Oops…I am behind on blogging again!! AHH! Well I have 5 blogs coming your way. My Christmas gift to you all (:
First, my birthday! I found out it was another ETAs birthday a day before mine, so I planned a trip to celebrate our birthday weekend together. I met Phoebe in Boston when I flew to Taiwan. She was with me the whole way, so she really was the first friend I made here! She got placed in Kaohsiung (southern Taiwan), so Lakyn and I booked tickets for the bullet train and went south! P.S. The bullet train is super cool!! And SO SO fast. Definitely a must do while in Taiwan.
Kaohsiung is much more of a city than Luodong (the smallest city in all of Taiwan…). It reminded me very much of America and there were way more foreigners than I have ever seen in Yilan. We went out to dinner for our birthdays the night we arrived. So, the next day we were exhausted and decided to just explore around the city. Kaohsiung has its own MRT, like Taipei, so it’s a pretty big place. We took the MRT a few stops away to a big mall. This might not seem like the place to go when travelling but….we don’t have malls in Yilan so for two girls…it was the place. I actually ended up finding myself a new watch!! It was really fun! And we found this brunch place that was started by a Canadian man…and it was the best breakfast I have had in months! Mostly because it didn’t consist of rice and seaweed but….
There was a Santa display at the mall!! In Luodong Christmas is almost non-existent so seeing Santa was pretty exciting! Also pictured above is my delicious western breakfast burrito. NOMZ! And my pretty new watch! Wahoo!! Last but not least, Arnold Palmer clothing is hugely popular here which is funny because I think the only thing Ive ever seen anyone wear of his in America is socks…and no one here even knows who he is….but his clothes are everywhere. They are so popular Ive even seen knockoffs. Too funny.
Anyway, then, Lakyn and I met back up with the rest of the Kaohsiung ETAs and went to a delicious Thai place for dinner. We all went to bed early on Saturday. Then, on Sunday, Lakyn and I went to Lotus Pond. It was really cool but also definitely made me appreciate the beauty of Yilan. The lake was gorgeous but in the background was a city scape. Tall buildings instead of the mountains I am now used to…so it definitely made me realize how stunning Yilan is compared to other places. The temples and buildings were really cool. You entered a dragon’s mouth and walked through his whole curvy body looking at strange art along the way. Then, you walked through a tiger mouth into a pagoda. Weird but cool. Check out the pictures below!!
Anyway, I had a blast in Kaohisung and the warm weather was nice, but I really love Yilan and am glad I live here (: (although I totally miss shopping malls!)