On a Personal Note...

I left the insanity of Taipei - and slowed my eating and touristing quite significantly. So to those people here after food porn, you'll have to wait a minute.

After just over a week there trying to recover from my initial culture shock (and jet lag) I decided it was time to get down to the business of deciding what to do with myself while I was here. So I made a quick trip down to Taichung, and then a little further into Kaohsiung.


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I really enjoyed Taichung and found a community of women my age in a place called the Cat Cafe where I played Jenga, ate some truly horrendous food, and learned how to order bubble tea in Mandarin. But it didn't quite feel right, so I kept moving.

Kaohsiung hit my gut the second I walked off the train. That feeling has only gotten stronger the longer I spend here.

Look, look! Wide boulevards with lots of space to catch ocean air, a huge, palm tree-lined park in the centre of town, and a bike rental system not unlike my beloved bixi.



There's a general attitude about town that just makes me smile:



And, yes, I am listening to The Band right now.

I have also, it should be noted, developed an extremely guilty pleasure:



MOS Burger, which was described to me as the "Japanese McDonald's" has an oddly quiet environment (all of them, and they're everywhere), fantastic packaging, and delicious yet slightly odd food. The burgers have an onion-y stir fry sauce on top. The sides include fries, but also fried chicken, red bean rolls, and this really, really gross salad concoction. They also have an English menu - and after a couple of weeks I have to admit, that there are some moments when I'm just not prepared to accidentally end up with organ meats (which I don't presently have a taste for, although I hope to develop one) or, say, fish heads. It's nice to just sit, chill, and watch the high school students staring at me.

So then, job hunting, and maybe some rants about body image and beauty ideals?