[2013TW] Day 01: Arrival

  Thanks to our plane schedule, we arrived at around 6 am Taiwan time at Taipei (well, technically TaoYuan). Due to my lack of sleep, my right ear went through terrible times during the landing. First thing we noticed when we arrived is the heat, and scent in the air. The humidity isn't that bad, probably because we did come from Vancouver- which is still fairly humid.

  Since we checked-in pretty early, our luggage came later, so we waited for them for around half an hour. It's a good surprise that Wi-Fi at the Taipei airport is far, FAR better than Vancouver's. We were able to contact our parents over the internet with LINE.

  Haven't see my parents in like half an year. We're all over-joyed to see each other. I can't believe they didn't bring any breakfast for us, except for a small carton of soy milk- which also taste MILES better than anything I've drank back in Canada.

  My childhood house had changed a lot, some walls had been taken down and furniture had all been replaced. Some things remained here, though, like my bedroom, it has barely changed. Same bunk bed my sister and I shared, same closet we used, same shelves, etc. This time, though, everything seems so much... less clean- Taiwan is really humid and dusty, in addition, these things have been here for more than 15 years. I think I'll need sometime to get used to this environment again.

  We chatted and sent our dad to work. Mom took us to the market near our house to shop for what we want to eat first - the fruits. Markets in Taiwan are on the street, they look something like this:

  Everything in Taiwan is dirt cheap with great quality compared to what we have in Canada- it's heaven for poor shoppers like me. $3 jeans, >$1/bowl of rice noodle soup, etc. We went to eat one of my favourite rice noodle soup w/ fried tofu for breakfast - super cheap and super delicious! (I was so happy eating, I forgot to take picutres T_T).

Fruits in Taiwan are THE BEST! I'm not exaggerating, they are even better than candies! It was cloudy in the morning, so the temperature is just right. However, when the sun came out at noon, it brought substantial heat and we soon went home from the market to eat.

Pineapple has never been my favourite fruit, but I have never eaten any fruit that tasted this great. 

  Fried rice was a bit on the oil side, it's not really on my "like" list (just like apples- which we didn't buy). BUT, still SOOOO much better than anything we can eat in Canada.

ShaCha Lamb fried rice - so good :D

  Mom, sister, and I sat around the lunch table and looked at our childhood pictures. They were pretty much ruined in the event: flooding of the shelf from broken pipe. Anyways, we had a good laugh. We then went over to my Aunt's to visit grandma and grandpa who came up to Taipei from country side in Southern Taiwan.

  My grandparents really want us to stay in Taiwan, but after our talk, they understand that my future career (pharmacist) has way more potential in Canada. I guess, I won't be getting too much of a persuasion to stay from now on. I'm lucky, though, they didn't start the "y u no boyfriend" talk with me. I have a feeling that they didn't really think I need one (LOL). Too bad for my sister, who's probably deemed more in need of protection, she had to be asked details about her boyfriend and being pressured to choose a guy who comes from a better background as future husband. My mom gave me a hug this morning because I behaved really well yesterday and showed maturity during my conversation with our family.

  My auntie live near a big market, I was surprised at how much variety they have for one meal:

2013 Taiwan Day 1 - Dinner 三杯雞(3cup/SanBei Chicken)+炒青菜(Stir fried veggie) +大腸四季豆 (Pig-intestine with string beans)+煎蛋(fried egg)+炸豆腐(fried Tofu)+炒高麗菜(stir fried cabbage) +

咖哩飯 (Curry Rice)

  After dinner, our jet lag got the better of us (and I haven't really slept for 3 hours over the last 36 hours...) we went home and almost immediately fall asleep on the hardest bed I've ever lied on... LOL and I have a back pain now...

  Today is a Saturday and my dad is home. We'll probably go eat something healthy because he can't eat unhealthy food :P --- I'll update this tomorrow morning~