Well, I finally got back to the states late Wednesday (06/27) night. It was an altogether [different] experience from my previous trips back- I just did different stuff, I guess.
The most memorable experience(s) of the trip would probably have to be the clubbing. I had a lot more fun than I expected at it, actually. I'm usually not very inclined to dance, but I guess there's something about being in a room full of people you'll never see again that makes dancing so much easier, haha. In Taiwan, they refer to 'em as "pubs" or "discos" - haha, the word "disco" always puts a funny image in my head. I went to a couple clubs, always either with my brother or cousin Jack (and their friends). Of the ones I visited, here's how I'd rank the clubs of Taipei:
1. Plush (very nice interior)
2. Twins (the only one with a decently sized dancefloor)
3. B1
4. TU
5. Juliana (a lot of old people, though)
6. 151
7. 45 Pub (really just a bar)
But also, as an inherent part of clubbing, there was drinking. Now, I'm usually not one to drink, but my cousin (Jack) seems to be the only person who ever manages to get me to. It was legal (drinking age in Taiwan is 18), but that doesn't change the fact that I felt pretty guilty about it afterwards. In fact, drinking this summer broke my (almost) 2 year abstinence from alcohol. Well, anyways, needless to say, I got pretty tipsy... *sigh* Man, what good is all that STAND stuff, if when it comes down to it you still cave in to peer pressure? =/ ...and well, not to be advocating alcohol usage or anything, but it does makes dancing feel a lot more natural. Hmmm... must be that bit about reduced social inhibitions, eh? Well, for now, it's back to saying "no" to alcohol... I fear what college might hold.
Anyways, on to other things... My cousin (from my dad's side) took my brother & me to a waterpark near Taichung. (That's kind of like a tradition we have: going to waterparks.) Well, this one, named Mala Bay, was particularly crappy... so crappy that we all joked about how soon we thought it'd go out of business. We set out bright and early from Taipei to beat the anticipated rush, but when we got there, we found the place almost completely deserted. There were probably only 10 other people in the place; the employees surely outnumbered the customers, it was so bad, hahaha.
On the day of the Dragonboat Festival, my entire mom's side (minus a cousin here and there) gathered for dinner. Man, kids grow up so fast in 2 years- I hardly recognized some of my cousins. We took lots of pictures. The night before that, I hung out with my cousin Jackie (Jack's sister) and her friends from the American school in Taichung. I realized that despite whatever knowledge I may have of Chinese, it's still infinitely easier to get along with people that speak English. =/
Also, I met up with Frankie (as we had arranged back in Plano). We didn't do a whole lot actually, we just wandered a mall, basically- the XinGuang SanYue (or like shinkong mitsu... something or other). We basically just ate then went up & down the (several flights of) escalators about 5 times.
The thing I probably hated leaving behind the most would probably have to be the kendo class. It turned out to be a lot more fun than it looked. And I was finally starting to get the hang of it when I had to leave- several of the instructors said I showed promise or had nice execution of technique (particularly the diagonal slice). Also, it wasn't until my last class that I actually started making some friends... dangit... arrrrggg...
As for shopping, which usually tends to be one of my biggest activities while in Taiwan, I didn't shop as much this time around. I had in mind that I was gonna buy this and that, but when I got there, I didn't see stuff that I liked. So for the most part, I came home practically empty-handed. =/ Oh, and I practically didn't play videogames at all this time; that used to be THE most time killing thing to do when I went to Taiwan. I used to play at my cousins' place, but they were too busy cramming for exams to play or hang out or anything, so it wasn't as fun.
The most memorable experience(s) of the trip would probably have to be the clubbing. I had a lot more fun than I expected at it, actually. I'm usually not very inclined to dance, but I guess there's something about being in a room full of people you'll never see again that makes dancing so much easier, haha. In Taiwan, they refer to 'em as "pubs" or "discos" - haha, the word "disco" always puts a funny image in my head. I went to a couple clubs, always either with my brother or cousin Jack (and their friends). Of the ones I visited, here's how I'd rank the clubs of Taipei:
1. Plush (very nice interior)
2. Twins (the only one with a decently sized dancefloor)
3. B1
4. TU
5. Juliana (a lot of old people, though)
6. 151
7. 45 Pub (really just a bar)
But also, as an inherent part of clubbing, there was drinking. Now, I'm usually not one to drink, but my cousin (Jack) seems to be the only person who ever manages to get me to. It was legal (drinking age in Taiwan is 18), but that doesn't change the fact that I felt pretty guilty about it afterwards. In fact, drinking this summer broke my (almost) 2 year abstinence from alcohol. Well, anyways, needless to say, I got pretty tipsy... *sigh* Man, what good is all that STAND stuff, if when it comes down to it you still cave in to peer pressure? =/ ...and well, not to be advocating alcohol usage or anything, but it does makes dancing feel a lot more natural. Hmmm... must be that bit about reduced social inhibitions, eh? Well, for now, it's back to saying "no" to alcohol... I fear what college might hold.
Anyways, on to other things... My cousin (from my dad's side) took my brother & me to a waterpark near Taichung. (That's kind of like a tradition we have: going to waterparks.) Well, this one, named Mala Bay, was particularly crappy... so crappy that we all joked about how soon we thought it'd go out of business. We set out bright and early from Taipei to beat the anticipated rush, but when we got there, we found the place almost completely deserted. There were probably only 10 other people in the place; the employees surely outnumbered the customers, it was so bad, hahaha.
On the day of the Dragonboat Festival, my entire mom's side (minus a cousin here and there) gathered for dinner. Man, kids grow up so fast in 2 years- I hardly recognized some of my cousins. We took lots of pictures. The night before that, I hung out with my cousin Jackie (Jack's sister) and her friends from the American school in Taichung. I realized that despite whatever knowledge I may have of Chinese, it's still infinitely easier to get along with people that speak English. =/
Also, I met up with Frankie (as we had arranged back in Plano). We didn't do a whole lot actually, we just wandered a mall, basically- the XinGuang SanYue (or like shinkong mitsu... something or other). We basically just ate then went up & down the (several flights of) escalators about 5 times.
The thing I probably hated leaving behind the most would probably have to be the kendo class. It turned out to be a lot more fun than it looked. And I was finally starting to get the hang of it when I had to leave- several of the instructors said I showed promise or had nice execution of technique (particularly the diagonal slice). Also, it wasn't until my last class that I actually started making some friends... dangit... arrrrggg...
As for shopping, which usually tends to be one of my biggest activities while in Taiwan, I didn't shop as much this time around. I had in mind that I was gonna buy this and that, but when I got there, I didn't see stuff that I liked. So for the most part, I came home practically empty-handed. =/ Oh, and I practically didn't play videogames at all this time; that used to be THE most time killing thing to do when I went to Taiwan. I used to play at my cousins' place, but they were too busy cramming for exams to play or hang out or anything, so it wasn't as fun.
posted by Dear Daniel at 11:45 PM
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