Post by teh yoshi on Jun 28, 2005 13:55:47 GMT -5
Yay! I flew in all by myself from Taipei to Tokyo then back to Los Angeles. I'm a big Yoshi now 
! Heheh, excuse me, but I've always dreaded walking through airports, especially this being my first time alone.
Anyway, I must say that Taiwan and Japan is definitely the unforgettable experience!
Firstly, in Japan, we could only stay for about a day because we didn't have any hotel reservations. Yes, my friend, his little brother, and I survived Tokyo for the entire night with no place to stay. My friend was that crazy to propose such a thing, but we pulled through unscathed, fortunately. We had to sleep as much as we can at a subway until we got kicked out of that, then rest even more at a McDonald's until that closed at 2 AM, then fled to a nice tiny 24/7 restaurant. I bought some nice Japanese curry chicken with rice. Mmmmm... makes me hungry just remembering about it. Anyway, as we walked throughout the city, we noticed that everything got a bit repetitive; all the tiny restaurants with food displayed at the window, myriads of pachinko parlors and arcades, overpriced department stores, and the nifty little thrift shops. Funny things about these thrift shops is that they just openly display schoolgirl complex socio-economic political studies and hentai in the midst of fashion magazines and children's books. No joke! Even at the airport, I noticed 5 year olds picking at these colorfully displayed magazines because they looked similar to the children magazines, but their parents were trying to pull them away. Other than that, not much else was that memorable in Japan. Sorry to disappoint you guys...
But Taiwan, however! Oh man, that was loads of fun! Sooooo much food to buy, and everything's incredibly cheap!! Night markets were hot with freshly made authentic Chinese cuisine and clothes and other things to buy. It's like visiting a farmer's market, with all the lights and color and music, but every night!! I love Taiwan and how all the markets are right there outside of your house. Everything is right outside of your house, it's just so dang convenient! I can just walk to the local 7-11 and pick up some nice milk tea and some bao, and all costs under a dollar, heheh. God I love Taiwanese 7-11s. And you all know what boba drinks are, right? You know how they'd be around 3-4 dollars for just an average sized cup for those things, right? Well, boba is a Taiwanese thing, by the way, and they cost only $25 there (about $31.something Taiwanese dollars is only $1 US). So a giant glass of boba is less than a dollar!
And good thing I was staying at my friend's grandma's house (he has family in Taiwan, so we got lots of hook ups), so that I could get nearly unlimited Internet access on my laptop. Whoo! But of course, I tried to enjoy Taiwan as much as possible. We've visited places such as Dayeh Takashimaya shopping mall, Danshui (a really nice attraction spot for things such as carnivals and food stands), and Taipei 101, which is one of the tallest buildings in the world (101 floors), if not the tallest. Nice shopping malls inside and whatnot. We also visited the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial, well, which wasn't THAT memorable, but still definitely a sight to see. Really cool looking buildings and all, hehe. Sorry for not being so descriptive, but my friend has all the pictures on his camera, and I've yet to received them.
What's also incredible awesome about Taiwan are the scooters! They're like smaller than motorcycles, but just as fast. Loads of fun to ride! They are EVERYWHERE all over the streets, and usually get their own lanes, even over bridges. We'd take them to get to places such as other distant night markets or to the nice bowling place. For $149 (keep in mind, Taiwanese dollars), you can get unlimited bowling (play for 6 games, then wait again for another lane to open up), and you can also go in the Internet cafe or play billiards for free.
The houses in Taiwan are really compact, by the way. Everything's a bit squished, but 5 stories tall. Imagine owning a single room apartment, but 5 of them in a column. That's how they work in Taiwan. It's still rather nifty, to say, definitely an experience. I'd sleep on the 2nd floor, the TV room and living room is on the 1st floor, the kitchen is on the 3rd floor, and the 4th and 5th are my friend's cousin's bedrooms. Also, in this house, they don't have showers, so what you must do is fill a pan with water and dump water over yourself. I got really used to it quickly, so it didn't bother me that much.
It's rather funny that his family doesn't really know English at all, nor does everybody in the city, but their way of talking to me is that they'd throw hand gestures or sign language. His grandma would overfeed me at times, and always plopping more food onto my plate as she gives this gesture of cramming her hand into her gaping maw. We usually ate things like tofu, beef mian (noodles), rice, and a bunch of other things I don't know the names of XD.
As it was nearing the time for me to leave, my friend decided to take me to the Taipei Zoo. I've had some great fun in there! It was rather surprising that with such a public place and all, I assumed the tickets would cost about $300-400 dollars, but adult tickets costed $60 (less than $2 US) and children under twelve is $30. It was a shame that the pandas didn't arrive there yet, but we also got to see all sorts of animals like at most zoos such as penguins, tons of reptiles and nocturnal creatures, monkeys, zebras, giraffes, yak, and elephants.
Well, after all that, the only gripe I had about Taiwan was the weather. The weather was absolutely terrible!! Always cloudy/overcast and highly humid and hot. You're always in for a constant sweat. But I still tried my best to not let that get to me while I'm having fun in Taiwan.
Anyway, it was now my time to leave, but I was kind of freaking out that I had to leave by myself without my friend and his brother. I've always feared walking through airports and giant places all by myself, and I've never flown without family before, espcially by myself. But thankfully for signs everywhere, everything went absolutely smoothly, all with that passport checking and filling out documents to going to the international connecting flights, baggage claims, then going to the flyaway shuttle. I'm just extremely thankful I got back safe and sound.
From Japan, I didn't buy much other than a random manga thing for my cousin, tons of postcards, and a really naughty magazine for my friend Grace. I bought that magazine because I thought it was THAT funny how rediculously easy it was to get at these "family" thrift shops.
From Taiwan, I ended up with a bag filled with nice items. I got a shirt that says Taiwan on it in Chinese calligraphy, 3 awesome Engrish shirts that make no absolute sense (Engrish shirts run rampant in these Taiwanese night markets), some basketball shorts, several calligraphy brushes, paper, envelopes, bunches of postcards, a sign that says "Cash only, no credit" in Chinese, set of chopsticks, 6 painting scrolls, a framed Chinese poem, some wooden hanging ornaments, and tons of misquito bites. I'll never forget Taiwan, and I really do hope to return some day. I just hope my Mandarin gets better, though.
! Heheh, excuse me, but I've always dreaded walking through airports, especially this being my first time alone.Anyway, I must say that Taiwan and Japan is definitely the unforgettable experience!
Firstly, in Japan, we could only stay for about a day because we didn't have any hotel reservations. Yes, my friend, his little brother, and I survived Tokyo for the entire night with no place to stay. My friend was that crazy to propose such a thing, but we pulled through unscathed, fortunately. We had to sleep as much as we can at a subway until we got kicked out of that, then rest even more at a McDonald's until that closed at 2 AM, then fled to a nice tiny 24/7 restaurant. I bought some nice Japanese curry chicken with rice. Mmmmm... makes me hungry just remembering about it. Anyway, as we walked throughout the city, we noticed that everything got a bit repetitive; all the tiny restaurants with food displayed at the window, myriads of pachinko parlors and arcades, overpriced department stores, and the nifty little thrift shops. Funny things about these thrift shops is that they just openly display schoolgirl complex socio-economic political studies and hentai in the midst of fashion magazines and children's books. No joke! Even at the airport, I noticed 5 year olds picking at these colorfully displayed magazines because they looked similar to the children magazines, but their parents were trying to pull them away. Other than that, not much else was that memorable in Japan. Sorry to disappoint you guys...
But Taiwan, however! Oh man, that was loads of fun! Sooooo much food to buy, and everything's incredibly cheap!! Night markets were hot with freshly made authentic Chinese cuisine and clothes and other things to buy. It's like visiting a farmer's market, with all the lights and color and music, but every night!! I love Taiwan and how all the markets are right there outside of your house. Everything is right outside of your house, it's just so dang convenient! I can just walk to the local 7-11 and pick up some nice milk tea and some bao, and all costs under a dollar, heheh. God I love Taiwanese 7-11s. And you all know what boba drinks are, right? You know how they'd be around 3-4 dollars for just an average sized cup for those things, right? Well, boba is a Taiwanese thing, by the way, and they cost only $25 there (about $31.something Taiwanese dollars is only $1 US). So a giant glass of boba is less than a dollar!
And good thing I was staying at my friend's grandma's house (he has family in Taiwan, so we got lots of hook ups), so that I could get nearly unlimited Internet access on my laptop. Whoo! But of course, I tried to enjoy Taiwan as much as possible. We've visited places such as Dayeh Takashimaya shopping mall, Danshui (a really nice attraction spot for things such as carnivals and food stands), and Taipei 101, which is one of the tallest buildings in the world (101 floors), if not the tallest. Nice shopping malls inside and whatnot. We also visited the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial, well, which wasn't THAT memorable, but still definitely a sight to see. Really cool looking buildings and all, hehe. Sorry for not being so descriptive, but my friend has all the pictures on his camera, and I've yet to received them.
What's also incredible awesome about Taiwan are the scooters! They're like smaller than motorcycles, but just as fast. Loads of fun to ride! They are EVERYWHERE all over the streets, and usually get their own lanes, even over bridges. We'd take them to get to places such as other distant night markets or to the nice bowling place. For $149 (keep in mind, Taiwanese dollars), you can get unlimited bowling (play for 6 games, then wait again for another lane to open up), and you can also go in the Internet cafe or play billiards for free.
The houses in Taiwan are really compact, by the way. Everything's a bit squished, but 5 stories tall. Imagine owning a single room apartment, but 5 of them in a column. That's how they work in Taiwan. It's still rather nifty, to say, definitely an experience. I'd sleep on the 2nd floor, the TV room and living room is on the 1st floor, the kitchen is on the 3rd floor, and the 4th and 5th are my friend's cousin's bedrooms. Also, in this house, they don't have showers, so what you must do is fill a pan with water and dump water over yourself. I got really used to it quickly, so it didn't bother me that much.
It's rather funny that his family doesn't really know English at all, nor does everybody in the city, but their way of talking to me is that they'd throw hand gestures or sign language. His grandma would overfeed me at times, and always plopping more food onto my plate as she gives this gesture of cramming her hand into her gaping maw. We usually ate things like tofu, beef mian (noodles), rice, and a bunch of other things I don't know the names of XD.
As it was nearing the time for me to leave, my friend decided to take me to the Taipei Zoo. I've had some great fun in there! It was rather surprising that with such a public place and all, I assumed the tickets would cost about $300-400 dollars, but adult tickets costed $60 (less than $2 US) and children under twelve is $30. It was a shame that the pandas didn't arrive there yet, but we also got to see all sorts of animals like at most zoos such as penguins, tons of reptiles and nocturnal creatures, monkeys, zebras, giraffes, yak, and elephants.
Well, after all that, the only gripe I had about Taiwan was the weather. The weather was absolutely terrible!! Always cloudy/overcast and highly humid and hot. You're always in for a constant sweat. But I still tried my best to not let that get to me while I'm having fun in Taiwan.
Anyway, it was now my time to leave, but I was kind of freaking out that I had to leave by myself without my friend and his brother. I've always feared walking through airports and giant places all by myself, and I've never flown without family before, espcially by myself. But thankfully for signs everywhere, everything went absolutely smoothly, all with that passport checking and filling out documents to going to the international connecting flights, baggage claims, then going to the flyaway shuttle. I'm just extremely thankful I got back safe and sound.
From Japan, I didn't buy much other than a random manga thing for my cousin, tons of postcards, and a really naughty magazine for my friend Grace. I bought that magazine because I thought it was THAT funny how rediculously easy it was to get at these "family" thrift shops.
From Taiwan, I ended up with a bag filled with nice items. I got a shirt that says Taiwan on it in Chinese calligraphy, 3 awesome Engrish shirts that make no absolute sense (Engrish shirts run rampant in these Taiwanese night markets), some basketball shorts, several calligraphy brushes, paper, envelopes, bunches of postcards, a sign that says "Cash only, no credit" in Chinese, set of chopsticks, 6 painting scrolls, a framed Chinese poem, some wooden hanging ornaments, and tons of misquito bites. I'll never forget Taiwan, and I really do hope to return some day. I just hope my Mandarin gets better, though.
Now I want to go to Taiwan XD You should write a book about your trip ;D And, I'm glad you got home safe. 
