I noticed another young Brown girl walking too, clearly alone, in the same direction I was headed. After about ten minutes of us silently walking next to each other, I decided to just speak up and say “HELLO”

I turned to her suddenly, map in hand, and asked “So, where are you headed today?” She then told me about how she wanted to go check out the Tea Plantation, but didn’t have any firm plans because she didn’t do a lot of research.... I then told her about my plans, and invited her to tag along if she liked, and she turned out to be my buddy for the day!

Her name is Soginy, and she’s from Denmark. Her family is Sri-Lankan and she’s here in Taiwan for a month for her medical internship. She is interning at a hospital in Taipei, and only has one more year left in her Uni back in Europe. She’s a neuroscience major and she’s super sweet!

We arrived at the restaurant, which is right there off the cliff. We sat near the outer perimeter of the restaurant so we could take full advantage of the view. They had a bunch of different stuff on the menu, but I ordered the specialties off of the menu, which included Jasmine Green Tea-Infused Fried Rice, and these Steam buns (12) that came in a bunch of different flavors.

The Green Tea Rice was BOMB. Super super good and unique. I really enjoyed it. The Steam buns were just “okay”. They are colorful because each color represents a different flavor... the purple ones are taro, the yellow are sweet potato, the green are green tea, the brown ones are black tea, the red is red yeast rice, and the black are bamboo charcoal. 

When I first ordered these buns I assumed there would be filling inside, but after biting into the first one, I realized that they aren’t hollow, and that it’s really just flavored bread. They weren’t bad necessarily, and they did taste like the flavors listed, but I just would have rather tried something else I think...

After we ate we went upstairs to a separate restaurant (in the same building) where they have an array of different teas. When we were seated, I asked the waitress what their most popular/best tea is, and ordered that one. The name of the tea was “Wenshan Mountain Tea.” It’s a green tea and it was really really good. The waitress also asked us if we wanted iced tea or hot tea, and I asked for iced because Soginy and I agreed that it was pretty dang hot out. But as it turns out, when the waitress came back to the table, she plopped down this tray right in front of me. It was a more of a “you’re on your own” type experience (in terms of preparing the tea). But I had no idea what I was doing....

I called for the lady to come back and asked her to show/teach us how to prepare the tea. She kindly and willingly did so, so now I know! hehe

After we had about 6 or so cups of both iced and hot tea, we got up and set out to see some temples. Another good thing I liked about this tea place was that I was able to take home the remaining tea that we didn’t drink... So mom, I got some tea for you!!! I was thinking about you the whole time I was up here, you would have loved this place. I miss you.

I initially planned to take the gondola down to the next stop, The Zhinan temple stop, but Soginy convinced me to take the scenic route and just walk down to the next stop which was just a short 2 miles away. Again, Soginy is from Denmark, where they’re used to walking everywhere or riding bikes... but little did I know, the walk we would take consisted of mostly uphill, with the hot blaring sun, humidity, and altitude. Needless to say, I was dying. But the views were worth it. We even saw some tea plants planted in rows along the hillside.

After walking about halfway (so about a mile), I told Soginy straight up “hey girl, I’m not about to walk the rest of the way, I’m going to stop right here at this bus stop and hitch a ride the rest of the way there.” She laughed and agreed to take the bus with me, and the bus came right away! Good timing. The bus this time, was not a regular bus, but more of a large minivan. Once we boarded, there were no open seats, so I found myself crouching by the door holding onto a pole. The roads on the hill were all pretty narrow and super windy, so I found myself being flung against the door when hitting sharp turns. All of the bus drivers here drive really quickly and stop pretty abruptly. And because the road was so narrow, we were often stopping to make way for others on the road who were coming from the opposite direction.

We soon pulled over and the bus doors flung open. The driver said that this was the Zhinan temple stop, meaning it was our time to hit the road. We tried to pay the driver with our EasyCard, but it wouldn’t work so the driver just waved us off the bus anyway. When we got off, we saw signs that pointed in the direction of the temple. We still had about a half of a mile to walk, but it wasn’t so bad because the ground was more level now. 

We arrived at the Zhinan temple station and immediately went into the cafe there to get something to drink. Next door to the cafe was a tiny temple that was beautiful to look at from outside the cafe window... At the cafe I opted for a passionfruit smoothie, and it was really really good, but it was a bit icier than I wanted it to be. It was more of a slurpee than a smoothie. But it hit the spot, nonetheless. 

Here’s pictures of the tiny temple below     v

After relaxing for a bit we got up and headed down to the actual temples a few minutes’ walk away. It was simply beautiful. Breathtaking. The view from the cliffs of the Emerald Hills was amazing. Green everywhere with the city off in the distance. It was a dream. 

Once closer to the temple, they had a small shop where you could buy these “wishing cards” and you hang the wishing card on the trees around the temple. You could wish for wealth, health for you and your loved ones, a strong relationship, etc... I wished for multiple things, said them aloud/under my breath, and hung my wishing card. 

Here’s a picture of the surrounding view from the front of the temple...

And here are some pictures of the interior of the temple...

The first temple we went to was pretty well under construction... So I didn’t spend too much time going inside, also because you have to take your shoes off and stuff and I wasn’t in the mood for all of that...

After we went to the first temple, we went to another one a bit further down the path... this one was beautiful too!!! Here are some of the interior and then the front, and view of the surrounding scenery...

After seeing the temples, we headed back to the gondola station to head home. I was pretty winded from the long day, and elected to go straight home to relax rather than go to the National Palace Museum (which was my original plan after Maokong). Soginy and I hopped on the MRT to head home, and we parted ways somewhere along the Brown Line. I got her contact information so that we could meet up again sometime while I’m here, because we really did have a fun day together.

I was a bit weary at first about going to Maokong by myself, but I’m SO glad that I did because I met someone new along the way, and it really was a beautiful beautiful sight to see. Being so high up, above the clouds and the city, looking at beautiful temples while being surrounded by lush green mountains... it felt like we could touch the heavens. The Emerald Hills of Maokong is a place I won’t soon forget. Taiwan is a dreamland.

xoxo

[victakestaipei]

Please enjoy this video of my teacher “dabbin’ on these hoes.” 

Life = Made 

[victakestaipei]

WEEK 5 RECAP: “Hair Care, After-Rain, and Porn on the Bus”

Hello Folks,

My week this week started off pretty rocky (and painful), as I’m sure you’ve gathered from my previous post.. but overall I can’t really complain about how the rest of the week played out...

Wednesday: 

Today in class I got my first 100 percent on a quiz!!! Granted it was just a vocabulary quiz and not written dialogue sentences, but I’m still proud as hell. I also introduced my teacher to the movie Finding Nemo and how to “dab”. She’s so adorable and I just love her enthusiasm.

In the gym I ran a 8:53 mile… my body was hating me for skipping the past two days. I had a cramp in my left side the entire time I was running, so by the time I finished the mile I felt like I had done ab day instead of leg day…

After the gym we got caught in the pouring rain. Like raining cats and dogs.

This is common after a typhoon (the after-rain), but I was just salted that we got caught in it and that my socks were so dang wet. Every step made a squishing noise and my thin mesh Adidas weren’t made for that... The three of us went to lunch with one of our classmates, Mika, at that Italian place I had last week. Mika is from California... Cupertino I believe? And she’s super sweet and we’re always cracking up in class together. 

Above is a creeper picture Mika took with our teacher hehe.... I screenshotted it from a snapchat she sent me so DONT HATE ME MIKA

At lunch I ordered this spicy spaghetti with sausage dish... it was super good!! Although I found myself sweating while I was eating... but that could have been due to the fact that I was wet with rain and then sitting in a booth having lunch...

This was my desert    v     I can’t remember the name, but it was chocolate. I thought the consistency would be different when I ordered it, but it was more of like a pudding. I was pleasantly surprised ;)

After lunch we went to the stationary store and bought more school supplies that I really didn’t need. I bought more pens and a notebook, for the upcoming semester. Everything is so cute in that store and I could literally spend all day in there (it’s my favorite past time to be so honest....looking at stationary) lol. Lame, I know.

After that I came home, took a long shower, and a long long nap. I woke up about 9:15pm to a FaceTime call, and then decided to get up and be productive. I finished my homework fairly quickly, and for dinner Bunny and I got McDonald’s because the Gong guan night market was completely closed, I think due to the heavy rain today. I got a spicy chicken sandwich and it was 10x better than a hot n Spicy, and we ALL KNOW how much those SLAP!!! 

I knocked out after 2 am because my nap was a bit longer than it should’ve been... I think I was so tired because of how winded I was from the gym.

Oh Also!!! Today in the shower I did a co-wash, and after it dried I noticed that my hair has grown significantly while I’ve been here… so shout out to my ABLE Queen Sade: I’m going to drop some quick tips on my hair care routine: 

Usually I co-wash every week to week and a half. I only wash with shampoo maybe 1-2 a month (depending on what I’ve been doing...swimming, etc). I also oil/massage my scalp about three times a week. I am currently using small amounts of coconut oil on my scalp to massage, because this is the only oil I brought from the States and I don’t want my hair to be too too oily. But usually when I’m home, I switch it up between Moroccan/Argan Oil, Carrot Oil, Shea Oil, Coconut Oil etc. I also use a lot of leave-in conditioners and moisturizers in my hair. Right now I’m using the Aussie 3 minute moist deep conditioner as a leave-in and I love love LOVE this product. I love the Aussie Moist line in general and it’s pretty cost effective which is good. I also use the Cantu deep conditioning repair creme, as well as the Shea Moisture curl enhancing smoothie. Apart from all of that, I also try to stay consistent with braiding or twisting my hair up and keeping it stretched when I sleep. I didn’t bring my silk scarf with me to Taiwan (ugh) but I still sleep with like a bandana on or a regular scarf most nights. I drink a lot of water and the humidity does the rest! 

My burn on my arm is still a blistering, bubbling, sensitive, mess. I have to sleep on my right side so that I don’t get the burn creme all over my sheets. Woooo.

Thursday:

I woke up on time today, and pretty well rested… I think due to the fact that I took an extra long nap yesterday… anyway, I got to class on time, after eating a banana and pastry for breakfast. I really need to cut back on all the bread I eat but it’s just SO convenient. But I’m going to try to make a more consistent effort to not stuff my face with bread every morning. Wish me luck! Ya girl loves the bread.

We had a quiz today, again, and in class we talked about a bunch of different stuff, from Finding Nemo, to K-Pop stars, to this strange student our teacher had last semester, to screaming goats, etc... We also planned a date for all of us as a class, including the teacher, to go and get hot pot as like a class bonding/field trip type experience! I’m excited. I love our little class, we have a ball, and we’re definitely the loudest class in terms of hearing the laughter echo down the hallway. It’s always a good time. 

*NOTE: So the story about the strange girl I mentioned above is pretty interesting.... Our teacher was telling us how she had this student in her 8am class last semester (who still goes here) and she’s in her 30s. She comes to class every morning with a visor on, a hood on, huge sunglasses, and an ace-bandage type thing that she uses to wrap around her neck and face, up to her nose. Basically she’s a mummy and completely covered from the sun. She is Thai, and pale as hell. (But here in Asia, the paler and skinnier you are, the better!) Anyway, the weird part about the story is that she comes into class in the morning, with hella food. And she has two cellphones. One of them she uses as her normal phone, and the other, she props up on this type of “stand” and records herself. It seems like she’s on videochat or a FaceTime of sorts, but in reality, she records herself constantly, and it’s more of a stream. She doesn’t physically converse back and forth with anyone.  Our teacher and other students in my class (who have seen her around) think that she is one of those people who gets paid to constantly stream themselves so that creepy fetish people can watch them do their daily duties. Weird right?

Anyway let’s shift back...

By the end of the three hour period, my tiredness had hit me full force. I was dying to hear that bell ring at 1:10. After class we went to the gym, per usual, and it was back day / booty (floor) day for me. My butt was so sore I feel like I’m walking funny. But I know it’ll all be worth it and I’m already seeing improvements! Go me!!!

The gym on the Main Campus that we normally use will be closing at the end of this week. They’re hosting a huge event during the month of August, so tomorrow is our last day to use the facility. Bunny and I checked out the gym on our Gong guan campus, where our dorm is, and it’s definitely not as nice but it’ll do the job. There’s also no AC or treadmills though which sucks… but there’s a track, so I guess I have to get used to running that way, and not being able to really track my progress as easily. Bummer.

After the gym we went to eat at the potsticker place by our main campus. I ordered half curry and half vegetable pot stickies, and they’re bomb, per usual.

After we had lunch we went to the computer labs on campus to do our homework. Like peasants… I don’t have a laptop anymore, and Bunny’s laptop doesn’t have a disk drive, so the listening portion of our homework needs to be done at school now. But, it didn’t take as long as it usually does to get it done, because I was definitely more focused (because I wanted to get home).

We started on our journey home around 4-5pm. The bus was poppin!!! I think because it was later in the day... While on the bus, there was a man who was on his phone with his earphones in... pretty normal. But, he moved to stand next to me on the bus and I unintentionally looked at his phone screen and he was watching porn on the bus! HAHA. I immediately looked at Bunny and mouthed the word “PORN” and she starts cracking up. After he got off the bus, she told me how one of his earphones wasn’t in his ear, so she could hear the moans and stuff from the video. Wow. I want to say that I was completely surprised by this, (because of the fact that Asians in Asia are more private with their sexuality in general vs. Americans), but I guess a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.

I got up around 9pm and we headed to the night market to eat around 10/10:30. We got these Vietnamese sandwiches at one of the vendor stands. They were 60 NT (around $2 US). I wanted to try the chicken sandwich but she had run out so I went for the spicy pork option instead. Very very tasty. It was basically like a hoagie, but the bread was a bit crunchier than I expected. And I also got some spring rolls, and they were huge, but I didn’t like them and didn’t even finish them. Definitely a disappointment. 

Also my bubbling/blistering burn has started to slightly deflate, but I think to make up for that, it’s started to spread more outward. Still looks disgusting. Still might scar. Still keeps me up at night.

Friday:

This morning I tried something new!!! I didn’t go to the bakery! CAN I GET A HALLELUJAH!!! Making moves!!! But.... I still had bread. 

This morning I opted for an egg sandwich for breakfast and a milk tea... There’s a cafe in front of our main MTC building (where all our classes are held)... and I have never come here for breakfast but I’m definitely going to start after today... simply because they have alternatives to bread, and it’s CHEAPER.

Our class today went by SO quickly. I can’t even remember half the things we talked about, but our chapter is covering “Recycling” so I know that was the main topic of conversation. 

Taiwan is SUPER BIG on recycling here. It’s been hard to adjust. In our dorm, we don’t have recycling bins on our floor. The only recycling bins/main trash bins we have, is on the ground floor of the dorm. Bunny and I have a trashcan in our room, but we never separate our trash (by plastics, glass, paper, normal trash, and food trash/compost), because in all honesty, WHO HAS THE TIME? .... because of this, we just throw everything into our trash can and then when it gets to be too overfilled, we take our trashbag down to the main floor, and tie it up and set it gently down next to the recycling bins.... I know, we’re terrible human beings. But it would be easier if they put the bins on our same floor, because no one wants to go up and down four flights of stairs every time they need to throw something away... It’s unreasonable. And today after class there was a note on the main chalkboard saying something about the trash... But Bunny and I couldn’t read/understand all the words so we just shrugged it off hahaha. Again, I know, we’re terrible human beings... but maybe if the janitor lady wanted to get the message across to the foreigners (she knows we’re foreigners because literally everyone here recycles), then she would just to write it in English??... Just a thought...

Today was leg day at the gym. Again, today is our last day at the gym due to the gym being closed for the rest of the month for an event... and I didn’t want to run my mile but I did it anyway... came out at 8:55. By the skin of my teeth. It was tough. Bunny also left early from the gym to go home and get started on packing/checking into her flight online, because she’s going to Hong Kong for the weekend! How fun.

I met with Mika after the gym, and we met on the Shi Da night market by campus. I found her in the beauty shop, because she wanted to buy falsies (and quite frankly so did I), but the beauty shop had tons of other cool stuff too (eyelid tape, tons of face masks, all kinds of makeup (not a variety of skin tones though), etc.)...

While in the shop, I looked outside and it appeared as though I was going to get caught in the pouring rain for the second time this week. But, this time I didn’t bring an umbrella. UGH. So, I did the most logical thing I could think of: I stole an abandoned umbrella from outside the beauty shop... Here in Taiwan, most people bring an umbrella with them everywhere they go. To either hide from the rain, or shield from the sun (...wouldn’t want to get too dark huh Lady?)... But if it’s raining and then the rain stops, a lot of people leave/abandon their umbrellas outside of shops or convenient stores in the rack provided. They do this because umbrellas here are so cheap, no one wants to lug them around all day. So luckily for me, getting caught in the rain, there were about 10 umbrellas sitting in the rack outside the shop, just waiting to be picked up by Muah. I knew they were abandoned because Mika and I were the only people in the store, and the umbrellas were sitting there when I walked into the store (before it rained). SO BLESS UP. 

We went to the curry spot to eat a few stores down... then later hopped on the bus to head home. Mika lives by the Gong guan market, which is where Bunny and I frequently get dinner. But Mika usually takes the MRT to get to school everyday, which I told her is a bit more expensive than the bus, and the bus just as convenient. So I took her home with me on the bus so she could learn the ropes.

Bunny was gone when I got home, she had already left to head to the airport. I took a shower and was SO PLEASED and GRATEFUL that she left me her laptop to use while she was away for the weekend (in Hong Kong). I am now fully caught up on my shows (Power and Insecure), and I’m able to blog from home rather than go to campus and do all my blogging on Monday in the computer lab (campus is closed on the weekend). BUNNY IS THE BEST ROOMMATE EVER CAN WE PLEASE ALL FORM A PRAYER CIRCLE AND PRAISE GOD FOR HER EXISTENCE.

Around 9:30pm I emerged from my cave to get potstickers (to-go) and came right back home to relax a bit more and draft my blog posts. 

Also, Green Tea ice cream is easily one of my favorite flavors, and they have it in these little baby pint size containers that they sell at the convenient store. They are so so good. They are my guilty pleasure. That is all.

Around 11:30pm I crawled into bed while on Facetime with Lijah, (if you’re reading this, Hi!! I love you!!!) and got incredibly sleepy after that. I think it’s because I was laying down and I hadn’t had my nap today.... I knocked out just before midnight and woke up around 7:30am fully rested. I was going to go out to the bar last night but I’m so glad that I didn’t. Tomorrow (saturday) I have plans to spend the better part of the morning/afternoon enjoying the Emerald Hills of Maokong.  More on that to come!

xoxo

[victakestaipei]

“Let it Burn” : The Apple Saga continues...

This morning (Tuesday) I woke up with a huge burn on the back of my left arm… I fell asleep with my laptop next to me on the bed (per usual) because I usually am up watching my show (Power) and I’m too lazy to climb down the bunk bed and put my laptop on my desk at 1-2 am. I went to sleep and woke up in sudden PAIN because the laptop is so hot, like over heating, to the point where it scalded/burned my arm because I was touching/pressing against it in the middle of the night.

I’m going back to the Apple Store today. I’m pretty pissed honestly. I know I asked the Universe to turn my computer on and make it fully functional, which it is, but I guess I should’ve been more descriptive in my wishes…??

I grabbed a tea and a pastry at the bakery this AM before heading to class.. And I got a 94% on my dialogue quiz… my teacher asked about my burn and I told her what happened. I grabbed my laptop from my backpack and to my surprise, the laptop was still extremely hot even after not having been plugged in for over an hour!!! Something is definitely wrong. Class flew by simply because all I could think about was what I was going to say/do when I got to the store.

After class I headed straight to Taipei 101 and to the Apple Store. I skipped the gym yet again and I know my body will hate me for it later. I was thinking about filing a complaint because I went to the Apple Store yesterday and they didn’t really look at anything other than it just turning on and everything “seeming” to be working. They didn’t take it to the back or anything... They didn’t inspect it even though I told the genius bar specialist how it wouldn’t turn on for days... And then I happily take it home, and as it turns out, the battery dies quickly without being plugged in, the camera doesn’t work on the computer, and it burns the shit out of me because its overheating??? WOW

I was nervous about my approach because I’m a foreigner in a foreign country and it’s not like America where you can just bitch to get your way. I want them to FIX the overheating problem. But I don’t know how compliant they will be when I start getting upset… and I’m already upset because my burn is painful and extremely sensitive.

And for those of you thinking, “oh well you shouldn’t sleep next to your computer blah blah” … being close to my laptop while I slept shouldn’t really be a problem. I’ve slept with it near/on my bed millions of times and there’s no reason why it should be hot enough to the point where it scalds me? And it’s only hot on one side of the laptop. The side where you insert CDs/DVDs... so clearly something is wrong. And it stays hot even when not connected to a power source. It only starts to calm down once the computer dies and has been dead for about 10-15 minutes.

The fact of the matter is that they (Ivan) didn’t do their job and I waited an hour and a half for an appointment and I only got face to face time with him for 20 min (if that)… After Ivan saw that my computer turned on, he left me alone to tend to other customers. I understand that the Apple store is almost always busy. But I waited a good 25 minutes before electing to go home, it was clear that Ivan wasn’t coming back. And I was just happy that the computer was on and running...

Once at the Apple Store today I spoke with a new lady. She’s Australian, and I only spoke to her because Mel wasn’t at work today. This is my third day being in the Apple Store, and I relayed the entire story to her, start to finish. My frustrations, my excitement when it turned on, and the pain from my burn. She sent another lady (an older transgender lady named Momo) to take a look at my computer and take it to the back.

When I tried to power on the computer and show them how only half of it gets really hot, I plugged in my laptop to the outlet and it was non-responsive, YET AGAIN. This is CRUNCH TIME and you don’t want to power on??? CMON MAN

So Momo took it back anyway to give it a look...

I’m waiting here at the table twiddling my thumbs and trying to rack my brain for other options…

Momo returns... tells me of the severe water damage and how the cost of damages will amount to about $1000 USD. Whereas the price of a new MacBook Air is $1200.

At this point the computer is a goner, it will never power back on again… Momo suggests I just “buy a new one” (*scoffs) because “even if they replace the tech that’s damaged, there’s no guarantee that it will work in the future.”

The fat lady has sung. My laptop is dead, and in its last dying breath, it exerts enough energy for one last “fuck you” and I’m forever scarred. (Literally). How poetic.

I have to get another MacBook in order to restore the back up that I did last night. The data that I backed up uses a specific software called TimeMachine that’s only compatible with Apple products… so I can get a temporary notebook or something while I’m here but in the long run if I want to ever access my data (8 years worth) I would need another Mac. So chances are, I will just wait until I get back to the States and look into getting a new computer then. My heart is broken.

After getting home and taking a long and well-deserved nap, I decided to try my hand again at this whole Apple product problem... I got onto Apple chat support and started telling the US support staff about how I wanted to file a formal complaint.

The person I was chatting online with, Jessi, was very helpful and listened to my story from start to finish, asking questions every so often. I even sent her photos of my burns (which look pretty gross) at this point. 

She then gave me a number to call and my case number to reference once I get on the phone. One thing led to another and after about 2 hours total, I ended up being promised assistance when I get back stateside. I’m not sure how MUCH assistance I’m going to get, but I’m just happy people are willing to help me. When I was at the Apple Store here in Taipei, I showed two of the managers my burn, and both of them just simply asked “oh wow have you seen a doctor??” Like NO BIH I AINT SEEN NO DAMN DOCTOR!!!

I’m foreign, only here for the summer, I doubt I have insurance that covers any sort of medical issues like this??? I literally cannot. I’ve never met more unhelpful people in my life. And granted the liquid damage is my fault, but if Ivan would have looked a bit further into the computer instead of leaving me alone to tend to other customers so quickly, I would have been aware of the significant water damage and wouldn’t have even had the laptop powered on like that, or plugged in, or on my bed, to begin with...

For dinner we went to the night market, and I bought this sweet/sour chicken paired with this salad. It was really good. Extremely flavorful, my mouth was tripping out... I also got some pears from a fruit stand...

 On our way back to the bus stop we also stopped in at a pharmacy and bought some burn cream. Hopefully this doesn’t scar too bad. 

Until next time,

xoxo

[victakestaipei]

WEEK 4 RECAP: “Power, Chase Bank Complaints, and TYPHOON SEASON”

As I stated in my previous posts, I’m really really really sorry for the delay here on my WEEK 4 RECAP. Granted, my weeks have started to become pretty routine; But I still like to keep my word with you guys and blog every weekend, despite the topic being my humdrum weekdays.

Anyway, let’s get to it:

Monday: 

My monday was one for the books, honestly. I stayed in bed all day long blogging and doing homework and just being a bum. It felt awesome. We got in from the Philippines early this morning, and I didn’t actually get in the bed until about 4am, so I took the liberty of playing hooky, and NO RAGRETS! 

I only left the house to get breakfast with Bunny... We went to this breakfast joint by our house and I splurged on an egg scallion pancake, a breakfast sandwich, orange juice, and a hash brown patty. It was bomb, but who am I kidding, it’s always bomb. I didn’t end up doing my homework until later in the evening, which ended up backfiring because I had SO MUCH HOMEWORK TO CATCH UP ON. It was actually pretty insane, but I still got it all done. For dinner Bunny and I picked up some potstickers from the place right outside our dorms that you all have already heard SO much about because we literally go there multiple times a week. Like I said in my intro... HUM. DRUM. 

Tuesday:

Today we went to the bakery before class, I had my daily tea, and barely survived the 3 hour period. After class we went to the gym, and I did leg day today. My legs were shaking so much, it was like they had turned to jelly over the weekend. I think this is due to the fact I took 4 days off🙄 but I managed to get my mile down to 8:30 today!!! Y’ALL!!! BASK IN THE GLORY!!! Progress!!! Slowly but surely!!!  

After the gym we went to a restaurant on the Shi Da market for lunch, and ordered fried chicken curry with rice and veggies. It was super good, and only 100 NT! (About $3.35 US).  

Afterwards, we went home and I took the longest shower ever, and then a nap (I really really needed it). I got up just to do homework, and then crawled back into the bed. I found a website that lets me watch Power online so that I can FINALLY catch up to the new season. BLESS UP!!! I started watching this show over the summer, but then I got caught up with other stuff so I never caught all the way up. I last left off on Season 2 Episode 7, but I heard the new season 4 is BATSHIT CRAZY so I need to catch up PRONTO. (Also, can I just take a minute and say I freakin’ hate Angela??? Ugh. Tasha is a ride or DIE and Angela comes waltzing in and I’m just mad as hell. Ghost is such a punkass. I literally cannot deal. Let me shut up while I’m ahead before ya’ll comment and spoil something for me.)

...He still fine as hell though... :-’)

For dinner we went to the Gong guan night market to get Gua Bao (remember those pork hamburger things from my “WEEK 2 RECAP” post? “Gua Bao? Gua BOMB!”) and egg scallion pancakes. We didn't leave the house until after 11pm, so alot of our options were closed at that point. 

Wednesday: 

I actually got up on time to head to the bus, and I was WELL RESTED!! Wow, such a rare occurance. In class I got a 95% on my dialogue quiz today. I’m getting used to pulling these A’s, but our lessons have gotten significantly harder so I find myself reviewing the characters twice as much as usual. Ew.

At the gym I did chest/shoulders/abs. I wore the wrong leggings to the gym today... I wore my normal black leggings instead of my work out leggings, so I didn't do cardio because I didn't want to be all sweaty in my normal cloth leggings... I don’t know I'm weird I guess?? But my ass was looking PHAT at the gym since I had normal leggings on hehe

After the gym Bunny and I tried this Italian spot by our school. They have a lunch menu where you can get a dish AND a side for 99 NT!!! (3-4$ US). What a deal!! I ordered pesto penne pasta and pumpkin soup as my side. Pretty plain, but still super yummy!

After lunch I went home to shower and do my homework and relax. Bunny and I got dinner around 9 because we were STARVING more than usual. I guess the soup and pasta didn’t do it for me. We hopped on the bus to head to Gong guan, but we missed our exit so we ended up taking the bus all the way to our school to go to the Shi Da night market there. MIND YOU I LOOK LIKE A CRAZY CAT LADY. I twisted my hair up and put on two bandanas after taking a shower and putting product in... and I had on a long flowy printed dress I got from the Philippines. Needless to say I looked crazy, in my shower flip flops. We got the soy sauce noodles to-go, with green beans, udon, cabbage, broccoli, and tofu. I also got to chat with my mom on skype tonight which was nice, after struggling to get her speakers to work (for like 20min) so she could actually hear me. I stuffed my face while on the phone with her, and she cheekily said “how come whenever I get you on skype you ALWAYS EATIN??” Then proceeds to laugh hysterically and say “you gonna regret it!! It’s gonna go straight to your hips!!!” ......So charming *eyeroll*, gotta love her lol.... 

I went to bed super late because I had the migraine of a lifetime. I think it might have been because I didn’t get a tea this morning... Caffeine headaches will be the death of me.

Thursday: 

I woke up with the same migraine, and was moving slow because I was so tired and my head was banging!! It was like the drummer guy from Whiplash was putting in WERK on my forehead. I was about 10 minutes late to class... I tried to rush because I knew we had a test in class, but I just couldn’t bring myself to get out of the bed on time. Kokoro (the Japanese student in my class) and I rode on the same bus to class, he was late too because he had gone clubbing last night! On a Wednesday??... Turns out, it doesn’t matter what day of the week it is here, it’s lit at the club every night. 

Class was good today. It didn't feel like it dragged as much. But, I was starving the whole time because I didn’t have time to grab some food before strolling into the class. Our teacher referenced the upcoming typhoon today! Meaning, it will be pouring, dumping rain all next week, starting this weekend. There will also be fierce winds. She told us how many people stay home and grocery shop a lot beforehand because transportation and a lot of businesses are closed. For those of you who don’t know, a typhoon is basically a hurricane. I'm not mentally prepared. Our teacher said that typhoon season lasts three months, starting in August. I’m nervous about the food aspect because we don't have a fridge in the dorm so I'm about to be eating perishables all week... canned beans and rice? God, I’m not excited. But maybe class will be cancelled a few days this week? A girl can dream!!!

In the gym it was leg day yet again! My legs weren’t half as shaky as tuesday so that’s good. I ran a 8:45 mile, after almost DYING on the first treadmill I hopped on. I was adjusting the speed and the treadmill skipped and I almost flew the fuck off. My arms were flailing and I let out this loud/awkward noise and everyone was looking at me. I caught my balance and didn't die, but I definitely quietly turned off the machine and moved to another treadmill shortly after. I think that messed up my mojo because while I was running I was constantly paranoid of the same thing happening on the machine next door. 

After the gym the three of us went to Shi Da market. I pulled out cash from the ATM but was pretty bitter about it because I looked at my bank statement and my bank (Chase Bank) charges a $5 FEE WITH EVERY NON-CHASE ATM WITHDRAWAL that I make... THAT ADDS UP?!!! Are u kidding me??! I’M BROKE AS IT IS CHASE, CUT ME SOME SLACK!!! I'm so salted. I hate Chase Bank. They suck ass. Do you know how many WITHDRAWALS I’VE HAD TO MAKE WHILE HERE??? I need a Charles Schwab account because it seems like they’re the only bank not trying to PLAY US.

I tried a new place for lunch where they had these small fried dumplings. I would show a picture but I inhaled it so fast that I didn't get to. So here's a picture of the box...hehe

I also got some more dragonfruit today    V   so so good.

After the gym I came home, showered, and relaxed. I ended up napping around 8 and woke up at like 10:30pm... I did my homework in class so I'm probably just going to eat something small and crawl back into the bed. I got a banana at the Family Mart convenience store and some apple juice and a pack of yan yans. Yan Yans are those pretzel stick things that come with the chocolate dip and they’re super good?? I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. I talked to Karis on the phone, and then Paris shortly after that. It was SO GOOD to see Paris’s face and hear his voice after so long. :-’) I miss you roomie!! I knocked out again after hanging up with him.

Friday: 

This morning I woke up to a power outage on our Gong guan campus. If this is any tell of how the rest of the weekend/next week is going to be with the upcoming typhoon, I am not ready.

I got a 99 on my quiz today... I. AM. HURT. It was so so close I could taste the perfect score!!

Today I brought my umbrella to class because the typhoon starts this afternoon/evening. Class breeezed by because there was only 7 of us today. It was back day at the gym, and it was great! I’m definitely going to be sore. And I did some booty workouts on the floor afterward. After the gym we went to Gong guan market (the one by our house, not the Shi Da one by campus) to get some food and look for a SIM card for Bunny’s phone (so that she can have a local phone number and consistent data). We stopped and got pork buns and mango before heading home. 

When I got home I finally was able to decompress from the long week. I relaxed for a few hours before leaving the house at 10pm to go to the grocery store with Bunny. When we got to the grocery store, it was about an hour or so before closing, and it looked like the apocalypse hit. All the shelves were sweeped, but we got some food to get us through the weekend.... Like wine and rice and potatoes and eggs and snacks. After the grocery store we headed home to relax and shelter away from the upcoming typhoon.

Saturday: 

I made breakfast this morning after finally leaving the bed at 1:30 pm. I made eggs and papas!! - An old fave. (Jaylene I miss you). I also cut up some apples too to eat with peanut butter. It was good, but the papas weren't up to par because I only had two seasonings... Sad day. 

The rest of the day was spent in bed, watching Power and being a couch potato. At 8:30pm our power went out again, but only for a few minutes. It was getting pretty crazy outside at this point. You could hear the wind howling and tree branches swinging and water pushing its way through the cracks in the closed windows of the bathroom/bedroom. 

At 9pm is when I spilled my Pink Moscato on my laptop. HOW COULD SOMETHING SO SWEET BETRAY ME SO HARSHLY?? My computer immediately died after letting out this depressing noise and became completely non-responsive...and so did I. I was on the brink of a meltdown. To keep from succumbing to panic, I put my phone on DND and went to sleep at 9:30pm. I literally knocked the hell out. That’s the best way to avoid problems/conflict right? Take ya ass to sleep.

Sunday:

I woke up by 4:45/5am, and reality set in. I spoke to my mom on the phone, and she helped calm me down and rationalize the situation. I was a mess. I still am a mess. I cannot afford a new computer right now, and I'm nervous about going to get it fixed because I don't want to be taken advantage of, and I wouldn't know the difference either way... I'm clearly foreign. But I have 8 years of memories and information stored on this laptop, so I'm not letting it go without a fight. I called a few places that claim to fix Apple products on Google, but none of them turned up with any real answers. So after 12pm, I ended up going to the Apple Store at Taipei 101. I took a quick shower and brought a bunch of stuff I figured I might need: my laptop, external hard drive, a flannel, umbrella, towels, a hat, and snacks. I've never been outside when there was a typhoon brewing so it's better safe than sorry right? As soon as I walked outside I could tell something was off. There weren't a lot of people bustling about, and there were countless fallen branches and leaves covering the sidewalks and roads.

I hopped on the bus, and then the MRT, to head to Taipei 101, the tallest skyscraper in Taiwan. I had this lingering thought in the back of my mind... let me illustrate... “Is it a good idea to go to the tallest sky scraper in Taiwan when there’s a hurricane with strong winds/ pouring rain just waiting to happen?”... All i could picture is the structure toppling over with all of us inside and causing this huge disaster, similar to something straight out of an Apocalyptic movie like 2012.... Anyway, I arrived just before 1pm, and come to find out, the Apple Store is CLOSED. I’m salty. All the lights are on and the store would otherwise look open, it's just that there's no one inside. It's completely empty. Even all the devices on display are powered on. It was kinda errie... Like those paper towns the military sets up, where it looks like a normal town and everything, just no one lived there...  I looked online (again) and went to their actual website where it says today (and only today) they open at 2pm instead of 11am. So I just waited around the mall for an hour until they opened. I found a bench and an outlet so I was just sitting here chilling....Glad I brought my snacks. ;)

When the time finally came to go back to the Apple Store, that overwhelming feeling came rushing over me again. I ended up crying like a PUNK to the customer service lady. So annoying!!! Ugh. I was a fragile mess. I spoke to two different managers who both spoke perfect English, and they helped to reassure me that they would try their best to help me. I have to come back tomorrow for a walk-in appointment with the Genius Bar. Fingers crossed they can help me, or at least retrieve/save my information. 

I left Taipei 101 feeling pretty defeated, so I got some McDonalds on the way home... I know it sounds silly but I needed comfort food and something that felt like home. I ordered the filet o fish (which I crave daily), with fries and a coke. This was not my best moment, but the whole meal only cost 95 NT!! (Less than $3.20). CRAZY! 

I came home and that’s when I started reading my book that I keep mentioning, “You Are A Badass” By Jen Sincero. It helped me to feel better and get into a better frame of mind. 

I took a break from reading to help Bunny make curry for tonight’s dinner. It was BOMB and came out fairly well if I may say so myself. I’ll definitely be making curry more often when I come back to the States.

I finished reading my book just before calling it a night. SUCH a good read I cannot stress this enough!!! I learned so much from Jen’s words and she adds funny stories/anecdotes and the way she describes things is just so relatable. If you have a chance to read it I definitely recommend!!!

I went to sleep pretty late, I was laying in bed catching up with Jay (via text) and other friends from back home. Before closing my eyes, I decided to practice meditation, which is one of the key concepts in the book. I wasn’t very successful the first time, because it was hard to clear my mind and just be still. I know it takes practice, so I’m going to try to dedicate time every day to meditate for at least 5 minutes! Feel free to join me on this challenge, it’s supposed to reap unprecidented benefits!

Also, please pray that when I take my laptop in tomorrow to the Apple Store they can fix whatever’s wrong!!! I need all the prayers I can get. I’m speaking it into existence now: MY COMPUTER WILL LIVE. IT WILL RISE AGAIN. IT WILL POWER ON.

Until next time,

xoxo

[victakestaipei]

“Speaking It Into Existence”: A CONCEPT, TURNED REALITY... ((A FREAKIN’ MIRACLE))

Y’ALL - 

Let me start by saying that I’ve been reading this book while on my trip here in Taipei, it’s called “You Are A Badass” by Jen Sincero.. It’s one of those self-help/inspiring books that helps you to unlock your inner badass mofo and be one with the Universe and kick life’s ass (instead of the other way around).... easy enough, right?

-------

Because my laptop was dead as a doornail for half the weekend (since Saturday night), I elected to be productive and actually finish this book that I’ve been lugging around for weeks. 

The book was amazing. I would definitely recommend it to anyone and everyone. You don’t have to be in a dark place to pick it up or anything of the sort... and it’s not overly corny to the point where you cringe as you flip through the pages.... I feel empowered and definitely learned a lot. At first it seems strange/silly to physically say things aloud and “speak them into existence,” But IT WORKS. I am now a firm believer. I even practiced meditating last night before going to sleep, and downloaded a “meditation” playlist on Apple Music to help get me in the groove...

I cried and cried all Saturday night/Sunday because I was panicking about my laptop and all the stresses of having to buy a new one, or trying to figure out how to fix the pink Moscato that flooded my Macbook’s keyboard.. not to mention the thought of having 8 years of memories washed down the toilet... (needless to say I am currently backing up my laptop right now).

Which brings me to this:

MY LAPTOP IS ALIVE. RESURRECTED FROM THE DEAD. A FUCKING MID-SUMMER CHRISTMAS MIRACLE! 

**excuse my French but I’m excited and pumped and at a loss for eloquent words due to sheer disbelief.**

After class today (Monday) I skipped the gym, picked up some food to-go, and headed to the MRT. As I headed to the station I found myself testing out this “theory” I had read about last night.... I started to say things out loud/under my breath like:

“Universe, please please please help me get some answers regarding my laptop,” “regardless of the outcome, I understand that everything happens for a reason, and that we shouldn’t be so incredibly attached to material things, but we both know I cannot afford a new computer right now, and it would be a huge inconvenience for me and where I’m headed”.... “I believe that my computer will come out the other side, fully functional, and I am grateful to you for doing just that,” ... the book I read says that you need to believe in what you’re saying for it to work, to really connect to Source Energy (God) and align yourself with the outcome that you desire.. What you put out into the world (your energy, your thinking, your words), is exactly what the world gives back to you...

A few Taiwanese girls saw me talking to myself like a crazy person but I adjusted my Adidas cap a bit and continued to do so anyway.. After I arrived at the Apple store, I met with the manager, Mel, who put me on the list for a walk-in appointment. I was seen by a Genius Bar specialist (Ivan) within an hour and a half. (sooner than expected...thanks girl!!)

After struggling back in forth in “Chin-glish”, I told Ivan about the possible water damage (hehe) and how for the past two days I’ve had the laptop upside down (to drain), but that it’s still completely unresponsive and still won’t turn on.

He then proceeds to plug in the charger to the outlet, press the power button, AND YALL MY JAW DROPPED TO THE FLOOR!!!

MY COMPUTER POWERED ON. THIS IS CRAZY. I’m over here saying “holy shit” over and over, jaw still chillin’ on the tile floor... to the point where the specialist, Ivan, starts to repeat it with me “Holy Shit!! Holy Shit!!! Holy Shit!!!!” in his thick Taiwanese accent.

We wait a few minutes and log onto the internet and EVERYTHING IS COMPLETELY FUNCTIONAL. I AM IN DISBELIEF. ((I hope my sheer disbelief and shock and reaction is translating and resonating with you all because I’m really over here pressed.))

I will never doubt God and the Universe ever ever again.  Like I said in my last post, He always got my back... and with that, Thank you God, Thank you Ivan, and Thank You Jen Sincero. You a real one.

[victakestaipei]

PSA: BLOG DELAY!!!

Hello friends, I'm having some trouble with my laptop, because it experienced some slight water damage... well, "wine damage" if I'm being so honest... Because of this, my "WEEK 4 RECAP" post will be delayed, along with my posts about the current typhoon that's plaguing Taiwan. (For those of you who don't know, a typhoon is basically a hurricane, they just call it by a different name over here on this side of the pond). Late July-August is typhoon season, so I'm expecting some heavy heavy rainfall and strong winds these next few days/weeks. I'm sorry for the inconvenience and I'm sorry to disappoint you guys. I'm trying to get my laptop fixed as soon as possible but it hasn't been easy. I'm feeling pretty stressed and overwhelmed. The laptop is completely non-responsive, won't turn on, nothing. And lord knows I cannot afford another laptop with my broke ass, especially another MacBook. Right now I'm blogging from my iPhone but it's not as easy, especially when trying to add photos and other aspects (like gifs/videos) to the blog post. Either way though I'll keep you all updated on my progress. I'm feeling pretty defeated right now but God always has my back, right? xoxo

[victakestaipei]

The “Dry” Period

I’ve been contemplating for a few days now whether or not I wanted to post this entry to my blog.. because after all, how transparent is too transparent?

But after thinking it over and realizing that I’m still experiencing these feelings, I figured I should post it so that you all know what it’s really like for me, and so that you can brace yourselves for similar feelings if you ever decide to study abroad. (*NOTE: I have edited this entry slightly since I originally wrote it, but all the feelings are still present as ever).

One thing I want to say first is that I feel alone, in more ways than one.

I know that technically I’m not alone, I have friends and family and loved ones and God himself… but we all know it doesn’t always feel that way. 

Don’t get me wrong, being here in Taiwan definitely has more “pros” than “cons”… but it doesn’t mean that the “cons” themselves aren’t doozies.

I’ve been here for longer than a month now, and I still have exactly one more month to go (*as of today, July 25).

I just feel like I have yet to find people who really get me... Who understand me and feel what I feel and think the way I think. It’s not that I haven’t made friends, or that the friends I have made aren’t great, It’s just that I still feel the need to censor myself in terms of what I say or how I act. Not because I’m ashamed of who I am or anything of the sort, but maybe out of fear of judgement? … Who knows. After all, it’s nothing against them, and to be so honest, it’s only been a few short weeks that I’ve known them as is.

But it’s hard to be in such a new place and not have people you can be brutally honest with about yourself and how you feel, and be able to trust that they are going to encourage you, support you, and love you, despite your flaws/faults. (in other words: I don’t want to spring tears on them when I get upset over the smallest thing and then have them stare at me like deers in the headlights).

There are trade offs to being here… I know it’s supposed to be fun and exotic, and that people back home envy me and wish they could travel/see the world... but it takes a lot out of you. It takes a lot of self-motivation to keep myself positive and not get consumed in loneliness and fear and sadness. I miss my family and friends and a long list of things that I don’t want to rehash online, but I’m sure you all get the idea.

Before I left the US I talked to my best friend Karis about her study abroad experience she had in Fall 2017. Everything she told me were things I would expect, but she also said this…(I’m paraphrasing) “There will be days that you love being there and experiencing the new culture, but there will also be days that you won’t want to get out of bed, let alone leave your room.” And I asked her how she dealt with this, and at first she didn’t have an answer.. She said she cried a lot and she felt like she was going crazy for a bit, but she also said that one thing that helped her was finding a place that reminds her of home, and where she feels at peace. For her in Wales, that place was a tiny teahouse located in a shopping mall.

I have yet to find my “home away from home” but I’m hoping that once I do it yields the same benefits it did for Karis, because right now I could really use some comfort. I know two months doesn’t seem like a long time, and looking back it’s flown by, but I can feel a “dry period” approaching.. where I’m going to end up falling face first down the mental rabbit hole, and needless to say I’m not excited. I can already feel myself drowning and grasping for the nonexistent, orange, blow up life saver.

Another aspect that still bugs me is how obvious my foreign-ness is. For instance if I was in the UK, Africa, Canada, or even Spain, I would blend right in. But here? Not a chance. I am stared at constantly. On the bus, in the hallway, at the night market… everywhere I go.. and I try to not let it get to me, and even smile in their faces, but it gets hard after a while when you realize that only 1% (if that) of people actually look away when you stare back, or better yet, smile back when you smile at them. This seems trivial but it adds up, and it makes me feel even more alone in my bubble of loneliness.

I’m not sure what I should do to fix this issue… As I said before I think this may just be a “dry period” and a phase that will (hopefully) soon pass, but because I am so emotionally in-tune, I’m feeling pretty weighed down. It’s hard for me to just block out emotions/feelings, especially ones like this, and especially when I feel like I have no one here to vent to about it. I need to feel heard and validated and understood. If you have any advice on the matter let ya girl know.

until then, xoxo