Impulse

Guess who just booked another flight to Taiwan?

Yep. I'm going to Taiwan with four of my ICE co-faculty (who also went to Taiwan last September) on January! This time, for shopping/leisure and not for a competition. Just tonight, after proctoring an exam, we talked about the Taiwan buys that we were wearing today when Sir Harold suddenly checked Cebu Pac's website for promo fares. So impulsive indeed. But what do you expect from a girl who's been depriving herself the fruits of her hard work because she still hasn't gotten her salary? (I'm a government employee, that's why.)

Why not go to another country? Well, the Taipei trip was kinda bitin especially for the graduate teams because, first of all, we went there for a competition.

Actually, my friend Meme, told me before how she loved Taiwan but I never got convinced until I got there myself! Haha. Honestly, I never thought Taiwan was a good an awesome place. Sure it's underrated and there aren't a lot of tourist spots but here are the reasons why I loved Taiwan:

• I never experienced heavy-traffic! Traffic is always freely-flowing (at least to the places I went to).
• They have awesome elevated/grade-separated highways.

Traffic at 6am. Traffic where?

Traffic at 8:30am. Lots of disciplined motor scooter-riders! So unlike the Philippines.

• People are very nice and helpful.
• Everyone is fashionable.
• They have "No Smoking" signs almost everywhere. I rarely met people who smoked!
• I never got to smell pollution from cars despite walking in the city a lot!

That's an underpass. No really.

• Despite being a developed city, they have lots of trees!
• Commodity prices aren't far from the Philippines'. Say, a can of Pepsi from the vending machine costs NTD 14 (21 pesos)! Or a 250-ml pack of milk tea costs NTD 8 (12 pesos)!
• The train fares are cheaper compared to other countries (AFAIK). Minimum of NTD 20 (Php30). Around NTD 40 for longer rides.
• No need to pay for the train each time you transfer lines. The fare only depends on your station of origin and your destination. You pay only once even if you ride many lines. (Kumbaga sa forces, conservative and not path-dependent! LOL sorry Engineering Mechanics thingies). And the fare is discounted if you use their EasyCard (a sort of prepaid card like HK's Octopus)! I didn't get to use an EasyCard during our trip though. But I will next time!
• The nightmarkets. Cheap yet fashionable clothes and shoes! Be on the look for quality ones! It's Divisoria minus the hassle, sweat, heat, and snatchers. Also, the stores sell different things. Unlike the tiangges here in the Philippines where you find the same clothes everywhere.

Shilin nightmarket

• Uni-President products like pudding, tea and coffee
• 7-Eleven sells onigiri. I LOVE onigiri!
• They have lots of yogurt drinks.
• It's milk tea and mochi paradise!

Definitely going back to this milk tea stall in Shilin!

• People are slim! Perhaps because they drink tea a lot, eat vegetables a lot and walk (exercise) a lot! Instead of gaining weight, I actually lost weight during my 5-day stay there.
• I can leave my things unattended and walk around the city alone at 12midnight! I can see elementary school children commute alone. It's a safe place!

On my next trip, I'd like to go to the Maokong Tea Garden (via the Maokong Gondola), the National Palace Museum (again because they rotate the displays every three months), the Zhishan garden, the memorial halls, the temples, the Grand Hotel, and the other nightmarkets! I also need to taste more food next time!

This means that I should definitely definitely definitely pass the licensure exam on November. :) And that I should cut down on unnecessary expenses. And that maybe I should study some Mandarin too haha.