taiwan

Yup. You read that right. I went to Taiwan!

I just got back, so here's a massive update:

APR 9

My family went to Taiwan on the 5th, so I...alone...had to fly to Taiwan...alone...all by myself...alone. Did I mention I had to go ALONE?

Needless to say, I was kinda really terrified.

It was my very first time flying by myself. And the flight was at 7AM too, so I had to be there super early in the morning to get everything in order. My mom sent me a detailed list of things to do. I basically just followed them to a T and somehow made it out alive.

Once I was all checked in and passed all the immigration and security/baggage checks, I lugged myself to a cafe near my gate and held base there.

I had my veeery early breakfast which consisted of Hainanese chicken, a watermelon shake, and a chocolate chip cookie, which was only there to keep me energized.

it was really good actually

Spoiler alert: it really didn't. To be fair though, I'd just come from doing two shows PLUS an afterparty, so I was bound to feel like death. I had an entire system where I would sleep for five minutes, and once the alarm woke me up, slept for another five minutes -- rinse and repeat. Once it hit around 5:30AM, I zombie-walked myself to my gate and settled myself there. I ultimately could not stop myself from sleeping. Everyone else at the gate was asleep too anyway so why not.

I woke up since it got kinda noisy. Boarding started in a bit and I finally got on the plane. I slept immediately because I had to. I woke up in the middle of the flight and saw that there was a landing form(?) thing on my table sooo I did that, half-asleep, and then went back to sleep.

When I woke up to review it, my handwriting was literally like a slope. It was kinda funny. 

Then I landed!

hello taiwan!

I did everything I had to do with SPEED. That includes: security/baggage checks, immigration, I converted my USD to NTD, I picked up my pocket wifi from the Klook kiosk, etc etc. I also saw this very great vending machine.

i have no idea what it is

I waited for my driver to pick me up and once he did I fell asleep in the car. I woke up and we were already at the Airbnb. My mom picked me up at the lobby and brought me upstairs. I said my greetings to my family and then promptly fell asleep on my bed. I woke up around 4PM. I was really exhausted so I guess that was to be expected.

My first meal in Taiwan was, of course, hotpot!

it was amazing

After eating hotpot, we went to Ximending to buy stuff. 

very cool

I bought a few things. I got two letterman jackets - a cropped maroon one and an oversized pink one. They're very warm because so far Taiwan is veeery cold.

On the walk back to the Airbnb, I saw this cafe where the manager was a cat.

lala you're so great

I also stopped by the Sanrio 7/11. It was so cute!

yay <3

APR 10

Today was super eventful. 

We woke up super early to go to this geopark. They had a rock named after me so I was very honored :3

It was very cute.

The weather started getting really bad but the rocks were pretty.

rocks!

It started raining hard. We all had umbrellas so that wasn't a problem. UNTIL...

The unthinkable happened. My umbrella gave up on itself. RIP soldier.

After the geopark, we went to the place Spirited Away was inspired by. It was really crowded but also really awesome. And COLD.

jiufen!

There was also a little store outside with a buuunch of blindboxes. I needed every single one.

need.

We also saw the golden waterfalls, I think it's called, and the Yinyang Sea + Remains of the 13 Levels. We also flew our own lanterns with our wishes. I'm always going to wish for happiness and good health.

APR 11

We woke up super early again because we went to so many places. In order: we went to Lungshan Temple, Chiang Kai-Shek, The National Revolutionary Martyrs’ Shrine, the National Palace Museum, Li An Tai Historical House, Shongshan Cultural and Creative Park, and Taipei 101.

Anyway, here's a pigeon:

ccaww

The museum was pretty cool. I had a lot of fun exploring but my feet were absolutely wrecked after. It was gigantic.

Li An Tai Historical House was really beautiful. It was like something you'd see in a period drama, which checks out since it's one of the best preserved ancient houses in Taiwan.

wow...

Taipei 101 wasn't what I expected honestly...it honestly just reminded me of Marina Bay Sands. The rooftop deck was sold out too so I couldn't even see the view from the top T_T Oh well.

it was TALL tho

APR 12

Possibly my favorite thing we did in Taiwan was go to the zoo! 

There were SOOO many animals. The panda was so cute. The capybara was just like me fr.

My favorite, though, was the red panda!

RETSY

We spent four hours in that park. Walking. And walking. And walking...it was never-ending. As if that wasn't enough, we had to walk back to the entrance from the very end of the zoo. It was like a twenty minute walk back. I shudder thinking about it...

We then went on the cable car to go to Maokong. 

very high up

It took surprisingly long. The air up there was seriously something else. There were so many cat statues too so I had to wonder if their representative animal was a cat? 

We ate at a teahouse and called it a day.

By calling it a day, I mean we actually went back to Ximending to keep shopping.

APR 13

Our very last day in Taiwan... :,(

I stopped by Uniqlo to find the mofusand shirts and found out they sold FLOWERS here too. Why doesn't my country have things like this...?

so cool

We basically spent the entire day roaming around and buying clothes/gifts/souvenirs. 

my last picture of ximending....i miss it

Our flight was at 2AM so by 10PM we were at the airport cuz Asian Airport Time. Turns out the check-in counter didn't even open until 11 but oh well.

Once we got checked-in, we went straight to the gate. I took a nap and woke up as it was boarding. Then it was goodbye to Taiwan...

bye ;(

APR 14

We arrived back at around 5AM. 

window

I knew we got back since the absolute sweltering heat of the Philippines penetrated the vicinity of the plane. Just kidding, but I SWEAR as soon as we got out of the airport it was like the heat was attacking my bones.

When we got home, I turned on the A/C, hugged my cat, and slept for a very long time.

It was awesome.