No Meal Plan, No Problem

Another 林峰 song for today!

So this post is a little overdue--in fact I meant to write about this way back in March, but better late than never right?

Anyways after five semesters of having a meal plan, imagine my disappointment when I realized that National Taiwan University does not provide meal plans--I'm not sure if it's a Chinese thing since my friends studying abroad in Mainland China don't have a meal plan either. Luckily for me, food in Taiwan is pretty cheap--on most days I can get away with spending less than US$10 for breakfast, snack, and dinner and something to drink (bubble tea anyone?). Still, it unsettles me to know that my money supply is dwindling down everyday. Plus it can get frustrating thinking about what to eat, meal after meal day after day. But anyways, I just thought I'd share some pictures of some delicious food I've had here so far. Enjoy and salivate away!

廣東炒飯

Most foods come in cute little take-out boxes such as the one above or like so

What could be inside?

Tada! Dumplings!

I was also feeling a little greedy that day and got noodles too--all for about US$3 if I recall correctly--I was quite stuffed afterwards

Delicious matcha tofu dessert

From this vegetarian buffet place I like to frequent--especially when I'm in the mood for rice

Lunch at 7-Eleven--I'll admit it, I often go to 7-Eleven to eat when I'm feeling lazy or don't know what I want to eat; being able to use my student ID for discounts doesn't hurt either

One thing I have to say though is that, in this area at least, it seems that noodle dishes are a lot more prevalent than rice dishes. Now don't get me wrong, I like noodles, but sometimes (often) I just want rice for dinner, and not fried rice or rice as a side, but just a good old rice dish with some veggies and meat to go with it (and if you want other types of dishes, you might be even more hard pressed to find them).

Dry wonton noodles

Hong Kong style wonton noodles (with soup)

And of course, we can't forget street food now can we? After all, Taiwan is nothing if not famous for their night markets and street foods!

These Vietnamese vermicelli noodles actually taste pretty authentic!

韭菜包 and 米漿 from the bao place I like to frequent--one little bao can actually be pretty filling!

Dim sum dumpling tray!

Moral of the post: come to Taiwan, if not for the sights, at least for the food!
Everyday Chinese Food Edition

• 飯 (Fàn) - Rice 
  Note that while this means rice, it can also mean food in general; for example, 來吃飯 can simply mean to come eat--it all depends on context 
• 麵 (Miàn) - Noodles
• 菜 (Cài) - Vegetables/Dishes
  Similar to how 飯 can mean both rice or food in general, this character is often used in the name of vegetables (韭菜、白菜) and can mean vegetables or dishes, for example 素菜 is vegetables, while  家常菜 refers to home-cooked dishes
• 包子 (Bāo zi) - Bao
• 小吃 (Xiǎochī) - Snack
  Literally "small eats" little stands selling these are common in night markets and I guess they're a little similar to appetizers
• 吃到飽 (Chī dào bǎo) - Buffet
  Literally "eat until full"
• 餛飩/雲吞 (Húndun/yún tūn) - Wonton
  Note that the pronunciation I have given for the former word is the Taiwanese pronunciation (Mainland Chinese pronunciation is Húntún); also note that the English is derived from the Cantonese pronunciation of the latter (wan4tan1) and, from my experience, the latter is usually used in referenced to Hong Kong style wonton, which tend to be bigger
• 夜市 (Yèshì) - Night market
• 珍珠奶茶 (Zhēnzhū nǎichá) - Bubble tea

My Own Personal Mission

Wow, I have really been slacking on these posts haven't I? At least compared to in February and in March, during which I wrote ten posts--April is almost over and I've only managed to write three posts! So because I have been a tad lazy on the blogging, you get two posts today! Lucky you, hahaha (in my defense though, I have been bogged down by homework, exams, a bad cold, and just sheer laziness). Also, since I started writing the previous post late last night it was technically meant for yesterday.

As I may have mentioned previously, I am not very good at making friends, nor am I good at making conversation. I'm also painfully shy, anti-social, and introverted to a fault. I have friends of course, and though I see some of them quite often I'm not that close to them. And the friends that I'm closest to are the ones that I speak in Mandarin to (since it is the common language among us all), which frustrates me sometimes as there are times where I just can't seem to fully articulate what I'm trying to say.

So earlier this week, I decided, to hell with this timidness of mine! I'm going to try to get out more, talk to more people, be more open and more friendly! So starting last Monday, my goal was to try to initiate conversation with at least one person I didn't know very well every day. That includes classmates, acquaintances, and friends that I am not that close with, because the point of this wasn't just about talking to more people, to different people, but also to strengthen the friendships I already had. Strange as it might seem, my purpose is not to make more friends--that would be nice, but it's not my main focus and would just be an added bonus. I guess I am just trying to become more comfortable with social interaction and to be a little more outgoing (I'll be honest--I even Google'd "How to be more outgoing").

Of course that's a lot easier said than done, especially when you're as timid and introverted as I am. I didn't expect to just overnight become a social butterfly, nor did I expect that I would get much conversation during the first few weeks. I did expect to make some mistakes or miss some opportunities but that's okay; when setting a goal like this for yourself, I think it is best not to expect too much: be realistic and have expectations but don't set your expectations too high. It's so easy to feel discouraged that you're not making new friends or meeting new people and to want to give up. But just go at it step by step and know that all successes count, whether they be little or big. And even if I never become outgoing or completely comfortable in social settings that's okay too, because I at least know I tried.

So how has my personal mission been going so far? Pretty good actually--I've managed to talk or chat with at least one new person everyday although sometimes they were the ones to initiate the conversation and not me, but as I said, baby steps. Last night, I was even down in the lobby until around midnight catching up with some friends I haven't seen in awhile, meeting some of their friends, and playing card games and board games with them--it was quite fun. Of course that doesn't mean that I've automatically made a whole bunch of new friends, but I did manage to become closer with some of my friends and well, I've certainly been less lonely this past week.

Nice Weather, Free Time, and a Trip Back to Childhood

Been listening to a lot of 林峰's music these days, so I thought I would share one of his songs that had been stuck in my head last night.

Happy Saturday!

I had some free time yesterday which was nice considering it's Midterms week. Now, my Fridays usually consist of doing readings for my one afternoon class, then lounging about until I have to go to said class, but since our professor decided not to hold class yesterday to give us time to work on our midterm paper, I had a bit of free time. Now, being the diligent student that I am (not), I lounged about the room for a while before taking care of some business concerning Connecticut College (my home university if you don't know) and my summer internship. Afterwards, I continued to mull about in my room for a bit longer before deciding that I really ought to be getting something to eat (namely brunch, although it was closer to lunchtime at that point).

After a rather filling lunch of a chicken whole wheat sandwich and grapefruit green tea, I decided to take a little walk before heading back to my dorm, seeing as the weather was quite lovely--some sun and a light breeze. So off I went at a leisurely pace with no real destination in mind, only the urge to take advantage of such nice weather and spare time.

After awhile I came across a quaint little park:

大學公園

大學公園 and though the English says Daxue Park, I believe College Park would be more accurate no? It had a pair of lion statues and a nice little pagoda-inspired gazebo for you to relax at, although there were a group of people sitting in there when I passed by.

Okay so maybe it isn't quite a gazebo, but I really don't know what else to call it

The male lion--you can tell he's male since he has the pearl under his right front paw...

...while the female--the mother--will have a cub under her left front paw

Of course, me being me, I did not intend on stopping when I saw the small group of people already occupying the area so I kept going. A little further and I came across the children's playground area of the park.

I would have kept on going too, had it not been for the ducks.

That's right folks, I paused and backtracked for a pair of blue plastic ducks! They are the kinds that stand on a giant spring (as you can see in the pictures below) and rock back and forth.

Now I don't know what kind of childhood you have all had, but parks and plastic ducks were not really a part of mine. Since it was empty and I had never ridden one of those, I decided on a whim that I would embrace my inner child and do exactly that.

I even took a selca for you guys--okay I lied, it was more for my mother, sister, and cousin--but I am not much of a selca person so I hope you are happy ;p

Initially, I was just sitting (more kind of leaning) on the edge of the duck, with my legs stretched out before me, but curiosity soon overcame me and I decided to sit properly on the duck. My legs were long enough to reach the ground so there wasn't much rocking to be done although I did put my feet up on the duck's a few times so I could actually rock. I was mostly taking in the scenery, enjoying the weather, and just having a little quiet time to myself though. I tried to get a selca that included the duck I was on, but alas that just was not working out. So I got a shot with the duck next to mine instead.

Orchids growing in the tree!

The inner botanist in me compelled me to take this picture, haha; actually I just like to take pictures of accompanying labels

And playgrounds aren't just for kids either--they had these interesting workout tools, ramble aids and push chairs they were called--for working out your upper body or your legs.

The push chair, in which you lean back in the chair and, as the name suggests, push the "arms" on the sides, which moves the chair, before slowly bringing the arms back down. It takes a lot more strength than you would expect, or maybe I'm just weak--my arms got tired after a few pushes

Instructions for the push chair

The ramble aid, in which you stand there and mimic walking--I've actually seen kids playing on this and it looks like so much fun, but alas I was not wearing the right shoes for them so had to sit this one out

Who says you need to be a child to enjoy a playground?

The Kindness of Strangers, the Friendliness of the Taiwanese

Anyone who has researched Taiwan, whether in the hopes of coming here to study, travel, or just for his or her own personal research, has bound to have come across blogs, travel, or education sites praising the Taiwanese as super friendly and helpful people. From my experiences of being here for about a month and a half now, I have found that this is indeed true. Obviously I cannot speak for all of Taiwan and of course I have come across my fair share of not-very-nice and sometimes unfriendly people, but in general, the Taiwanese people will be pretty friendly.

My friends and family have told me that I am weird for this, but I quite enjoy rainy weather and from time to time I like to walk in the rain, sometimes sans umbrella. On one such occasion, I also happened to be hurrying to class and I am sure that to anyone, I looked like I was hurrying to get out of the rain as I also had my head down and my hood on--rainy days and glasses do not make a good combination unfortunately. I heard steps behind me that sounded someone rushing after me which I did not really think to be the case. Imagine my surprise then when the person behind--a fellow student--slowed down besides me to share her umbrella with me. I was taken completely by surprise and was extremely touched at the same time that this complete stranger would share her umbrella with me when it wasn't even raining very heavily either. Granted the downpour was a little too heavy to be considered a drizzle, but it wasn't exactly a rainstorm either.

When she found out that I was going in the direction of the library, she told me that she was also headed in the same direction and offered to walk with me for part of the way. Now I had an umbrella in my bag, but I didn't want to seem ungrateful or embarrass her by telling her that I liked walking in the rain, so I thanked her for her kindness. She would have gone with me all the way to the library too if I had not asked her (knowing that she had to take the turn before the library) where her class was. When I told her that I'd be alright the rest of the way without an umbrella, she seemed a little hesitant to just let me walk out in the rain and finally told me to hurry so I wouldn't get drenched. This by far has to be one of my favorite stories of encounters with strangers and I was really touched by her kindness.

Another time, I was at a busy street market and as I was walking, the person behind me accidentally stepped on the back of my flat, causing it to come off my foot. I heard him apologize behind me but as it was a busy street I couldn't exactly stop so I just hopped off to the side of the street to fix my shoe back on. And though he already apologized, he turned towards me to apologize again and he seemed quite sincere too. By contrast, the same thing happened another time except with an American and instead of apologizing, I'm pretty sure I heard an "oh shit" and when he made eye contact with me (as I was fixing my shoe on the side of the street again) he quickly averted his gaze. Now, I am not saying that all Taiwanese are super sincere nor am I saying that Americans tend to be rude; I just found the contrast between these two reactions interesting.

As a Chinese American in Asia, I feel self-conscious about the idea of ordering in English even if there is English on the menu and sometimes if I don't know how to read the characters, I'll resort to simply pointing at the item on the menu or in the display to order. Sometimes I feel a little more daring and ask how to read the characters or what the item is. I have never gotten a negative response to this and the store owners are always willing to answer and help me. One nice store owner even pulled out the translator on his phone because he didn't know what 杏仁 was in English (it's almond).

So yes, I will say that the Taiwanese are, in general, a pretty helpful and friendly bunch of people who are willing to go out of their way for you whether you are a foreigner or not, so don't be afraid to ask them for help if you need it!

There and Back Again: Déjà vu

March 16th, 2014
After a long day of traveling and exploring, it was nice to finally slow down and enjoy the scenery. We had been doing a lot of sight-seeing since we've arrived in Hualien and while the sights were amazing, I was glad for the little breather. We were currently at 花蓮縣和平廣場--the Hualien County Peace Square--overlooking 美崙溪--the Meilun River--and though it was too dark to clearly make out the 和平鐘--Peace Bell--or the river, it only served to emphasize the light from the bird statue and the bridge and it was peaceful to just stand there looking out at the water. We were the only ones there at the time, and were all pretty tired so, save for the low murmur of some background conversations, it was pretty quiet.

Quiet scenery

There is something to be said for hearing the gong of a bell in the still of the evening

Sorry about the quality of this picture

Over 1 year later
April 01st, 2015
Spring break was upon us and though it was quite hot and sunny, we were enjoying ourselves immensely. A couple of friends and I decided to go down to Hualien (about two hours away from Taipei) for two days and thus far we had had clear skies, good food, and beautiful scenery. We had decided to explore by bike and, since I couldn't ride a bike, I was hitching a ride on the back of one of my friend's bike.

My first bike ride--it was a thrilling experience, in the kinda-scary-kinda-exciting kind of way. Although there was no cushioning on the metal seat I wasn't too bothered by it (though my behind would be a little numb by the end of the day) and was enjoying the feel of the wind rushing past me. As we slowed down to take a break from biking, I realized with a growing sense of familiarity that I recognized this location. In fact, I had been here a little over a year ago!

The place was practically as I remembered it, except that it was daylight this time instead of night and I wasn't weary with a day's worth of traveling. I didn't really know how to describe what I was feeling--I guess a bit of awe at the coincidence of being at the exact place I was at over a year ago. A place that wasn't some giant tourist spot, no less. If you had told me a year ago that I would come back to this very spot, I probably would not have believed you. A year ago, my plans for a dual-semester abroad was only looking slightly hopeful--I had been accepted to study abroad in South Korea, but I didn't know yet if I would be able to study abroad in Taiwan as well or if I would end up being forced to choose one over the other. All I knew was that I had one shot--my appeal--to convince the Committee of Study Abroad that it was in my best interest to go abroad for two semesters in two different locations.

At that moment a year ago, looking out over the water, that was what I was worrying about, though I did try to put that worry aside in order to enjoy the tranquil scenery and company of my classmates, most of whom I had known for three-and-a-half semesters now.

This time, for old time's sake, I went to stand at the very spot where I had been contemplating my worries a year ago, except that this time I was just enjoying the moment, the coincidence, and marveling at how much has happened in a year.

The bridge in daylight

Still the same tranquil scenery

There is something to be said for hearing the gong of a bell in daylight too

Glow of the sun and glitter of the lake behind the gong of the bell

A clearer (and closer-up!) picture of the bird statue

We also went to 太魯閣國家公園--Taroko National Park--during our two day stay in Hualien, which I did with my Chinese class the first time I went to Hualien too, but as Taroko was the main purpose for our trip, this was no surprise coincidence for me.

The lobby of Colorful Taiwan Hostel where we stayed

Cute bedroom decor!

雞排麵 I believe this was--for a mere NT$60 too (equivalent to about US$2)

What better way to cool off than with some ice cream? I believe the two flavors were vanilla and sweet potato!

A bowl of 雲吞湯 shared between friends--I think I came here last year too!

豆花 as I've never had it before--iced and with toppings! The top one has sweet potatoes and tapioca, while the bottom one has red beans. For all my Canto friends back home, you're probably more accustomed to having your 豆腐花 served hot and with a slightly sweet syrup (Photo courtesy of my fellow travelers)

Our picturesque bike view (Photo courtesy of my fellow travelers)

If you're ever in Taiwan and have some free time, I really recommend going down to Hualien to get away from technology and enjoy the scenery~

Travel Chinese Hualien Edition

• 花蓮縣 (Huālián Xiàn) - Hualien County
• 太魯閣國家公園 (Tàilǔgé gúojiā gōngyuán) - Taroko National Park
• 長春祠 (Chángchūn cí) - Eternal Spring Shrine (or Changchun Shrine)
  Located in Taroko National Park
• 花蓮縣和平廣場 (Huālián xiàn hépíng guǎngchǎng) - Hualien Peace Square
  I'm not sure if there's an English name for it--I just translated the Chinese
• 和平鐘 (Hépíng zhōng) - Peace Bell
  Located in the Sqare; again, I just translated the Chinese
• 美崙溪 (Měi lún xī) - Meilun River
  I used the Pinyin for the English name (although 溪 seems to translate to "creek" rather than "river")