Abroad in Taiwan - Day 12

It was around 8:30AM when I woke up to grab some breakfast upstairs on the 8th floor of our hotel (New California Hotel, next to Bitan). Knowing that a great deal of food was prepared for lunch and dinner, I ate a rather small-scaled breakfast, consisting of scrambled eggs, toast, and salad. The scrambled eggs and toast were nothing extraordinary, but the salad possessed some unique characteristics that made me want more. Unlike American salads, this one had pea seedlings (豆苗), some unknown Asian vegetable, and a special wasabi-flavored dressing......well, it deserves a better explanation than the one I just gave. Haha! Apart from the breakfast foods, I also picked up two small cups of coffee. Also ordinary.

After breakfast, my family and I spent several hours to prepare ourselves before heading over to my cousin's apartment.

It wasn't until 12:30PM when we left the hotel. Of course, we were late for lunch, but we only have one washroom here, unfortunately. Anyway, we ate a typical Taiwanese meal with my cousin and grandma, while my aunt and uncle were at work.

The next few hours were spent laying around, blogging and talking with a few American friends who were still awake.

When the clock hit 3:30PM, my mother, brother, and I left the house to do some exploring and shopping at Gongguan (公館), where my host school, National Taiwan University, is located. At first, we decided to take the subway there; however, I thought that this was a perfect chance to familiarize myself with the bus routes (and I was lazy to walk to the MRT station). After the suggestion was made, we crossed the street and took the 642 bus to our destination.

We got off at the Gongguan stop and found a shop that sold shoes, where I found a pair of shoes that I liked, but when the manager gave us a price, I began to have second thoughts. I realized that I didn't know what was considered "expensive" or "inexpensive" here in Taiwan, so price comparisons were necessary. We told the manager that we'll come back (no, we didn't) and headed down the street in search of more shoe stores. Several blocks down, we found another store that sold shoes I liked for a lot less. After doing some contemplating, my mom and I decided to each buy a pair of shoes for a total of 880NT, which is equivalent to roughly 29 US dollars. Good deal... for us Americans? In the end, I'm still unsure what "expensive" means here, but I'll have plenty of time to familiarize myself with that.

After buying some shoes, we walked into a nearby Starbucks and had ourselves a cup (or two) of coffee. Surprisingly, they were having a deal where you get a free beverage for every drink you buy! My mom and I each had a tall cup of pike roast coffee, while my brother had two tall frappes. Drinks, finished! We crossed the street and walked into the Christian bookstore. Roughly 30 minutes were spent exploring the books and accessories that they had to offer before we left and headed to my future dorm! Located just across the Freshwater Museum in Taipei, the Shuiyuan dorms were divided between three buildings, A-C. I can't say the architecture is aesthetically pleasing on the outside (at night, at least), but standing outside still filled me with excitement.

After exploring much of the Gongguan area, we headed back to the bus stop where we'll head back to my cousin's place to finish the leftovers from lunch. The rest, just the usual. Hung out for a bit. Walked back to the hotel. Slept.

-Jeffjeff