Wednesday January 2nd, 2013
Monday and Tuesday were New Year holidays. Well the holiday
time is up and it’s back to school. …meh. Classmates shared this unexcited
feeling as we all passed out from tiredness once or many times thanks to
staying up late for Taipei 101 fireworks. There’s a difference in culture.
After New Years Texas gives you a week or so before school starts again, time
enough to recuperate. Taiwan gives you 24 hours…not enough.
Right after school ended, it was off to meet friends at Tamsui
(a port area north of Taipei)! I can’t tell you how refreshing it was to do
something out of my usual bland weekday schedule. Hanging out with bestie
friends was the sweetest part of it all. I arrived to the meeting spot first
with Brittany following up. A reunion commenced and a Christmas gift exchange.
My USA teddy bear and Texas keychain felt inferior as she gave a belly dancing
jingle belt and the pretty, purple top I had my eye on. What a thoughtful dear!
I am so wearing them when the outfit is complete and a few pounds are slipped
out of. ;P
While waiting for other chicas to arrive, the two of us went
to a cheap clothing store to find jeans for Brittany. She’s been doing last
minute shopping before she leaves for Australia this Saturday (*breaks out into
tears/wailing*). Her plan is to buy her new wardrobe in Taiwan since the
clothes are cheaper if you know where to look. You do have to be careful of
quality though since it isn’t always commendable. I browsed through some jeans
at this place and some fabric was just so darn thin, you would wear them out in
a week!
Side note: Just to clarify, all the exchange students from
Australia are leaving soon because their exchange has a different time slot.
They’ve already been in Taiwan for about ten months. So they came to Taipei in
the beginning of summer. I don’t know why but it’s only with Australia. End
side note.
Anne (from Denmark) made it to Tamsui and we met up with
her. Together the three of us strolled down to Brittany’s third host family’s
restaurant called “G12.”
Another side note: Another strange thing with Brittany’s
exchange is that she lived with her first host family, then second, then third
and then first again. End side note.
With that being mentioned, it was a surprise to the third family
when Brittany came along unexpectedly with foreign friends they hadn’t met. The
family was super friendly and their little dog liked to lick your face off. XD
The restaurant was European style, had Greece decorations and was on the higher
end of the price range (nothing absurd though). It was a nice sit-down place
with a calming atmosphere. The host family being the owners, bless their
hearts, treated us to a free meal of our choice. Total sweeties!
The dish I chose from their menu was ‘Mediterranean Seafood
Pasta.’ Yes! I’ve been craving pasta for so long! I’ll admit the craving is
specifically for chicken alfredo but that doesn’t mean this seafood pasta
wasn’t satisfying. It was delicious! Inside were oysters, shrimp, veggies and a
yummy sauce. Every bit was delightfully devoured! ^_^ Along with the main
dishes, Brittany asked for some fruit tea she recommended to us. It was very
tasty stuff being warm and of course, fruity.
For awhile she Skyped with her family back in Australia to
ask some questions and chit chat. Such and such time passed until we headed off
to pick up another friend, Mariko (Colorado chica). Our group totaling up to
four members, walked back to G12 so Mariko could get some dinner but at that
point I had to leave for home. From school it takes me over an hour to get
home. From Tamsui…you’re looking at two hours. You can guess my feelings on
this. It was worth it though because I needed some time with friends,
especially with Brittany since she’ll be leaving really soon. Brittany promised
for one last night together on Friday so it wasn’t good-bye yet tonight. Not
until we try out Taiwanese foot massages together for the first time. ;)
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