it's really hot here. i didn't realize how different it'd be from hong kong -- walking around in taipei being a tourist in the heat and humidity, combined with the air pollution, leaves me sweaty and dead tired by late afternoon.
touristy stuff: went to the observation tower on top of the tallest building in taipei (only 40-50 floors) but the smog didn't really make for a nice view really. found my mom's old neighborhood yesterday, though i didn't know which apartment i was looking for exactly. went to lungshan temple and burned some incense while a bunch of monks and nuns chanted.
last night went out to a club the australian guy heard about -- you pay 500NT and then drinks are free the rest of the night. it seems like a good deal but is in fact a really bad idea. head hurt.
the club itself was a dark basement full of hip taiwanese, english-teaching westerners, and american college students on studying abroad. everyone seemed to get along pretty well, language problems aside, as the drinks flowed freely to the throbbing american hip-hop music. the music selection was pretty decent (basically, what'd you hear on NYC's Hot 97, plus some old-school too) and all the kids packed the dance floor until they turned on the lights at 4am.
i've noticed that the westerners here often say things like, "Y'know, I really like the Taiwanese; they're some of the nicest/friendliest people in Asia." i hear this a lot. i guess i'd have to agree, at least comparing them to hong kongers and mainlanders. cambodians and thais are pretty nice too.
on my way to brush my teeth this morning i found a little turtle in the hallway outside my door. he was facing my room and gave me a scared look. i took it to be an omen of some sort (good or evil, i wasn't sure), but then it turned out that a south african couple on my floor keep turtles in a little tank in their room and one of them broke free.
tired ... taking a train to hualien in half an hour. should be a nice scenic break. gotta go catch it now.
Posted by cce at April 20, 2003 02:08 PM | TrackBack