Nocturnal in Taipei

1. I've been a victim of late-night, cross-ocean, cross-time zone Skype. Today was especially eventful since Titan and I (in Taipei), my parents (in Atlanta), my grandma (in Oakland), and Alex (in Hawaii) all conference chatted. Shitshow is minimizing the impact of this conversation. But awesome at the same time.

2. Been repeating the boba analysis in Taiwan. I've only had 1 disappointing one. The rest are a level above boba in China. Which makes sense since it originated here. Ten Ren tea's actual milk tea is the gold standard, but their bobas could be a bit softer. Quickly is a great balance. Comebuy (had in Shanghai) beats Quickly. Taiwanese brands have consistently tastier tea and chewier boba.

3. My life in Taipei has revolved around markets of every sort. A different night market almost every night, buying cheap ass clothes to attempt dressing like a girl when I return to the states, etc. Good thing it's all cheap. Bad thing it makes me buy with no regard.

Wednesday-- went to a rock festival at Fulong, a beachy town on the Northeastern corner of Taiwan. The music wasn't that great, but being at the beach and chilling with Norman was, despite the tons of people and slightly murky water. Then went to Keelung night market, one of the most famous in Taiwan which is known for its night markets and 'snacks'. Seriously they're packed all the time and all feature countless stalls of food, clothes, and other random merchandise and games. So delicious!

Red bean shaved ice with brown sugar
simple syrup and condensed milk.

Journeyed from a train ride, across a market, over a bridge to the
tents of food and beachy goodness and main stage on a little strip
of land among gorgeous green mountains.

Mounties seem out of place at a rock festival on the beach.

Mountains and water. I need to go to Chile. Who's coming with?

Asian rockers are clever-- digging mini-trenches
to rest in the sand.

Awesome/hilarious-for-me/painful-for-him tank tan.

Blurry view of Keelung harbor at night.

Endless food stalls at the night market.

Norman and I had a butter crab.

And fresh steamed shrimp.

Oily rice. The translation makes it sound nasty but it's a sticky
rice with some fatty delicious substance and mushrooms and a bit of
meat. Food often comes in plastic bags for convenience.

Thursday-- hung out with relatives from my Dad's side of the family, including going to my grandma's grave to pay respects. It's been 3 years. Crazy how quickly time passes. Then went clothes-market shopping, then went to Shilin night market with Titan. Ate another ton of food.

Cultural difference highlight of today's shopping experience = Looking for shorts. This is a snapshot of the responses I got:
'We only have up to mediums. You won't fit. Your butt is too big.'
'What size are you? We don't have it.'
'Try elastic.'
'Bigger shorts will make your legs look thinner.'
-Thanks, Taipei.

Weather highlight of today's night market experience = Titan's clothing choices. We met at the night market after my dad-fam day and his work-day so he was looking all nice in a long-sleeved collared shirt, khakis, dress shoes. But it was so hot and humid, plus all of the open flames from the food stalls and body heat from the millions of people surrounding us, that we went into Net, the Taiwan equivalent of Gap, and Titan acquired a whole new outfit of t-shirt, shorts, and sandals, came out of the dressing room fully dressed, and bought the clothes he had just put on. Good move.

This is the only fam pic I'm going to post, but despite the
uniform-looking rows, this cemetery is really serene and peaceful.

Wufenpu clothes market area. Taipei is basically a constant,
amazing clusterfuck.

Titan being supercute with Rilakkuma. Night mkts also have lots of
games and adorable things to buy. Side note: I Googled for the
spelling and the second thing that came up was 'Rilakkuma condoms.'
Cool, Japan.

GIANT Shilin sausages, only found at this particular night market.

Sausage cut into bite-size pieces, served with sliced raw garlic. I
smell terrible but it was so delicious. The sausages are light and
sweet despite being monstrous. Again, plastic bag food. Awesome.

Titan and I, taken with my horrendous webcam, while Skyping with
fam across 4 time zones.

In other small-world news, Becky, a girl from my high school who I've re-seen playing pickup when I'm home in Atlanta, is here IN TAIWAN and was mentioned by some of the other westerners at pickup on Tuesday. I almost shat myself. Hopefully we will get to play together ON A DIFFERENT CONTINENT. I just remember one of the few times I D'd her in ATL and all she had to say was 'Stupid Go-to.' She plays for Wellesley. And is awesome.

Which reminds me-- Tuesday night ulti recap. I scored the first point. Had a big D on the next and the turn led to a score. Then I was basically useless. No cleats sucks. It was westerners vs. National Taiwan Sports University team. We were down at half, then down 12-9 (playing to 15), came back to tie at 14's then lost on universe point. Sigh. Still superfun and I superlove ultimate community. Since then I've been embarrassingly sore.