Guess who's ENGAGED?

Hee hee...did that get everybody's attention?
Unfortunately, I doubt that I really shocked anyone cuz you probably didn't think it was me... :(
Mimi's (my sis) is engaged (finally official)!! I'm gonna be a maid honor!! :) I think she's aiming to have her wedding in Sept 2005...so I'll be in TWO weddings in Sept! ACK! busy busy busy (and $$$...heh). But I'm SOOOOOooo happy for her. YAY! And as you can imagine, the whole family's pretty excited cuz..not only is she the first one of us sibs to be getting married...she's the first of all the cousins (on my mom's side) to be getting married..so my grandma's pretty excited about it too. hee hee

I wanted to mention it, cuz I've been wanting to perm my hair! (see below for pic) But mimi doesn't want me to cuz she says straight hair's easier to style (as in...up-do) for the wedding and stuff...so i'd decided against it. but then i've been thinking...I'm really bored with my hair, and the wedding's like 9 months away...so if i get a perm now (and i mean really ASAP), it'd probably grow out by then , right? I've kinda blocked out all the memories of my past perms...but i just remember about a year...is that truly the case?? I'll probably decide by this weekend cuz I'm going down to TaiChung and I know a place down there. :D

Possible Perms

these are a little small...and unfortunately, i couldn't find any better pics online, but this is the basic idea for the perm i'd wanna get...basically the perm/curls start lower (a little above the top of the ears?).
personally, i'd prefer one of the wavy/tousled perms to the super curly one of the upper left...but i'm not sure if these others are perms or just styled that way...

Here's MimiT and me at a coffee shop after Christmas Dinner. Mariko was feeling camera shy so she took the pic.
They were giving out free bottles of some wine cooler...i forget...Barcadi Ice? But the line was so long and we were hungry for dinner so we didn't wait. :(

It's a little blurry, but here's part ofthe Christmasy area near Taipei101 mall when I went with my sis & some friends...i didn't take any pics of it when i went for Christmas so this is just to give you an idea.

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!
I'm so sad to be missing all the festivities at home. There's not much Christmas spirit here...except for this one place near Taipei101 (a mall) where there's lots of decorations and lights and stuff. That's where I wanna go for Christmas. I'll be celebrating with Mariko & MimiT...we're going out for dinner. It's soooo purty there. :) I think I have a pic of it from when I went with my sis...i should post it.

My sis brought a whole bunch of Christmas music for me...but it feels SOOOooo weird to be listening to "O! the weather outside is frightful!" (really? but it's nice and sunny...and like 75 degrees..ok..maybe it's frightfully hot!!) or..."it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas..."...but it's NOT! It doesn't feel like Christmas at all!!! So listening to those songs is kinda depressing actually. Of course...it's a mixed blessing that Christmas ain't a big deal here. Cuz it not feeling like Christmas helps me not to miss it as much. Miss being with my family and friends. Miss bundling up in a coat & scarf. Miss the yummy yummy food. Miss the presents and the festive atmosphere everywhere you go.... WAAAAAaaaaaH! :'( Anyhow, yeah. I can't wait to celebrate Christmas next year! (when i'm at home!)

I think I've discovered (well...really, i've confirmed/re-affirmed cuz i've known it all along) that i'm a TOTAL homebody. And even though it's nice to venture out and experience the world -- to be reminded that my little world is part of a much bigger one...and there's lots of different people, places, cultures, thoughts/ideas, etc -- I know that I like home best and that's where I really belong. Unfortunately, since I already knew that about myself, I can't say that I've "found" myself yet. heh... :)

Hope everyone has a joyous and wonderful Christmas with lots of time spent with family & friends!

Not much to say (revised)

Well...things are getting really busy for me here! After Mimi left Taipei, school started the very next day! And so did all my tutoring too...(and wed's are the busiest...tutoring from like 4-10pm!) vacation was just way too short!

Anyhow, Justin (a friend from ultimate!!!!!, in case you didn't know) was ALSO in town around then, so we planned to meet up on Friday to go to 士林夜市 (ShiLin nightmarket) cuz he's never been before (and this wasn't his first time in taipei! can you believe it?!). But then I heard that a typhoon was coming (yes...it's VERY unusual to have typhoons in the winter! the weather is soooo weird this year) and would probably hit Friday night or Saturday and if that happened, then there wouldn't be any nightmarket to go to! SOOoooo, we decided to go on Thur even though it was the day before a quiz (aren't I such a great friend :)). Then on Friday, as it turned out, it wasn't too bad. It was a little rainy, but not so bad that you couldn't be out. And since Justin had really been deprived (I mean...he hadn't been to SOOOOOooo many places!) I took him to 光華商場 (this really techy shopping area that i knew would be right up his alley....any guy would love it there really...) and then to 西門釘 (XiMenDing; i know that's not the right Ding...for some reason, this chinese typing program doesn't have the right one as an option!) to see where all the teeny boppers hang out. There was barely anyone out and about, but most stores were still open. I love showing people around Taipei!! :) (and having such a good excuse to go to and eat at all my favorite places over and over...even if they're expensive or very unhealthy! hee hee) Oh yeah...and to add to Justin's post about his impressions of taiwan...i must say that i found it REALLY weird to not flush toilet paper (used) down the toilet...but apparently taiwan's plumbing can't handle it (even at some of the nicer places, hotels, school, etc!) and there's always signs asking you not to...and use the trash can instead. so...yeah. that really took some getting used to...

I also went down to TaiChung to see my sis one last time before she REALLY left Taiwan...I had to skip out on 2 days of school and rearrange my tutoring schedule, but it was worth it! :) They'd stopped in Macau before going to Kunming (cuz there aren't any direct flights betwn taiwan & china), so they'd gotten some of their famous egg tarts....soooooooooo gooooooood! it really is different from the egg tarts you get normally. hrm...wonder why it hasn't been successfully exported and the recipe shared (like with a franchise company or something)...such a pity that it can only be gotten in macau!

I really want to go to Thailand!!!!!! But I'm not sure when I should go!! If I go during the 2 weeks of vacation from school, it'll be way expensive cuz that's total peak season and airfare really goes up then! but that's the only time mimiT's free. I'd prefer to go the 1st or 2nd week of march (if i don't continue to next quarter...) cuz airfare would be cheaper and otherwise, i'd really have nothing else to do during that time (since everyone else will be in class!). you might ask why i don't just come home then, but that's when di, jules & lor are coming to visit and i don't wanna miss that!!! they must be thoroughly shown around (so i can eat more good food...hee hee)! :D la dee da....dilemma dilemma!

wow...for not much going on, i sure had a lot to say!

Mimi's Trip to Taipei!

Yay!! I was so happy to see my sis! She arrived ~11:30pm on Sat 11/27 (yes, right after i'd gotten back from my own trip to HuaLien...) and immediately starting unpacking all the stuff she'd brought for me...I was overwhelmed! Lots of american snacks (Twizzlers, M&Ms, cheetos...yum yum) and all the stuff i'd asked for...But with 3 ppl in the room, with all their luggage and all my junk and soon ran out of places to put things!! haha :) But it was great to see her again...and Myron too of course. The next 3 days were jam-packed!

Sunday, 11/28
First, we had breakfast at a nearby place (they're all called 永和豆漿 restaurants, cuz that's where the best soybean milk & breakfast foods come from)...but i think this place is called like Soybean Milk King (豆漿大王) or smthg like that. Anyhow...it was GOOD. :P I was fully prepared to have lots and lots of very very good food. :D

Next, we met up with our cousin for lunch and for his gf to take mimi to a chi-pao dressmaker's store. The restaurant was nice. They served traditional Taiwanese fare (like...intestines, kidney, even chicken testicles...but we avoided all of those). There was an obligatory little tiff over the bill which i stayed out of since I'm a poor starving student. :) hee hee For dessert, there was almond tofu that had a very special consistency...more gooey than usual..but pretty good. The best dessert though was the taro paste soup (i think...i forget exactly what it was called!). It was sooooo delicious, that we ordered more! Then, on to the chi-pao store! The minute I walked in, i spotted this BEAUTIFUL light blue one on the manequin inside the shop. I made mimi try that one...along with several others. :) But in the end, my instincts were correct...mimi looked perfect in the light blue one...i mean...she really GLOWED. But the price was like $8500NT (~$250USD) and since mimi was on her way to China...she figured it'd probably be cheaper there if she could find one (i think she did...for like just $80USD!)... We also found out they could custom make a chi-pao in as little as 3 days for no extra charge! (it normally takes a week i think...)

After lunch, we stopped home for a quick rest/nap and then headed out again for church. I love evening services!! We met up with some of mimi's friends in Taipei for dinner afterwards. I took everyone to my favorite Korean stone bowl place near school...(how do you spell bibimbob?) DELISH (if i do say so myself) and then we decided to take it easy this first night and just browsed around 公館夜市 (GongGuan nightmarket).

Monday, 11/29
I thought this was gonna be the busiest day...but I was wrong!
First, we headed to DanShui (淡水) which is north of Taipei but reachable by MRT (subway) and that was pretty fun. Fisherman's Wharf was a big disappointment though cuz most stores were closed!! I hear there's really great, fresh seafood there usually, so i'll have to go back sometime. We did get a bowl of 燒仙草 (hot grass jelly) that i'd never had before and discovered it's REALLY good! Anyhow...there's also the Old Street in DanShui that was where we spent most of our time. Shopping and snacking along the way. :) There's this one pastry store there that's GREAT. They give out free samples and free tea! It's a total mad house in there though and expect to be thoroughly pushed and shoved around, especially by the little kids and the older Chinese people. It's called 三協成 (fyi). They make really good 囍餅 (chinese engagement cakes) there...and their curry (咖哩餅) and meat (魯肉餅) pastries were also really good. Next, it was onto 士林夜市 (ShiLin nightmarket) where mimi showed me an entire food court that i'd overlooked!!!!

Tuesday, 11/30
Tues was supposed to be the lightest day..but ended up being the most busy & tiring! It was like all the previous days activities had all waited until this day to suck out my energy!

First, we went to all mimi's favorite food places for lunch...this meant having beef noodle soup (蕃切牛肉刀消麵, did i write that right?), seasame-paste noodles (麻醬麵), radish pastry (蘿蔔餅) off a street vendor, an ice cream mochi (it wasn't planned, but we were walking by and mimi said it was a famous japanese store), steamed buns (小龍包) at DingTaiFeng, and shaved ice at Ice Monster all in the span of 3-4 hours!! But it was all VERY yummy!

Next, we met up with mimi's friends from sunday for some shopping at 五分埔 (WuFenPu)...that most of them had never been to before! It was not as great as the first time though and the shopkeepers weren't very friendly this time...wonder why that was...anyhow, I didn't get anything (which is a good thing for my budget, of course!). Afterwards, we had to drop by Taipei101 cuz I hadn't realized that it hadn't been finished when mimi was here...it's claim to fame is that it's currently the world's tallest building. It has a VERY ritzy mall right next to it though (also called Taipei101)...it's the nicest mall in taipei i think. it's kinda like Valley Fair, but ritzier! Which translated means, everything's out of my price range. We didn't really shop though, just went to the top to check out the "Center of the World"...this point in the mall that if you stand in, will show you what direction all the major cities in the world are from this point. It was covered by a Christmas scene though...so we didn't get to see it. I saw some of the cities listed though and didn't see SF. :( But the area around Taipei101 is GREAT...lots and lots of malls and a bit westernized...There were lots of Christmas decorations...lights, reindeer, tree. It was really pretty though! Made me miss Christmas!!!

By this time it was like well-past 9pm and we still hadn't had dinner!! We went to the final must-have place on mimi's list...Rosier Cafe for paper hot pot. It was good...and special since the hot pot is this special paper that doesn't burn. very interesting. And MimiT dropped by to meet her namesake & lookalike! But like I said, the resemblance is not that great in real life. And finally, we taxied home (cuz my feet were KILLING me!).

And just think! The first day of class was the next morning!! And I hadn't even gotten my class schedule yet! :)
Below are some more pics of the trip. enjoy! it's time for me to study for my test (first test within a week of class!! this quarter's gonna be intense!!)!

mimi & me on Lover's Bridge at DanShui's fisherman wharf

look at the cool guy doing the knife-cut noodles...he's so fast, his hand's just a blur! 

myron, mimi & me at DanShui with a GORGEOUS sunset (not very clear in the pic though)

the shaved ice was SOOOO great at Ice Monster right now (winter season)...there was fresh mango, strawberries & kiwi with a scoop of mango sorbet-ish type thing on top! SOOOOooooooo delicious! 

karen, me, mimi & myron at Rosier Cafe for paper hot pot on the last day 

HuaLien & Taroko Gorge

Ok...there's just way too much to write, so i'm breaking it up in chunks.
Right now, I'll write about my trip to 花蓮 & 太魯閣 with my mom 11/26-27.
To make a long story short...it was great! :) Do you really want the details? I'll just give you the highlights.

Taroko Gorge (太魯閣) is very beautiful. But my favorite pic opp I didn't get to take cuz my camera ran out of batteries and I'd left the extra on the bus (this was on one of our short hikes)!! It was this really picturesque not so big waterfall with several levels and changed directions and little clear pools of water underneath each level of the fall...sooooo beautiful! But now the pic is only in my head. It's all mountains and water. And many of the mountains have marble! It makes for very peaceful scenery (unlike the Grand Canyon that's all red and makes you feel really hot...but is also very awe-inspiring in it's sheer size). Oh yeah! And our tour guide was really cool. He's this pretty old man (60?) who gave the tour in Chinese, Japanese & English! His Chinese and Japanese were great...but his English...well...let's just say that thankfully, I could understand most of the Chinese. :)

Other than that, my mom and I didn't spend much time in HuaLien (花蓮) the city itself. It's just the biggest city close to the gorge where you can join a tour very easily and find lots of hotels. There's other stuff to do there, but I wasn't very interested. It's also famous of its mochi...which I bought TONS of! In all, we went to 3 different mochi stores and I got something at each one! :) I think my mom and I spent as much on mochi as we did for our hotel room! (Or nearly as much).

I've posted some pics below for your viewing pleasure. And I added another pic of my DaKeng hike on my Nov17 post so take a look!

Just another shot of the gorge. Such a beautiful place! 

I think this is the memorial to the workers who died making the tunnels and roads in Taroko Gorge. 

Here's my mom & me with a little town in the palm of our hands...