photolog

I finally fixed the problem with my camera's memory card so I have photos now! These are a few of my favorites from the past week in Taiwan :) Hopefully it makes up for the lack of updates heh.

Calligraphy at the NTU History Museum. I remember I took this because I liked the meaning of it but I forgot what it is now, help anyone? 

Andria, Kylee and I before our rice harvesting farm practice session. So much fun (and sweat!)

Andria with her 陳三鼎! This has gotta be the one food item I will miss the most from Taiwan.

Formosa Toad at 富陽生態公園. Clearly I have to kiss this toad to find my Taiwanese 男神, aka 高以翔.

Kylee outside the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology in Taiwan. I love the mountain view, it reminds me of how much I miss Vancouver.

Studying brittle stars (? I think that's what they're called. Oh, the trouble of not bringing a notebook around) Everyone's so interested in this poor creature to the point that we're tormenting it. 

The must-try 胡椒饼 at 饒河街觀光夜市.  I have to admit it's only okay :| not worth going all the way there for it. 

The beetle and the butterfly.

Jiling on top of a sulfur fumarole- She looks so happy here! Yangmingshan is a beautiful place :) Hiking up was tiring but so worth it. I'm surprised it was actually pretty tough considering that it's not that long/high for a hike and it's in a subtropical region where the air doesn't get as thin. Nevertheless, a good workout after all the gorging on Taiwanese food!

Chen Hao and I with our Hot Star Large Fried Chicken at Shilin Night Market! It was delicious! They have a policy not to cut their chicken cutlets so we (barbarically) tore the piece we were sharing. 

My masterpiece (not really) at the Yingge Ceramics Museum. I never thought I would be into ceramics and pottery but this museum was amazing! My mom's an accomplished potter so I took lots of pictures for her. It was so interesting that I walked through the entire museum before the guided tour even started. 

Jiling, Andria and I with our humongous mango crepes- this was so soooo good and sooo huge and also sooooo cheap!!! I wish I had this in my university. Or not because I'd get diabetes from eating it everyday. Gotta head back to this stall for the peanut butter crepe!

Wrote my name in calligraphy class. It was my first time- I think I did pretty well! I actually really liked this lesson, I wish there were more. Sheng-yu told me that I could get a calligraphy paper, a nice brush and the stone to grind ink from a store near our dorm. I can't wait to get some- going to be so relaxing practicing calligraphy (and learning more Chinese poems) during cold winter nights :)

I met my friend who exchanged to my university! She's Taiwanese and a graduate of National Taiwan University. She brought me around on her scooter to have 擔仔麵 and dessert, followed by a relaxing foot massage and a stroll around the nearby night market. Can't get more Taiwanese than that!

The dessert- it's 汤圆 豆花 and it was oh-my-god-amazing. They have this dessert in Singapore, but it's an imitation of the Taiwanese version. To finally be able to try this in Taiwan was heavenly!! I'll definitely go back to this stall before I leave Taiwan. 

Our first free day~ My friend recommended this hair salon because it's cheap and near NTU. Plus, everybody gets their hair done in Taiwan, it's almost customary considering how cheap it is compared to the rest of the world. Nice relaxing start to an exciting day :)

One hot Sheila ;) 

Scooting around in style~~~ so. much. fun!!! Felt like I was in a Taiwanese show, defs gotta get me one of these babies in Singapore- it's so convenient.

Ended the day at Taipei 101. I took this picture because I love the design of 101- it's so oriental!

♥♥♥

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This is possibly the most difficult course I've ever taken.

Every night after class, I struggle between visiting all the night markets in Taipei but I know I have to get up early for school. It really doesn't help that our dorm is right by 公館- stopping by 陳三鼎 on the way home is fast becoming a habit. It's hard to resist walking around aimlessly or visiting new night markets especially when there's so much to see in Taipei. Also, I can't visit all the scenic spots mentioned in guidebooks because of program scheduling during the day. I honestly think all our meals should be off campus so that we get to try more food, or maybe I'm just being really greedy here :P

Luckily for me today, our program for Marine Biodiversity ended at around 6pm, so I had the entire evening to devote to exploration. After some planning (and a shower- Taiwan is so humid! Especially after all that nosing around for sea critters, pictures soon.. except my camera isn't connecting to my mac) I decided to head to 五分埔 and 饒河街觀光夜市 because I heard it's one of the cheapest places to shop in Taipei. Taipei's transportation system was easy enough to figure out despite me not knowing how to read traditional Chinese. 五分埔 is ENORMOUS. I can't wrap my head around that place- once you enter, you're surrounded by tons and tons and tons (this goes on) of clothing stores. It's never ending. I initially planned an hour for 五分埔, but ended up spending close to three hours because I got lost inside the commercial district. I finally found my way to   饒河街 by 1030pm, but was too tired to actually walk through the night market. So I did the only thing I could do and bought the famous 胡椒饼 before heading back. Can't wait to visit 饒河夜市 again! And 士林夜市 and 師大路夜市 and Taipei 101..

gratiam

It’s been three days since I touched down in Taiwan and it has completely blown my mind. I’ve always been interested in Taiwan for its culture and its people- I love the Oriental way of life (and I find the Taiwanese Chinese accent to be sooo charming). But what struck me the first few days of being here is that as an island nation, Taiwan is extremely rich in terms of natural resources. Taipei is always marketed as a bustling city but this island has more than just a vibrant cityscape to offer. What’s even more impressive is that the Taiwanese acknowledge this and do their best to conserve what they have. In my opinion, this stems from the traditional/Oriental mindset, because no Western city would ever completely halt all timber harvesting for the sake of environmental protection. The Taiwanese understand the value of the world we live in and prize this more than the (economic) world we create.

Even with my high expectations of Taiwan, meeting the NTU faculty and students has blown everything out of the water. I have to clarify that I am not merely saying this for brownie points with Jack (Jack, I swear I’m not). Even with these introductory lectures, it’s crystal clear how motivated and passionate these scientists are. What I particularly liked was the introductory lecture by Professor Shin Wang, on the geography of Taiwan. He started off the lecture with a ‘story’ on the science of God and our consciousness. It embodied NTU’s most influential president, Fu Ssu Nien’s philosophy of being introspective and I am impressed at how professors not only wish to impart practical knowledge but also encourage students to think of spiritual ideals.

Now I really want to live in Taiwan.