Blog Revival!
We finally saw Andre at Bloomingdale's again, only to reveal to him that we wouldn't see him for a while.
"Going out East?"
"Far East."
That's right. We're back. Our first experience flying Cathay Pacific wasn't terrible, but one of our flights got cancelled and our layover was extended by a couple hours as a result. 15.5 hours is a looong time in the air. Hong Kong is in fact so far from Chicago, that on the flight map, instead of going West, it actually plotted a route to the East. Even the map is deceptive as we basically flew over the North Pole.
A long layover also meant that instead of landing at 11:55 PM on September 4th, V instead turned 25 again while in the air.
Finally got into TPE; passed out for the long drive home (at least i did); and then subsequently got to work. Yep, this little piggy got off of 20+ hours of travel, only to put in a ten-hour day. V slept through a large portion of her birthday, and then put me to bed upon awakening...
Not an unusual routine for me, though. It's a little scary how functional I've become on three to four hours of sleep. Before it was school by day, work by night, and sleep when able. Khai came to Chicago on the day of my last final and replaced my school work. And now, I'm exploring foreign countries during the day. Humblebrag?
No real plans for her birthday, so my lovely wife set off to get her hair did with Irene, and I got in a nap before heading to the familiar 忠孝復興 - Zhongxiao Fuxing Intersection. V was supposed to meet up with me afterward, but I headed out early for some solo exploring.
My plan this time around is to tough it out alone and actually try to practice my Chinese. Unfortunately, I've forgotten a significant portion of my albeit low-level skills...and struggled...mightily. I've found that when I have to resort to English, my success rate is pretty hit or miss. Interestingly however, I have a much easier time just using Japanese. You wouldn't think that there are more Taiwanese who can speak Japanese than English, but there are always a lot of Japanese passing through Taiwan. Apropos, shopkeepers tend to skew towards travel demand.
Also interestingly, the weather this time around is not bad at all (no jinx...). Humid, but mostly in the 80's I believe. The sun comes and goes, but I still wear my sunglasses around. I find that the use of sunglasses is not as propagated here, and it makes me feel extra fancy-pants to wear them. I also feel like my aura just screams tourist.
Unfortunately, walking around alone makes me realize how crappy my Chinese is. I needed something to drink and was desperately searching for some bubble tea when I realized I don't even know how to say "bubble tea." Even when I finally found a place I knew, I had zero chance at reading the menu; I idiotically forgot my dictionary at home. Eventually, I settled for some iced coffee at this cute little cafe.
Incidentally, this is the location I found myself resorting to Japanese. As long as I properly order my coffee in Chinese, I consider it a success. The various side-streets and alleys surrounding the Metro station are very typical of Taipei: lots of residences and small shops clustered with a billion eateries.
I window-shopped a bit while trying my best to ignore the food and save myself for dinner. The most intriguing place I actually walked into was what appeared to be a novelty store/antique shop.
Travel down this tunnel, hang a left, and you will have entered a catacombs with aisles and aisles of really cheap, complete crap. We're talking giant bear statues dressed like mailmen and cafe-themed music stands. Perfect place to burn some time, be quite fascinated, but never actually have the urge to buy anything.
My short day out came to an end with dinner with the family at 7. I had literally spoken with V moments (hours) before about how I'm not especially partial to chicken skin unless it is rendered in a confit or fried up super crispy. It was only fitting that dinner included some crispy-skin chicken (no idea what it's actually called).
Those styrofoam looking things on the side are shrimp chips and delicious.
It wasn't until we got back to the house that we did anything birthday proper.
Blow out the candles.
Cut the cake.
And unleash the pudding within.
Happy Happy Honeyface!
