Day 107 -- 1st day of race

It's official! Just had the first day of races in Taiwan and the teams did so well! The Men Teams, the Women (Big) Team won their first races on the first day! The Women (Small) Team, which I am in, lose in our first race though :( But thank God we are given another chance to compete in one more race. It's going to be our last chance, so by hook or crook, we got to win it to advance to the next level!

So we left NSYSU shortly after lunch and by the time we reached, there were so many people at the Anping River where the competition is held. I had no idea when Bryan told me (when I met them) that there were preparations made. I was thinking it was just the usual tents for the judges and perhaps some of the more professional teams. But when we reached, there were stores set up, something like a mini night market we saw at the Love River during the 15th day of Chinese New Year! Needless to say I was so tempted to eat all the snacks available! Luckily I had Miyuki by my side who was constantly controlling my monstrous appetite for these snacks!

The races were really great to watch! And my favourites were the races in the small boats. The main criterion for the small boats to win is for the first person in the boat, i.e. the flag catcher to catch the flag at the end point. So in the middle of the race, the flag catcher would have to change his / her position from facing the team to facing the direction of the boat's maneuver. I sat in front of a boat during one of our practices before and I knew how difficult it was to maintain our balance in front because our body will move to the momentum of the boat, let alone to change the position to catch the flag! So kudos to the flag catchers!

So the last race for us was the Women (Big) Team and by the time we got back to NSYSU, it was already 9pm. Though it wasn't bedtime time for most of us, but I have no idea why we were so tired! Nonetheless, we had a great time in Tainan and I can't wait for the 2nd day of race!

An accidental selfie! With our dedicated coach, Dunia (the lady in purple)!

the 担仔面 Miyuki is so crazy about! Her favourite food in Tainan, I guess.

Ohh! Did I mentioned that the big boats have neon LED lights! They are so beautiful! 

Day 106 -- I should be sleeping

Yes, I should be sleeping right now because the competition is tomorrow! But I napped a bit too much in the evening and here I am, WIDE AWAKE. But wells, it's only 1 am right now, and the reporting time is at 12pm later on, so I still have some time to play around with.

So now, I shall be a good girl and complete all my undone assignments and hopefully I can get them done by tonight! Ciaos~

Day 105 -- Last training!

It was the last training in the pool before our races commence this weekend! I'm so glad that most of us made it for the last training and it felt really great to train with the team!

Since it was the last training, I felt it was only right to give it my all (what a thinking, I know... ) and so the aftermath was quite painful. I was so exhausted and all I wanted to do was to sleep, but I couldn't because I still had assignments to complete. Yup, so imagine completing them with an aching body. Bad decision, but oh wells...

Day 104 -- Meetup!

Met Bryan, DK Neo and their friends in KS during their TW grad trip! Brought them to CiJin, Pier 2 and RuiFeng Night market just to show them some of the more iconic places here in KS. Too bad they are only here for 1 night (although I don't think KS is that interesting to stay for more than 2 days).

They wanted to see the sunset here, so we went to the Cijin Fortress and Light house and we're so fortunate to catch it! And we're blessed with great weather, so we did managed to see really beautiful sunset! I hoped they did capture the pictures they wanted too!

Upon the recommendation of their hostel owner, we went to Pier 2. They were obviously amused by some of the art pieces, while the others, baffled. LOL!

Being Singaporeans, we all LOVE to eat! Although they went to the Garden Night Market in Tainan before, the night market trip was still the highlight of the night. And what we did was just eat, eat and eat! And they are so kind to give me treats! HAHAHA! #Perksofbeingaguide

They are such funny people to hang out with! While out with them, they told me about their trips up to date and some of the random stuff they did, eg. playing (or rather I should say their recent addiction to) bridge at every opportunity they got, which includes the time they spent waiting for public transport!

Hope they will enjoy the remaining days of their trip and may the odds be always in their favour to grant them a smooth graduation!

Let us first take a selfie!

Loving the sunset here!

So glad I came back again before the sun set! 

Day 103 -- An insightful day!

My Taiwanese course mate, Juna, brought me to a product sharing session after lessons today. It was really thoughtful of her to introduce me to something so familiar yet so foreign. But anyway, I really learnt a lot from today's session.

After which, we went for supper near school and she introduced me to this 银丝卷 which I'd never tried before because I didn't know what it was. And to my amazement, it's actually fried bun with condensed milk! I seriously miss having it! Yup, so it was a great night spent interacting with her, and getting to know about how each of our country worked and all.

I'm glad I'm still making new friends along the way though the exchange is ending really soon.

Day 102 -- Lotus Pond Race

Just finished our first race at Lotus pond today! It wasn't the real one that we trained for, but it was supposed to allow us to feel how it is going to be like in an actual race. The feeling was really very different from the normal jitters I get before performing on stage.

You see, all my life the stage had been part of my life, but not being in a sports team, let alone taking part of a sports competition! So I was really looking forward to the race since the beginning of joining the team! Although this is just a pre-empt, I still treat it as though it's the real one so I'll put in my 100% into the race!

We sent 3 teams to compete today namely Men, Women and Mixed. The mixed team was made up of people from the Men and Women teams, so some of them had to paddle for 5 times (almost) continuously! I was lucky to be placed in only the Women team, but because we were the last to compete, so we were to support the rest of the team who had already rowed previously for the mixed teams' races. 

So for us, the actual duration we got to paddle was really short, but watching the competition alone was exciting enough. I really loved how cooperative everyone was and the encouragement exchanged after each race! It's funny how the past 3 months we all practiced without really knowing each other and after one race we all got so much closer (I mean between different teams). 

For now, it's time to crash~ So tired from all the rowing and shouting and cheering!

Day 101 -- Blehh

Woke up feeling terrible :/ And I finally understand the feeling of hangover. It sucks big time! And to top it off, my gastric acted up so in the end I had to skip training at lotus pond and simply wasted the whole day away...

P.S. I think I can be 面包超人when I'm back... Been surviving on all sort of breads for the past few days and still not tired of them :o

Day 100 -- A taste of home!

100 days of Taiwan! I'm left with less than 40 days before going back to the sunny island~

So we had a small party in the international dorm cooking some of our favourite home cooked food back in Singapore. It was so awesome! Bak kut teh, Yong Tau Foo, Sesame Chicken, chicken rice, and some miscellaneous dishes because we got a bit too much ingredients.

For the first time in almost 4 months, my dinner was finally salty enough! No words can describe how much I miss eating salty cooked food. And to top it off, not only did the Singaporeans had a great time, the Japanese neighbours who came over enjoyed the food too! I'm certainly glad they could appreciate those food we prepared! 

After the party, I went on to my individual part 2 of partying. Literally partying. LOL. Went to lamp alone and thought that that's gonna be the theme of the night -- Lamp Alone. But I was so surprised to see Adeline and Julie together with some of their friends over there as well! And when I saw them, Adeline was so high I almost didn't recognize her at first! It was great partying with them but it was a pity that they left early.

Continue on, I was alone for a while and being pestered by this Taiwanese guy (NO, I DON'T WANT TO DANCE WITH YOU) who obviously did not get my hint. And all of a sudden someone poked me from the back and to my (HUGE) relieve it was Lorenzo! He totally saved me! Needless to say, we partied together and had small bitching sessions while waiting for our drinks. 

Awesome night is simply, AWESOME.

Day 99 -- Drama lesson, dramamama :O

It was just another Thursday or so I thought when I woke up early this morning to complete my essays due in the afternoon. That's apparently not the case. We're only in the 2nd part of the lesson and some classmate of mine started questioning the teacher about some past production they handled. Well, it was a normal FAQ session (we often have such impromptu FAQ sessions in class) at first, but all spiraled downwards when this low EQ classmate of mine made a comparison of my teacher to a prostitute. I mean this is really infuriating. From they way I see it, this guy just wanted to get the issue out but the way he phrased it was so bad. So in the end, while my teacher was explaining to him what happened and all, she started crying. This shocked the whole class. To us, she was the unbeatable, a strong woman with strong and valid opinions. I guess what pained her wasn't the fact that the low EQ guy make comparison of her to prostitute but the fact that he could not look beyond himself. All he could see was what's happening at the moment. Yet the teacher saw what is beyond us. In her vision, she sees her students as successful managers in the theatre scene, not just some small fry that can be easily replaceable.

I guess what shocked me wasn't the fact that my teacher cried in class, because I did had my share of making teacher cried in the past and even to the extent of driving her out of school ( I believe our unteachable attitude then was one of the main reason she left too.. Thanks to my friends for the refreshed memory :o), but the fact that she felt that after so many years, she could not make her student to be more far-sighted, to look beyond himself.

Needless to say, the class ended on a really awkward note. I do hope that guy will do some reflection upon himself. Not the act of asking questions, but the way he sees things. Oh wells~

Day 98 -- Dragon boat and Miyuki's Birthday!

Ok, this post is super late! Yup, so had 2 training sessions yesterday. One was at the Lotus pond in the morning where we rowed in such a small boat! Personally I was really afraid that the boat may overturn any moment that I did not dare to move too much in the boat at first. However after a while I realised it was just so foolish of me to entertain such thoughts because everyone was just sitting at their position. What's the possibility of us overturning? So instead, I transferred my energy on focusing on rowing and the result? I got 2 blisters on my palms :(( But this only showed how well the training went :)

Then a few of us went to this pizza place near the lotus pond for lunch! It was so good, because the pizzas are thin crust and made on the spot! The feeling of having a piping hot pizza after a strenuous training. This feeling is indescribable!

So fast forward to the evening... Attended the second training of the day in the pool. But I only did 5 mins of rowing before I raised the white flag.. The blister on my palms were hurting so much! But when I saw those on Aneta's palms, I really feel that I could do more! Hers broke and she still continued till the end! Perseverance at its best!

But Miyuki and I left early because we went to celebrate her birthday at Xin Jue Jiang and we had dinner at this tonkatsu shop we passed by a while back! It was kind of pricey as compared to the normal school dishes we had, but the patty was so good! I guess it's really worth the price and it's still considered cheap in the Singaporean standards.

Yup, it was a really tiring day but I enjoyed myself so much!

Day 97 -- Eccentric weather checked

For the first time, I'd experienced the eccentric weather here in Kaohsiung. For the whole day it was heavy rain then all of a sudden it can be hot and sunny. Then after an hour or two, it'll be all gloomy and rainy again. And this lasted through the whole day. And because of it, our training in the pool was cancelled.

When the clock strikes 12, we gave Miyuki a mini birthday surprise, the 武陵一村 style.. This time we got almost everyone staying in the block to come over to celebrate her birthday! Really love how spontaneous the girls are! Within such short notice, we managed to gather everyone into the room and I must say that the plan went on pretty well too!

Day 96 -- project meetings~

Had 2 back to back project meetings in the evening and all I wanted to do was just to waste time after that. So yup, that was what I did! Doing everything and anything other than studying. I just got so much lazy vibes within me that I don't want to move at all!

Speaking of which, I'm finally down to the last few assignments! Oh yes! With the competitions coming and all, I think I should really start completing my assignments soon.. Easier said than done, oh wells...

And great news, I'm to wake up at 8 and I'm still not asleep. Good luck to me, seriously -.-

Day 95 -- Mass practice at Tainan!

Woke up early today for our first (and sadly only) practice at the competition site at AnPing, Tainan! The boats were much bigger than those used in the Lotus pond practices and of course heavier. But rowing in these boats were still better than having to row in the stagnant waters of the school's swimming pool.

Because it is a new competition grounds for everyone, there were new rules that we got to adapt. In the end, we rowed for a much shorter period of time than we anticipated and the rain didn't help.
Nonetheless, we had a great time rowing as a team! It's was great seeing everyone working together so hard to get to the end! It's really motivating!

And lastly for lunch, all of us got a really pleasant surprise! We're each given NTD 100 for lunch! It seemed like we had a omni-present parent somewhere to provide for us! Cheers to a free lunch in An Ping today! <3

Day 94 -- Sick & Insomniac

This may just be the worst Saturday I had ever since I reached Taiwan. I decided to be a good girl to stay in the dorm the recuperate from the flu bug, but instead, it got worst. I shall not elaborate further because it's just pointless. And  to make things worse, I had yet another sleepless night. I only managed to fall asleep at 4 am, only to find myself awake by 7 am, and I couldn't fall asleep after that.

Just one sentence to describe my feelings on Saturday -- It sucks to be sick.

Day 93 -- Flu flu go away~

Played catch with the flu bug and I lost, so my forfeit was to stay indoors for the whole day. Well, it wasn't all that bad, considering I watched 2 shows -- Pitch Perfect and The Perks of Being a Wallflower all in 1 afternoon. 

But then I still attended the Korean party my neighbour organised at the rooftop. It wasn't as big as the previous one, but the food tonight was awesome as well! We had rice cakes, Kimchi pancakes and Korean sushi! Trust me, life is good! Ok, not so when the flu is not getting any better. And I just learnt that my Korean neighbour is going to leave soon! So sad.. Guess it's time for us to say goodbye soon.. Oh wells~ It's inevitable right? What needs to come will eventually come. Just prepare for it...

Day 92 -- Insanity workout is insane

This week's training were very erratic because of the closure of the swimming pool, we couldn't have any proper training. So, the coach told us we were going to have a special training that's just going to last 1 hour. Being a lazy bum, I was so happy when I saw '1 HOUR', but I was too naive.. 

To my 'horror', my instructor used the famous Insanity workout for training! I'd heard so much about it before because some of my girlfriends are pro-health and gym and I got to hear about it, and I have some idea how crazy it can be. But I was still blown off by the workout! In just 1 hour, I was sweating like a mad cow; imaging those guys in the gym with droplets of sweat dripping down every single part of their body. Yes, I was that wet when we were just halfway through the workout. 

It's was really tiring during the workout, but the feeling afterwards was heavenly. Because every part of the body was forced to do something, it was quite therapeutic (oh no! I think I am showing signs of masochism :O)

Day 91 -- First bowling experience in TW!

Went for a bowling session with the fellow dragon boat mates tonight! It's really cheap, considering only NTD 40 per game for students. And when we reached, it seemed as though we booked the whole bowling alley because it was only us there! I played 2 games with Min yu, Miyuki, Mizuho and Sonia ( a new friend I made today)! It was fun, seeing the pins fall, or the ball clearing the gutter.

Didn't join the rest for dinner at some eatery near love river, but instead we went to FE21 for dinner, because we were all famished by the time we ended our game! And I finally get to eat my salad from Subway! And not to mention it's so much cheaper here! For a roasted chicken salad and a cookie, it's only NTD 140! Too cheap, too nice! I'm definitely going back for more to curb my cravings for salads!

As for now, I need to prepare for my presentation tomorrow, and sleeping soon. Nights guys! :D

Day 90 -- I can't stop snacking!!

I'm so frustrated with myself today! For the whole day (minus the time I'm not in dorm), I'd been snacking away. And that was on top of my normal meals :(

So I was discussing this issue with Miyuki on our way out for dinner trying to find out the reason behind my binge snacking, as I will call it. Perhaps it's because I have nothing much to do in the dorm and hence my mouth will itch for snacks. Oh wells..

On a happier note, I got back my last mid terms paper today and I'm glad to say I passed with flying colours!! I got a whooping 95 for it! Seems like it's the best grades I'd been awarded in years! But now that all the midterms had been returned. It's time to prepare for the finals.

Oh gosh! 5 more academic weeks, 6 more weeks in Taiwan :O Time really flies :((

Day 89 -- Cross Cultural Show, Jasper's Farewell

Today's lesson was our last one with Jasper, our TA for he is heading to Canada for exchange. And our prof was so sweet to plan for a surprise farewell with some of the classmates. They even ordered a cake, more than enough for the 20+ of us in the class! This is the true epitome of efficiency at its best, given the fact that it was a rather last minute decision made just last night!

The farewell took place during the first hour of our 3-hour class and we were led into a medley of modified covers by Holden, a fellow classmate.

After which, we went on to have the cross culture shows, presenting Taiwan and Singapore. The Taiwan one was so interesting! Firstly they made a powerful entrance by wearing costumes from various aboriginal groups in Taiwan; they also made the presentation in the form of a mini skit. At the end of the presentation, they even distributed local snacks and milk tea for the whole class! They really set the whole benchmark for the presentation to a whole new level! But it's really an eye-opener too! For the 3 years of my Uni life, it's the first time I ever saw such a lively presentation!

The Singapore one was great too! Seeing all the lingoes they presented as well as the food they introduced, I'm really looking forward to returning back to that sunny little red dot on the equator! But I'm sure when the day comes, I'm going to miss Taiwan a lot too! Mixed feelings much eh~

Day 88 -- Taipei 3 (Hsin Chu)

It's day 3 up in the north and it's time for the city of wind -- 新竹! Glad to have my cousin, Fun-ny, to be our guide in Hsin Chu because she had been studying there for 4 years!

Our main stop was 內灣, one of the tourist attractions within the Hsin Chu County. It's very much like 十分, just that I feel it has more cultural things as compared to ShiFen. We walked down the old street where vendors sold Hakka related food items. What interest me most was the fact that they used wild ginger flower for many of their foodstuff and surprisingly it tasted really nice!

Then we head towards the suspension bridge, and this being my 3rd suspension bridge visited in this trip, I wasn't expecting much. But when I saw it, I was so excited, because it's the authentic kind of suspension bridge with wooden planks, not something that had been maintained to carry tons of tourists. So, this explained why I was so excited!

Although it was supposed to be the city of wind, but the weather was dry and hot when we were there and it was driving us crazy. We ended up chilling by the stream, doing nothing, just enjoying the cold waters of the stream and the shade provided.

By the time we returned to Taipei from Hsin Chu (because we need to catch the bus back to Kaohsiung), it was already 8.20pm. After much rushing around and getting lost in the huge interchange, we only managed to board the southward bound bus at 9.20 pm. It was already past 2am when we reached KS. Yes, that was how long our day was and needless to say, we were so so so tired by the time we reach our dorm!

And yes, this is the end of our 3-day trip to the north. We didn't really do much for these 3 days, but it was a rather relaxing one!

Day 87 -- Taipei Day 2

Went to 乌来 today! This was a sudden decision because the initial plans was deemed too time and effort wasting. But even so, the trip today was a great one!

We went to 乌来 for its waterfall, but it wasn't as magnificent as the one we saw at ShiFen.. It was more like a steady stream that flowed from the top of the hills. Nonetheless, we had a great time taking pictures with the waterfall!

We then took the log tram down to the old streets and visited the Attayal Museum! I loved the museum because I could learn so much about the aboriginals in Taiwan! Everyday, I am learning something new of this land I'm in!

After the trip, we went to 永康街.. Wanted to try some cafes there but in the end we settled for shaved ice instead. But it was a popular store, so I'm not complaining too!

Can't wait for the last day tomorrow!

Just a sidenote... Seems like there's this wave of nostalgia in almost every part of Taiwan, because there will always be a 老街 as an attraction somehow.

Day 86 -- Taipei 1

Took an overnight bus to Taipei again! And coincidentally,  we were given the same 3 seats as the previous trip! And because of the training we had earlier, I was asleep for almost the whole journey!

Went to 十分 after with all of our baggage. And after much anticipation,  I finally 在十分放天灯了! Wrote our wishes and seeing it go up the skies with the lantern was really a great feeling! We also went to the 十分瀑布, which was another nice scenic place I think I won't regret going! Although I'm quite turned off by businessmen who made use of natural attractions to earn profits. Oh wells...

The next stop was 淡水 where we walked at the old streets as well as went to the fisherman's wharf! And of course, we took pictures at the famous lovers' bridge!

Ended the day at 师大夜市 because our hostel is within walking distance to it!

Yup so practically this was my first day in Taipei. Was really tired from the lack of sleep, but I think it's all worth it! :)

Day 85 -- Mid terms results!

Got back my mid term and assignment results today and I am really happy with them! Got 83 for one of the mid terms, although it's a group work, at least we passed it! So all I need to focus now is the 2nd individual assignment and the finals and I am good to transfer my credits!

And as for the assignment, I got an 'OK+' for it. God knows what it meant, but I believe it means above average! (Think positive!! LOL) And for this module, I'm also just left with one more individual assignment and finals!

And I just realised I only have 6~7 weeks left in Kaohsiung! O.M.G. How time flies! It seems like yesterday when I first reach this foreign land and now I am counting down to my going home!

Alright, I'm going to stop now because I am going to Taipei tonight! :D

Day 84 -- Some much needed quality time with myself

Went to the Lotus pond today to train with the international team as the 'drummer'. But because there wasn't any drum on board, I was just there to count the pace. Sound easy? But it took me a while to count correctly. And though I haven't been to that place before, I did not tour it after practice just now because I'll be back again next Wednesday for another round of training.

Went to the Dogpig Arts Cafe afterwards for some me-time. Well, I can only say they have great ambience. The rest? There wasn't much choices of food for me to choose, neither where the beer as well. They do have some imported beers, but when I asked the waitress about some of the little options available, she appeared to be as clueless as me. Well, I don't blame her, perhaps she doesn't drink or maybe she's new. But no, I will not recommend anyone to go, unless you are there for some exhibition.

So I had this Belgium Floris, which is a passion fruit beer, and I love the sourness of this fruit beer! But then again like most fruit beers, it tasted more like fruit juice than beer to me. I was looking for special brews I haven't tried before, but I'm disappointed. Oh wells, I shall continue exploring these small shops and who knows, I may get a surprise somewhere somehow :)

Day 83 -- International cultural fair / Training in the rain

For 3 consecutive days starting today, there is the international cultural fair happening in school. I went to have a look after lessons today and it really seemed like a huge carnival happening right in the heart of the main campus! There were performances as well as stalls selling food from different countries. So I had Russian puffs, Kaya toasts (yes, I know, again!), Creme Brulee and Slovakian Potato salad and mustard chicken. Ok, i know that's a lot to consume at one go, but I just couldn't resist! But I will not go there again because I think I am done with the stalls and performances. 

On the side note, I got The Great Gatsby for only NTD 80! Although it's a second-hand book, but I think the previous owner was super gentle with the book it didn't looked used at all! So happy with my buy today!

And today's pool training was done in the rain. Yes, it started pouring the moment our training commenced and it didn't stop until I was making my way back from dinner. Even though it rained, but it did not dampened the spirit of those who went for the training! In fact, I thought we are improving, although there are still a lot of absentees :( 

Day 82 -- 膝盖不争气

Skipped training today because my knees were hurting so bad I could not even do the warm ups properly. Ended up coming back to dorm and watch The Great Gatsby.

It was really a good show, apart from the superficial romance plot, but more of the underlying theme of the show. I love how subtly the original author had made it and how the director actually filmed it. So near, yet so far; perhaps these are the 5 words most appropriate to describe the theme.

But now, I'm going to sleep early and hope the pain will subside by tomorrow morning. This sucks big time!

Day 81 -- A taste of home!

Went to Black dog oden with Miyuki and Min Yu for dinner because we were craving for Singaporean food! Miyuki's buddy brought her to this place a few weeks ago and today it's our turn!

We had kaya toast, char kway teow and milo dinosaurs! Other than the char kway teow that tasted like black pepper seafood phad thai (quoting Miyuki), which is not Singaporean at all, the other 2 were so good!! Especially the kaya toast! I had such a huge craving for it for such a long time and the only place I knew have it was the Yakun at Taipei! But now, I can have it within Kaohsiung :D

No words can describe the ecstasy within me!! Furthermore, it's situated along the love river, which means it's really near nsysu! Now, that's really awesome news!! I can go literally anytime I crave for it!

And now, finally pictures of the food!

Day 80 -- A memorable learning experience

So, it's day 2 of the PILOT Gloal conference and I am thankful that I am yet again given this wonderful opportunity of being a facilitator for the event, although I really hate about having to assemble at 7am -.-

There were more learning because of the really useful workshops I attended. Those concepts taught during the workshops can be really useful especially when I step out to the working world in the future! Due to the nature of my major, there isn't much exposure to such leadership concepts and because I joined the conference, I learnt something new and applicable! Nothing can describe how blessed I felt being able to participate in this event.

Other than the content, I also got to know so many locals through this event, and more importantly, got to interact with them. Not that I lack such opportunities from attending classes, but it was in this conference I got to meet locals who come from different parts of Taiwan. What a rare opportunity!

Well, I K.O. after returning from the event, a sleep more than 12 hours! This explains this overdue post.

Day 79 -- PILOT 1

It seemed only yesterday when we were first told about the PILOT Global conference, and tonight, we just ended our first session. Although this first session was more of a talk cum sharing session by the speaker, but I'd learnt so much from his sharing!

To lead, is to serve. The central message of tonight's talk. How true is this statement! Many times we want to lead because we don't want to follow instructions or we feel that we can offer better ideas or perhaps even lead better. But tonight's talk gave me a paradigm shift. You can lead only when you know how to serve with values. With a strongly rooted value system, no matter what your position is, you will always be a leader.

I am really thankful for having such an opportunity to be part of the event as a facilitator. I was able to meet different people, from different universities. In my group alone, other than the NSYSU students, there are other students from Ping Tung and Hua Lien. This was truly an amazing learning opportunity for me!

Well, I got to end here because I have another day of conference to attend, and I got to wake up at 6am! I hope I will not oversleep!! >.< Good night!

Day 78 -- Dragonboat dedication

Why do I make such a title?

Went to collect the dragonboat tees with Adeline in the afternoon and spent the night for training. So I practically spent the bulk of my waking hours doing something related to dragonboat today! Alright, I confess. I slept in today and by the time I woke up it's already midday.

Well, the size I got was so fitting that it meant I cannot gain anymore weight during this exchange. But I am loving the material because it's Nike Dri-fit. Ok, I am biased. I am a huge fan of their Dri-fit technology and I can't really find another brand that is comparable to it.

The training was tough as usual and I was so tired after the training but I could not rest because I still had my assignment to rush out. Thank God, I managed to complete it right before posting here :)

And I'm so sorry for the lack of pictures for such a long time because I hadn't got time to filter and post them here! I'll try but now it's time for me to sleep because I'm having another long day ahead :(

Day 77 -- Virgin K session in Taiwan!

Went for my very first K session with the gang and my buddy last night! Huge thanks to Alice who helped us booked the room going with us! But sadly we didn't get to have a group picture capture.

I guess the biggest cultural shock (?) we have here should be the fact they allow the patrons to smoke in the rooms. So, when we first entered the room, we were greeted by the overwhelming smell of cigarettes. But the good thing was that our room had a personal washroom, and it is CLEAN! How many times do we need to worry about unclean washrooms here but I'm so surprised about it! Another happy moment is when I saw the room. For the 5 of us, we were given a room that could easily fit 8-9 people. Large room checked! And every hour, we were given warm wet towels and the crew will check if we needed to adjust the temperature of the room. Good service checked!

Well, I guess other than the pungent smell of cigarettes, I'm quite loving my experience with the karaoke service here. Oh, did I mention? I went to 享温馨 at 新倔江 :)