So when I left for the airport at 1PM in Japan on Sunday the 11th, I thought that I'd still be early to catching my plane at 5PM, barely squeaked by with getting to my flight with reentry forms and whatnot. Got to skip through security though. I landed in taiwan at 7pm Taiwan Time. I got on a bus that would take me to taipei from the airport. From there I got lost, wandering til I found a wig shop. I was soo happy I tried some on. @w@ <3
wigs. The wigshop man could speak english thankfully and helped call my hotel. Then he took me to the trainstation and the subway staff told me where to go. @w@ So taiwanese subways have walls and doors, preventing jumping, like elevators do. I think Japan should invest in it, since the subway's doors only open when a train is sitting infront of it. Then I got to the station where my hotel picked me up. Did I forget to mention I landed while it was raining? So the hotel picked me up by car. Took me to the lobby which was in one location, then drove me to the second. Didn't tell me that my roomcard powers the entire room, and if it's not in the special slot inside the room, nothing turns on. So after communication problems over the phone (they never told me there was a slot) they came back to the room in a faraaway place and showed me. Super tiny awkward room with awheelie chair. After that I go to the convenience store across the street to call my friend by payphone to tell him i was no longer lost, and this random old man wouldn't let me use the payphone. Made me go into a makeup shop to get change form my ten dollar coin (got like 15 one dollar coins) and then still wouldn't let me use the chump change to call my friend. Made me call my friend from pizza hut. After having hte pizza guy write down directions and instructions for me in taiwanese kanji (can't read) with the old man yelling the whole time. The old man delayed me enough that the pizza hut was closed for dinnertime (I arrived at hotel around 9 or ten, and was hassled til about 11 i think) then he asked a random young man if he spoke "eigo" and the old man translated. The old man prior to that got food for me from a homeless lady, I felt soo bad. The yound man explained that the man was worried I was lost and alone, unable to speak the language and worried i would go to a dark neighborhood (also a place where a lotta foreigners live) alone in a dress. Old man kept trying to zip up my sweater while I was sweating from the heat and running around. I pointed out from where we were standing that my hotel room was right across the street and I was verymuch so hungry. The young guy (cute) translated to the old man and he departed. I went to a convenience store while talking to the guy, and found out, they cook real food there for you. @_@ well more real than japanese convenience stores of the same franchise. Then I ate there, and left. Went back to my hotel room and passed out. Woke up at like 6am and went on a breakfast finding spree, cept most shops near my hotel were for clothes and didn't open til 10 or 12. I discovered day lunchtime markets, the cheapest bubble tea ever in large quantities and a dog that barked at birds in a birdshop. Then my hotel picked me up to take me to rebook another room, because i couldn't meet my friend til the day after. Afterwords at the hotel I found out about night markets and a few places of non-museum interest. I bought souvenirs before spending about 4 hours in the boutique right next door to my hotel. The women were soo nice (I took a picture with the one who spoke english) and I bought a loooot @_@;; Whoops. Then I went to night market famished from small lunch and bought a lotta unusual foods. Spent more money on super cheap souvenirs. @________@;; before going home from walking around soo much of the day that I all but passed out before eating dinner at 11pm. Woke up early and headed to the highspeed rail. Booked a ticket, but the guy never told me i had to switch trains at hte final stop. Got confused and lost and the informational desk helped me call/have my friend find me. @_@;; we rode on his motorbike and it was terrifying dipping between cars and making turns super illegal in the u.s. thought i was gonna die. @_@;; he's like "I'm a good driver." And I'm "Sure you are, I don't trust the other drivers." @_@;; then later i met his parents and they helped me exchange more money ^^;; at a bank. then we went out and I met more of his relatives, before his mother started feeding me when we went on a boatride. Everyone fed me a looooot. Then she booked me a hotel near his school. We went to night market with his friend Rock, who's cute I think. Super nice, and super good at english too! He's like "I wanna learn black english, It sounds soo cool, and is like it's own dialect or language almost." I was like "I'm kinda white when it comes to speech, but I can explain things from movies to you." @_@ so we had a great time, then my friend took me home because class pictures were at 12am for him and rock. I splayed my stuff around my room and passed out with several bottles of water. My friend pointed out that my hotel's room was super weird because there was a window inside of the bathroom (you could see the beds from it) really large that had curtains one could move. Thankfully he discovered that as we were leaving for night market. Then the next day he woke me up super early and we went to breakfast. He's super tired from long nights and early mornings as well as school. He takes me to trainstation and we run into to the informational women (and they all talk about me as I leave to go to his parents.) I take a normal train several stops to where his parents live. I did homework on the trains since I spent a lotta time on them. After a hectic run-in with the trainstaff at the station I got off at, I run into his parents. They take me many places (I think of their friends) The mom takes us all out to eat with a friend of theirs (they can't speak english and I didn't know they knew some japanese at that point) and we eat an unusual lunch. They help me take pictues and feed me soo much. They all were bigger than I but gave me soo much and indicated they expected me to eat so muuuuch more than them. @_@;; I couldn't do it. Then we drive around doing stuff. Not really sure what they did or why. We go to a few temples. We spend time at a mahjhong parlor, and drink beer at 1~2pm. Then we go to their home for a while. I do homework til it gets dark. then we return to beer drinking place for dinner. The dad socializes a lot while the mom just sits there. I just clock out til they make R sounds indicating they mean me. I took the dad and his friend's pictures. Then we go to the night market after I 'Stare down" the mom, with puppydog eyes. I just wanted to leave or sleep or not drink. Then she runs me through there, for food buying only, then return home. I freaked out after one lady vendor messes up an order because they're not letting me pay for anything and I didn't want to waste their money. They freaked out too because they had no idea why I was freaking out and it's hard for my friend to translate. then i hide in my room (my friend's sister's room) for a while, til they yell R sounds up to the third floor (Taiwanese standard houses are huuuuuge btw about 4-5 floors gigantic rooms too) calling me downstairs to say we're all going to sleep at 2am,which was hte time then. I couldn't be happier, sleeping quickly and easily. Then I wake up at 10am (couldn't get up at this point from fatigue) and we go out. I think we had a small breakfast, then went out for lunch. Then went to a temple and they dropped me off at the tainstation. (the night before they took me to the largest temple in Asia.) then i go back to taipei, and spend many hours at the highspeed rail station in ... i don't know where I was. The women there helped me confirm something with the airprort, book a hotel for the night and get directions to the airport for the morning and to the hotel that evening as well as find a night market nearby the hotel. Then I go on my way after giving one my name and email adress. I hope it's coherent for her (I've not been notified on facebook in a while). Then I get lost going from bus to hotel, in a japanese section of wherever i was. Then i go out to nightmarket (hotel staff worried I wouldn't return and get lost, gave me a map) I go and buy some things I desperately needed. I was also given a large container of alcohol to bring back to japan by my friend's mom for his host mom in japan. @_@ so I had to pay a little bit for extra baggage, but since I went on such short notice to taiwan during a busy time I didn't mind at all since he's done soo much for me (esp his parents with buying sooo much for me including souvenirs and keeping me at their home). I amused the airport staff with some stories of my travels in taiwan before departing. I think that covers sunday night through friday afternoon? @_@ I must go back!!!!
wigs. The wigshop man could speak english thankfully and helped call my hotel. Then he took me to the trainstation and the subway staff told me where to go. @w@ So taiwanese subways have walls and doors, preventing jumping, like elevators do. I think Japan should invest in it, since the subway's doors only open when a train is sitting infront of it. Then I got to the station where my hotel picked me up. Did I forget to mention I landed while it was raining? So the hotel picked me up by car. Took me to the lobby which was in one location, then drove me to the second. Didn't tell me that my roomcard powers the entire room, and if it's not in the special slot inside the room, nothing turns on. So after communication problems over the phone (they never told me there was a slot) they came back to the room in a faraaway place and showed me. Super tiny awkward room with awheelie chair. After that I go to the convenience store across the street to call my friend by payphone to tell him i was no longer lost, and this random old man wouldn't let me use the payphone. Made me go into a makeup shop to get change form my ten dollar coin (got like 15 one dollar coins) and then still wouldn't let me use the chump change to call my friend. Made me call my friend from pizza hut. After having hte pizza guy write down directions and instructions for me in taiwanese kanji (can't read) with the old man yelling the whole time. The old man delayed me enough that the pizza hut was closed for dinnertime (I arrived at hotel around 9 or ten, and was hassled til about 11 i think) then he asked a random young man if he spoke "eigo" and the old man translated. The old man prior to that got food for me from a homeless lady, I felt soo bad. The yound man explained that the man was worried I was lost and alone, unable to speak the language and worried i would go to a dark neighborhood (also a place where a lotta foreigners live) alone in a dress. Old man kept trying to zip up my sweater while I was sweating from the heat and running around. I pointed out from where we were standing that my hotel room was right across the street and I was verymuch so hungry. The young guy (cute) translated to the old man and he departed. I went to a convenience store while talking to the guy, and found out, they cook real food there for you. @_@ well more real than japanese convenience stores of the same franchise. Then I ate there, and left. Went back to my hotel room and passed out. Woke up at like 6am and went on a breakfast finding spree, cept most shops near my hotel were for clothes and didn't open til 10 or 12. I discovered day lunchtime markets, the cheapest bubble tea ever in large quantities and a dog that barked at birds in a birdshop. Then my hotel picked me up to take me to rebook another room, because i couldn't meet my friend til the day after. Afterwords at the hotel I found out about night markets and a few places of non-museum interest. I bought souvenirs before spending about 4 hours in the boutique right next door to my hotel. The women were soo nice (I took a picture with the one who spoke english) and I bought a loooot @_@;; Whoops. Then I went to night market famished from small lunch and bought a lotta unusual foods. Spent more money on super cheap souvenirs. @________@;; before going home from walking around soo much of the day that I all but passed out before eating dinner at 11pm. Woke up early and headed to the highspeed rail. Booked a ticket, but the guy never told me i had to switch trains at hte final stop. Got confused and lost and the informational desk helped me call/have my friend find me. @_@;; we rode on his motorbike and it was terrifying dipping between cars and making turns super illegal in the u.s. thought i was gonna die. @_@;; he's like "I'm a good driver." And I'm "Sure you are, I don't trust the other drivers." @_@;; then later i met his parents and they helped me exchange more money ^^;; at a bank. then we went out and I met more of his relatives, before his mother started feeding me when we went on a boatride. Everyone fed me a looooot. Then she booked me a hotel near his school. We went to night market with his friend Rock, who's cute I think. Super nice, and super good at english too! He's like "I wanna learn black english, It sounds soo cool, and is like it's own dialect or language almost." I was like "I'm kinda white when it comes to speech, but I can explain things from movies to you." @_@ so we had a great time, then my friend took me home because class pictures were at 12am for him and rock. I splayed my stuff around my room and passed out with several bottles of water. My friend pointed out that my hotel's room was super weird because there was a window inside of the bathroom (you could see the beds from it) really large that had curtains one could move. Thankfully he discovered that as we were leaving for night market. Then the next day he woke me up super early and we went to breakfast. He's super tired from long nights and early mornings as well as school. He takes me to trainstation and we run into to the informational women (and they all talk about me as I leave to go to his parents.) I take a normal train several stops to where his parents live. I did homework on the trains since I spent a lotta time on them. After a hectic run-in with the trainstaff at the station I got off at, I run into his parents. They take me many places (I think of their friends) The mom takes us all out to eat with a friend of theirs (they can't speak english and I didn't know they knew some japanese at that point) and we eat an unusual lunch. They help me take pictues and feed me soo much. They all were bigger than I but gave me soo much and indicated they expected me to eat so muuuuch more than them. @_@;; I couldn't do it. Then we drive around doing stuff. Not really sure what they did or why. We go to a few temples. We spend time at a mahjhong parlor, and drink beer at 1~2pm. Then we go to their home for a while. I do homework til it gets dark. then we return to beer drinking place for dinner. The dad socializes a lot while the mom just sits there. I just clock out til they make R sounds indicating they mean me. I took the dad and his friend's pictures. Then we go to the night market after I 'Stare down" the mom, with puppydog eyes. I just wanted to leave or sleep or not drink. Then she runs me through there, for food buying only, then return home. I freaked out after one lady vendor messes up an order because they're not letting me pay for anything and I didn't want to waste their money. They freaked out too because they had no idea why I was freaking out and it's hard for my friend to translate. then i hide in my room (my friend's sister's room) for a while, til they yell R sounds up to the third floor (Taiwanese standard houses are huuuuuge btw about 4-5 floors gigantic rooms too) calling me downstairs to say we're all going to sleep at 2am,which was hte time then. I couldn't be happier, sleeping quickly and easily. Then I wake up at 10am (couldn't get up at this point from fatigue) and we go out. I think we had a small breakfast, then went out for lunch. Then went to a temple and they dropped me off at the tainstation. (the night before they took me to the largest temple in Asia.) then i go back to taipei, and spend many hours at the highspeed rail station in ... i don't know where I was. The women there helped me confirm something with the airprort, book a hotel for the night and get directions to the airport for the morning and to the hotel that evening as well as find a night market nearby the hotel. Then I go on my way after giving one my name and email adress. I hope it's coherent for her (I've not been notified on facebook in a while). Then I get lost going from bus to hotel, in a japanese section of wherever i was. Then i go out to nightmarket (hotel staff worried I wouldn't return and get lost, gave me a map) I go and buy some things I desperately needed. I was also given a large container of alcohol to bring back to japan by my friend's mom for his host mom in japan. @_@ so I had to pay a little bit for extra baggage, but since I went on such short notice to taiwan during a busy time I didn't mind at all since he's done soo much for me (esp his parents with buying sooo much for me including souvenirs and keeping me at their home). I amused the airport staff with some stories of my travels in taiwan before departing. I think that covers sunday night through friday afternoon? @_@ I must go back!!!!(this was copied and pasted from a message I IMed a friend, so ignore all bad punctuation and grammar until I go back and edit this!)
