Guard in Asia?

One of the things I miss is my flag. It's is so beautiful here at HKUST and the weather has been amazing so I have had the urge a few times to go play flag. Except I don't have a flag. (Insert sad face) And I was sure there wasn't colorguard in Asia. I mean, colorguard and marching band are totally American things, right?

At least that's what I thought before my trip to Taipei earlier this month.

It was my first real day in Taipei, Taiwan and our first stop was the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial, which was right down the street from our hostel. It was sprinkling, so we took our obligatory pictures outside and then headed for the museum where we learned about the life of Chiang Kai-Shek and his pretty sweet cars.

When the rain finally subsided, we made our way to the National Theater and the National Concert Hall and their vibrant colors and oriental design. To our surprise, the area around both buildings were taken up by different groups. On one side, there was a traditional dance group practicing. On the other side, a posse of Asian kids doing hip hop.

Then, in my peripheral vision, I saw a rifle spinning in the air.

No, I thought, it can't be.

But as I got closer, I realized that there was a troupe of high school students tossing rifle on the deck of the National Theater. My curiosity was piqued. Was this some military-like performing group or did I actually stumble on a colorguard in Taiwan?

I climbed up the stairs to the deck to investigate and sure enough, there were flags too.

I about died of happiness. My travel buddy honestly must of thought I was crazy the way I was blabbering on and on about how cool it was to find a colorguard in ASIA of ALL places!!

Here's the evidence (which I secretly took with my Bond skills):

What I Ate...Taiwan Style

In summary, Taiwanese food is delicious and cheap. I pretty much spent the whole weekend gorging myself with tasty delights.

Fried milk, proving that anything is delicious if it is deep-fried.

Din Tai Fung! My first Michelin Star restaurant.

Taro buns

Green Onion pancake

Stinky Tofu

My dessert at the Modern Toilet Restaurant

Papaya milk is so blooming delicious!

GARLIC BREAD!!

PESTO!!

Rose Tea

Passionfruit Soda

Nothing like dumplings in the early morning

Asian churros

Hot cocoa--so rich

The Trip Less Travelled By

According to Trip Advisor, here are the top things to do in Taipei, Taiwan.

1. Taipei 101
2. National Palace Museum
3. Beitou Hot Springs
4. Night Markets
5. Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial

Let's see how Conne and mine's trip compared.

1. Taipei 101

We saw it. We said, "Wow, that's a tall building." But we just couldn't spend the 15 USD to go to the top. So instead, we went and compared the prices of diamonds at De Beers and Tiffany's--by wearing their diamonds!! 

2. National Palace Museum

Nope. Not even a little bit of interest in going there.

3. Beitou Hot Springs

Hot Springs or Karaoke until 5 in the morning? Guess what we chose.

4. Night Markets

We went to the biggest one, just long enough to try stinky tofu.

5. Chiang Kai-Shek

We SO went to that one!! Mostly because it was down the street from our hostel.

So what did we do during our 3 days in Taiwan?

1. Cat Cafe

Drink coffee (or hot chocolate in my case) and pet kitties? At the same time? That is the most old person/hipster thing ever! We spent an hour and a half chasing and taking pictures of felines and trying green tea and rosemary cookies. And then went back for round two later.

2. Getting Our Hair Done

I'm a pretty lazy person when it comes to my hair. I always dreamed that someday I would be rich enough to have a hair stylist do my hair 3 times a week and therefore, I would always have great hair. Little did I know that that was a reality in Taiwan. For 7 USD, I got my hair washed and styled at a nice salon. And in Mainland, I can get all that for 2 USD. Staying in Asia forever? I think yes.

3. Modern Toilet

Cause who doesn't want to eat out of a toilet? I remember watching about this restaurant on the Travel Channel's Bizarre Restaurants or something. I never thought I would actually go. But I did and for 3.30 USD I got a mountain of shaved ice that looked like pee. I also sat on a toilet next to a shower head. But ironically, the bathroom itself sported no toilet, but a squatter, the only squatter I saw in Taiwan. ????

4. Biking

The best way to see a city is to ride a bike. So we rented a few bikes and rode down the river, riding past stray dogs and families. Then we stopped at a little park and found the coolest playground equipment ever. And listened to some Chinese karaoke from the shack by the playground. Oh and we saw a rat! 

5. Karaoke

You haven't done karaoke until you've done it Asian style--private rooms with ensuite bathroom, big TV, and buffet food. We did two nights in a row, because it is just that awesome. Provo doesn't know what it is missing.

Things to Look Forward To

Hi everyone,

Yes, I haven't spammed your FB news feed with blog posts for a while. This week has been insane! Honestly, I'm on the verge of insanity. But after next Tuesday, life will slow down to a more manageable level. And then I have so much to share with you!!

Cause I went to Taiwan last weekend. And it was awesome!! Good food, nice people, strange concept restaurants, Taiwan is definitely worth a visit if you have a chance. (Which everyone does, but that's for another blog post)

And this week, I made a new friend, Huong from Vietnam. She's been staying with me at HKUST and I've been showing her my new home which has been really fun. And this weekend I am going to the Asia LDS Women's Conference. There will be so many mormons! Weird!!!

So get excited!!

P.S. If you know of any awesome things to do in Hong Kong that I haven't done yet. Please tell me. Also, if you have suggestions on how to make this blog better, let me know. :)