BTW

edited version--ate/drank something had small headaches for 2 days and then they stopped and then I had stomachaches and diarrhea for 2 days. TMI, I know. :)

traveling

sorry haven't posted in a while, been driving all over Taiwan--1st day to Taizhong, second to Kaohsiung, then drove back. No computer. Altogether a maybe...13 hour driving time. And tomorrow driving back so Suao--1 hr. Not that bad though, because I have Wang Xin Ru's new CD on my Mp3....told you I'm obsessed.

Song

Song I'm OBSESSED with--Wang Xin Ru's Copenhagen's Fable--its of course a lot better if you can understand it....

and another, by the same person, but I can't find it right now because I don't know the exact English translation for it and I don't know which characters to use (yes, there is more than one character to use for each word/sound, it depends on how you are using it....).

LOL

Went to another indoor play place today-- at the pool, there were showers in the locker room but the doors were translucent--like normal, but in a public place, I don't do that....lol but I guess the little 5 or 6 year old kids don't care....they don't care so much that I saw two of them peeing in the shower. No joke.

Trash

The trash trucks here come daily, playing Fur Elise and stop randomly so you just go up and throw your trash in. And recycling once a week. I personally think its really cool.

Did I mention air conditioning is my best friend?

Crap

Obsessed with the World Game sin Kaohsiung now....watching it whenever we are home because it is so much cooler than Olympics! Theres taichi, taichi swords, taichi staff, and cool group gymnastics! But no swimming except with dolphin flippers and no track and field.

Tans

I officially have a semi-bad farmers tan now. There is a pretty bad sleeve line and an ok shorts line. Plus I have a SOCK TAN now! Theres a TOTALLY visibal line where my socks are! I have to tan my feet when I get back.

I had a dream last night that I was smoking and I liked it....aftereffect of Hong Kong smokers?....

I've always wanted to go on an airplane with my friends--international! In 5th grade,my friends from Nepal and Phillipines and NC used to say how one summer, we would spend a week in each of our countries....first to Taiwan, because its closest, then to Phillipines, then Nepal. And to end it, to Asheville to visit our NC friends' grandma. LOL I don't think it'll ever happen....

I'm having to cut my nails every 5 or 6 days now because if I itch a bug bite or something I get junk from sweat under my nails if they're too long.

ｗｅｉｒｄ

ａｎｄ　ｔｈｉｓ　ｃｏｍｐｕｔｅｒ　ｉｓ　ｂｅｉｎｇ　ｗｅｉｒｄ，　ｓｏｍｅｔｉｍｅｓ　ｉｔ　ｓｗｉｔｃｈｅｓ　ｔｏ　ｔｈｉｓ　ｆｏｎｔ　ｆｏｒ　ｎｏ　ｒｅａｓｏｎ。

Ｃｒｙｓｔａｌ

Ｙｅｓｔｅｒｄａｙ　ｉｎ　ＨＫ　ｗｅ　ｒｏｄｅ　ａ　Ｃａｂｌｅ　ｃａｒ　ｗｉｔｈ　ａ　ｇｌａｓｓ　ｂｏｔｔｏｍ　ｓｏ　ｙｏｕ　ｃｏｕｌｄ　ｓｅｅ　ｂｅｌｏｗ　ｙｏｕ。。。。ｉｔ　ｗａｓ　ｆｒｅａｋｉｎ　ｗｅｉｒｄ。

Ｔｈｅｒｅｓ　ａ　ｓｏｌａｒ？　ｅｃｌｉｐｓｅ　ｇｏｉｎｇ　ｏｎ　ｎｏｗ，　Ｉ　ｈａｖｅ　ｔｏ　ｇｏ　ｂａｃｋ　ｏｕｔ　ｉｎ　１５　ｍｉｎｕｔｅｓ　ｔｏ　ｗａｔｃｈ　ｉｔ　ａｇａｉｎ。。。。。。。ｉｔｓ　ｔｈｅ　ｏｎｅ　ｗｈｅｒｅ　ｔｈｅ　ｍｏｏｎ　ｇｏｅｓ　ｉｎ　ｂｅｔｗｅｅｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｓｕｎ　ａｎｄ　Ｅａｒｔｈ。。。。Ｉ　ｔｈｉｎｋ　ｔｈａｔｓ　ｓｏｌａｒ，　Ｉ　ｌｅａｒｎｅｄ　ｉｔ　ｉｎ　６ｔｈ　ｇｒａｄｅ　ｆｒｏｍ　ｍｙ　ｓｃｉｅｎｃｅ　ｔｅａｃｈｅｒ　ｂｕｔ　Ｉ　ｔｈｉｎｋ　ｔｈａｔｓ　ｔｈｅ　ｑｕｉｚ　Ｉ　ｍｉｓｓｅｄ　ｔｈａｔ　ｐｒｏｂｌｅｍ　ｏｎ　ａｎｄ　ｇｏｔ　ａｎ　８０　ｓｏ　ｎｏｗ　Ｉ　ｇｅｔ　ｍｉｘｅｄ　ｕｐ　ａｌｌ　ｔｈｅ　ｔｉｍｅ。。。

Peak

Today we went to the Peak, this city on the peak of a mountain (hence the name.....) and rode a trolley/tram back down. OMG it was freakin scary! It was on tracks like a normal trolley but it was at a.....abouta 75 or 80-85 degree hill. Steeper than the ones at San Francisco....

had a mango drink for dessert after lunch at this famous place.......mangoes rock.

in Hong Kong

Using a hotel computer in the lobby for free. We got a NNNIIIICEEEE hotel, courtesy of Cola Tours! They rock. Anyways, I waited for 30 mins to use this thing because theres 10 computers and a TON of kids who want to play computer games. There are SO many more important things to do....like email!! Hello???????!?!?!?? One girl we saw on this one when walking out to eat dinner, we came back she was still there, then my sis and I came down here and she was STILL there. She was on the computer for at least 1 and a half hours and there was a little group of people waiting to use a computer behind her. And she was playing some snowboarding game! Ugh. I'm sorry, that just bothers me.

We got here at about 12 then had to go through a bunch of lines like Health Dept., Customs, baggage claim, Nothing to Declare....you get it.

We went walking around all day today....my feet were sore from yesterday, walking around Yingge in Taiwan (its like ceramic city there!) and now they are officially killing me.

HK

Leaving for Hong Kong tomorrow as long as the planes fly with the typhoon there.

Watermelons

Today we saw on this show that rubbing your face with watermelon crust does something or other to make your face prettier....helps your skin or something. So when we were eating watermelon after dinner, we wiped the crust across our faces--but me being me slapped the crust across my eyes harder than I thought and got a chunk of watermelon + juice in my eye and it still kinda hurtz.... :)

Wow

The World Competitions are also in Taiwan this year--in Kaohshiung (I think thats how you spell it in English).

Typhoon

A typhoon is coming to Taiwan, it'll get here on Saturday, and we're leaving for Hong Kong on Sunday. Oh I forgot to tell you, We're not going to Malaysia because our travel agent was jacked up and confused, so we're going to HK instead. But with a typhoon.........I personally don't want to fly in one. I've flown in a thunderstorm before and THAT was freaky enough!

Smart

So today I acted totally Taiwanese by accident. I crossed the road without looking and nearly got run over, then ignored the driver when he honked at me and caused a traffic jam behind him because he was busy yelling at me. :)

The '09 Deaflympics are in Taipei this year--in September.

Earthquake

Apparently the second night we were in Suao, the was an earthquake at 1 in the morning while we were sleeping. Pretty big one too. My family all says that the building was shaking. Me, on the other hand, didn't even wake up.

Argh

So Suao is where my dad's mom lives, we were going to stay until Wednesday. But a THEIF got into our house in Taipei so we had to come back!!!!!! My stuff is all there, and I think so is about everyone else's. All our valuable stuff like electronics were in Suao with us!!! Lucky. But our aunt saw these two guys hanging around the gate to our place and took them to the police station and they claimed they were picking up their dog from a sitter, but they were there 2 hours late....and their footprints match the ones outside my sister and I's back door in our room. But they were really mad because they were being interrogated, so they cussed out my aunt and stuff. So she stayed inside all day today in case they came back. It was that bad.

Suao

I'll be in Suao for the next two or three days, and they don't have internet there, so I won't be able to email or post....

Spongebaby

The literal translation of SpongeBob from Chinese is SpongeBaby.

I forgot to write.....before Danshui yesterday, we went to a glass museum and did glassblowing! Like, actually melted glass and stuff! I made a paperweight and we still don't know what they look like because we had to leave it there to let it return to room temperature.

Went to a pop concert last night. We heard like, 10 pop stars--it was a little tour called Yes U Camp.....its was really cool. My favorite person was Wang Xing Ru. It was free too. My cousin got tickets that they were giving off the streets.

Its kinda weird that I haven't been to a concert there but I have here...

TODAY

Today we went to a golfing place! Like Prescription Golf over on Country Club but huger! And I found out that I'm actually pretty good at golf....then went to a 10 meter pistol shooting place....I'm terrible at that, I can hit the target but not the bulls eye. And then went to archery place....I love that! I shot 3 little water balloons from 10 meters away! I, like, have never done archery before but I love it now.

Oh, and we bought stinky tofu at the night market.....it actually does smell really bad but tastes good even though it tastes exactly like it smells. Its a catchy name in Chinese, though.....it rhymes!

CREEPY

Theres like, a 1 inch cut on my arm and I don't know where it came from.

Night Market

We went to the night market yesterday! Its like a blocked off street that have a bunch of stores open at night. Haha we did this thing where they have these huge tubs full of live fish the size of anchovies and you buy the papered rings and you try to catch them and scoop them into a bucket. Its SO hard because the paper breaks a lot...

I think my right arm sweats more than the left.

We went to Danshui today, its this riverside city that has cool stores and a street with games and stuff....we threw darts and hit water balloons....I won a Stitch blow up hammer thing! Yay!

More weird stuff

I had a lot to say and now I'm having a brain fart......

We were walking up and down a road and we passed some stores....one was playing "Womanizer," one played "Don't Trust Me," and one played "Shikira".....shows just how much Taiwan people like American singers....also went into a clothing store that seemed to have the entire Hannah Montana colloection--HM song after HM song, and we were in there thirty minutes.

And we also went on a childrens playground yesterday (don't ask why!) and the words "I want to f**k you" were written on the slide......freaky! This is a kids playground we are talking about! I mean the kind where the stuff is made of bright, colorful, cheap plastic!! And F**K was written in an elevator....we were good citizens and wiped it off....and got our fingertips all black....

Oh, and played Majhong yesterday! It is like, a really fun game. If you ever learn how to play the REAL version (most of the ones online aren't) you'll see. :)

GOOD FOOD

An example--this salty cake-ish thing kinda thats filled with meat and SOUP. Yumyumyummy in my tummy.

Totally Weird

Haha its so funny how the Taiwan salespeople talk really loud all the time even when they're talking to people right beside them about stuff. I mean, we were in this huge market this morning, and there was an underwear saleslady who was like, SHOUTING about her stuff and a lady went up, and we were 3 stalls down at a veggies place and we could hear the saleslady screaming about the lady needing a larger size and wires and stuff because her breasts were changing shape....LOL we were buying veggies and we were like, oooookkkkk.....?

Cool!

We're going to Malaysia for 5 days! with Cola Tours. We took their tour to Thailand 3 years ago, it was really fun! They don't only take us to museums and whatever, we went to an amusement park and rode elephants and stuff too so I'm pretty excited......

LOL theres H1N1 here but so far no one has died here歐TㄋㄇLOT 高 .....oh my bad, this computer switches to Chinese if you hold the shift key too long, and I don't want to backspace because this backspace button is jacked up! soooo.....anyways, no one has died here but there are a LOT of people wearing masks on the street. Well, not really, but more than usual.

My cousin is out playing badminton. Oh, my aunt says theres a street or market or something in Taiwan here that is mostly for teenagers, so will ask my cousin to take us because she doesn't want to go....she says its "boring."

Temple

We went to a temple today to pray (I'm not Buddhist I'm kinda Atheist I guess, but we go for fun.....my gradma tells us to, plus its something to do). There was a huge crowd because of some ceremony so the incense sticks burnt some people and the ashes that fell of hurt too. I got burnt 4 times. LOL even though it kinda huuuurrrtttt...

So Here I Sit.....

sweating like a PIG....its nighttime, so we don't turn on the AC, I really don't mind as long as I have a fan, but the one in this room is at the very TOP of the wall....so its not really hitting me, its just circulating air, which helps too, I guess, but....

Right now, I have nothing to do.....I can't read my book...well, I can, but my grandma just unplugged the fan I was sitting in front of, so....I don't really want to read. Its only 7:54 PM so its too early for a shower even though I REALLY want to take one, but I want to get over jet lag faster....and once I shower, its possible to go to bed, so I don't want to do that. Showering is, BTW, my favorite part of the day. Everyone else here is watching the news, which of course is in Chinese.....which I do understand but the news here just uses like, really big phrases that I don't really totally get....its kinda as if I was in 3rd grade watching the news there; I know the language but the vocab they use is too hard to get.

Watched Wimbledon last night! until 11:40 PM (which is 11:40 AM there.) Federer won! Yay even though I should be going for Roddick because according to Chia-min (my cousin) he is the USA champ, but everyone else was going for Roddick, so I went for Federer, just to be different. Ha, in their FACES! Federer WON! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Speaking of Chia-min, she should be home by now....oh, I'm psychic, she just walked in the door! Wait nevermind, that was my sister and aunt and uncle back from a walk.....no, wait, Chia-min came in with them.....I think....well, anyways, I don't feel like getting up to look, because that means walking and sweating more. Unnecessary movement! LOL.

AC!

air conditioning is my BEST FRIEND

Haha

Never ever go to Taiwan right after Drivers Ed. If they have the same laws here as we have in USA, there is a law broken every 2 seconds! Actually saw a taxi cut in front of a bus in the middle of a turn! And people driving in the middle of lanes....is driving me loco!

Oh, and I just remembered that my hair stylist from yesterday--her name was Cherry (literally translated) and her last name was Red. LOL.

It was so HUMID today cuz it rained. Usually its not so wet....its just warm and damp-ish and you don't really sweat a LOT but the moisture just....condenses on your skin and its so annoying.

Haha theres these really cool thingys here that I bet you could find in USA somewhere but I've never seen them there....they're these little tennis racket looking thingys that if you press a button, the net gets like, electricity running through it and you can swpie it where a bug is flying and electrocute it to death! They're so cool...and when the bug is electrocuted it makes a huge spark! Haha LOVE IT

Went to Taipei 101 today, but didn't go up to the top because, first of all, you have to pay, second of all, we've been there before and there is nothing up there but dark colored artwork, a nice view that is pretty much the same as anywhere else's nice view, and a huge pendulum that keeps the building balanced.

OK

Ok, first of all, the plane ride was terrible. I slept 3 hours of our total of 30 hours traveling. Totally sucked......I watched Monsters vs Aliens on the plane, that is the WEIRDEST movie ever.

1st day back; went to the Taiwan Flower Market....Its kinda like the Farmers Market in USA but it sells flowers....and a bit farther on, fish, jade bracelets and junk like that. I found grapes there! because last year, for a "what are you going to do this summer" sketch, I drew eating grapes in Taiwan even though I had never EVER 斯黁 (sorry, pressing and holding the shift button on this computer changes the language to Chinese) seen grapes here before. LOL...

Yesterday we went to this store on a corner....Taiwan sells the cutest stuff! and got a haircut.....7 cm and layers in the inside...

Here!!!

I'm in Taiwan! Totally sweet. I've taken tons of pictures and I'll put them on Picasa soon! Don't have much time now.....will try to type more later.

Tomorrow!

Leaving tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!