We are on our way to Mui Ne now. Time for more relaxing.
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Tuesday, June 30, 2009
150m WE ARE STRONG
Got up very early today to catch a taxi over to the tour company. First time we felt really touristy on this whole trip but whatever it was like $6 to go to and from Cu Chi Tunnels. Off we went... The man in charge introduced himself and said Cu Chi probably every other word. We couldn't stop laughing at the way he said it. It's like he knew what it sounded like in English and purposefully emphasized it because we were there and we are immature.
We slept the whole ride and awoke to a much more leafy area with cool cows and rice fields. Then began our time at the tunnels. These tunnels are famous because the Vietnamese built them during the war to escape from the Americans. There are miles and miles of tunnels underground where people lived for years. There are also a lot of traps and hidden passageways and entrances that only the Cu Chi guerillas knew about. Let me just say, it would freaking suck to be over here during the war. One wrong move and your leg is severed by some rolling spikey death trap.
First we watched a very very very cheesy documentary on the tunnels. It was like, made during the war. So strange. Then we headed over to see one of the hidden entrances. It was a regular forest floor but hidden was a tiny little rectangular hole about the size of a bread box. A man working at the site showed us an example of him escaping into the hide out. Then the man in charge picked me to go do it because I guess I am small enough? Well, I surprisingly fit and it was really dirty and awkward with all the people watching me.
Oh my god and on our tour there was a LIVE MUMMY. At first we thought she looked a lot like our middle school choir teacher (no offense ms. pouliot, you just tan A LOT), but it was definitely just a mummy out and about for a nice day at the cu chi tunnels. Such a scary woman eghgfiufgiuegfiue.
We decided to be strong and try to crawl through the long tunnel path instead of opt for the easy version. It was definitely hard. At one point we were on our hands and knees and felt really dirty. Alyssa started to freak out and I was just laughing at her. We had met James, a traveler from some British island between France and England. He was very nice and very cute except for the dreadlocks and smoking ew... but he went into the tunnels with us. He definitely kept us motivated. When we got out on the other side, the man in charge congratulated us and said that we are very strong we went 150 m! Earlier he had also become friends with some random boy and Alyssa asked him who he was and he said Oh he is my son for the day so he can get in for free. Next time you two will be my girls and get in for free! We were like... uh ok?
Oh we also fired some AK-47's. That was kinda creepy. At first I felt a bit turned off by it all because you could hear the shots in the distance while we were walking around the jungle and it felt like a movie. Plus, what kind of regulation do they have? Do they get your fingerprint? ID? Anything? Turns out-- no. The guns are locked into place so all you can do is pull the trigger. But whatever, we shot AK-47s in the Vietnam jungle-- how many people can say that? Don't worry, the targets were animals, not Americans.
Then we headed back to the city, got some Banh Mi for lunch (vietnamese sandwiches, just to try them out here-- tasty), and took a taxi to Nhat's aunt's house. His mom and aunt made us a dinner! Actually, we helped a little. We cleaned lettuce and fruit and picked off the bad leaves and flipped spring rolls. His aunt has two maids, one cleaning and one that was taking care of the kid upstairs. It was rather awkward because no one introduced them they just were smiling and sweeping. Oh and they have this ridiculous pet bird-- I have NEVER seen something like it. It screams and looks like it is going to kill you then all of a sudden it will speak in Vietnamese and ay "Mom, I want food". Freaking insane. It looks like a vulture, not a parrot. I took a video of it.
Dinner was delicious and fun. His mom and aunt were suprised we like all the food here and surprised we could use chopsticks. Nhat said the bon bo hue wasn't as good as she usually makes it because she used less seasoning because she thought we wouldn't like it! Isn't that sad? It was still really good but I could tell it was a little plain. The spring rolls were good which we wrapped up in whatever leaves we wanted. We also tried this really disgusting veggie juice that is apparently very popular here. Yuck.
We hung out at the house a bit and played with his cousins. The one year old was very quiet and angry looking but beautiful. Then the 8 year old came over around the time his dad got there. She doesn't speak English, only French, but we just made faces and tried to teach her dance moves. I think she liked us a lot. When we were leaving his aunt told Alyssa she has a pretty face hahaha.
Nhat Alyssa and I went to a coffee shop and had some cold drinks. Once again, the location was really cool, down a creepy alleyway and up some stairs. Big comfy chairs and bean bag chairs filled the room and the straws were actually really awesome too. I would seriously be at these coffeshops everyday if I lived here. They are so relaxing. Then we picked up some grilled corn with dried shrimp and seasoning he wanted us to try. It was tasty. Then it was back to the hotel because tomorrow morning we must get up very early to go to Mui Ne and lay on the beach allll dayyyy. Oh so much work!
Oh, Nhat hugged us! I love him he is so dorky and nice. He was such a good host! Too bad he leaves for Ha Noi in two days so we won't see him until he moves to America next year. Oh and it is sooooo freaking hot. We wore jeans which was a terrible idea. Ohhhh yeah and I tried durian today. That was disgusting. It doesn't even smell that bad, it just tastes like shit. I like all the other fruit here, just that one should die.
Time for bed!
We slept the whole ride and awoke to a much more leafy area with cool cows and rice fields. Then began our time at the tunnels. These tunnels are famous because the Vietnamese built them during the war to escape from the Americans. There are miles and miles of tunnels underground where people lived for years. There are also a lot of traps and hidden passageways and entrances that only the Cu Chi guerillas knew about. Let me just say, it would freaking suck to be over here during the war. One wrong move and your leg is severed by some rolling spikey death trap.
First we watched a very very very cheesy documentary on the tunnels. It was like, made during the war. So strange. Then we headed over to see one of the hidden entrances. It was a regular forest floor but hidden was a tiny little rectangular hole about the size of a bread box. A man working at the site showed us an example of him escaping into the hide out. Then the man in charge picked me to go do it because I guess I am small enough? Well, I surprisingly fit and it was really dirty and awkward with all the people watching me.
Oh my god and on our tour there was a LIVE MUMMY. At first we thought she looked a lot like our middle school choir teacher (no offense ms. pouliot, you just tan A LOT), but it was definitely just a mummy out and about for a nice day at the cu chi tunnels. Such a scary woman eghgfiufgiuegfiue.
We decided to be strong and try to crawl through the long tunnel path instead of opt for the easy version. It was definitely hard. At one point we were on our hands and knees and felt really dirty. Alyssa started to freak out and I was just laughing at her. We had met James, a traveler from some British island between France and England. He was very nice and very cute except for the dreadlocks and smoking ew... but he went into the tunnels with us. He definitely kept us motivated. When we got out on the other side, the man in charge congratulated us and said that we are very strong we went 150 m! Earlier he had also become friends with some random boy and Alyssa asked him who he was and he said Oh he is my son for the day so he can get in for free. Next time you two will be my girls and get in for free! We were like... uh ok?
Oh we also fired some AK-47's. That was kinda creepy. At first I felt a bit turned off by it all because you could hear the shots in the distance while we were walking around the jungle and it felt like a movie. Plus, what kind of regulation do they have? Do they get your fingerprint? ID? Anything? Turns out-- no. The guns are locked into place so all you can do is pull the trigger. But whatever, we shot AK-47s in the Vietnam jungle-- how many people can say that? Don't worry, the targets were animals, not Americans.
Then we headed back to the city, got some Banh Mi for lunch (vietnamese sandwiches, just to try them out here-- tasty), and took a taxi to Nhat's aunt's house. His mom and aunt made us a dinner! Actually, we helped a little. We cleaned lettuce and fruit and picked off the bad leaves and flipped spring rolls. His aunt has two maids, one cleaning and one that was taking care of the kid upstairs. It was rather awkward because no one introduced them they just were smiling and sweeping. Oh and they have this ridiculous pet bird-- I have NEVER seen something like it. It screams and looks like it is going to kill you then all of a sudden it will speak in Vietnamese and ay "Mom, I want food". Freaking insane. It looks like a vulture, not a parrot. I took a video of it.
Dinner was delicious and fun. His mom and aunt were suprised we like all the food here and surprised we could use chopsticks. Nhat said the bon bo hue wasn't as good as she usually makes it because she used less seasoning because she thought we wouldn't like it! Isn't that sad? It was still really good but I could tell it was a little plain. The spring rolls were good which we wrapped up in whatever leaves we wanted. We also tried this really disgusting veggie juice that is apparently very popular here. Yuck.
We hung out at the house a bit and played with his cousins. The one year old was very quiet and angry looking but beautiful. Then the 8 year old came over around the time his dad got there. She doesn't speak English, only French, but we just made faces and tried to teach her dance moves. I think she liked us a lot. When we were leaving his aunt told Alyssa she has a pretty face hahaha.
Nhat Alyssa and I went to a coffee shop and had some cold drinks. Once again, the location was really cool, down a creepy alleyway and up some stairs. Big comfy chairs and bean bag chairs filled the room and the straws were actually really awesome too. I would seriously be at these coffeshops everyday if I lived here. They are so relaxing. Then we picked up some grilled corn with dried shrimp and seasoning he wanted us to try. It was tasty. Then it was back to the hotel because tomorrow morning we must get up very early to go to Mui Ne and lay on the beach allll dayyyy. Oh so much work!
Oh, Nhat hugged us! I love him he is so dorky and nice. He was such a good host! Too bad he leaves for Ha Noi in two days so we won't see him until he moves to America next year. Oh and it is sooooo freaking hot. We wore jeans which was a terrible idea. Ohhhh yeah and I tried durian today. That was disgusting. It doesn't even smell that bad, it just tastes like shit. I like all the other fruit here, just that one should die.
Time for bed!
We Are Millionaires
No seriously, I have a million dollars in my purse right now. It makes me feel powerful.
I forgot to write about how when we first got to the hotel, we had just exchanged money and had no idea what we were doing. The bell hop took us upstairs and was helping us learn some words to say, and then we weren't sure about tipping him. We decided he was nice and who cares if you aren't supposed to so we did. We hand him a bunch of money and he just starts laughing and leaves. Now we know we only gave him 2000 dong which is basically like handing someone a handful of pennies and paperclips. Oh well, we are dumb Americans.
So yesterday we slept in a bit because the hotel is so comfy. I have never appreciated air conditioning more. And I am pretty sure I still have bruises from sleeping on Claire's hard mat bed. Anyway, Nhat met up with us and we all went to have Pho for lunch. I can't even describe how much better it is here. Alyssa doesn't even like it in America and she loved it. It's just like, every flavor is perfectly balanced, nothing is too overwhelming. The noodles are melt-in-your-mouth delicious. And just like Bourdain said (I will reference him a lot here) there are these beads of fat and oil and flavor in the soup that you don't see in America. It just shows how long they cooked it and how freaking awesome it is. Nhat took us to a place that is famous for having the best in the city.
After that we stopped at a juice place and Nhat got us Corn Milk and Pomelo Juice. The corn milk tasted like pureed corn... and milk. It was not ok. The pomelo was fine, kind of grape-fruity and very pulpy. It was hot so we drank the cool drink. Nhat took us to the Vietnam (American) War museum. Ok... this was really boring. Just being honest. I know the war sucked and Americans are horrible, I don't need to pay money to re-learn all of it. But Nhat is like super into history I think and he said we should go. After we left he said he thought we would be more emotional because many Americans get sad when they see it. But like, I'm not stupid maybe if I always thought Americans were completely innocent during war times that I would be shocked to learn about Agent Orange and all the horrible brutality they inflicted on innocent Vietnamese people... but guess what? I'm liberal. The end.
We met up later with Hellos, another one of Linh's friends he set us up with. Ok Linh, apparently you are FAMOUS in HCMC? EVeryone kept telling us how well known Linh is and how everyone looks up to him in the film scene here. They also call him the big bear because he is much taller than everyone else. Hahaha. And ok, so all of these people he set us up with are his friends from this website he runs (correct me if I'm wrong) called MoviesBoom.com with movie reviews and forums. And all the people we are meeting have nicknames that they use in the forums. So Nhat doesn't know Hellos, but he knows him online. His name is Hello Stranger-- from Closer. And Nhat's is Avatom because he likes Avatar. And then we met Quarfeld whose name is Chau but nicknamed that because of Garfield or something. I don't know I am confused.
Nhat, Hellos, Alyssa and I went to book our Cu Chi Tunnels tour for the next day and Chau met us there. The five of us then went to eat SNAILS. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh my gosh. I was so happy. They took us to this little alley way, to a little tiny restaurant where we sat on plastic chairs outside at a tiny table. No tourists anywhere. They all come here a lot and it is supposed to be the best for snails. They ordered us 10 different kinds along with clams, mussels, scallops, and more. We dipped things in an oil and a salt/pepper/chili mix. They also had us try the country's signature soda which sorta tasted like Root Beer. We also got sugar cane juice which was so refreshing. They thought we would be scared to eat the snails but NO! They were all SO DELICIOUS. I can't even explain. They all looked super cool too. Chau was like, Have you kissed a boy? If you have kissed boy you will be able to eat snails! ... I am not sure why Vietnamese people SUCK when they kiss but uh whatever. But yes, you suck the snails out of their shells. So much food and it was only a snack. Plus it was only like $3 each. I told them if we were in America, 6 snails in garlic sauce would be $15. Oh and the best part was that I ate something CRAZZZZY that even BOURDAIN won't try! I had one of those fertilized duck eggs... where the baby duck is fully developed inside. Yeah. YEAH. I did it. First I tried the egg part but couldn't tell where the actual duck was. Then I noticed oh hah, there's the baby beak. Oh, and there are the little wings. Ok then. So I just went for it and ate it's head. HAHAHAHA. It was actually REALLY good and I am not just saying that. It melted in my mouth. Please don't throw up. It is normal here! We eat weird processed meat-- you don't really know what is in that bologna!
After the snack we went to see the "Beverly Hills" of HCMC which is near the river. We decided to get on the ferry just to have a little trip across the river. It lasted about 10 minutes but we had a lot of fun. We missed the first ferry and had to wait for it to return. So many motorbikes and cars fit onto that thing it is crazy. Then the five of us went back to the center of town to walk around the big church and relax before dinner. Trung met us there, another one of Linh's friends, whose nickname I don't remember... something like Shinnychinny? Hahah I don't know. Then we all went to dinner...
Dinner was at this place where you make little wraps of food. Hellos told us just to call it Wrap and Roll. He really likes rock and roll. Hellos is kind of crazy. He looks like a hipster and acts like Alyssa. They are made for each other. As friends.... don't worry Jay! They are both just very WEIRD!!! So you take a little wrap, and pick out all the leaves you want from this big bushel of different plants. Then you add some pickled veggies, pork, cucumber, bean sprouts and roll it all up and dip in the sauce. So good. Very light and refreshing, it was perfect. We got more coconut juice too. Then for dessert they ordered this jelly served in a coconut. It basically just melts in your mouth and tastes like a hint of coconut.
After that we went back to the center and sat down at a sidewalk eatery? I don't know what you would call it. We sat at little tiny tables and got dried squid, watermelon seeds, and mango with a special dipping powder of chili, salt, pepper, and dried shrimp. When the police came we all had to get up and move the tables away from the street. Trung said that if the police came back he would have to ride away on his scooter.
We ended the night we another foot massage. I was still sore from the last one though so it wasn't as magical. They do use hot stones too. I got a girl this time. Thank god.
I forgot to write about how when we first got to the hotel, we had just exchanged money and had no idea what we were doing. The bell hop took us upstairs and was helping us learn some words to say, and then we weren't sure about tipping him. We decided he was nice and who cares if you aren't supposed to so we did. We hand him a bunch of money and he just starts laughing and leaves. Now we know we only gave him 2000 dong which is basically like handing someone a handful of pennies and paperclips. Oh well, we are dumb Americans.
So yesterday we slept in a bit because the hotel is so comfy. I have never appreciated air conditioning more. And I am pretty sure I still have bruises from sleeping on Claire's hard mat bed. Anyway, Nhat met up with us and we all went to have Pho for lunch. I can't even describe how much better it is here. Alyssa doesn't even like it in America and she loved it. It's just like, every flavor is perfectly balanced, nothing is too overwhelming. The noodles are melt-in-your-mouth delicious. And just like Bourdain said (I will reference him a lot here) there are these beads of fat and oil and flavor in the soup that you don't see in America. It just shows how long they cooked it and how freaking awesome it is. Nhat took us to a place that is famous for having the best in the city.
After that we stopped at a juice place and Nhat got us Corn Milk and Pomelo Juice. The corn milk tasted like pureed corn... and milk. It was not ok. The pomelo was fine, kind of grape-fruity and very pulpy. It was hot so we drank the cool drink. Nhat took us to the Vietnam (American) War museum. Ok... this was really boring. Just being honest. I know the war sucked and Americans are horrible, I don't need to pay money to re-learn all of it. But Nhat is like super into history I think and he said we should go. After we left he said he thought we would be more emotional because many Americans get sad when they see it. But like, I'm not stupid maybe if I always thought Americans were completely innocent during war times that I would be shocked to learn about Agent Orange and all the horrible brutality they inflicted on innocent Vietnamese people... but guess what? I'm liberal. The end.
We met up later with Hellos, another one of Linh's friends he set us up with. Ok Linh, apparently you are FAMOUS in HCMC? EVeryone kept telling us how well known Linh is and how everyone looks up to him in the film scene here. They also call him the big bear because he is much taller than everyone else. Hahaha. And ok, so all of these people he set us up with are his friends from this website he runs (correct me if I'm wrong) called MoviesBoom.com with movie reviews and forums. And all the people we are meeting have nicknames that they use in the forums. So Nhat doesn't know Hellos, but he knows him online. His name is Hello Stranger-- from Closer. And Nhat's is Avatom because he likes Avatar. And then we met Quarfeld whose name is Chau but nicknamed that because of Garfield or something. I don't know I am confused.
Nhat, Hellos, Alyssa and I went to book our Cu Chi Tunnels tour for the next day and Chau met us there. The five of us then went to eat SNAILS. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh my gosh. I was so happy. They took us to this little alley way, to a little tiny restaurant where we sat on plastic chairs outside at a tiny table. No tourists anywhere. They all come here a lot and it is supposed to be the best for snails. They ordered us 10 different kinds along with clams, mussels, scallops, and more. We dipped things in an oil and a salt/pepper/chili mix. They also had us try the country's signature soda which sorta tasted like Root Beer. We also got sugar cane juice which was so refreshing. They thought we would be scared to eat the snails but NO! They were all SO DELICIOUS. I can't even explain. They all looked super cool too. Chau was like, Have you kissed a boy? If you have kissed boy you will be able to eat snails! ... I am not sure why Vietnamese people SUCK when they kiss but uh whatever. But yes, you suck the snails out of their shells. So much food and it was only a snack. Plus it was only like $3 each. I told them if we were in America, 6 snails in garlic sauce would be $15. Oh and the best part was that I ate something CRAZZZZY that even BOURDAIN won't try! I had one of those fertilized duck eggs... where the baby duck is fully developed inside. Yeah. YEAH. I did it. First I tried the egg part but couldn't tell where the actual duck was. Then I noticed oh hah, there's the baby beak. Oh, and there are the little wings. Ok then. So I just went for it and ate it's head. HAHAHAHA. It was actually REALLY good and I am not just saying that. It melted in my mouth. Please don't throw up. It is normal here! We eat weird processed meat-- you don't really know what is in that bologna!
After the snack we went to see the "Beverly Hills" of HCMC which is near the river. We decided to get on the ferry just to have a little trip across the river. It lasted about 10 minutes but we had a lot of fun. We missed the first ferry and had to wait for it to return. So many motorbikes and cars fit onto that thing it is crazy. Then the five of us went back to the center of town to walk around the big church and relax before dinner. Trung met us there, another one of Linh's friends, whose nickname I don't remember... something like Shinnychinny? Hahah I don't know. Then we all went to dinner...
Dinner was at this place where you make little wraps of food. Hellos told us just to call it Wrap and Roll. He really likes rock and roll. Hellos is kind of crazy. He looks like a hipster and acts like Alyssa. They are made for each other. As friends.... don't worry Jay! They are both just very WEIRD!!! So you take a little wrap, and pick out all the leaves you want from this big bushel of different plants. Then you add some pickled veggies, pork, cucumber, bean sprouts and roll it all up and dip in the sauce. So good. Very light and refreshing, it was perfect. We got more coconut juice too. Then for dessert they ordered this jelly served in a coconut. It basically just melts in your mouth and tastes like a hint of coconut.
After that we went back to the center and sat down at a sidewalk eatery? I don't know what you would call it. We sat at little tiny tables and got dried squid, watermelon seeds, and mango with a special dipping powder of chili, salt, pepper, and dried shrimp. When the police came we all had to get up and move the tables away from the street. Trung said that if the police came back he would have to ride away on his scooter.
We ended the night we another foot massage. I was still sore from the last one though so it wasn't as magical. They do use hot stones too. I got a girl this time. Thank god.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Bourdain is Always Right
Yeah Vietnam is everything I hoped it would be and more. Seriously Anthony Bourdain and I need to get in touch because we just like too many of the same things (and hate such similar things). We flew into Ho Chi Minh City, thankfully got through customs with out a problem, and met up with Tuan who picked us up from the airport. We checked into our hotel and walked a few feet to a soup restaurant. The whole place smelled really strongly of fish sauce and was pretty dirty but who cares? We each got a different type of soup to try and I had my first taste of really delicious fresh coconut juice served in a coconut.
After lunch we called Nhat and he came and met us at our hotel. We walked through the market across the street where there were so many stands of fruit and veggies and candies and random things. Nhat picked some fruit and candies out for us to try. I guess I am not a big fan of lychee, I keep trying it and it just isn't that good to me. The smokey apple prune thing we had was gross and so was the tamarind candy and ginger thing. I am not really into all the sweets in Asia... I would prefer to stick with the real stuff: FOOD.
Nhat took us around the downtown area and showed us some important places. He is very good at English but very reserved. When we ask him to speak up, he just repeats himself at the same volume, or sometimes even softer. But he has gotten better, he is a bit shy. And being with two crazy Americans probably doesn't help him. We stopped at a coffee shop that was superrr cute. It was on the second floor of a building and decorated with vintage chairs and couches. We sat at a table with a bed near it and just drank water and coffee and relaxed in the cool air. Then we walked across the street and ate some dinner. The place seemed packed but we managed to get a seat almost immediately. We ordered so much food and tried so many things... ban couc I think it's called with pork and mushroomjs and a dipping sauce was the best thing, a thick noodle and crab soup, papaya salad, some kind of rice and bean thing?, well we took pictures so if we ever do post them you can look through them. Basically the food was incredible and the restaurant was really pretty, surrounded by trees. The food is prepared all around the restaurant in the open air so you can watch. Everything is so fresh and hand made. The meal was massive and the price? $4. Yeah. That's how they do it in Vietnam.
When we got back to the hotel, Alyssa and I used the computer which is when we encountered the crazy child I mentioned in my last entry. (I am a day behind everything, but so are you so it probably makes more sense). We took a video so we have proof. After that Alyssa came up with the brilliant plan to get foot massages. We aksed the front desk and headed about 3 blocks down the road to another hotel. Ok, I have never had a foot massage before, just a normal one, but apparently these kind are foot, hand, and back. So basically full body? Except it was 90 minutes and only $12. Yeah. How they do it. The massage itself was... interesting. We sat next to each other while two boys about our age massaged our bodies. It was rather awkward. Next time I am making sure to get a girl, I am pretty sure they got to second base. But whatever, the massage was amazing I could barely stay awake.
On our way back from the massage we encountered another strange childlike creature. I swear omg we are going to try to find him again and take a picture because I can't even describe this thing. He popped out of nowhere on the street and stared at us and would back up real quick out of fear. Like a wild animal. And this child was maybe 4 but he probably weighed 400 lbs. The only over-weight thing in this whole country and he is possessed. Gosh, I can't even describe him. Our mission tonight is to get another massage and catch him on tape. So preposterous.
I forgot to mention that when we said goodbye to Nhat, I went to hug him and it was the most awkward thing of my life. He like, didn't hug back. ANd I was like umm... sorry was that weird? Is that weird here? And he was like, Yes a little. So we just like, walked into our hotel sooo confused. And then today I talked to this girl and asked her if hugging is weird and what I should do instead and she's like, Um... no...? It is fine! Maybe he is just shy? ... Uh so who knows? Nhat is very nice but must be very scared of girls! Plus when I was on his bike with him (don't freak out parents/Kevin), I tried to wrap my arms around his waist and he was like Oh, no, um, put your hands on the bars on the side. But um no I need to hold onto something so I was like Uhhh sorry I will just hold your shoulders. ????!?!?!?!?!?! This boy needs to get a girlfriend.
After lunch we called Nhat and he came and met us at our hotel. We walked through the market across the street where there were so many stands of fruit and veggies and candies and random things. Nhat picked some fruit and candies out for us to try. I guess I am not a big fan of lychee, I keep trying it and it just isn't that good to me. The smokey apple prune thing we had was gross and so was the tamarind candy and ginger thing. I am not really into all the sweets in Asia... I would prefer to stick with the real stuff: FOOD.
Nhat took us around the downtown area and showed us some important places. He is very good at English but very reserved. When we ask him to speak up, he just repeats himself at the same volume, or sometimes even softer. But he has gotten better, he is a bit shy. And being with two crazy Americans probably doesn't help him. We stopped at a coffee shop that was superrr cute. It was on the second floor of a building and decorated with vintage chairs and couches. We sat at a table with a bed near it and just drank water and coffee and relaxed in the cool air. Then we walked across the street and ate some dinner. The place seemed packed but we managed to get a seat almost immediately. We ordered so much food and tried so many things... ban couc I think it's called with pork and mushroomjs and a dipping sauce was the best thing, a thick noodle and crab soup, papaya salad, some kind of rice and bean thing?, well we took pictures so if we ever do post them you can look through them. Basically the food was incredible and the restaurant was really pretty, surrounded by trees. The food is prepared all around the restaurant in the open air so you can watch. Everything is so fresh and hand made. The meal was massive and the price? $4. Yeah. That's how they do it in Vietnam.
When we got back to the hotel, Alyssa and I used the computer which is when we encountered the crazy child I mentioned in my last entry. (I am a day behind everything, but so are you so it probably makes more sense). We took a video so we have proof. After that Alyssa came up with the brilliant plan to get foot massages. We aksed the front desk and headed about 3 blocks down the road to another hotel. Ok, I have never had a foot massage before, just a normal one, but apparently these kind are foot, hand, and back. So basically full body? Except it was 90 minutes and only $12. Yeah. How they do it. The massage itself was... interesting. We sat next to each other while two boys about our age massaged our bodies. It was rather awkward. Next time I am making sure to get a girl, I am pretty sure they got to second base. But whatever, the massage was amazing I could barely stay awake.
On our way back from the massage we encountered another strange childlike creature. I swear omg we are going to try to find him again and take a picture because I can't even describe this thing. He popped out of nowhere on the street and stared at us and would back up real quick out of fear. Like a wild animal. And this child was maybe 4 but he probably weighed 400 lbs. The only over-weight thing in this whole country and he is possessed. Gosh, I can't even describe him. Our mission tonight is to get another massage and catch him on tape. So preposterous.
I forgot to mention that when we said goodbye to Nhat, I went to hug him and it was the most awkward thing of my life. He like, didn't hug back. ANd I was like umm... sorry was that weird? Is that weird here? And he was like, Yes a little. So we just like, walked into our hotel sooo confused. And then today I talked to this girl and asked her if hugging is weird and what I should do instead and she's like, Um... no...? It is fine! Maybe he is just shy? ... Uh so who knows? Nhat is very nice but must be very scared of girls! Plus when I was on his bike with him (don't freak out parents/Kevin), I tried to wrap my arms around his waist and he was like Oh, no, um, put your hands on the bars on the side. But um no I need to hold onto something so I was like Uhhh sorry I will just hold your shoulders. ????!?!?!?!?!?! This boy needs to get a girlfriend.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Goodbye Taipei
Oh my god I can't think of clever titles for these things.
Wait we are sitting next to this boy apparently from Vietnam, speaks perfect English and also said he's from Korea-- he is about 7 and is freaking out saying really weird things like I AM STUPID BOY and hitting his head on the desk... now he is talking about Pokemon and ok now he just ran off and ran into a chair.
Anyway... back to the last day in Taipei. We took a taxi from Claire's house all by ourselves with nooo help. We even asked the door man to call the taxi cab! Ni hao, chi chon cho? shay shay! That's all. Leslie and James picked us up and we quickly dropped our stuff off and the three of us girls went off to the best peking duck place in the city. For those who go to USC, the restaurant kind of looked like upstairs commons, so I was like eh, this might not be so good. We started with wine chicken which is a popular dish. It's kind of like leftover chicken, cold, soaked in last night's wine. Then we got some greens that Alyssa is obsessed with and another dish. Then the waitress brings out this whole freaking duck and presents it to us to say yes or no to it. We say yes since by this point we are starving and just want our damn duck. Then they bring out the skin first which we dip in plum sauce, add to this thin pancake type of wrap, add a scallion, and eat. Really freaking good. Crispy, fatty, yummy. I won't do a Yelp review don't worry. Then we still had to finish the whole rest of the duck. Most of it came out in the second dish, including the crispy head (sad but funny but sad), and the rest came in a soup that you finish the meal with. It was quite an experience and I probably won't ever get to do it again so that was cool. Leslie finally let us pay for her too!!!
Then we wandered around town, stopped at the Longshao Temple to check out mothers pryaying for sons and students praying for good grades. The rain started coming down so we walked through snake alley where everyone goes to try snake blood, etc. There were quite a few snakes and some bunnies and mice. The snakes have to eat too! We also saw some weird shellfish and turtles to eat too. Then we went underground to look at the professional fortune tellers. They all have like mini offices, decorated just like a regular office, and they even wear suits. One had his door open and was passed out asleep next to his crystal ball. That was funny. Also this weird room with 40+ year olds watching each other sing KTV (karaoke). So so funny. Oh and a woman came up to Alyssa and told her that her shirt came unbuttoned but really Alyssa is just a hoe.
Off to another department store to get out of the rain and pass the time until dinner. We had some ice cream and just relaxed a bit. Finally it was time to get to dinner to meet up with Leslie's Chinese language classmates at a traditional Taiwanese restaurant. I am glad we went because it was fun meeting all the people from different places and eating the great food. One girl was from Japan (so cute), another from Hong Kong and America, two boys from Mongolia, and a guy from Canada who already had his own Taiwanese girlfriend who looked very much like Tila Tequila. We had a million courses to share and were completely overwhelmed with food.
After dinner we jumped on the subway and headed over to the big center of town to try to make our reservation at Modern Toilet. We got a bit lost but finally found it. What a freaking weird place. The food and drinks were awful. The idea is funny but evenon the menu it says that they don't take responsibility from panic attacks or nausea from their presentation. For those who don't know about this place, they serve their food and drinks in toilet bowls, urinals, ground toilets, etc. You sit on artisty toilet bowls and eat at sinks covered in glass. The sink at the real bathroom is a toilet too. We had fun together but I would definitely never go back.
And that was that. We left way early in the morning and our lovely hosts woke up too just to drive us there. They were so nice to us. We are lucky we have such nice friends in different countries or this trip wouldn't be as much fun at all.
Wait we are sitting next to this boy apparently from Vietnam, speaks perfect English and also said he's from Korea-- he is about 7 and is freaking out saying really weird things like I AM STUPID BOY and hitting his head on the desk... now he is talking about Pokemon and ok now he just ran off and ran into a chair.
Anyway... back to the last day in Taipei. We took a taxi from Claire's house all by ourselves with nooo help. We even asked the door man to call the taxi cab! Ni hao, chi chon cho? shay shay! That's all. Leslie and James picked us up and we quickly dropped our stuff off and the three of us girls went off to the best peking duck place in the city. For those who go to USC, the restaurant kind of looked like upstairs commons, so I was like eh, this might not be so good. We started with wine chicken which is a popular dish. It's kind of like leftover chicken, cold, soaked in last night's wine. Then we got some greens that Alyssa is obsessed with and another dish. Then the waitress brings out this whole freaking duck and presents it to us to say yes or no to it. We say yes since by this point we are starving and just want our damn duck. Then they bring out the skin first which we dip in plum sauce, add to this thin pancake type of wrap, add a scallion, and eat. Really freaking good. Crispy, fatty, yummy. I won't do a Yelp review don't worry. Then we still had to finish the whole rest of the duck. Most of it came out in the second dish, including the crispy head (sad but funny but sad), and the rest came in a soup that you finish the meal with. It was quite an experience and I probably won't ever get to do it again so that was cool. Leslie finally let us pay for her too!!!
Then we wandered around town, stopped at the Longshao Temple to check out mothers pryaying for sons and students praying for good grades. The rain started coming down so we walked through snake alley where everyone goes to try snake blood, etc. There were quite a few snakes and some bunnies and mice. The snakes have to eat too! We also saw some weird shellfish and turtles to eat too. Then we went underground to look at the professional fortune tellers. They all have like mini offices, decorated just like a regular office, and they even wear suits. One had his door open and was passed out asleep next to his crystal ball. That was funny. Also this weird room with 40+ year olds watching each other sing KTV (karaoke). So so funny. Oh and a woman came up to Alyssa and told her that her shirt came unbuttoned but really Alyssa is just a hoe.
Off to another department store to get out of the rain and pass the time until dinner. We had some ice cream and just relaxed a bit. Finally it was time to get to dinner to meet up with Leslie's Chinese language classmates at a traditional Taiwanese restaurant. I am glad we went because it was fun meeting all the people from different places and eating the great food. One girl was from Japan (so cute), another from Hong Kong and America, two boys from Mongolia, and a guy from Canada who already had his own Taiwanese girlfriend who looked very much like Tila Tequila. We had a million courses to share and were completely overwhelmed with food.
After dinner we jumped on the subway and headed over to the big center of town to try to make our reservation at Modern Toilet. We got a bit lost but finally found it. What a freaking weird place. The food and drinks were awful. The idea is funny but evenon the menu it says that they don't take responsibility from panic attacks or nausea from their presentation. For those who don't know about this place, they serve their food and drinks in toilet bowls, urinals, ground toilets, etc. You sit on artisty toilet bowls and eat at sinks covered in glass. The sink at the real bathroom is a toilet too. We had fun together but I would definitely never go back.
And that was that. We left way early in the morning and our lovely hosts woke up too just to drive us there. They were so nice to us. We are lucky we have such nice friends in different countries or this trip wouldn't be as much fun at all.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Vietnam
Still need to write about our last day in Taipei, but we have arrived in Vietnam. And I just watched He's Just Not That Into You for the second time this week. Its good.
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Forgot
I hate writing these on my phone... Anyway--- Claire is a really skinny tiny little girl and all she did was complaing about how fat she was. She is maaaaybe a 00. Maybe smaller. We had to basically get her an intervention. And then she doesn't care about calories when she's doing shot after shot at the club!
Oo and at the biggest night market in taiwan, we saw super cute cats! Asia-style cats that were so well behaved! They'd sit on the shelves of the store and let people pet them and love them. I loved that store. At that same place this crazzzzy man started talking to us. He was definitely way strange and out there. We gave him the name Barney since he didn't know his American name. He said I looked like drew barrymore. I swear I don't see it and don't know why people say that! I almost convinced him she was my mom though.
Beds are uncomfortable here. Well, the first few nights were fine but ojce we got to claires... Ow. One side of the mattress is normal, for winter. Then you flip it to the side with a bamboo mat to keep you cool during summer. I literally have bruises on my hip bones, elbows, knees, any where bones stick out and touched that thing is sore. Plus claire only had a fan. Aha so interesting....
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Oo and at the biggest night market in taiwan, we saw super cute cats! Asia-style cats that were so well behaved! They'd sit on the shelves of the store and let people pet them and love them. I loved that store. At that same place this crazzzzy man started talking to us. He was definitely way strange and out there. We gave him the name Barney since he didn't know his American name. He said I looked like drew barrymore. I swear I don't see it and don't know why people say that! I almost convinced him she was my mom though.
Beds are uncomfortable here. Well, the first few nights were fine but ojce we got to claires... Ow. One side of the mattress is normal, for winter. Then you flip it to the side with a bamboo mat to keep you cool during summer. I literally have bruises on my hip bones, elbows, knees, any where bones stick out and touched that thing is sore. Plus claire only had a fan. Aha so interesting....
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If I See One More Mall...
Taichung is soooo hot.
There are so many huge gigantic beast malls everywhere and apparently Claire and Annie spend most of their lives there. We went to two Thursday. Here's what you do: start at the bottom and literally go to each of the 10+ floors and walk in a circle and look at weird clothes that are oddly overpriced and then do it again. It seems like no one is even buying anything, it's just a zombie-like ritual to stay cool. My feet are killing me from going to the mall. We did find some little popper toys and decided to take them into a bathroom and pop them. We thought there'd be a prize inside but instead the four of us together sounded like an explosion and we all ran out pretending like nothing happened. Leave it to the Americans to make their Chinese friends look crazy.
There are so many huge gigantic beast malls everywhere and apparently Claire and Annie spend most of their lives there. We went to two Thursday. Here's what you do: start at the bottom and literally go to each of the 10+ floors and walk in a circle and look at weird clothes that are oddly overpriced and then do it again. It seems like no one is even buying anything, it's just a zombie-like ritual to stay cool. My feet are killing me from going to the mall. We did find some little popper toys and decided to take them into a bathroom and pop them. We thought there'd be a prize inside but instead the four of us together sounded like an explosion and we all ran out pretending like nothing happened. Leave it to the Americans to make their Chinese friends look crazy.
There was a Japanese market on the bottom floor pretty similar to little tokyos market except the size of whole foods. Alyssa got a ton of candy and I decided to try a little thing of sushi. My thought process was that market sushi in taiwan must be better than market sushi in LA because even though both aren't fresh, Japan is closer to Taiwan so the fish should have arrived first! ...it tasted like ralph's sushi. Oh well.
It started to rain while we were in the mall and we knew this because the mall actually announces it over loudspeakers. So we had to postpone our trip to a different night market and instead went and hung out at Claire's boyfriend's apartment. Ok, her boyfriend has been in Taichung 9 months studying Chinese. He is from Panama and they have to speak chunks of each language to have a convo. Alyssa and I actually had to ride in a taxi with him to the mall that morning because he had some errands to run. He is leaving to go home (should have left last night) and didn't even have a ticket yet? Plus he looked so Euro trashy and was kind of an asshole. But the best part was that he was carrying around a big gold bag with his dog inside.
We eventually had dinner at a place called pig house with good chicken. We had to teach the girls what Happy Ending meant since there was a huge sign on the wall. The place was good and apparently a secret since its down a really sketchy street off the main road that no one can find. But the place was reallly nice and well decorated. I was almost worried. Almost.
Anyway--- this day was pretty uneventful until the evening. Then the shit hit the fan and grew wings and attacked every living life form within 3 miles. I will keep it short and say that there is a reason I don't go to clubs. Bad things happen. Especially when you are the sober one. This place gave out round after round of free shots. In a matter of minutes everywhere was completely gone. Actually, the Chinese guys were all passed out. We took pictures. it was strange. I was sooo tired and still with my bad cold I've had all week so I didn't really enjoy the cigarrette smoke and fog machines destroying my healing throat. When we were walking in, the bouncer said Alyssa had to put one of her things in a locker outside, so she runs around the line waiting outside and steps onto a "tile walkway" which was actually just a designed waterway thing. So we was just standing there in the water yelling out my name like she was drowning or something. I almost passed out from laughing so hard and everyone must have thought she was insane. there. Annie had put alyssa'a bag of japanese candy and shoes into a locker and hadn't kept the key by accident. I paid 15 bucks to get a locker broken into to find her stuff but unfortunately we guessed the wrong locker so we still don't know where her stuff is. But who cares about that, on our way home in the taxi we realized alyssa's wallet wasn't there. After an hour of freaking out (everything was in it)... We found it and the world was right again. Now she's only forgotten her shoes and umbrella so she's getting a lot better! Just kidding.
We went to bed at 4:30am. We had woken up that morning at 6am. We were tired.
Oh, I tried uploading pictures to flickr but I couldn't stay awake to wait so hopefully the computers at the hotel in Saigon will work fine for it and not be too expensive!
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Friday, June 26, 2009
Racial-Profiled
I'm living through real-life racial profiling because of swine flu. This is so funny. I'm American, so if I cough, or don't, or wear a mask, or don't.... I'm giving you a virus. Watch out!
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Thursday, June 25, 2009
I'm a retard.
I can't spell or write.
I'm a fob and not use to typing a crap load on a blackberry.
I'm a fob and not use to typing a crap load on a blackberry.
Uhhh I don't care, I'm tired.
Blah
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Taichung! Not thailand stoopid.
HEY HEY its not jessie, its uuhhhlliiissa so you might ready my fobby-ness.
So day 3 and we woke up to get ready for our adventure to Taichung. Jessie and I took a bullet train, superfast ride only 30 minutes. Right as we taxied from the train station to Jessie's friend CLAIRE's aparment and got out we immediatly felt the difference in temperature. SUPERR HOTT. The only thing is.. we gave the taxi driver the address to her place and instead of dropping us off at her house, he left us at some university. Long story short we mad friends with this boy named JACKIE and helped Claire find where we were.
She finally found us, but they way we had to get to her place was through a SCOOTER!!!!!!! OOHH EEMMM GGG!! We were freaking out! The three of us had to fit on ONE scooter. Ummmm not gonna happen. So... Jackie offered to drive one of us. And lucky girl was me! oh soo scary, but it was actually fun.
After we got settled in her place, we meet up with ANNIE, and got taiwanese "shaved iced" yummie. You choose your toppings like, apple jelly, pinapple jelly cut into the shape of stars, boba, red bean etc. Once we were done we went over on a quest to find jessie some lime juice. We found it! But through difficult translation, the lady vendor wouldn't sell the juice to us without water cause she thought it was weird and didn't know how to price it. Hmm... Off to the grocery store we go I guess. Finally some lime!
The four of us scootered over to the department store and walked around the mall. (Jessie knew this was bound to happen cause people walk around malls cause its so freakin hot!) We played in an arcade. Basketball, a punching strength game and won tickets. We attempted to redeem our prize but we didn't have enough to get a little pen. We had 27 tickets n you needed 30 so we tried giving it to one little boy and the mom didn't want it. So we walked over to these two teenage boys, but when I handed it to him he started speaking CLEAR ENGLISH, jessie and I were AMAZED and thought it was bizzare. After we looked at over priced clothes from the US and europe and went to the best BOBA place in the city. It was really good. Boba and milk tea.
The "night market" opens at 2 pm so we walked over and saw a plethora of AMAZING clothes, jewelry, toys, and fooooood. The new trend over her is BOWS. Cute boys for your hair. OH and when people ride their scooters they wear masks because of pollution. Girls wear supper cute ones with designs and patterns and at the night market we found tons of masks! We had to buy one!
For lunch we ate squidballs and dim sum (Pictures will be up, no worries) and drank yummmie watermelon juice. Jessie ate some pineapple, but didn't like it very much. Said that it was "too warm, maybe old or something" haha.
Weiird! We saw these two european metrosexual boys in TAIPEI the other day and then we saw them at the night market in Taichung! Jessie started to freak out laughing. It was pretty weird.
So we scooter back to claires apt, while Jessie napped. As for I went over to Claire's new apartment to chill and watch taiwanese television. (I guess sponge bob is super popular here) I met Claires male friend, he didn't have an american name so I gave him one. We went through a list of names and he liked the name RYAN, but I'm not sure he can even pronounce it properly. In the time jessie was a sleep, CLAIRE was showing me here blog. He backround image was "Blake lively and leighton meister", so I casually said, jessie and I went to high school with Blake. Annie and Claire, I kid you not, started to SCREAM, because their favorite show is Gossip Girl. We left Ryan's apartment and stopped by another night market on the way home.
Bbq chicken butt was one of my favorite foods at thhe night market, alongside the fried quail egg on a stick!! We played games. One game was a ring toss, you throw the ring into a vast amount of lined up goodies, toys, drinks, bobbel heads, etc. And whatever you got you get to keep. I saw bunnies!! and a hedgehog, a white one! I was tired at this point and wanted to join Jessie at SLEEEPIINNG! So I said "goodnight world zZzzZZzz"
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Second day in taipei
(Hey, that rhymed!)
So we woke up and took the subway to the end of the line to a city called danshui. Alyssa can't pronounce it for the life of her. The clouds made the view pretty terrible... Most pictures online are at sunset with beautiful colors and boats floating in the water. This kinda looked like the salton sea during the apocalypse. Instead of walking by the water we chose to wander around the streets and are glad we did because they had really fun shops and food stands. Our first drink we tried was a tea drink with jelly and these tapioca balls that looks like fish eggs. We thought that was weird so we went ahead and drank some. It was ok, nothing special. (Later we asked James what the drink was and he told us that those weren't tapioca balls, they were fish eggs. We were like whhhhhhhhhhhhhattttt?????! I mean, they tasted fine so whatever. Then LATER my Taichung friend Claire explained that they aren't actually frog eggs, they're pieces of passion fruit that look like eggs so they call it that. As long as there aren't baby tadpoles swimming inside me, I'm fine.)
We had to try one of the gigantic frozen yogurts they offer that range from maybe 8in to over a foot tall. Yah, all "That's What She Said" jokes aside, they weren't horrible. They don't use milk in them so it was rather strange. Plus they just looked... Awkward.... Especially when you saw couples walking around: the girl always had a small and the boys ALL had larges.
Then we shopped at some trinkety shops and bought some cute things. Taiwan admires Japan so they offer a lot of the same items or attempt to at least. OHHH then we found a purikura!!! (Can't remember the Chinese name, just Korean) and took supah cute pix!! For those who don't know its a photobooth where you can decorate the pictures after. We have some from Ktown and now have legit ones from Asia! That was fun especially since it was just like ktown- we couldn't read anything and the owner didn't speak english and just kept saying he liked our designs ahaha.
When we got back to the downtown area we wandered around their version of times square which personally wasn't that much fun. There was a big Harry Potter ad though, that was cool. We tried some noodles that weren't that great and went to another place where Alyssa got alfredo pasta! What a freak.
Then we headed back home for our afternoon nap so we would have enough energy for the night market. We went with Leslie who luckily got work off, and James met up with us. Since it was a Wednesday there weren't too many people so it was nice. Plus the weather is a bit cooler at night (not much). Oh we kept noticing people burning things outside their shops and found out its like ghost money for their ancestors. We just thought it was annoying because the ashes kept getting all in our faces.
Alyssa bought 100 things at the night market. Oh shoes run so small here they usually don't even have a 7 and a half for me! So sad. There were lots of people to watch and it was real funny when they'd see me and try to speak english.
Um my hand hurts. I really need to find a computer next time. Alyssa will fill you in on our first day in taichung. We should be able to upload pictures Saturday morning (Friday night for you people...)
PS... You'll know when Alyssa blogs because she writes like a FOB!
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Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Safety
What makes absolutely no sense is that people here are sooo health concious. They have disinfectant every 2 feet, everyones wearings masks, yet they let their one year olds ride on their laps on their scooters with out helmets. Very strange.
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Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Just a Doggy Poo
Alyssa and I are on the train back from Danshui and we realized we forgot to talk about this movie we watched at Leslie and James' house called Doggy Poo. They saw it somewhere and had to buy it. When we get back we will show a picture of it. Ok this movie was dubbed in English and is about a dog that poos on the road and all these animals and leaves and things (cute cartoon versions) tell him how stupid he is because he is "just a doggy poo". Then this mound of soil falls off a wagon and has this southern black man accent and the poo and the soil talk about life and death and then its gets into religion. You'd think it would be funny but it ended up being a really depressing film where pretty much the whole time the doggy poo is crying and has to deal with his friends dying. And the southern black man piece of soil was pretty amazing.
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QUARANTINE
So guess what? All of my fears were confirmed when we walked through the fever scan and the Taipei officials said I had a fever. I've been checking for a week, so how is it that in a matter of 14 hours I go from a completely normal temperature to 100 degrees? SO they made me where one of those masks... yes they did... and I had to fill out a form because they are probably going to watch my every move in this country. Alyssa just kept laughing and taking pictures, so nice of her. As soon as we walked away I removed the mask, but everyone in this country where's them so I would look more like a local if I did wear them. Oh wait, I forgot I am a white girl with red hair--- every single male in this country smiles at me for extended periods of time, even while motorbiking around sharp turns. How they do it is quite a feat.
Backing up the flight was horrible with HOURS of straight turbulence the guy from the Phillipines next to me who had never flown so far before saying with every bump, "Jesus, oh Jesus... Jesus... Oh, oh Jesus" making things so much better. There was also a Chinese woman, the same one who kept speaking to Alyssa in Chinese and either offering her a newspaper to read or saying she looked like the girl on the cover, who was praying really loudly. At first I thought maybe she had a bluetooth but that doesn't make sense 36000 ft in the air. Nope, just prayers... or else she was talking to some invisible person. Who knows. Also, our Chinese porridge came with this package called Tuna Flavored Floss. We were like, what the hell?! It's actually just tuna flakes and seasoning to give the porridge more flavor. The porridge itself was rather odd, with fish flakes and bones I believe... still not sure.
Yesterday was difficult to get used to the time difference. But Leslie insisted we try to stay up until 8 or 9pm. We went out to Taipei, taking a very nice bus from right outside Leslie and James' house, straight into downtown, and then rode the subway from there. Everything is very straight forward because even though people speak Chinese, the signs and announcements are all in English. Taipei is a lot easier to get around than NY, that's for sure.
Alyssa and I went to the 101 building just to do it. It was pretty boring to be honest. I mean, it's not the world's tallest building anymore so what is so exciting, huh? It was cloudy so the view wasn't great but at least the elevator ride up was entertaining, with like a rave show on the ceiling and lasting only a few seconds, climbing dozens of floors.
So far all the food has been delicious. We went and ate at the best dumplings restaurant in Taipei with Leslie's Chinese counter-part, Miyona. We had pork, shrimp, veggie, spicy pork in sauce, bamboo with a sweet mayonnaise, and endless Oolong Tea. For dinner we went over to a beer house near Leslie's house in Nhan Kan and had clam soup, eggplant and basil, lamb in a delicious sauce, and a Taipei dish called 3-cup tofu which was awesome. Right now I'm eating breakfast and it is this like, Chinese burrito I guess? Strange... rice wrapped around pickled veggies, a Chinese doughnut which isn't like a doughnut at all, and a hard-boiled egg. Not my favorite, that's for sure. The milk tea that came with it is delicious, which Marie will be happy to hear because I normally don't drink it but it is much lighter here in Taiwn. It is the international drink, anyway.
Oh, very funny TV commercials and advertisements around town, of course. At the subway stopped we watched a commercial about a sanitary napkin that literally makes you fly. Slow motion shots of the girl's butt were also involved as she jumped up and onto a bike seat. Very cute.
Although it takes 20 minutes to get into town from their house, it's a really nice area with food everywhere late into the night. And yup, you can smell that stinky tofu from blocks away. I will probably try that on Saturday once we get back from Taichung. Alyssa wants to blog a bit so hers will be up next! Oh we slept mostly the rest of the day and night. So so tired and jet lagged. Pictures will be up later today.
Backing up the flight was horrible with HOURS of straight turbulence the guy from the Phillipines next to me who had never flown so far before saying with every bump, "Jesus, oh Jesus... Jesus... Oh, oh Jesus" making things so much better. There was also a Chinese woman, the same one who kept speaking to Alyssa in Chinese and either offering her a newspaper to read or saying she looked like the girl on the cover, who was praying really loudly. At first I thought maybe she had a bluetooth but that doesn't make sense 36000 ft in the air. Nope, just prayers... or else she was talking to some invisible person. Who knows. Also, our Chinese porridge came with this package called Tuna Flavored Floss. We were like, what the hell?! It's actually just tuna flakes and seasoning to give the porridge more flavor. The porridge itself was rather odd, with fish flakes and bones I believe... still not sure.
Yesterday was difficult to get used to the time difference. But Leslie insisted we try to stay up until 8 or 9pm. We went out to Taipei, taking a very nice bus from right outside Leslie and James' house, straight into downtown, and then rode the subway from there. Everything is very straight forward because even though people speak Chinese, the signs and announcements are all in English. Taipei is a lot easier to get around than NY, that's for sure.
Alyssa and I went to the 101 building just to do it. It was pretty boring to be honest. I mean, it's not the world's tallest building anymore so what is so exciting, huh? It was cloudy so the view wasn't great but at least the elevator ride up was entertaining, with like a rave show on the ceiling and lasting only a few seconds, climbing dozens of floors.
So far all the food has been delicious. We went and ate at the best dumplings restaurant in Taipei with Leslie's Chinese counter-part, Miyona. We had pork, shrimp, veggie, spicy pork in sauce, bamboo with a sweet mayonnaise, and endless Oolong Tea. For dinner we went over to a beer house near Leslie's house in Nhan Kan and had clam soup, eggplant and basil, lamb in a delicious sauce, and a Taipei dish called 3-cup tofu which was awesome. Right now I'm eating breakfast and it is this like, Chinese burrito I guess? Strange... rice wrapped around pickled veggies, a Chinese doughnut which isn't like a doughnut at all, and a hard-boiled egg. Not my favorite, that's for sure. The milk tea that came with it is delicious, which Marie will be happy to hear because I normally don't drink it but it is much lighter here in Taiwn. It is the international drink, anyway.
Oh, very funny TV commercials and advertisements around town, of course. At the subway stopped we watched a commercial about a sanitary napkin that literally makes you fly. Slow motion shots of the girl's butt were also involved as she jumped up and onto a bike seat. Very cute.
Although it takes 20 minutes to get into town from their house, it's a really nice area with food everywhere late into the night. And yup, you can smell that stinky tofu from blocks away. I will probably try that on Saturday once we get back from Taichung. Alyssa wants to blog a bit so hers will be up next! Oh we slept mostly the rest of the day and night. So so tired and jet lagged. Pictures will be up later today.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Pooh bear suit
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
For Your Info
I'll try my best to document our travels as entertainingly as possible. It will work basically like my Europe blog but probably with less frequent posts depending on access to computers and whether or not my hands can handle typing them out on my Blackberry.
This time around, however, I won't be in a pack of 30 girls and a cowboy from across America to make fun of, so I can only really make fun of Alyssa. (Just kidding Alyssa... kind of).
Right now the pictures are obviously from my Europe trip last summer but the Flickr feed will be updated as I take pictures in Asia.
Anyway, wish us luck. At least we know we won't get Typhoid Fever. And hopefully the body scan at the Ho Chi Minh airport doesn't say we have swine flu, or you probably won't be seeing us again for a while.
This time around, however, I won't be in a pack of 30 girls and a cowboy from across America to make fun of, so I can only really make fun of Alyssa. (Just kidding Alyssa... kind of).
Right now the pictures are obviously from my Europe trip last summer but the Flickr feed will be updated as I take pictures in Asia.
Anyway, wish us luck. At least we know we won't get Typhoid Fever. And hopefully the body scan at the Ho Chi Minh airport doesn't say we have swine flu, or you probably won't be seeing us again for a while.
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