I suddenly miss home very much and school life. I miss seeing people that I know and like... all the time. I miss college friends that I don't see and didn't see that much during college. I wish we had more time in college to just hang out and form better bonds. I miss my apath floormates that I was once friends with...but did not keep in touch with. I miss my taiwanese class teachers. It weird that toward the end of college, you get so caught up and absorbed into different things that you dont take the time to tend to other things. I dunno why suddenly I am missing freshman and sophomore year. It's not to say that senior year/junior year wasn't great...because they were! I just wished I cherished old friendships more and kept better relationships. I will have to try harder!

***

on a side note: my arm is super sore from mosquito bites. I am super allergic and each time I am bitten, I swell, then it becomes painful and I am sore..then it itches like crazy...then it leaves a nasty mark as new bites pop up =(

i'm at 11 bites now. my sister arrived in taiwan! I cant wait to go back to where mosquitos will not bite me anymore. only 10 more days!

Wed: I stayed in all day..did nothing..didnt really eat either

Thursday: i went to the mall again to watch a movie. I watched the time travellers wife..its pretty good! I also got to watch it in upgraded seats..which is just a sofa recliner seat.

Friday: went to the temple to volunteer again. I don't think I have ever sweated(is that a word?) this much in my life. I was dripping sweat and my shirt was like wet. OMG...it was disgusting!

Then we went to watch my cousin play the harmonica. It was pretty cool! They had a harmonica ensemble and they played beautifully. Too bad the music was all classical and I fell asleep during a little bit. This one guy had a solo and he plyed for like 30minutes straight. Thats some crazy blowing power. It was good...I have never seen/heard anything like this. THey dont really have that in the U.S.

My arm hurts. I am tired because of sweating off like 5 pounds. gnite!

So on Wed I went to the countryside. I went to visit my great aunt and aunties (my mom's aunt and cousins). We went to many places to eat and eat and eat. I got my nails done with pretty flowers and fruit and hearts. I also got my eyelashes permed =)

We stayed there until friday and took the train back.

Sat, Sun, Mon was spent doing lots of random things like eating and walking around. On Sat, I went street shopping and ate. On Sunday I went to volunteer at a temple. I washed bamboo shoots, peeled lettuce, washed bowls and sorted chopsticks and bowls. The temple had some sort of ceremony/festival where thousands of people attended. I think I washed 500 bowls. It was super tough. Monday..i went to see a chinese medicine doctor. I got some really nasty medicine. =( super yucky!! Went to some place to drink soydrink and eat traditional chinese breakfast. It was ehh..okay..not great...then went shopping for a hairband =)

Tuesday the medicine made my tummy super icky...i dont feel well =( I went to the mall again to get another facial. Hopefully my face will be better when I go back! Only 2 more weeks!!

my bug bite count is 6 now. one on each thigh, one on arm, one on face, two on one hand on two fingers.


I want to scratch them.

some cute toys

Sat: Went to the mountains to see my grandma and grandpa. It was very sad. I also got a really bad bug bite on my thigh. At first it was just one finger's width..then it grew and grew and grew to 4 fingers width =( now its small and discolored and itchy. We went along the oceanside and visited lots of random places. The whole day was mostly sitting in the car.

Sunday: did some street shopping, watched tv

Monday: stayed in all day and watched tv, then went to night market

Tuesday: went to the mall in taoyuan and got a facial and lots of stuff for my face. The facial hurt. My face looks super scary but I think it will be okay in a few days.

My favorite show in taiwan is a cartoon called mirmo! Its so cute!!

check it out!

2nd day:
woke up at 6am again. Went back to sleep until 8am. My little uncle picked us up and then we went to eat at some restaurant that serves shanghai food..the plates of food were so small. I asked for ice water. they brought out water and said we dont have ice water. I was like okay...fine..but then my mom ordered a drink and there was ice in it! WTF..haha..taiwan is weird.

Then I went to tamshui. it has a fishermans wharf..and it was hot. Then my mom and I went to see my godmother's sister. Ate more food and then we slept over at her house.



3rd day:
went to several malls, ate hot pot buffet, visited relatives and went to the hot springs for a bath. It was at a country club. I finally ate some street food tonight.

Before we left!



I woke up at like 630am sat around. Had traditional asian breakfast with chinese churro and pancake and rice drink. Chatted. Went to sleep again at 9am...woke up at 11am. Visited cousin's grandmother...went to Taipei from Taoyuan. The weather was crazy..it rained super hard and I was so scared in the car. My aunt's vision is not very good and she would make very sudden stops. The rain splashing from other cars created waves up to the windows! It was scary but we made it safely. Then I went to visit my mom's little sister. We went to a super nice japanese buffet which cost $25 per person. I felt really bad because I am on my diet still and could not eat that much. Anyhoo...then we went back to my aunt's house and she pulled out all her artwork to show me. She is a really good artist and art is her profession and passion =) Back to Taoyuan!

Good night!

jk..haha..I am in Taiwan now. The plane ride was long and I didnt really get to sleep. I watched the Soloist, My Life in Ruins, Adventureland, Ghosts of Girlfriends, Knowing.

There was a cute boy who sat in front of me and would look back and wave to me. At one point, he climbed over and sat on my lap. LOL. He was so cute.

Also, I got a fever on the plane. Worst experience ever! It started with my throat feeling weird and sorta closing up, then i was super dizzy and pale. The the fever broke out with 2 hours left on the flight. AISH. I got spotted and had to wear a face mask. Good thing they didnt think i had swine flu.

anyhoo..it's hot here. I woke up drenched in sweat...i guess from the fever and the room temp. =)

So these past few days I have been chilling and relaxing. Celebrated JeeYoon's Bday on Wed the 22.

Saturday the 25, went to Hacienda Heights to see Alex. Sunday went to Rancho Cucamonga because we wanted to interclub and I have no life. It was weird to be at a district board meeting. It was actually very painful to hear some of the comments and the lack of people speaking up for good ideas..but oh wells. We went to Yardhouse, had a little incident with alcohol, then we left. It was a billion degrees. On Monday was Alex's Birthday. We went to huntington beach and did a bonfire/barbecue. Food was delicious..even though we thought it wouldn't cook. Then we went to BJs and sat around as Alex was getting super buzzed/drunk =) It was a happy day!

Wednesday was Jessica's Bday! She is in virginia..so didn't get to celebrate with her. My sister made me dinner that night and we watched The International. So in an earlier post about me watching movies...well, the list has probably quadrupled since last time..but I dont remember what I watched..too many movies! On Friday the 31st, my sister and I threw a party and had a bbq/pool/drinking party. It was nice just to hang out with my sister and a few of her friends, my cousins, and a couple of my friends.
Then on Saturday, James left for Med school and I went with him to help him move a little bit of his stuff. We came back, passed out on my couch..then he left for med school for reals on Sunday. On Sunday I cut my hair, went shopping and celebrated my cousin's 19th birthday party at Boiling Crab. We waited 2 hours! That place is getting to be ridiculous in how many ppl are there everyday! Even weekdays -_- and this time..they didnt even have my favorite..sweet potato fries!!! OMG! oh wells, still good..i guess.

Monday I just chilled. Watched Duplicity->pretty good movie, and Labor Pains->terrible. Tuesday, saw the doctor and he told me that guys are assholes and that I would be a sugar mommy. LOL..my doctor is hilarious. Then I went to babysit Fred and Abby, the cute kids I played with in June.

I got my passport just recently. It looks super crazy with the full color pages of national monuments and stuff. I am leaving for taiwan in only 5 days. I am super excited but also very scared of the hot humid weather and the dirtiness. Wish me luck!