Wednesday October 31st, 2012
Guess what I snatched up this morning at 7-Eleven? Yet
another apple of wonderfulness! Actually it was the very last one. SO LUCKY!
I’m curious to see if they’ll restock on those healthy, tasty fruits. I surely
hope so! :D
Outside was raining up the dickens! I’m 90% sure that it
rained all last evening, continued all through last night and kept pouring this
morning. I’m guessing it is a big typhoon, but that’s a guess since I haven’t
been told of one. Either way, my umbrella was my constant companion throughout
my journey. XD
At Tatung’s B1 teahouse this morning (my usual one), I think
I discovered the reason for yesterday’s discount papaya milk. When I ordered
banana milk today and handed the normal $35NT to him, the gentleman working the
shop pointed to a board with new writing. I could make out “香焦牛奶”
which is the Chinese characters for “banana milk.” Below this was “30,”
referring to the price. So it’s some sort of special sale! SCORE! I only
skimmed the board, but I’m guessing this applies to the papaya milk as well,
maybe even apple milk. Let’s see how long the sale lasts. ;)
During most of the
breaks between classes the students will leap up into the hallway and go
chatter amongst friends in other classes or go to buy some food and drink in
the cafeteria. So my classroom gets pretty empty except for a few strays that
oozy snooze or simply sit and talk with each other. Today had something so
precious and perfect that I just had to snatch a picture quickly!
NEARLY EVERY SINGLE
PERSON WAS SLEEPING! WOW! What kind of test did they take this morning? XD Why
couldn’t we have these sleeping sessions in Texas? (No this picture isn’t
naptime. It’s just the ten minute class break) But for the two hours of Earth
Science class, a majority of my classmates had dozed off. The disease spread to
me and my head began to bob. I tried to play it off as stretching/cracking my
neck but I’m pretty sure I failed. XD It’s just so hard when everyone around
you is sleeping and you’re not all that energetic yourself. I think I found a
remedy for that but my idea is still in beta form with still being planned out.
We’ll just have to see. ;)
As today is the
last Wednesday of the month, which means having a lunch meeting with my Rotary
Club of Taipei West! Yay!! Good food, great people, and a small field trip,
this monthly event is very beloved in my heart. It’s also a need as that’s the
only way I can get my Rotary allowance. XD
I am happy and very
proud to say that I arrived to the meeting’s location of “Ambassador Hotel”
with absolutely no navigational problems! YES! Do you recall the last meeting
where I got extremely lost and a Rotarian had to find and walk me to the hotel?
I refused to let that incident repeat! So I stared down a map beforehand and
found out that it was super easy to get there from my high school. …Go figure!
-_- The directions were basically to walk down the street in front of Tatung on
the opposite side until you arrived at the destination. No turns, no bridges,
no nothing. Just a straight line that takes about seventeen minutes to walk.
Why the heck was I taking the MTR before?! The walk as fine and an enjoyable
distance but the rain but a damper on the stroll as my umbrella is not the
biggest or highest quality and puddles constantly licked at my high-hell
wearing feet. Not the most fun I’ve ever had but it wasn’t anything bad, just
natural occurrences that will happen in one’s life. ;)
Upon arrival to the
“Ambassador Hotel” with only minutes to spare, I quickly dashed into the
bathroom to freshen up. My hair went “POOF!” in the rain and I needed to put on
my Rotary blazer. Since no one was around, I quickly snapped a mediocre shot
just for memory purposes. It was too hard to get a full chest shot, much less
body shot, but on the hidden side of my blazer is where the majority of my pins
can be uncovered. For those who might not know, each pin is from different
exchange students to show all the people (and where they’re from) you’ve met on
your exchange. Pretty cool stuff!
As always, I loved
the Rotary meeting! The past two times I’ve attended the meals where in the
rotating table style. Today the style was an all-you-can-eat buffet. Hey!
That’s the first one I’ve seen in Taiwan! Though it doesn’t really count since
it’s not a restaurant but a special lunch for Rotary. :P Regardless, the food
was all delicious and I got some unknown cravings fixed up. Let’s see how much
I can remember that I put on my plate.
-Salad of
healthiness
-Dark brown bread
of yumminess
-Seaweed Tofu
-Steamed egg with
shrimp
-Sushi
-Chicken with
mushroom sauce
-Smoked salmon
-Something that
might be tofu but might not be XD
Then a waitress
came around and served soup. Afterwards an affectionate Rotarian by the name of
Uncle Kaiser brought me over to get some noodle soup. Once all that food was
finished, it was time for dessert. First grabbing two star fruits and two
watermelon slices, I continued on to the cakes. The three available cakes each
were sliced into pretty small pieces. So I deemed it alright to take more than
one, settling in my mind on two pieces. I selected a brown cake with some tan
filling and a white cake with strawberry filling. But before I went back to my
seat, Uncle Kaiser encouraged me to take a piece of the third cake, saying I
should try everything. When it comes to cakes, you don’t have to tell me twice.
:P What I found funny was that Uncle Kaiser was the one who told a group of
exchange students at our orientation (in the beginning days of our exchange)
that we should be careful of our weights. He warned us that exchange students
usually gain 10 Kilos (or is it kilograms? I forgot the metric system. Whoops!
XD) by the end of their time in Taiwan. Slight irony there from his warning and
then encouragement of eating more cake. :P
I’ve managed to
stay the same weight as far as I can tell because my clothes feel exactly the
same. One exchange student had to wear her Rotary blazer for an event but when
she put it on, she was having trouble buttoning it up. She whimpered, “I’m
fat!” Really she’s not (she’s smaller than me) but the fact I experienced the
weight-gaining problem in front of my eyes, has made me very conscious and
cautious. YOU CAN’T TAKE ME THAT EASILY! HEAR ME ROAR! >:D FYI, my personal
Rotary blazer has plenty of room with no sign of becoming smaller. ;)
Back to the subject
of the meeting’s food! It was all SO DELICIOUS! Oh my gosh this food is
amazing! I absolutely loved the sushi and adored the cake. The brown cake
seemed to be either coffee, toffee or a combination flavor. The third cake
completely escapes my taste buds from recognizing its flavor. Maybe some sort
of bean or bread cake? Not really sure but it was tasty! I actually went back
for seconds… *blushes* Yeah, I’m a little bad but it was a very special
occasion and the pieces were truthfully small. So really it’s not bad at all.
All the pieces I ate put together might have consisted just a little over a
normal piece in America. ;) With being accompanied with hot black tea, my
stomach was very content. ^_^
The speaker today
was a photographer that published a photo book of a “Bird’s Eye View of
Kaohsiung.” His presentation was a hundred pictures he took of a part of Taiwan
that isn’t normally characterized as being beautiful. Kaohsiung is an
industrial harbor without any big sight seeing landscapes. The remarkable thing
is that this man captured beauty in a place that isn’t labeled as attractive.
He was able to take pictures of the exact same area in different lights, times,
weather, etc. and give same zone so many different personalities. Really,
really astounding!
Each Rotary member
was given the photographer’s published photo book at the meeting, but since I’m
only a guest, I don’t receive things like that. Yet Uncle Kaiser’s heart burst
forward as he pulled a few strings to get me a copy. One Rotarian was gone for
an extended stay in China and wouldn’t be back for a long time. So Uncle Kaiser
asked if I could have the absent Rotarian’s copy instead. HOW SWEET IS THAT OF
HIM TO DO THAT?! I’m so grateful for his kindness and generosity! This book is
really something marvelous and will bring me memories for years to come! If
anyone wants to see it when back in Texas, I’d be happy to show you some
Taiwanese splendor! ;D
University Chinese
class tomorrow! Let’s all get some good sleep tonight! Take care y’all! ^_^
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