２０１４年７月４日

July 4th:

The Taipei adventure begins!!! I slept poorly on a bench barely big enough to hold the width of my body, with a scratchy wool blanket I borrowed from the information booth. I always love being at airports. I think I mentioned this a while ago. But it's just so exciting to be near my favorite airplanes for me. I don't remember the last time a boarded a plane outdoors. Perhaps it was when I lived in Zimbabwe..

The tiny Airbus A320-200. 

 Oh in case you aren't aware, I paid about $160 round trip Osaka-Taipei with Peach Airlines. They are reputable for their great summer deals. So if you are traveling around Japan or to other East Asian countries on a budget, I strongly recommend flying with Peach.

Those turbine blades are some of the most intricately engineering objects on the planet. Just seeing them is so fantastic...

The plane was incredibly tight. I mean I couldn't even keep my my knees straight in front of me without cramming them into the seat in front of me. I suppose it was made for Japanese people after all. Also, the interior had leather seats alternating in pink and purple. It cracked me up. Despite this, I was so exhausted, I managed to sleep in an awkward position using the back of the seat in front of my as my pillow.. 

Finally I arrived in Taipei. Such a beautiful terminal. 

And I was finally reunited with Maika! We had some Taiwanese-influenced burritos with boba, and proceeded to take the bus into Taipei. After a brief nap in the hotel, we hit the streets to grab some burritos. That's right, I haven't eaten Mexican food in so long, and Taipei had a great knock-off Chipotle. On the way, I was so fascinated with the architecture, particularly the crazy tangles of exposed wire sticking out randomly of buildings. I couldn't imagine being an electrician in Taipei. The poor guys must come home from work twitching with electricity from getting shocked so often... Also, I loved the random trees and plants that seemed to grow straight out of building walls. I guess with such a tropical climate, plants sprout anywhere the sunlight reaches..
Anyways, here are pictures:

See the roof covered in trees? That was probably intentional..

Lol see? A tree growing out of a building.

Yes!! Heaven. It didn't quite do the Californian burrito justice, but certainly tided my craving.

Every store was either an overly bright, colorful sport apparel store, a boba store, or a dumpling/pork bun store. 

A typical Taipei alleyway. Really captures the city image. (and it's mo-ped gangs)

The tropical greenery in the middle of the city. Taipei 101 is in the skyline from pretty much anywhere in the city. It's so massive compared to every other skyscraper.

Store signs everywhere. I was able to read some of them with my Japanese 漢字 Kanji (Chinese-borrowed characters) knowledge.

Seeing it was the 4th of July, Maika and I met up with her other USC friends and headed to TGIF. A 4th of July Friday in Taipei. This was as American as it could get in Taipei. We ate modestly because we wanted to visit the night market for more food after. Maika's friends were interesting people, and the dinner together was enjoyable.

Maika and her two friend from USC enjoying burgers. America!

Other two friends from USC enjoying more burgers. 

And off we went to the night market. This was a really cool experience. First of all, the night was hot and humid and the place was packed. The rank smell of Taiwan's infamous "Stinky Tofu" (its fried fermented tofu) lingered in the air. Honestly, the smell was nearly unbearable. It actually smelled like animal feces to me. I hope that didn't sound too offensive. It's just my opinion... The atmosphere was awesome though. And we managed to eat pork buns (the best), pork sandwiches, pork dumplings and of course drink boba before the night was through. I had such a great time marveling at the scene. The picture's might be a bit blurry, but you'll get the basic idea:

Just getting into it.

This is what I'm talking about... 

Here's Maika in front of some food stands. This scenery went on for blocks. 

They even had a bunch of clothing stores.

A true Taiwanese dinner.

The style of wall behind the chef was so common to Taipei. I feel like this picture caught a great "end of the night closing" feel. These people work so hard for so little money. It must be such a tiring lifestyle.

Last but not least, the awesome boba guy. I had my first Thai tea in months, and check out how it was mixed. Awesome!

The first day was wonderful. From the delicious boba I had missed so much, to the efficient subway system the city is great. And above all, it was so nice to spend some time with Maika again. Long distance is tough, but every time its worth the wait.