Wandering and Eating around Taipei

Hello blog world! 

In recent days, Steven and I have been busy touring the bustling metropolis of Taipei City. I've been making like a regular ol' Taiwanese and using my umbrella like a parasol. Don't judge me until you feel for yourself the stinging heat of the summertime sun in Taiwan! 

This was one of the highlights of our trip here. Surprisingly, though I've visited Taiwan a lot, I've never been to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. Regardless of the politics and all that, it really is quite the sight to see. It's friggin HUGE! We had a good time roaming the gardens and exhibits in the area. Plus, they had the best souvenirs:

A chilly passion fruit popsicle with a stick that's actually a Memorial Hall bookmark! Genius! 

Unfortunately, our foreign meat has been especially enticing to the local mosquito populations. One evening, Steven got 7 bites, and I got 3. My Taiwanese family, sitting right next to us? None. 

No blog post would be complete without lots of food pics. Prepare your eyes to FEAST: 

Forker's vegetarian patty with spinach artichoke sauce baked on top (actually better than any burger I've had in Australia! A bit disappointed with the fries though): 

Classic Taiwanese breakfast of egg pancake (with cheese!) and iced black tea (best breakfast EVER and only 50NT): 

And a really expensive upscale organic restaurant called VVG Bistro nestled in the warehouses of HuaShan Arts District:

Salad in Shakable Jars (So that you get an arm workout with your greens)! 

And these delicious meals: 

My friends had steak with the most delicious fries ever, a delicious scallop risotto with truffle oil, while I had the vegetarian pasta with all sorts of mushrooms and truffle oil. 

And in all this time, I have done absolutely NO exercise. HURRAH FOR VACATION!

Walking isn't cardio, Steven

Steven and I spent this past weekend at Surfers Paradise (yes, they don't have very good grammar sometimes here Down Under). 

One of my heart challenges from my sister was to jog 5K up a mountain, 5K on a beach, 5K in a desert and 5K in a city. 

Well, there was plenty of beach at Surfers Paradise! 

My stats: 

21:51

2.18 miles or 3.5 KM

10:02 min/ mile

The verdict: 

Running on sand is bloody PAINFUL. 

My feet, toes, calves, ankles, front of shins, back of shins, insides of shins... everything HURT for days after my run. My feet still feel sore and stiff! 

This is not the work of 2.18 miles... it feels worse than 10K, and it's all because of the shifty sand underfoot. It doesn't help that I run barefoot either! 

Later, Steven and I were on the bus and this happened:

Steven: "I feel like we got a good cardio workout in with all our walking."

(We walked from Surfers Paradise to Broadbeach, just in case you wanted to stalk me with Google Maps or something creepy/sweet like that.)

Sandy: "Walking isn't cardio, Steven."

Steven: LOL "The look on your face when you said that. Let's recreate it and take a picture so you can blog about how silly I am."

That's a totally true conversation absolutely word-for-word it really is.

Later, back in Surfers Paradise, we found Yoghurt City, a self-serve yogurt bar like Menchies or Yogurty's back home.

Unfortunately, the people in the joint never heard of mochi balls.

Aussie-land, YOU MUST LEARN ABOUT THE MAGICAL DELICIOUSNESS OF MOCHI.

YOU MUST!

We got an assortment of fruits and candies and dried banana pieces, which was really all that appealed to us out of their small selection of toppings.

The yogurt (we got a mix of passionfruit and green apple) lost its taste once we added the fruits and banana. This is where Menchies is the KING! Their yogurt manages to stay tasty and tart through the toppings.

Steven rates Yoghurt City 2 and 1/2 kangaroo kicks out of 5.

Don't kick kangaroos. Stay in school.