So I was rummaging through some journals and came upon my pages that I wrote while in Taiwan and on the way. There's not much and later I'd like to dig through my memory and expound on some things, but I wanted to share with anyone interested :)
APRIL 10TH, 2008
No Triscuits!
On the airplane! I haven't been on a plane this big in a long time. It's huge!! I just turned the BRIGHT light out because everyone else is sleeping. This is so surreal...I've had the giggles all day. Snoop Dogg on the music player...I'm telling you to LOOSEN UP MY BUTTONS, BABE! Ha Ha. The ride has been really really smooth. Everyone on this plane is Chinese. There's a man a few seats away, American. He's a business man from New York and he speaks Chinese! He's talking to a flight attendant. A "Chenglish" if you will, weaving in and out of it. I think he wants to read but she wants to talk. Dad's asleep, his sunglasses just fell, and he's got these crazy eye shades on. What are those called again? It's a mask. But he looks like he's going to Mardi Gras.
There's a guy with a laptop next to Dad. I wish I had mine! Kinda. His is nice and small. It's too cramped in here for that. We have tons of leg room though and that's all that matters to me. We had lunch about an hour ago. It was really good! Vegetarian requested for me by Dad. A vegan cookie, a roll with butter, a small salad with vinegarette, and this white rice with veggies and beans and tomato sauce kinda thing. I was full after the pretzels but it's cool. My tummy hurts. I just watched August Rush for the second time. I'm not sleepy...Dad and I were listening to the Chenglish conversation. "Your pet peeve" he said, but really I'm just jealous they can do it. He says she is reacting like people react when Uncle David speaks Mandarin. I want to learn...I need to put my all into it, that's for sure. I wish learning languages was an occupation.
32,000 ft.
We are flying past Honolulu... :)
Juneau's not too high up there too. It's so amazing to really think that I could be...could go anywhere!
Dark Blue, Dark Blue...
Packing was stressful. We woke up around 7am, left at around 9am. Rachel drove us to BART, we got on and it took us straight to SFO. Fun to people watch. So many little urbanites. Chic city girls. We made it through everything just in time, not really a minute to spare. The airport wasn't too crowded. Not at all, actually. I expected worse. Over 900 flights were cancelled through American Airlines so we are lucky on United. The bathrooms on this plane are really cool. Clean and smell like soap. It's phenomenal how comfortable it is. TV, music, maps, snacks. Very pleasant so far. We're about 2:40 in. I wish I knew Chinese. My tummy still hurts.
5,116 miles away...1,388 miles travelled
35,000 ft. 468 mph. 2063 mi
8:52 - time since departure!
4:26 left!
So...it's now a little after 10PM, CA time. All the shades are down in the plane but we haven't and won't have a nighttime. My body is going to think it's past 3AM when we land, local time 6PM. It will be like two days in one!! I haven't slept at all yet. Dad and I just finished playing eighteen thousand hands of Gin. Bought some cigars from Duty Free for David - all they have in Taipei are Cubans! How funny. Also brought him a box of Triscuits - don't have those either. It just dawned on me that we're going to a place where I don't know a single word of their language.
"Xie xie" is thank you. Am I even saying it right? Geez. This is awesome. It's April 11th. Could've sworn it was the tenth...hmm...
I like looking at this distance map with the red line and the little plane. I'm far from being a geography buff, so people like me get really excited to think about the fact that Alaska is so close to Asia. And Guam! I haven't even thought about Guam since I knew a girl in Hawaii who was from there. I watched Enchanted, it was really cute. Read some. My tummy really hurts now :( We got another meal - my veggie one was something like a pita with lettuce and cous cous and another vegan cookie. It was good! I love planned meals like that. Haha.
...Manila Tokyo Seoul Sapporo Osaka Hakodate Naha...
I'm going to try and get some sleep maybe. With National Treasure, no audio, Chinese subtitles. "It looks like they keep cussing!" - Dad.
i thank you God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes
i thank you God for most this amazing day
Today was one of the best I've ever had. It was INCREDIBLE. Woke up early at the beachhouse, drove (with six people in David's jeep) to the train station in a little rundown town...Taijuon? Something similar. Bought our tickets, had 5 minutes to run to 7-11 to get coffee (there are more 7-11s here than I've ever seen!) almost missed the train so we ran and ran! One guy (named Guy!) almost didn't make it. Another guy Neil was screaming, "RUN!!" it was hilarious. He made it! These cute ladies were sitting in our seats at first, and they went to talk to them in Chinese about moving and it turns out they were Korean. Crazy. It's funny how sometimes it's impossible to know. But, I suppose it's like that with Americans, Canadians, Australians, other Europeans...etc. etc. Anyway, so they sat in front of us, they were snacking on something and Dad said, "No kim-chi?" They smirked and said "Nooo..." and started laughing to themselves. That's like if they had asked us, "No cheeseburgers?" Hilarious. So the train took about an hour and a half. Nice ride, waking up. Then we got off at the station and scuttled around, trying to figure things out. Once we did, we walked to a scooter rental place! At first I thought we wouldn't be able to pull it off without licenses...but Sindy, David's girlfriend, asked and she said they take foreign licenses. The owner was nervous though for her bikes. So the others were like, "Yeah, I've ridden before plenty!" Which was semi-true for them but not for me. I was really nervous at first, and we ended up getting 5 scooters instead because the boss lady seemed really nervous and worried. But we got them, no problem. I rode on the back with my Uncle for about ten minutes and at a gas station we switched so I could drive my own. It was also raining, first sprinkling and then pouring...not too cold but pretty scary. It was UNBELIEVABLE. SO much fun. You have to weave in and out of traffic, in towns, dodging people and car doors opening, and wild dogs. And you go 60 kilometers on the "freeways." It felt like a video game, being part of a scooter gang riding through an Asian city. Even the traffic lights and patterns and systems are all different. It was so thrilling. I was still getting used to it on the way up, didn't run over anyone, thank God. Then we went to this aboriginal restaurant in Taroko, before the Gorge...it was so delicious. Rice, omelette, cabbage, tofu, bok choy soup, wasabi greens. Gorgeous. The place was outside and open and wet and green and lush...it reminded me of Hawaii. The bathrooms were not very modern...it was a hole in the ground.
After we ate we went on toward the Gorge, which was THE most beautiful place I have ever been in real life. It was unbelievable. And to be on a scooter for the experience was even better. We went through huge narrow tunnels, passing semi trucks and tour buses, all in big yellow rain jackets. It was heaven.
Monday Night
Today was shopping day #1! Slept in a little until 9:00, went to breakfast(which ends at 9:30) We walked into the room at 9:27..."Mista, we close!" But she let us get a little cereal. :) Then treated us so nicely when she realized we only needed about 2 minutes, and weren't American assholes.
Then we got some Starbucks with David. Really good vibe, rested, relaxed, we sat for a good hour. The Starbucks could have been in the states, it was neat. Then David helped us on our way on the NRT transit. He had to work today. It's amazing how orderly the subway is. So different from the streets. A woman tapped on Dad's shoulder and warned him that you are punished for chewing gum if they catch you. Crazy! We went to a memorial, first stop, it was so beautiful and very touristy. There was an amazing bookstore! I could've spent hours. Bought two really cute kids picture books, Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, a postcard, all for under NT1000. (<$30) Amazing deal! Everything is so cheap. Reasonable, the US is just outrageous. Especially California. The money here is really fun, too. 1000 is about $30, 100 is about $3! 3000=$100US.
It's really easy, just in thirds. I AM really going to learn Chinese. I love everything about this place. I want to know how to speak to the whole world. There's so much out there! David's girlfriend Sindy is so cute. She's only a little bit older than me, 24. But they are cute. Constant language barriers. They do jigsaw puzzles. There's a dessert here, strawberries on sticks like a pupu platter, hard coated with sugar syrup stuff and warm. So good! They do it with little plums and cherry tomatoes too. Tomatoes are in their true form here as fruit. So different. Everything is! I love it. Meanings for things...good fortunes. There's so much I haven't written yet but my arm hurts and I am so tired. It's past 1AM now. I'm so glad I've been able to go allll day and allll night! There's no time to waste sleeping! I need to write more still about Taroko Gorge, Taipei 101, night markets 1&2, the food!, the stuff, funny tshirts in English jibberish, nice restaurant WIND, Jimbo, NY NY, the Korean military boys, beachhouse party!, fish market, "hotpot" restaurant, NET aka the GAP, Hooters, David's friends, surfers, cute Chinese boys :) (SO many!), few howlies, squealing pig tonight, pug with a backpack, fashion shopping mall, longest tunnel in the world, ice cream burrito, guava with plum powder, Cinderella Chinese, Elle Chinese, Ma?
I could write a book with all these thoughts I'm having here, all the things I've seen.
All I have to say is...we're leaving tomorrow and I DO NOT WANT TO. When does that happen? None of me is homesick. That is a sign, I know it is. I have to come back soon. Tonight I met the nicest and cutest people ever. I have so many goodies to bring back. I need to learn Chinese. I WILL! This place is phenomenal. I'm in awe. Please don't make me leave! :( :(
