Day 47 & 48 -- Greetings from Nantou

Hello! I'm posting this from Nantou! Had so much to update you all about my trip here.

Including our failed trip to the paper dome because we were too late, missing the last bus back to Puli and having to call for a cab with the help of a helpful family mart staff, going for a really late dinner and walking back to the guesthouse with 70% chance of getting lost.

And we went to the sun moon lake today but the weather wasn't on our side. We spent so much time eating and shopping along the streets that we only had 1 hour to spend at the 九族文化村! But that was the craziest 1 hr we had! We took the cable car to have an aerial view of it then went on to the amusement park, where the craze started. Within 15 mins we took a roller coaster ride and a splash ride and rushing back for the last cable car ride! Please pardon my weak vocabulary for I can find no words to describe how I felt just now, seriously!

We then went to the famous 18c chocolate factory whwn we're back in Puli. Well, the chocolates are nice, a little pricey and may be a bit over rated in my opinion :p

And all these are only made possible because I'm travelling with a bunch of exciting and awesome friends!

Here's a collage of us with one of the teddy bears in our cable car rides (they are promoting some teddy bear exhibition I think)

Till the next post, ciao!

P.s. I'll try to update every day ^^

Day 46 -- Spring break travelling log; Taichung

Greetings from Taichung! Yup, today is the start of my 7 day trip out of Kaohsiung to central Taiwan plus Kenting! And the first stop is a short one to Taichung!

We only went to the tunghai uni to visit its luce chapel in the campus and then took a really long ride to the Gaomei wetland. The weather wasn't really good today, so we kinda missed the scenic sunset but nonetheless we all had a great time there!! New experiences like walking barefoot on a wetland waiting for a shuttle bus that comes every 2 hours, making impromptu decisions to where we wanna visit, these really add on to joy of this trip!

We then went to 一中街 in the evening and my verdict is -- It's just like any other night markets. Perhaps just bigger, but the stuff are repetitive :(

As for now, it's time to sleep! Ciao~

Day 45 -- Impromptu Block Party!

I'm glad I stay in a really dynamic hostel! Although I have no rommies, but I have a whole bunch of fun-loving and open-minded neighbours! As the title suggests, we just had an 'impromptu' block party, which was planned, erm 2 days ago(?). But nonetheless, it turned out all well, and we had such a great time talking to each other, knowing more about our neighbours!

So now, I know other than Koreans, Japanese and Colombian, there's also a Thai staying in our dorm as well! It's so cool because she's a superb cook and I managed to 'steal' one of her Thai recipe tonight! (She was preparing a dish and I was next to her, trying to absorb as much as I could!) After all the eating and chatting sessions, we went up to the rooftop to chill. THAT WAS THE BEST PART OF THE NIGHT! The night sky was SUPER clear and not only did I see the Orion belt constellation, I managed to see the Big Dipper constellation for the FIRST time in my life. You have no idea how excited I was! Ok, that aside, some of us had a mini salsa tutorial session from Stefany because she randomly asked (I think) "anyone knows salsa here?" And the rest was history.

We had so much fun talking, chilling and dancing tonight. No doubt, this is thus far the BEST night I had since I reached Kaohsiung some 45 days ago~

 We made Takoyaki from Mizuho's Takoyaki machine! How cool!

Prae's Thai Sour and Spicy Pork! 

 Tomyum Chicken Soup made from scratch! This is DOPE!

 The girls in 武陵!

Stef teaching Megumi some basic salsa steps

And it's my turn to give it a try! (Cr. to Miyuki & Minyu)

Day 44 -- Hello 12 day break!

Yup, you read correctly! This coming week is the much anticipated Spring Break! I'm so looking forward to the coming few days because we are touring some places in Taiwan again! As of where, I'm not to disclose now; it'll kill the suspense! But, one thing for sure, I'm still going to update this space daily. You will be part of my journey, definitely! :)

On a side note, we just ended our last PT before we leave for the one week break! And Dunia (our dragon boat instructor), actually requested for sponsored iced teas from 50岚 a.k.a the original KOI in Singapore! Although they don't cost much, but it's the thoughts that count! After enduring the past few weeks of PT, I'm glad to say that I'm still enjoying every single session of it despite the aching muscles that come after each intensive training! To add on, I really feel that it's a privilege to be able to stay in the team because we get to meet so many people from different nationalities! This is especially difficult for a Chinese major like me to meet in our own faculty. 

What a delightful day indeed~

Day 43 -- It's midweek (again)

Today was a rather unproductive day of me trying to finish up my report which is due in less than 12 hours, and I am 0% done. I'm not kidding, I am 0% done with it and seriously speaking I have no idea how to start on it. For the first time I am writing something which I have no confidence in at all. This kind of feeling sucks! I'm not sure, but I always feel so inadequate when doing each assignment of this module or even during the class. The students there seemed to always know what they are in for, and me, I'm just struggling to keep up. Oh well, I guess other than ranting on this platform, I should get my assignment done. Got such a long day ahead somemore.. Oh gosh, I could really do with some help :(

Day 42 -- Renewal of the mind

After one whole day of resting in dorm, I'm feeling so much better and could concentrate in all my lessons today!

Like what the title mention, the lessons I had today was like a renewal for the mind, or perhaps it's just me having a paradigm shift. Somehow, what was being gone through in class seemed applicable in the daily lives. And since the trade deal saga is still on in Taiwan, it's been a common topic all my lecturers had been quoting. But through their quotes, they were imparting valuable knowledge to us as well. Not only their opinions on the trade deal, but also the outlook of life and living. I do hope I can have some tea session with them just to talk about life. I reckon it's going to be very beneficial!

Had a group discussion with my Cross Culture Leadership lecturer with the fellow Singaporean students where we shared our takeaways from her lessons for the past few weeks. Personally, I really love this particular module and it's no doubt my favourite one! Not only because it has no exams, but the lecturer herself is always so full of positive vibes! It's simply a joy to attend her lesson every single week! Just to quote the Bible, "The mouth speaks out of the abundance of the heart." [Matthew 12:34] Prof Judy is definitely the true epitome of this verse!

Well, for now, I'm squeezing my brain juices for yet another report due this Thursday, the same module I failed the previous time. Oh gosh, I need lots of luck, like seriously :(

Day 40, 41 -- Viv isn't feeling too good

Shall do a combined post today because I ain't feeling too well now. Where it all started from (I think), my brunch yesterday.

For the first time in my stay here I decided to have those traditional milk tea in the breakfast store, but right after I finished it, my stomach began to churn, something like an indigestion T.T
And to cut things short, it got so bad in the middle of the night that I got a bad case of gastritis that kept me from sleeping properly and also a bad bad headache this morning.

Worse still, the convenient stalls here don't sell antacid and I'm already unwell as it is to get out of school to get it -.- oh well, I just hope that my gastric will not worsen, or till I feel better to get out of school to get it :(

Ok, end of my rants and thanks for putting up with this!