A Day in Taipei

Today, Steven and I decided we would be good proper tourists and take pictures of everything and anything that caught our fancy. I even broke out my poor Lomo from its long Australian hibernation to get some exercise! It's a nice refreshing break from the digital world to go back to a film camera. But this does mean we have no idea if the photos even turn out until after we finish the whole roll!! Fun!

As the weather appeared to hold out, Steven and I explored the iconic Taipei 101. Hordes of tourists flock here for the pretty pictures and well, because it is a big tall tower. I was surprised at the quality of the free audio tour and displays on the observation deck. Considering the 500NT ticket, you actually do get some good interesting information on the history of Taipei, nearby attractions and of course the construction of the tower itself.

There was also some sort of exhibit that featured monthly Taiwanese cultural activities, like swimming across Sun Moon Lake next month (done that!), or the pole-climbing festivals around New year's. It was cool because after living here for so many years, these activities were actually familiar to me! Makes me feel local even though I so SO am not!

After wandering the really cool Eslite bookstore (which is really misleading since it is not only a bookstore but also full of little nick nack shops and designer furniture and stuff), we went for dinner at a place near and dear to my heart, Jolly.

This is a microbrewery and an excellent Thai food restaurant. After having been away for 2 years, I was glad to see it still bustling and brewing! The beers were exactly to my taste: sweet and girly. However, now that I am a vegetarian, I basically have to break the rules in order to eat there at all! I had a Green curry (made with shrimp paste) with veggies only and some stir-fried greens. Oh, and beer! Lots of beer!

Our Asia adventure beings

My apologies for the week-long silence in blogging. If you've been following me, you know that Steven and I are traveling around Asia on a two-month "Let's spend all the money we made in Australia" spree.

This past week, we've been busy flying from Hong Kong to Taiwan, my "home" country. After graduating university, I moved and lived in various cities around Taiwan for (on and off) about 3 years. So, in many ways, coming back to Taiwan is like coming home.

Taiwan is where I got through some big struggles in my life so far, and learned peace and contentment... at least for a time. Coming back here is and always will be joyous for me.

Anyway, I'll be back to regular blogging soon! We've got a skim date lined up for this weekend, and lots of catching up with friends and family.

Amy's here!

My friend Amy is here on a 2-week visit from our homeland, Taiwan.

She has missed Canada and our foliage.

So I decided to wash my Vibrams in honour of her arrival. Just kidding. That makes no sense.

I was running through some rainy weather last week, so it was a disgusting chore. Luckily, I don't have a picture to share with you. You're welcome.

That's my excuse for not running today. That, and that I was busy doing stuff like this:

After lunch with our working girlfriends, we had dessert at Prairie Girl Bakery.

The artistry in my iPhone photo astounds you? Yes, it astounds me too.

Being the addict I am, I had to have Red Velvet Cupcakes with Classic Cream Cheese Frosting.

There is nothing in the world like a fresh cupcake. My only fault with the cupcake was that it's severely top-heavy.

 

Amy and I gave up on the grab and bite method and asked for forks. Much easier. I polished off every drop of cream cheese frosting. Oooohhh baby.

By the time I got home, my Vibrams were STILL wet, so naturally, I took Steven out for a nice dinner at Pizza Nova. Then, we walked to the Yonge/Sheppard Yogurty's. 

Steven and I are big Mochi Ball hogs, and both of us immediately noticed that the Balls at Yogurty's are not as chewy and bouncy as the ones at Menchies. Plus, Steven's yogurt melted really fast (maybe because he gets supermodel-on-a-diet portions), so that was annoying. The mango pieces tasted weird to me, but maybe that's because I mixed it with hazelnut froyo...and my tastebuds exploded in confusion.

Hello Interwebs! How did you spend your Wednesday?