Am I a party person?

Last Saturday was Eight Elephants 2nd anniversary/x-mas party. It was lots of fun. We did a gift exchange, and I must say my screaming rubber chicken was a hit.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2030813&l=a04c9&id=115200202
mom/dad: (if alex was on facebook you could see all of them)

Today is X-mas Eve and it's also Wednesday which means its Roxy night. I can't even get my crunk on because I can't be hungover for class tomorrow. So I plan to be back home by 12. I can't party Christmas day because I have to study for my test on Friday. And since I can't seem to pass a test to save my life I really do have to stay in. :(

Qingyu in the kitchen?

Yesterday was Winter Solstice(冬至). I had no idea until Zoe came home and was like its winter now, we have to eat 湯圓(tangyuan). So we had some sesame seed and peanut butter dumplings. The black sesame ones pwn. She also gave me some tea with flowers in it. I asked what kind of flowers were in it and she said 菊花 ju hua? which translates to chrysanthemum.

Also yesterday I helped Laslzo make chili, which was pretty good. And today i figured out how to use the stove without blowing up the apartment and made spaghetti. It's really the first thing I've made besides pizza bagels and tea. Yeah, I bought some mushrooms and cheese and threw that in with my Prego! sauce lol. With a piece of garlic bread dinner was done. It may not look that good in the picture, but take my word it was delicious.

Soul Torture

I just performed a massive soul torture. Yeah, I got on flickr and looked at my uncle's photostream of X-mas pictures. I even added my own background music, the Carpenters x-mas album that Laura uploaded. (thank you!) I really really wish I could just pop home for Christmas. Seriously, Why hasn't anyone invented teleportation yet?

I mean no food, no tree, no fights, no cats playing in x-mas boxes, no presents, no craziness, no x-mas morning video game playing!, im not even making my not-so-famous pie, no food tasting! Gah! I don't get to test the macaroni and cheese or the deviled eggs! or the chicken wings! Or the Turkey! sigh and soo many more things.

Wow, will this be the first Christmas Eve that it will be easy for me to fall asleep because of the lack of excitement of the next day? Yes Im 22 years old and I still get too excited to sleep. Bite Me.

Growing up is lame and stupid.

Anyway after looking at the pixx i was just reminded that..Goddammit, my family does Christmas right!

To Zanarkand: Me being a nerd. again.

Nobuo Uematsu is a genius. After playing Final-Fantasy VIII and hearing those tight beats I was in love. And now almost 10 years later I still am. I can listen to it and know exactly what boss I was fighting or what forest I was in. I study best to the FFVIII soundtrack and probably always will. I LOVE it. From beginning to end, the beats are tight. Alex and I played this game so hard. Our Brady Games strategy guide was falling apart, which was fine because we really didn't need it. We knew every monster, HP, MP, weaknesses etc. Something about that game and those characters I will always love no matter how much people try and hate.

Wikipedia says, "Eyes on Me" sold a shitload of copies "placing it as the best-selling video game music disc ever released in that country until "Hikari" by Utada Hikaru for Kingdom Hearts." That's not bad company, not at all.

And if you didn't know already the FFVIII track"Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec" is an anagram for "Succession of Witches" and "Love". try it. cool right?

Also, Final Fantasy X. Good. "Suteki da ne" and "To Zanarkand" being my favorites. haha oh yeah and the Song of the Fayth. I also like the intensity of the crazy German "Otherworld". Haha.

From Final Fantasy X-2 which Nobuo had no part in, obviously; but seriously one of my all time favorites is "Eternity ~ Memory of Lightwaves"/"Eternity ~Memories of Waves and Light". I liked it so much, I even learned how to play it on the piano.

We do know that Real Emotion and 1000 words are tight beats, especially during karaoke.

This is how I avoid studying.

also, you know my squall ring got messed up. that will be getting replaced. also, i will find somewhere to put wings on my body. somehow. i want my PS.

Terminator Salvation

mmm Christian Bale
It's been a while since I've posted anything about cyborgs...heh

Happy Birthday Zhong!

Happy Birthday Baby! Now come over here and lick me!

I need Love Actually to download faster..

Instrumental Shit is the best, whether its from Final Fantasy, Lost in Translation, or my my favorite X-mas movie Love Actually. It's all good, all the time.

Wanna get inked?

Last week after orientation a couple of people from the hostel and I went to lunch. We ended up going to Ximending for Xiao Tao to get a tattoo. Since it was her birthday and I knew where tattoo alley was we decided to go. I think it cost her ~$60. Not too bad. I really want wind now...

Also a tatoo artist in training gave us his card. His name is...Monster. LOL.

So, Kevin Tattoo looked pretty sketch with the dogs and the lack of a proper patient chair. But whatev's cause like she said she's 小桃 forever. 桃(táo) means 'peach', much like our very own Momo.

This would be much easier if I was an ABC...

Strange Things Happen at the 1-2 Point.

Chinese is stressing me out, but comicals make me happy. So do my dad's pep talks. sigh:::


Why can't I just be fluent already?

Why is chinese so hard?

I had my first day of school yesterday. It was totally intimidating. I was put in the class that uses, Practical Audio and Visual Chinese book 3. Kinda hard shit. Of course no one i know is in class with me, and we are all at different levels. Yesterday I couldn't write 因为 yeah, thats how much I suck right now. But, other than that class was good, difficult, but good. I'm always like three steps behind everyone else. I'll understand it, but it might take me a minute or two. HA. So I will be the retard of the class, I'm the only American so no one to take the heat off me. Traditional Characters are stupid pieces of shit, and no one will change my mind on that. So is Bopomofo, or at least my supplementary class about it is. I can't tell how hard its going to be yet. Hopefully I'll figure that out before the class change period is over. I have a quiz tomorrow, sighh:::

In other news, I won an autographed picture of Thomas Dekker a.k.a John Connor!!I hope its of him as John Connor after he cut his emo hair. Either way the fangirl! is excited!!!

Oh, more john news. The girl came and got her fish(my john). I was pretty sad, but my friend said he would take care of my fish when i leave so maybe i will get some fish!

Zhong and Mao BFFS!!!!

Okay, I have GREAT news. Laura is coming to visit me!!!!!
I am the happiest person alive!!!!
I'm already trying to think of excuses to get out of class...
google image search: love in taipei!

Apartment

Okay, I can finally show you guys my apartment. I live about 10 minutes from Shida(school). On the corner there is an OK-Mart(LAME) and a Mos burger(which I've already developed a liking)

Right on the left as you walk in the front door.
Zoe's (my roommate) room is on the right as soon as you walk in the door.

Kitchen. I'm pretty sure we only boil water in here.

The hallway view from my door.
Laundry balcony and bathrooms on the left. Other bedroom directly ahead.

The bigger bedroom that I stayed in when I first got here.
Also the bed I tripped out of and bruised my shin.

My Room:

Right wall. That's all closet space. To hold my new wardrobe?

Door and dresser.

Bed. I did buy sheets, finally. Busted Luna. I don't know if I inherited this fish and lamp. I hope so. I named the fish John. Naturally. Hopefully I don't kill him.

Randomness:

I bought some dishes today. The bowl says, "We are Happy monkey. Banana is our favorite fruit."

I was too lazy to clean the drawers, so I lined them with Vivi.


Today I went to the bookstore. There isn't much that keeps me from sci-fi. I also got a sweet chinese textbook and "Overcoming Love Problems with Nana and Hachi", like I need their advice, I was laughing so hard people were staring. I'll use it to practice reading stupid traditional characters.

Gonna be hangover.

So you miss getting the free drink tickets, and you think well I'm not going to drink at all(I'm that cheap). Only if.

Long story short; two day hangovers apparently exist. Coupled with my laziness, I don't think I am moving from the apartment today.

Never let a rich Canadian teacher from Korea buy you drinks.

Shopping in Taipei...

I went shopping yesterday. I was in a weird mood felt the extreme urge to go shopping. Originally I went out on a specific mission to get my new hat RUFFIAN: This crazy behavior. These ladies were totally trying to rip me off, $290, $390, and $490 at different places in different parts of town. Around mid-day I pretty much gave up on it, because I'm cheap and am just not willing to pay 15 bucks for a hat. I ended up in Gongguan market at a store called Yo-Yo and got these two shirts. What I love about shopping in Asia is that they love layers so the clothes usually come in layers and most the time aren't sewed together in a one piece so you get multiple shirts. The yellow one comes with a removable tank top and a necklace joint. The necklace also matches my green fancy top. So, basically I win. 3 shirts and necklace for about ~$18. I went to Shilin market, the biggest night market in Taipei and ended up getting the hat. I couldn't resist. Shilin was insanely crowded and busy, but I can imagine getting some good deals there.

Wanna get married? and Life Update

In Taiwan it is pretty standard to get professional engagement photos before the wedding. On my way to Chiang-Kai Shek memorial hall I discovered the street with all the photography studios, appropriately named Aiguo Rd (愛國路). As far as I can understand the couple dresses up and goes to various locations to take pictures. There are multiple dresses and hairstyles. Many of them are absolutely crazy. Here are some pixx:

Word.

Time to be a pretty princess?

Most of the pictures are of the couple looking lovingly into each other eyes on the beach etc. Mine will be more in this style however:

MOTORCYCLE!

HAHA. This is how it really will be. I love it.

I moved out of Eight Elephants hostel today. I was quite sad about it. I liked watching people come and go and talking to them. Plus, I always had someone to eat and go sightseeing with. Also, I kinda fell in love with an elephant plushie. I'll probably go back and visit, I only moved like 15 mins away. Probably less than that, but you know I walk slow. My apartment is like 10 minutes away from the night market. I went there for lunch and decided to go into what I like to call the 'everything' store. I bought a blanket and almost bought a hello kitty pillow. Even though it was really ke ai I didn't buy it because I'm pretty sure I could find one cheaper. We'll see, I'll probably give in. Everything is cute here. It is kind of amazing; The shapes in in your ramen, stationary, stickers, clothes, signs, the girls, i guess the boys too?(in that metro way), Taiwanese Mandarin is the cutest. They add ahs and lahs to the end of everything. You'll have to hear it to understand.

The Taiwanese really love their pets. There is no leash law so the dogs roam free. There is also no rabies here. The pets usually hangout in the store fronts or kinda just wander about. I've seen dogs, cats, parrots, and my favorite rabbits. They were not in a cage mind you, they were just there hopping around.

The Taiwanese are very nice, and a lot of them here in Taipei at least can speak some English. These days when people find out that I'm an American, they ask if I voted for Obama. I say yes and that is usually followed by 'CHANGE!' and 'Bush bad'. Instead of when I was in Shanghai everyone was complaining to me about Bush. Thanks again Obama.

I had my placement test at Shida last friday. There was an interview, where the lady said I spoke very well(joke!) and that the test would probably be too easy for me and to come back and tell her if it was. Well it wasn't. It was 1hr 40mins, and all in traditional characters. EPIC FAIL. anyways i got a 44, i don't know what that means exactly. Also, I think she put me in the newspaper reading class. eeep! Well I'll know for sure next week.

I will also start looking for a job, right now I really like Taipei and want to stay for more than 3 months. More work and stress.

I'm addicted to bubble tea like the taiwanese are addicted to diets.

Just an idea...

I've seen a lot of travelers check in here in the past week. There are a lot of people doing really big trips, several months of traveling all throughout East and Southeast Asia. How many times have I heard "Oh we just flew in from China/Japan/Thailand/Vietnam"? More than I can count. And I am a nasty shade of green because of it. Staying in this hostel and watching all these people come and go makes me think we should have said FRACK THIS, SEE YOU IN HELL!! and went backpacking this summer. Do I dream too big??

News and then Sarah Connor SPOILER for Mr. Ferguson is iLL today!!!

Some Old News: I think starting in February(?) TSCC is moving to Fridays as a lead into Dollhouse. Sadly, I think I've been reading Dollhouse has been having some serious issues. Oh Joss, will it ever be smooth sailing? Everyone is/was worried about the Friday insta-kill, but someone over at SCS wrote an nice little piece:

Why Fridays won’t Terminate TERMINATOR
And generally I'm inclined to agree. There is no fate but what we make.

check the whole thing out here:
2x08 Mr. Ferguson Is Ill Today

The obsessive part or my personality(fangirl!?) really comes out when related to tv/media. Not for like important things.

New HP Trailer: Is it July yet?

right, so i want harry potter now.
because even in a foreign country i make the time to check mugglenet.
also, my comp. screen has totally gone to shit. I'll have to see how long it lasts.
basically luna's dying and i don't know why...

Pamda is totally hot. hermione's hair is funny/pretty. hehe.

um and harry and ginny's kiss looks AWKWARD. to me anyway.

First week in Taiwan.

It has been a crazy, exciting, stressful, rainy, and sweaty week. Here's a little mini-update:

Monday: Arrive. sleep.

Tuesday: Wait for suitcase. Go on the MRT to Ximending. Sleep a lot.

Wednesday: Buy cellphone. Walk up and down Riverside Park. Go to the local university bar. Sleep alot. again.

Thursday: Longshan Temple.

Friday: Daan Park. Shida and Gongguan Night Market.

Saturday: Yangmingshan National Park.

Today: Look at Apartments?

I can't even begin to go in detail about all that's happened. Take my word for it, it has been amazing. Maybe I'll do a better update later. We'll see.

Mom/Dad- The links are to my Facebook pictures

Did my friends just get cooler? Is that even possible?

I didn't know that it was. But there it is. Knowing that you are watching Sarah Connor fills my heart with pure joy. I only wish I was there watching your reactions to the awesomeness. On Eliot.

Riverside fun

Yesterday I went and bought a cell phone and did it all without getting lost. Well except when I'm about 5 mins away from the hostel I always seem to get lost. I'm working on it. After that Laszlo(hostel dude) and I went to get lunch. We ended up at the Riverside Park which isn't far from the hostel. We basically ended up walking from one end to the other. It wouldn't have been that intense, but I was wearing flipflops. Sigh, I have a bruise on my big toe from the strap. BUT, they are not swollen anymore! Anyways, It was really nice, but it was of course raining off and on. Here's some pics:

Rainbow! that turned into a double rainbow!

So Taipei has red and blue bridges and purple and orange highways. pretty sweet

Helping some Taiwanese win their company game competition.
They needed to take a picture with us, and since we were hiding out under the bridge from the rain we ended up helping another group.

I have so much more including a sweet graffiti set. Taipei has some really awesome/random stuff.
My pictures look kinda bad when they are in their large normal size, i don't know if its the rain or what. Oh well. Anyways I will probably update this again with the fb link.

oh, i just noticed how sexy wet bangs look.

Intense Pain

I walked about 10 miles today, in flip flops because things just unfolded and we just kept walking. I took a nap and woke up in intense pain and my feet were swollen. I'm totally proud of them and it was worth it. I am crushing so hard on Taipei right now. Pictures later.


Also, me going to a bar without pre-gaming is no good no matter what country. Needless to say I didn't stay very long.

Ximending.

After I got myself together I headed out to explore. I decided to wing it and jump on the MRT(metro) to Ximen/Ximending. But before that i stopped into Watsons! yay i missed you. So I was a bit nervous about taking the MRT but of course it was easy, convenient, and clean. The single ticket is actually a small plastic coin (so easy to lose) you scan it on the way in and put it in the slot on your way out. I'll just get a Easy Pass (smarttrip/passmo) thing next time. I forgot how everyone actually waits in line to get on the train. So orderly, no cutting or pushing, well except for a couple of old grannies.

Ximending is like a mini-shibuya. A land of fly-factors, skinny bitches, general sexiness, and OMG cute clothes. I wanted to cry it was so nice. So much clothes, so many shoes, so many cute boots. Like those white doc martens, yeah I'm getting those. Bootleg naturally, because yeah that's just how I roll. I went up into the Anna Sui section of a dept. store and almost cried again. So many pretty things. Big puri-kuri place, BUT no babies to take pictures with:( I walked around for a good long while, hitting up the "major" alleys and the like. Of course I will be taking many more trips down there, today was kinda lame because of all the rain. It is probably really awesome on the weekend/nights. I need to find a spot to do some serious ppl watching.
Anyways I decide to head back and got a bit turned around. No biggie. So I make it back and head downstairs to the common area to try an be social. A couple of people and I went to dinner where i had "goose fingers" which i think was actually duck. Anyways it was a set plate with rice, bamboo, and veggies. I forgot to take a picture though. Anyways, now I'm back here and I'm really sleepy, but I'm trying to make it to at least 10. Yeah I've been up since 4am. sigh i really hate jetlag. Um blogger hates me uploading things so go here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029787&l=bd4bd&id=115200202

Suitcase Woes

I've never lost my luggage before so this has been a new experience for me. I guess I've been lucky. But now I'm smelly and I want clean underwear. But if you lose your luggage check WorldTracer Services the address is http://www.worldtracer.com/filedsp/ci.htm just replace the CI with your airline code. UA for United Airlines, AA for American Airlines etc. you'll need the reference number they gave you when you reported it missing and your last name. pretty easy.

So my bag is apparently on a flight touching down in 10 minutes. So I do hope to receive it by noon. I'll keep ya updated. It'll be better than X-mas.

EDIT: (8:00am) They have it at the airport and the delivery process has been initiated. Yes!

EDIT2:(11:28am) They called the hostel about a half an hour ago saying it would be here in a hour and a half. Almost there!

EDIT3:(2:21pm) MY SUITCASE IS HERE IT GOT HERE AT 1:30! I AM SHOWERED AND WEARING CLEAN CLOTHES. YAY!

I finally blew that joint

My flight; Going to Chicago was fine, smooth sailing. Silently made friends with a pilot/co-pilot while I played Crisis Core and he played Spore on his Mac. Flight to Lax was also pretty uneventful, I slept for most of it. Upon arrival to LAX I had to check in with China Airlines to get my boarding pass. There are no useful maps inside LAX. Also, all I seemed to find was United Airlines Departures and nothing else. Anyways after asking a bajillion ppl how to get to China Airlines I finally make it there. I had to walk through 2 terminals. LAX is frickin huge so after lugging around Luna for 3 miles I check in and that's all good. It is still a very long walk to my gate. They are renovating so everything looks sketchy and its dark and none of the moving walkways are on. Anyways get on the plane and boy is it classy. The flight attendants are all pretty and have cute outfits, everyone has a touch screen tv. I could choose from a wide variety of movies, music, tv shows, etc. So i ended up listening to Utada, watching X-flies and a documentary on Bi. When there was six hours left still i realized that i was terribly bloated, had major gas cramps, and farted for 6 hours. They weren't smelly, but god it was uncomfortable. Oh, another good thing was that no one sat between me and the little old lady who had the aisle seat, so we both took turns using the middle seat to get out sleep on.
I finally arrive in Taipei at around 6am. I then find out my suitcase which was checked at BWI to Taipei was still in Los Angeles. So I'm smelly have no clothes or toothbrush or anything. Also since i arrived at 7 in the morning i had to wait until check-out time to get my room. I am in it now and its small and cozy just a bed and a desk. The hostel is really nice and chill. It's called eight elephants is has cute elephant things everywhere. So i went to get breakfast with one of the guys who helps run the place and he showed me around a little bit. I also realized how much chinese I've forgotten, but I'm ready to pick it up quick. So basically I'm in Taipei looking like a hott mess. BUT I'm in Taipei!!

Blowin this joint(america)

OH GOD. OH GOD. OH GOD.
I'm leaving tomorrow. Finally.
Also, I'm old(er) now.

I'm not really ready for the forever flight and picking up luggage and checking in at every airport.

Wanna see something funny? aka stuff i found in my room

OMG ME AND JC from NSYNC!
Please notice:
1. Winnie the Pooh mini-backpack
2. Airwalks!
3. Scrunchie!

Me in High School with my fly uniform

I look exactly the same. Except for my eyebrows.

You Can't Stop the Signal (T:TSCC)

You can't kill John. Not my John, but John Connor. I wish he was my John.
Old news, but still good news. I can't believe 90210 is going to stay on though.

Obama Around the world

Obama, Japan
haha. awesome.

Vote or Die.

So i totally just got my vote on.
The epic-ness of this just hit me.
Bi-racial President FTW!

INTENSE CONVERSATIONS

yeah, I'm reminiscing.