Hello All! Just wanted to update everyone on my life here in Taiwan. I had a fun filled weekend with many different adventures to different parts of the city. On Saturday morning I slept in which felt amazing since I've been waking up at about 8 every morning to get to school so that I use skype and the internet before my classes begin. I also wanted to go to a cool and air conditioned place after I woke up because the weather was so hot... so I decided to go to Burger King and had ice cream for breakfast( maybe not the breakfast of champions) but I enjoyed it and I figured how to use the free Wifi internet which was a plus since the apartment I'm living in doesn't have wifi or internet access. After eating my ice cream breakfast I met up with Amy near school and we went for lunch at my favorite dumpling place. I decided to sit outside of my school for a bit and just relax, but that was not the best idea since I got eaten alive by mosquitos. Later in the afternoon, I met up with another student who went to St.Johnsbury Academy. We went to the area of Ximending which is a big shopping district! It was fun to just walk around the area as it was so big and had lots of young people just walking around. We went to this posh little restaurant and I had a red mango tea; the restaurant was air conditioned and it felt so nice, in fact it almost got to be a little too cold. After walking around Ximending we went to Taipei 101. When I got out of the MRT and just started walking around it was then that I realized how much I absolutely love being in a big city and being surrounded by tall buldings! We ended up waiting in a long line to go to the top of Taipei 101, but it was so worth it; the views of the city were absolutely amazing. It was also great because it was a clear night so I could see everything! I really did feel like I was on top of the world in Taipei 101. It was so amazing to see the entire city, because I've felt that as I walk around the city it doesn't really feel all that big, however when I got to see the entire city in one of the tallest buildings of the world, it was absolutely amazing. I got to learn a lot about the actual architecture of the building and how it is one of the best wind proof buildings in the world, due to the wind bawl that was built inside; I've never seen anything like it. It also has the fastest elevator that reaches 89 floors in 30 seconds! I definitely am so glad that I got to see such an amazing view of the city. After touring Taipei 101 we went to a delicious Japanese restaurant in the area; I was so hungry at this point! We then decided to make a night of being in Taipei 101 and went to this great bar that was very chic looking, and where all of the young 20 something year olds hang out. I got to experiment with some drinks that I have never tried before; I started out with a drink called Around the world, which was lit on fire! I then ended with a drink called Wonderland which had a kiwi flavor to it! The one thing I was surprised to find out about the city is that although it is the city that never sleeps, all of the public transit such as the busses and subways stop at 12p.m., so you have to take a taxi home which I think is kind of annoying but I guess I understand that they don't want a bunch of drunkards getting on the public transit. I ended up getting back home at about 2 a.m. and was exhausted; although I felt that it was really hot in my room and I had a headache so I didn't end up sleeping as well as I would have like to.
I woke up the next morning at 9 a.m. and went to the Catholic church service which was nice to attend. I really appreciate that it only takes me about 15 minutes to get to church, and that the mass is performed in English. I'm actually surprised how many foreigners I end up seeing at the church service.
After church I ended up meeting Amy, which was another adventure finding the MRT station. I somehow thought there was one right near the church where I attended but I ended up having to take a bus to get there so it wasn't as convenient as I hoped. Finally I got to the MRT station and ended up finding Amy. We took the MRT to Shilin to go to the National Palace Museum. Unfortunately Amy wasn't feeling well, and I was exhausted so it was a lot of work getting through the museum, but well worth it. I got to learn a lot more about the history of China and all of the dynasties. It was also wonderful because the museum was air conditioned! I thought about how much my dad would love to see this museum... maybe I'll bring my family to the National Palace Museum in Beijing when they come to visit.
Overall I had a wonderful weekend, it went by in the blink of an eye, but it was so much fun to get to visit all of the great places in Taipei. I'm beginning to really love living in a city!
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