Friday, October 30, 2009

road trip!

Back on Monday.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

taipei 101

After Wulai today, I squeezed in another Taipei tourist attraction that cannot be missed. The Taipei 101, which is the world's tallest building, well that is a question about definitions. It is the world's tallest building that is finished, Dubai have a building that will take over the title when it is finished. Taipei 101, has 101 floors above ground and 5 beneath ground.

They do however have the fastest elevator in the world, with a speed of 60 km/hour I think it took us 37 seconds to reach the 89th floor and then we could take the stairs two more floors up.

So now I feel quite satisfied with Taipei, I have seen a lot and most of the tourist attractions and have been around to many different areas.






wulai

Today M and me went for a trip to Wulai a town south of Taipei. It was really nice and or course more beautiful scenery. Every time you go outside of the city you get amazed over and over again by the nature and mountains that the island is basically made of.

Had "a few" mosquito bites after my day in Xindian. I am sure there is 50 bites on each leg!

Wulai waterfall is 80 m high.

Statues outplaced in the city, resembling the original Taiwanese people, aborigines.

And there we have me in front of the waterfall.


Did they use Google Translate? Don't they have any people that know Chinese AND English to translate the public signs. 

We took the cable car up to a resort in the mountains.


Really cute resort which was quite big and had all different kinds of things. A pond with a huge amount of fishes!

 M and I as Taiwanese aborigines.


Gorgeous view.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

tomorrow: wulai

Tomorrow M and I are heading to Wulai south of Taipei to hopefully see the nice 80 m high waterfall and more beautiful landscape. As by the pictures Wulai seems really nice. Perhaps we can even get to take a dip in a hot spring if we are lucky.


Wulai waterfall  
(pic borrowed from cheeweng on flickr)

sunshine in taipei

Today Xindian, Taipei, was on the schedule and we actually had some sunshine instead of haze. Which is the other end of the red metro line that I took to Denshui last week. A bit of walking in the mountain next to river and the city. Beautiful scenery and many great photos, that I do not really have the energy to post right now but I can offer you one for now.


Beautiful view of Xindian from the mountain.

After a whole day of walking I met up with M to go to the Shilin night market for a couple more hours of walking.

I am doing too much shopping for my own good. Perhaps I should make a pre-packing of my backpack, but I am sure it will be fine. Have bought plenty of accessories that does not take up that much space or weight.

After a whole day of walking it was perfect with a bit of massage. First I got to sit with my feet in a foot bath while getting a neck and shoulder massage. Then she gave my legs and feet a massage, so nice after that much walking. A massage of 45 minutes for only 120SEK (12 euros). I love cheap.


Great foot massage.

Monday, October 26, 2009

back from tokyo

Finally made it back home. Or 'home'. Taipei is my home for another week, going to enjoy it to a maximum.

But seriously, my flight from Stockholm to Taipei took 24 hours door to door with three flights. Tokyo to Taipei door to door took 12 hours and was a direct flight. What is wrong with this picture? Okay, the Tokyo-Taipei trip was estimated to take nine hours door to door but the flight got delayed a lovely three hours due to weather conditions.

But now I am finally at home in Taipei again, stepped into the apartment at 3 a.m. and is still awake after 50 minutes. Just wanted to check my emails after five days of no internet. Also trying to unwind and to get tired, but I might be getting there. It is a day tomorrow as well that I have to enjoy as a tourist here in Taipei.

More about Tokyo later. But it was of course totally wonderful!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

next stop

M and me are soon off to.... TOKYO. The others will join tomorrow since they have some more classes today. Us two are going to stay with M's friend that I met on Friday which is really nice. Always of course nicer to stay at somebody's place (and of course cheaper).

So I should now get out of bed and hit the shower. Yeah, I need to pack as well. I have got a little less than two hours now so I better get cracking.

I will be in Japan in a few hours. What a lovely thought.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

two days of taipei and danshui

Finally I decided to be a bit touristy and see some of the Taipei spots on Monday. Tuesday I headed out to the coast and saw the town Danshui. Not sure if it is actually a town on its own or a suburb of Taipei. Anyway, it is easy to get there since you can take the metro.


At the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial.

 
 
A dog at our breakfast place, so cute.

Today's breakfast, very healthy.

Took a trip to Denshui, the end station at one metro line, at the coast. The others have class so I took a day touristing by myself. 


 
A break at Starbucks with my favorite tea and a piece of New York cheesecake! Yummy!
 

A street in Danshui.

I spent quite a lot of money in Danshui. Well, at least amount of Taiwanese dollars wise, but in the end it is not much in Swedish crowns. Perhaps I spent NT2000 which is only about SEK400, so that is still quite fine at least when looking at all the things I got. Being a jewelry junkie I bought some fun stuff in all the fun stores there.

the weekend

 Here we have the weekend in some pictures.

 
At Barcode on Friday. With M's Japanese friend that we will be staying with in Tokyo.

Meeting up with classmate J from Uni and her Taiwanese friend.


Dinner comprising of two Swedes, two Danes, and one really nice Taiwanese.

White beer at the German Oktoberfest!

A bit of Helsinki exchange reunion. We went to the National Palace Museum.



And the Sunday evening with unhealthy stuff and movie watching. 

Monday, October 19, 2009

eventful weekend and not much sleep

Perhaps a little short recap of the weekend.
Friday: A nice Korean barbeque with A & A. Then we went to a place called Barcode which was kind of fancy but still a bit casual. We actually got a table so we could sit down and started drinking drinks that we got with the table. In the end it happened that we only had to pay for the drinks and not the table, perhaps they did some mistake, so that was cool.

Saturday: Met up with former JIBS classmate Jenny that lives down south in Taiwan and spent some hours with her. Went to dinner at night for another barbeque but was not so good and they were really cheap since we could not get refills of side dishes, tea, or even rice! Then we met up the other girls at the German Oktoberfest for some white beer and drunken Germans. I stuck with Jenny and her friend Katarina and tagged along to some clubbing. First a place called Pasoul with free bar, then to Room 18 for some better music and nicer atmosphere.

Sunday: After coming home and being in bed at 5 a.m I woke up at 9 a.m. to meet up with Anders for a trip around town. We were meeting up to former exchange friends from Helsinki and it was really nice to meet them again. They took us to the Museum of Contemporary Art and then to the National Palace Museum which was really nice. The latter museum had some really amazing and impressive pieces of art and history and some even from B.C. It is amazing that pieces still exists today after so many years. We finished of with a greasy dinner at Burger King which was just what I wanted after a very tiring day waking up so early. Then we bought some chips, even a chocolate cake, opened a bag of liquorice candies I brought, invited M and A, and rented a movie. Dead tired I feel asleep later and slept for 12(!) hours.

Not the shortest recap it turned out but there you have it. Pictures may appear later.

i am alive

Things have been going on this weekend although I got a bit sick. But I am slowly getting better and have started doing some tourist stuff here in Taipei and have also met new and old friends.

Friday, October 16, 2009

swineflu?

I feel sorry for myself. I am getting sick...

My third day in Taipei and I am about to get sick. What kind of crap is that? No, it is not the swineflu. Just a normal cold I guess. I am having a damn sore throat and that is my first sign of me getting a cold. I just hope that it will get over fast and that I do not have to lie in bed and be bored. I definitely cannot be sick on Wednesday since we are leaving for Tokyo then and they have the infrared sensors at the airport so I cannot have a fever or anything like that.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

a little bit of breakfast

Vegetable and fruit salad with orange juice for approximately two euros. I like it here.



2nd day in Taipei

Yesterday's dinner actually became a Korean dish with a Taiwanese beer.


Having dinner with Maiju and Alex.

The Korean dish, rice, meat, cucumber, kimchi, bean sprouts, and an egg yolk. Then you mix it all and eat. Really good.

A large beer.

Being Wednesday it was ladies night and we headed out to the club Luxy which was really nice. Although one of the two dance floors was kind of empty and we were all alone there at one point.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

fifteen hours

Yesterday I arrived in Taipei 11 a.m and I had set my mind to not take a nap until I go for sleep at night. That is just the best and easiest way in my mind to get into the right rhythm right away. So I was basically on my third day with only 7h of sleep in the previous two days. It was very difficult at some points to stay awake, especially at the end of my friends' class that I joined. At the end I had to go out and just stand up to avoid falling asleep. But I succeeded quite well after that and we went to bed as late as at midnight I think.

A had to go to school in the morning but I had decided to sleep as long as I needed to feel rested. You will not believe how long I slept! I woke up a few times but still felt quite tired in my body so decided to fall asleep again if I could. At 3 p.m.(!) I decided it was time to get out of bed and get ready. I slept for 15(!!) hours! I have never in my life slept that long. I take it that my body was quite tired after that journey and not much sleep.

dragon fruit revisited

We walked through a grocery store yesterday and look what I found!

Not as cheap as in Singapore but definitely cheaper than in Sweden. In Sweden I have seen one cost 35 SEK and here I got three dragon fruits for 28 SEK.


Yummy dragon fruti!

luxury ride to taipei

I flew with a fancy plane from Hong Kong to Taipei.


Rolls Royce, this mark was one the planes engine.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

7h of sleep in 48h

I am here! Right now I am actually sitting in a classroom listening to a lecture. The guys have a class and I joined since I do not have anything else to do and way to tired to walk around. So I am sitting here with Anders computer having fun while listening to a half bad student presentation.

So what about the trip? It actually went much faster than I thought. The 12h flight from London to Hong Kong was not that bad. I watched a couple of movies and managed to sleep 3h which is good since I have trouble sleeping on flights. I arrived in Taipei at 11 a.m. after a 24h trip. Sounds crazy that it took 24h but I definitely thought it was going to be much worse than it was.

Arriving in Taipei I had basically set my mind to that my luggage had been lost on the way. It is a risk when taking three different flights and also coming in to terminal 5 at Heathrow which has the highest rate of lost luggage. So I was happy to see my bag appearing at the baggage claim. After that I was heading to find the bus to take me to Taipei mainstation and then take the subway a couple of stops to my friends. To my surprise when heading to the busses, Anders appears! He has come to pick me up and I did not know at all. Thank god he did not show up about 10 min later because then I would surely be on the bus already. I had taken their Taiwanese phone numbers but forgotten to give my Swedish cellphone number. But it all turned out well.

So that is it and all went well. I have only gotten about seven hours of sleep in two days, 3h at home before leaving and 4 hours on the whole trip. Right now I am just trying not to feel anything of how tired I am which is working surprisingly well. I want to get into the right rythm right away so there is no idea to sleep anything until tonight.

Monday, October 12, 2009

london-hong kong-taipei

I am happy to be flying from terminal 2 from Arlanda since it is much smaller and you do not have to worry about long lines. However, the bad thing is that you do not feel the same excitement as at a larger terminal. Although I am guessing I will get that at Heathrow in London. Now I am waiting for my flight to London and feeling so fresh after three hours of sleep. But I have a whole bag of candies if I get hungry or bored.

T – 0 days

Of course I had no trouble waking up, it is always like that. When you have something important to wake up to you wake up straight away. I even woke up before the alarm.

Taiwan here I come!

See you on the other side of the world.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

weigh-in

I must say I am quite impressed by myself. I just weighed my bag and it tallies to 16 kilos.

Which is great, since it leaves room for shopping.

Four hours until wake up call.

T – 1 days

It is crazy. Tomorrow morning I will be at the airport heading to Taiwan. No travel fever of any sort, I usually do not have that. I do not even think that it have sank in yet that I am actually going. That usually comes at the airport. I love airports. All the people and the excitement. Everybody is heading somewhere, on vacation, for work, to see friends and family.

I am almost done packing. Then I need to settle the rest. Print all the necessary papers. Pack my carry on for the flight and also in case of lost baggage. Which unfortunately have happened before, and now I am on three flights so there is a risk of lost luggage. I also need to take a shower. Paint my nails. Very important with the nails.

It will be interesting at what time I will be in bed. I need to be at the airport at 5.30 a.m. Which means I have to set my alarm for 4.30. Wonderful. Well, at least then I will be able to get some sleep on the flight if I am exhausted. You have to see the positive side of everything.

Friday, October 9, 2009

T – 3 days

Tawian: 12th of October to 3rd of November.
Tokyo: 21st of October to the 26th.
Perhaps we can squeeze in a Hong Kong trip as well.

tv dinner

Tonight's dinner was nachos when watching Idol.



cannot be bothered to fight

Somehow I cannot be bothered. I have several things I need to do, but I am just blocking those thoughts so I do not have to feel guilty. Both yesterday and today I have been, yeah what have I been doing? I cannot really say since I have not done much at all. I would have felt guilt if I did not suppress those feelings as far away as possible behind two locked doors. I seem to be good at that once in a while when there are things I do not want to do. I does not seem to be helping that I have someone who is checking up on me, tells me what to do and gives me homework. The day just passes by, it is like I am waiting for it to be five o'clock because then the day is over and I can continue doing nothing. But not feel guilty over it.

My hope is that this vacation will give me some rest (as I have not had enough rest with 3 ½ months of 'vacation') and new energy to get myself going and get excited again over searching for a new job. Excited to get my life back on track. I think it has been too easy for me the last couple of years, I have not had to struggle much to get what I want.

Through all my school years I always got good grades with not much effort. After high school I decided to spend one year in the USA so I went without a problem and had a good time. I applied for university and I new that I would get in without a problem. I applied for exchange in Singapore and then I also new that I would get there due to grades and extra curricular activities. The first and only job interview I have been to is for Maersk and I ended up getting the job there. It was one of few applications I sent out last year when graduating. Kind of been wondering around with no intention to end up at a specific place, but in the end it has always worked out. When standing at a cross road I have always known what decision to make. I really believe that: it always works out in the end.

I need to start believing that it also applies to this scenario. It always works out. In the end. But I need to start fighting. Because no one will serve me my dream job on a silver platter.

worthy winner?

I must admit that I, together with many others, am a bit surprised that Barack Obama got the Nobel Peace Price. I like him, but still. In a group of winners consisting of among others Mother Theresa, Dalai Lama, Red Cross, UN and Kofi Annan, is Obama a worthy winner?

Thursday, October 8, 2009

T – 4 days

Today I started tidying up my room so I can start packing and planning what to bring. Much easier when having an organized room and not having clothes lying all over the floor.

Cannot believe that on Monday morning I will be on my way to Taiwan and Taipei!


Taipei (Photo borrowed from fjny.)

mile high (fight) club

Good thing that I am not flying with Air India on Monday.

drenched dessert

Now we are having mom's apple pie with vaniljvisp (vanilla sauce). Or perhaps vaniljvisp with apple pie.

Yummy.


Wednesday, October 7, 2009

halloween party in tokyo

I have been invited to a Halloween party in Tokyo. I absolutely love Halloween parties and the fact that you can dress up to anything you want. But then comes the difficult part. What do I want to dress up as?

To a Halloween party? In Tokyo? It almost sounds surreal.

no answer

I managed to make three phone calls today as Gustaf wanted me to do. However I did not talk to anyone. Only answering machines. No one called back. I am doing another try tomorrow and this time I am not calling at lunch time. Perhaps then people will actually be at their desks and answer their phone calls.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

T – 6 days

Got my books some week or two ago. The first one I started reading deeply was the one about Philippines. Reading about all nice things in Manila and where to go around Manila for a nice beach. Found some trips you could make and had some plans for the vacation there.

Too bad now that we cannot do the Philippines trip anymore. It is not such a good idea to go to Manila with the typhoon season raging there and all the flooding the last weeks. Apparently the worst ones in the last years.



Now we have instead booked a trip to Tokyo! I had put Japan for a later trip another year but now it is on the table again. So 21st to 26th of October will be spent in Tokyo with three (perhaps even four) friends so I get company from Taipei. We can even sleep at a friend of a friend's place.

Will be a great trip!