D y s f u n c t i o n a l

[10/31/05] Dinner @ Ximen Ding with Vivien

Vivien is leaving back to Canada soon so since we haven't hung out with her in a while we went to Ximen Ding for some dim sum and took sticky pictures then we had to go home since everyone's got midterms now. The dim sum place was pretty good and only 30NT per dish and we ended up eating like 24 dishes so only 150NT. It was soo much better than the fried rice or fried noodles that we always end up eating in the alley. If you see me online you will notice my away message saying "Woe yao shi" - Mandarin " Goe beh shee" - Taiwanese " I'm gonna die" - English. Yes midterms suck ass I tell you especially ones in a different language. Haha yah I have a Taiwanese midterm that I'll probably end up doing bad on the class average is around 50 or 60 =P. Yay for getting only 5 hours of sleep mannn it sucks so bad but I'm the sad thing is I'm getting used to it and I'm one of the ones who gets more sleep around here. God we're all so sleep deprived. Ohhh everyone loves taking sticky pictures here so I've decided that since I don't have a sticker book I'm going to stick the super small ones on my "Yo Yo" card which is my student MRT card aka a permanent BART ticket that I can just add money to.

Sticky picture numero uno	Sticky picture numero dos

[10/29/05] Halloween Party at the Indian Club on Bade Road

Everyone in the dorm basically decided to go to this 3 floor Halloween party at the Indian club. Mike told us about the party so we all got presale tickets. If you didn't dress up you had to pay an extra 100NT or 3 dollars. We decided that we were paying waay to much money for drinks at the club so we decided to preparty at the dorms before hand then go to the club. The club was really decorated out and had a bunch of dinosaur skeletons on the inside and outside. so it was a great place to host the party.

Prepartying in X and Lea's room this is only part of our group	Guess what I am .... no one gets it mannn sucks

We basically just stayed on the 2nd floor which was the hip hop floor. It was soo cool since we got there early we grabbed a table so we could chill out when we didn't want to dance and we knew like half the people on the dance floor. There were basically all white people at this party with a few Asians sprinkled in between. Haha soo weird. I ended up talking to a couple of the white boys at the bars and they were coming from random ass places like Australia and Canada. I met this guy dressed up as Batman so of course I had to take a picture with him since I was Poison Ivy. Dude this guy has been here for 5 years and speaks better Mandarin than English soooo weird.

Outside of the Indian club	Inside of the club

There was a halloween contest and the club and some of the costumes were the Mask, some slutty nurses, a super slutty french maid like from her back you could totally see her thong cuz it opened that way [gasp hehe]. The winner ended up being a black dude dressed up as a "He ren gao" which is this toothpaste called Black man toothpaste. Haha very politically incorrect I know but it's good toothpaste I use it here.

Batman and Me	Us taking a group picture before dancing for hours

HAha ok so everyone took a shit load of pictures and me too of course. So click here for more pictures from the night.

[10/28/05] Getting Temporary Tats for our Halloween Costumes

Me, X, Carolin, Lea, and Warren wanted to get temporary tats for our halloween costume so we went to Tong Shi night market which is the closest market from our dorm. We got dinner there then it took us a while to find the lady who was doing to do our tats since she wasn't opened today but decided to go just for us.

My left arm I really like it and plus it matching my clothes =D	Carolin's temporary tat

Lea's tat	X's purdee humming bird

Warren's tiger tat. He's going as a gangster I think

Oh I'm also going through midterms at the moment so I'm getting about 4 hours of sleep and including the nap I try to get if I have the time 6 hours total. Yah I'm not a happy camper tho the sad thing is I think I'm getting used to not that much sleep since I'm working out all the time.

[10/23/05] My Babies heheh

My older sister sent me this picture of my stuff animals since she thought I would miss them. I do a bit since I like hugging something when I sleep =P. Ohh on a different note I was skyping with mi madre and she was saying my old poparu is thinking of coming back to Taiwan in November to settle some business stuff so I'm probably going to go home to Kaohsuing for Thanksgiving to visit the family then off to Kenting to party and do water sports with dorm people. YAyyyy I can't wait =D. Especially if my pops is coming he won't want me to take a 5 hour bus ride down to Kaohsuing and will just pony up so I can fly down in 45 minutes. Time is money people. Muahaha i loove my pops and then I can go explore Kaohsuing and go see "Ai He" or Love River. Then I can introduce him to all my new Taiwan friends though he never seems as interested as my mom in meeting my friends =P. Ooh switching topics again BEARS WIN and beat Washington State. Haha man football games really just aren't the same with Lauren narrating the game to me over aim hahaha. Man I hope we go to a bowl game this year then all my cali friends could hang out for a few days and we can pretend we're in college all over again hehehe.

My stuffed duckie and bear aka Plucky and Leo	The big duck and the super tiny baby ducky brother

[10/21/05] Clubbing @ Luxy with Jazzy Jeff

Taiwanese classes is sooo fun because all we do is chat in Taiwanese about our lives like our families and what where we go during the week. Haha me, Xtina, and Warren just talk about the random shit after class and we all crack up because we think our taiwanese sucks ass and we just say stupid things that sound funny. Warren taught us this bad word in Taiwanese "xiang jiao ni de pa" haha the funny ass thing is that in english it literally means banana your guava but it's suppose to be a cute way of saying f off.

A cool Luxy ice sculpture in the lobby of the club	The Go Go dancers man they have nice ass bods that I really want but not so cute faces =P

After dinner me and X decided that we would go to Luxy to see Jazzy Jeff especially since Dennis wanted us to go soo bad so we only had 20 minutes to get ready. I woke Carolin up and told her to get ready. Man 20 minutes definitely isn't enough time to do makeup, hair and change clothes haha but we made it. Me, X, Carolin, and Warren took a cab to the club. We met up with Dennis, Jonathan, Angel, Sandy, Scott, Derek, Eliver, Cindy and someone's volunteer. There were definitely more chicks than guys in our group =P so that worked in the guys favor. Umm I gotta say I kinda felt that the two groups of cali kids are divide by the floors they live on a bit. The second floor seems more like the good kids while the 4th floor [yayy 4th floor] seem like the bad kids hahah we'll at least the girls do. Hey i don't mind looking a bit more skany at a club when it's soo hot it feels like a sauna =P. Jazzy Jeff is the DJ who was partners with Will Smith in the beginning when Will was just a rapper before the tv show Fresh Prince. Apparently he was a guest star in Fresh Prince a bit too. Dude freaken cops came in and checked everyone's id to make sure they were at least 18. That was such a buzz kill cuz that really took forever.

The coppers or "jing cha" checking people's ids	The inside of the club wall

We ended up going to 7-11 to get some drinks and ended up meeting some other kids from ICLP. I think spiky hair boy is cute tho X doesn't so it maybe just be the beer goggles talking haha like that Navy got i met on the SD tram last new years eve =P. Anyways, he seemed like a cool kid he's a grad student like me and went to Ed's current school for undergrad. So yah we exchanged celly so i'll see if he actually ends up every calling. HAHA dude X was drunk at 7 and was yelling at a guy for cutting in line. She sooo cute when she's drunk and for some reason refused to speak in Mandarin although out of all of us [Me, Hua Luen aka Warren, and Carolin] she's the best at speaking =). Jonathan and Sandy are crazy when they dance. I never knew they were so freaky hehhe. Jazzy Jeff was really good and man I ended up dancing for like 4 hours before cutting out to go home around 3:30 =P. Yes I'm getting old. People Pictures

The Man of the hour Jazzy Jeff	Some Taiwanese hip hop group. Me & my "shi you" aka roomie thought the guy in the beanie was hot

[10/17/05] Shi Ling Yeh Shi aka Shi Ling Night Market

Taiwan is famous for its night markets which is basically where alot of people go at night to buy cheap stuff and eat good food. Shi Ling is the biggest one in the main Taipei area. Lea came over when me and Christine were doing our Taiwanese aka Tairu group project and asked if we wanted to go with her and her friend Janet. They were meeting at the Gong Guan MRT station which is in the front of school or 15 minutes walking from the dorms. We need to hurry over so we biked with Christine riding and me on the back. She did a pretty good job after she got the hang of it. It was my first time on the sitting on the back of a bike. People here in Taida do it all the time. People either stand on pegs sticking out of the back wheel or do what I did sit on the back part where u can strap down books. Good thing it was at night and there weren't too many cars on campus hehe. I got to eat "Oau Zhen" which is basically oysters with eggs didn't like it that much and "Ba Wan" a glutton cover meat ball that I ate when I was small and was really good. I bought some T-shirts, shorts, flip flops and ooh ooh this super cute stamp. Kids here have to label everything so they have stamps or stickers they put on all their books and pencil cases.

A duck on a skateboard and my name in English and Chinese =D

[10/15/05] Chinese Peking Opera Field Trip @ the Metropolitan Center

For our Art and Cultures class we had to attend a Peking Opera all of us were pretty excited before hand. Our teacher gave us a brief introduction about the plot and basically it was an old Chinese play during one of the dynasties. Once the opera actually started I couldn't understand anything they were saying because they were using very dramatic inflection going up and down with the tones so everything sounded wrong. Then I couldn't read the subtitles cuz it was all in Mandarin. Me, Joe, and Xtina fell asleep for sure and dude even our teacher left at intermission. At 10 pm me, Joe, and Eliver couldn't take it anymore so we left early. I was really craving an apple pie so we went to McD's and got some food. Now while I'm updating my blog and sitting at the computer there was an earthquake not that bad tho but big enough that I could feel swaying. But man since I've been to Taiwan there's been 3 earthquakes 2 that I've actually felt. That's waaay more than the Bay Area which is the land of earthquakes. Ok I just looked it up apparently it was a 6.6 earthquake Northeast of Taiwan in the water somewhere.

The pimp boys - Warren, Jonathan, and Dennis	Jonathan, Cindy, Sandy, & Dennis

Dennis looking super cute since he's all dressed up	Super cute tiny puppy I saw at McD

[10/14/05] Joe's 20th Bday @ Hooters

Since Joe the super youngen was finally turning 20 we had to go out and celebrate by having dinner at Hooters. I've never been to Hooters in the states tho me and my guy friends were always suppose to go. Xtina got dinner reservations for 7and they told us that they would only hold the tables for 15 minutes before giving it away. The girls [Miranda, Carolin, Lea, Xtina, and Me] decided to take a taxi to the restaurant from our dorms and we told the guys to go run to the subway station and try to get there as fast as possible. They actually ran to the subway station and ended up getting the restaurant a little faster than us because there was alot of traffic. The taxi driver was very friendly and ended up joking around with me and Xtina in Taiwanese the whole car trip. He said he thought us as his daughters so he decided to pick us up before going home to eat dinner. Then he was saying that I should teach Carolin Taiwanese and if she was a bad student I could hit her. Carolin, Lea, and Miranda were all sitting there kinda confused while me and Xtina were cracking up. Miranda is in our Taiwanese class but always zones out and has no idea what's going on =P. The taxi driver later on wanted to make sure that i didn't actually really hit Carolin. It was a fun cab ride and man the guy had skills.

All the waitresses gathering around for a meeting	Corona beer special ad

So we met the boys [Vinnie, Joe, Eliver, Dennis, Daniel, Warren, Dexter, Peter, Andi, Nathaniel, Santa and Mike] inside. We ended up cramming 20 ppl on two small tables. The food was pretty good and I think all of us have been craving American food for a while so most of ended up getting burgers, beer, and fries. Melissa and Lisa came later on because they weren't read when we were leaving. I gotta say the waitresses weren't hot and they had no ass or boobs =P. Their outfits are only scandalous because the shorts are soo high cut and shows your butt. They ended up doing this hoola hoop contest which we made Joe do since it was his bday. Click Here for more pictures.

All of us after dinner posing

[10/8/05] Field Trip to Yingge and Beipu

The NTU International Student Information Service [volunteer club on campus] set up a day trip for us to go visit Yingge and see the famous pottery and Beipu where we got to learn about Hakka culture. We had to meet at the front entrance of school at 7:45am and it was pouring as we walked from our dorm to the buses so I think I got more sick from that =(. As I sat in the freezing cold bus with a wet tank top and half soaked jeans I was really wishes that I was just back in bed and not on the stupid field trip but the day got better later on. When we go to Yingge it was still raining pretty hard so we didn't get to see much of the shops and just went to this store to make our own pottery. They gave us each a wheel and let us play with the clay and make whatever we wanted. I didn't end up keeping the thing I made since our house still has tons of pots and bowls from me and my sisters ceramic days in high school. They then gave us food before going back on the bus for another hour to get to Beipu.

Christine decorating her pot with her last name	Temple wall in Beipu

When we got to Beipu we walked around checking out street venders and eating Hakka food. Hakka's are basically a specific group of Taiwanese people who originated from a specific region in China. So we basically went to like what would be a Chinatown back at home. I bought a corn on the cob that was really good and some strawberry flavored ice that came in a shape of an egg.

James eating a grilled corn on the cob	A further view of the temple with some of our group standing in front. Our volunteers are wearing yellow t-shirts

There were so many venders sending all sorts of random things. Most of them were basically knick knacks so I didn't get those since I find those pretty useless =P. After walking around we went to a tea shop where we learned how to make hakka tea. For Hakka tea you need to grind up peanuts, tea leaves, and sesame seeds until it turns in to a paste then we add a bunch of green tea powder and mix it all up together. You can drink the tea either hot or cold and it's actually pretty yummy. It takes like a bit like green tea mochi balls but in a liquid form of course.

Some key chains for sale	The wind mills were spinning alot since it got pretty windy later on

After we finished "le cha" which makes making tea we got back on the bus and went to dinner. Dinner was also pretty good but I wasn't really hungry since I basically sat around on a bus and ate whenever we got off =P. Man Asian are soo picture crazy. After dinner was over we really probably spent like 20 minutes while everyone got in groups and posed for pictures. I think it got a bit excessive near the end haha. On the bus ride back most people were past out since we were soo tired. Once we got back to campus Me, Lea, Christine, and Miranda felt really lazy so we took a taxi to get back of the campus where our dorm is. The taxi driver probably thought we were crazy American girls hahaha.

Making green tea and eating Hakka afternoon tea snacks	Joe, Miranda, Daniel, and James acting all crazy after dinner

[10/7/05] Oktoberfest in Taipei

I heard Anna, Mina, and Peter were going to Oktoberfest so a bunch of us decided to go. Carolin has gone to Oktoberfest every year since she was little so this year she gets to continue the tradition in Taipei hehe. We took a taxi to the Taipei Cultural center where Oktoberfest was being held. It's a three day even thrown by the German embassy I think. I never knew Taiwan had that many German people over there. The beer we had was pretty good and the music was interesting to say the least but we all had alot of fun. A lot of the band guys were really cute but too bad they were only 18 =P. Sorry I don't deal with jail bait nor people who I can't speak with.

The stage where the band played and people danced	Warsteiner beer is actually really good but super foamy out of the tap

After we got our beers we sat down at tables and listened to the band play. At times we stood up on the benches swaying and clapping. It kinda reminded me of a really chill rock concert. There was even this middle age Taiwanese guy swaying with his lighter lit up hehe. Then they started to this conga line thing going around the whole tent area. I got pictures of Carolin and Miranda doing that.

The girls with the cute band guys	The crew that went to Oktoberfest minus Mina. I dunno where she went.

Click Here to get more pictures from the night

[10/5/05] Vacuum Space

I didn't really want to go to VS again on a Wednesday night but I got talked into it. The guys really love the place because it's all you can drink for 500NT girls only have to pay 100NT. I doubt I'll go to VS ever again because man the music sucked ass it was super crowded and people kept spilling their stupid drinks on me. I'll have to stay at least I don't have to worry about guys grabbing my ass here heheh.

The entrance to the club	The group that went out clubbing during the middle of a school week =P

I was bored so before we left for the club I ended up putting make up on Xtina and Carolin since they both claim they don't know how hehe. I really like how Xtina's turned out on her and I think I need to practice more on Carolin cuz I'm only used to Asian eyes =P.

Haha I actually didn't put on my gray contacts =P. I really like how I did my make up so this is up so I remember what I did.	Me and Xtina at VS waiting in line for our drinks. She has such big eyes when she actually wears makeup hahah.

So me and Lea ended up leaving early because we needed to study for quizzes. Man I feel so old compared to the people I hang out with in the dorms. HAHA I need to find some older people to go out with =P. I can already for see drama happening in the dorms as people start to hook up with each other. I find it interesting that I'm never in the middle of the drama but that's also probably because I'm not boy crazy and don't have the urge to hook up with anyone =P.

Nathaniel is a pimp surrounded by the girls	Warren, Miranda, and Karen

Awww my girls Lea, Carolin, and Xtina	American Peter with his new haircut and the 453 girls