Study Break

Taking a break from studying to bring you super exciting updates. Yeah, not really.

So classes ended last Friday. Aside from grocery shopping I haven't really been able to go out and do anything because I have four finals and a four page lab report due next week. HKU gives you a whole week to prepare for finals! Probably due to the fact that they're on a semester system (yes, Berkeley kids?). I find that I'm really not used to having so much time to study. HAHA. At UCLA you could totally have a final the day after classes end (on a Saturday). And instead of having a whole week to study, I'm more used to having two or three days before having three or four finals lined up, whereas HKU gives finals over a three week period. Yeah, I probably won't do any better here than at home...

SO. As of tomorrow I will have only three weeks left in Hong Kong. That realization in itself is so many things: disbelief that time passed by so quickly, happiness in getting to go home and see my family and friends (and dogs!), sadness in having to leave and not knowing when I'll be able to come back, pressure to see/do as many things as possible, regret in not doing EVERYTHING, O_O in knowing that I actually survived in a foreign country.

I'll elaborate later in an extremely deep and heartfelt post before I leave. Maybe.

But yeah, my last final is on May 12th, after which I am completely free to do as I like. A lot of my friends are taking the time to travel to China/different countries, but I'm choosing to live out the remainder of my days on this side of the world exploring more of Hong Kong. I figure, as of right now, I'm done with traveling. I didn't realize that going to new places could be so stressful...There's always the pressure of trying to utilize your time there to the fullest and see as many things as you can, so you rush through everything and don't really have the time to fully appreciate them. Also, I have to wake up at 7:30 or 8:30 everyday for class, and I found myself having to wake up even EARLIER than that while I was traveling. Disgusting.

So aside from a last excursion out to Shenzhen, I'll be staying in Hong Kong for the next three weeks. And that's 10000% okay with me.

Oh yeah, still got that Macau post...

My Dorm Doesn't Have An Ice Machine

So right now I'm using a can of lemon iced tea to ice my swollen foot. My normally size 5 foot is currently a size 7 because the mosquitoes here are MUTANTS. They are seriously unlike the mosquitoes at home, and not only bite you and suck your blood out, but from the size of my foot it looks like they burrow in there and set up furniture, have a couple of kids, and live out their lives in their new gigantic living quarters. It's better now because I have something cold on it, but when I got back today from shopping (and being on my feet all day) my foot was busting out of my shoe and my toes looked like vienna sausages. Couldn't take a picture because my camera is out of batteries and I'm not about to wait for it to recharge while my foot explodes...

Macau post later.

Taiwan Part 3: Impressions

Don't miss the Taiwanese tourist traps we checked out in the post below!

Overall, Taipei is not too different from Hong Kong. Of course, Taiwan is much less westernized than Hong Kong (still got the squat toilets), but both places are in between the rawness of Mainland China and what I'm used to back at home. I like Hong Kong better (HK bias, sorry), but I noticed some things in Taiwan that HK could pick up on:

First of all, Taiwanese people are SUPER NICE. I mean, CRAZY SUPER NICE. I experienced it firsthand almost right when we got to Taipei. I was walking through the night market eating and dripped on myself or something when a shopkeeper (or one of those people that stand outside stores trying to entice customers in) just called me over and gave me a couple of napkins. I mean, I wasn't even a customer! And in Hong Kong, restaurants don't even give you napkins when you ARE a customer! Sorry, I just thought it was bizarre, but in a good way.

They also go out of your way to help you with directions. And if you didn't ask them directions, they stand around in the general vicinity waiting to help you in case the person you did ask was wrong. There were many times where the directions we got were kind of unclear (and it showed on our faces) when the direction-teller would just stop what they were doing and was like, "Follow me, I'll show you." One lady who didn't know where the place we wanted to go was went and asked a policeman for us, instead of just telling us to ask him ourselves.

But although they're really nice, the locals there really cannot wrap their minds around the concept of an American Born Chinese person. They ask where we're from, we say America, and they always go "NOOOOOO WAYYYYYYYYYYYY. IMPOSSIBLE! But you're not white! Stop trying to trick me!" Very strange.

Also, it POURED the last night we were in Taipei, and I guess the people there are used to it, so it wasn't uncommon for us to see people in shorts and sandals. Which I guess is smarter because then you're not ruining your pants and shoes (I know I did), but what was kinda weird was that they looked at US strangely for wearing ponchos. My friend also tied bags around her feet because she was wearing flats and her feet were getting wet, and people looked at her like she was CRAZY. I mean, I guess I would look if somebody was wearing a poncho AND bags around her feet, but if it was pouring, I wouldn't think twice about it.

But anyway, other nice things about Taiwan:

Restrooms in the MRT (Taiwanese equivalent of MTR - somebody is backwards).

Waiting area for women in the MRT. In case it's late at night, you can wait at a particular spot in the station that's monitered by cameras.

Much, much more green.

Wider streets, sidewalks

Longer time for crossing the street (accompanied by a convenient countdown)

Much better air quality

Not really something "nice" or an "improvement", but the amount of Japanese influence in Taipei surprised me. The hot springs are Japanese style, Ximending has a lot of Japanese flare, and overall it's not too uncommon to see the same amount of Japanese restaurants as Chinese. Just an observation.

Oh yeah. I guess the sewage system in Taiwan is not built to handle toilet paper, so every time you go to the bathroom you have to throw your used toilet paper into the trash instead of the toilet. Except I remembered that after I had already thrown it into the toilet. Oops. I just thought that was strange.

SO. That was Taiwan. Overall a pleasant trip (aside from the massive downpour on the last day - I'm from Socal, couldn't handle it). Even though we were rushed and missed out on a couple of things we wanted to do, I'm happy to be back in Hong Kong, and not really in a rush to go back to Taipei (or anywhere else). Sorry, HK bias.

Taiwan Part 2: Tourist Traps

So we did other things besides eating.

Our first venture out into Taipei consisted of taking an hour or so bus ride to Yehliu Geopark. According to Wikipedia, Yehliu (野柳) is a cape on the north coast of Taiwan in the town of Wanli between Taipei and Keelung. They have strange rocks. And this rock that supposedly looks like a queen's head, but I couldn't really see the resemblance. It's hard to appreciate the beauty of nature when it's filled with tourists, but looking out onto the ocean is always something I love doing (and luckily there are no tourists in the ocean. At least there shouldn't be).





So we spent about an hour there (surprising, because they're just ROCKS) before we decided to head to Jiufen. From Wikipedia:

"During the first years of the Qing Dynasty, the village here housed nine families, thus the village would request "nine portions" every time shipments arrived from town. Later Jioufen ("Nine portions" in Chinese) would become the name of the village."





Jiufen was basically just another night market, instead it's on the side of a mountain and the architecture/character is a little different. Too bad we didn't get to appreciate the quaintness of it all because it was so crowded (seriously, the pictures on Wikipedia make it look so much nicer), but still a nice place to see. Also, according to Wikipedia, Jiufen was a major influence in the movie Spirited Away.

After Jiufen we took a two hour bus ride back into the heart of Taipei, where we spent the rest of the night at Ximending, a street famous for it's shopping, food, and Japanese influence. Case in point:




Ximending was good for street food, shopping, and people watching. Three of my favorite things.

The next day we went to San Xia (三峽), particularly Minquan Old Street (民權老街). Which is basically like Jiufen. Except the architecture is Japanese Colonial. I feel like there is ONE market in Taiwan, that is Copy/Pasted into different backgrounds. Seriously. Would you like the night background, mountain town, or Japanese colonial?




After San Xia we went to the Sun-Yat Sen Memorial Hall. Though I'm pretty sure I've already been to like, three of these guys, this was a more memorable part of the trip. The space is so wide open, surrounded by green grass, huge trees, and the mandatory pagoda-ish Chinese building. We were short on time and only stayed for half an hour or so, and despite being winded afterwards, running through the park was relaxing. It was one of those things that make you realize you're in another country, thousands of miles away from home, doing things you never thought you'd have a chance to do. Lame, yeah, but I love that feeling.





ANYWAY.

We went to Longshan temple after that. Not much to say here, Longshan is pretty much like every other temple I've been to.




We went to Shida Night Market afterwards, which is the second biggest night market in Taipei or something? It was way crowded and popular among University students:


Our last full day in Taipei consisted of a trip to the hotsprings! I was totally excited about this before we actually went, but actually BEING in a hotspring is almost no fun. It was absolutely UNBEARABLE. But really cheap for a private room. We heard that you get a couple of hours when you rent the private room (ours was only one hour though) but doing that would've been impossible...I was in there for 15 minutes before I was wondering when we'd get to leave. The hotsprings are on a mountain at Xinbeitou, and you know you're getting closer as you're walking up the mountain when the smell gets stronger and stronger from the sulfur.





We went to another old streetish thing after that, at Danshui. Just the usual: eating and shopping.


We stuck around Danshui to take the ferry to Fisherman's Wharf and the Lover's Bridge:





And then it started pouring non-stop. But since we were in Taiwan it's not like we could just go home for the night. Instead we decided to trudge around for a couple of hours in the rain while exploring Taipei's biggest and most famous night market, Shilin.


The boba-in-a-bag lady from the last post.

I was majorly disgruntled.

But yeah, those were all the places I went to. Overall Taiwan was entertaining, but I'm not in any rush to go back. Check out the next post for some...thoughts and stuff.

Taiwan Part 1: Foodstuffs

UGHHH. The blogging. It is endless. But I gotta write all this stuff down before I forget, and I'm sure there are DOZENS of people awaiting my elegantly written posts.

Actually, it's probably more like...8?

Anyway. Don't miss my Hong Kong post with Amy, Ann, and Candace below.

So because last weekend was Easter (and we got a five day weekend), a couple of friends and I booked a trip to Taipei. I was told by numerous people that the only thing to do in Taiwan is shop and eat, and they were absolutely right. We went to as many different night markets (four in all, I think) as memorial parks and temples combined. I think I smelled like stinky tofu by the end of every night.

We flew out of HKG on a two hour flight Saturday afternoon, and weren't all settled in Taipei until maybe 7 that night? So we took it easy and explored the night market right outside the place we were staying. We were staying right in the middle of the Tonghua Night Market, so getting food in the morning (when it was a wet market for fresh veggies and stuff) and late at night as we were coming back from wherever we went to that day was really easy and convenient. They also had cheap clothes, shoes, and other knick knacks there.

Food in Taiwan:

Stinky tofu. The smell. Is SO STINKY. But I guess you get used to it. It's kind of funny, it really doesn't smell bad as you're eating it. I actually haven't tried stinky tofu before (because, seriously, the smell), even though it's pretty abundant in Mong Kok (where I spend 75% of my time), but I suppose if you're gonna eat stinky tofu you might as well eat it in Taiwan. It is pretty tasty. But a mess to eat.

There is nothing inside this guy. I think I paid a dollar US for four of these, in the shape of a cow, a pig, a chicken, and a gun (???).

A mini burger. I think it's supposed to be like a Krabby Patty from Spongebob.

Taiwanese sausage stuffed with cilantro or something.

I don't even remember what this was. Probably because it was kind of bland. I added what I thought was soy sauce to it, but that made it even worse :/


It is reassuring to know that I am the same color as a dorayaki...

Dorayaki with vanilla ice cream filling we had at Jiufen.

More stinky tofu.

Lamb noodles ordered on the way to Yehliu Geopark. We had these next to a bunch of drunken old men. It was 12 noon.



Yes, I ate a boar sausage at Jiufen. It was delicious.

Quail eggs at Ximending. Also delicious.

Onion pancake with egg and basil. Probably the most delicious thing I had in Taiwan.

I think we had Mister Donut every single day we were in Taipei. The donuts here are lighter (and therefore, better) than the ones at home, and I think they're famous for these mochi donuts they make.



We also had boba everyday we were here. I mean, you kind of have to. Taipei is awesome in that there's boba EVERYWHERE, and it's good EVERYWHERE. You really don't have to worry about the quality of it. Didn't buy a boba here that I regretted, unlike home.

Boba in a bag. Yes, this bothered me. But it was supposedly famous (the cart had newspaper clippings and stuff), and the lady making it did some fancy tricks while making it, so I figured I should try it.

Breakfast one day consisted of choosing your own dishes and portions, not unlike a buffet.

We were told that we must absolutely have the beef brisket noodle in Taiwan (Is it famous or something? A specialty? I don't know), so we did. It was mediocre. But the lady we bought it from was nice?

Hot pot.

I <3 pineapple cakes. These came in fancy boxes, but too bad they were crumbly. I don't like crumbly.

So yeah. Those are all the things we ate while in Taiwan. Check back later for the actual touristy parts of the trip. I just figured it'd be easier (for me) to split it up like this instead of the usual day-by-day recap. Those are getting kind of boring.