This blog is on temporary hiatus

I'm gonna figure what I really want to write.

Mulling over a new blog project that would be somewhere else, under a different nickname.

No it's not that I'm gonna be too busy to blog or something. - With technology the way it is these days, blogging on the go is easy, especially on my hour long bus rides. There is no excuse for me to play the 'busy' card and let my linguistic skills go to ruin.

No, it's not any life events/potential libel/existential epiphany/illness that is stopping me.

I just want to re-evaluate my blogging goals and embark on a new blog project, ok?

Passed.

I passed my final exams.

There's 'ass' in 'pass'. Hurhurhur.

Taiwan - Living

Being earthquake-prone, most of their buildings aren't very tall.



Betel nut stalls. Apparently the better looking they are, the fewer betel nuts you get in a NTD$50 pack.



Ximending, youth shopping capital of Taipei. Pretty surprised that their HMV equivalent has one whole shelf of LGBT titles, and 2 shelves of pornography.



Student performance.

Taiwan - Buildings

Streets of Taipei:







The facade of Five Cent Driftwood Restaurant, built by a lady who was once so poor she had to use rejected bricks and driftwood to build herself a home. Inspired by that, she went on to build restaurants using the experience she had gained.




Taipei 101:















Huge tuned mass damper.





Tallest completed building in the world, with the fastest lift in the world. Unbelievably, it's faster going up than down.



Chiufen, built on a cliff:

Taiwan - Cultural Attractions

Ilan Cultural Village:









Fo Guang Shan near Kaoshiung:





















At the foot of Alishan:



The Sao people making use of tourism and aggressively selling their Ling Zhi products:





Temple at Sun Moon Lake:















Aboriginal Cultural Village just off Sun Moon Lake, which is a discordant combination of an amusement parks (with roller coasters) and displays of how the indigenous people used to live:



























They had a number of amusement park rides, including the UFO drop - a freefall ride. 2 water flumes too, and a blatant copy of Disney's Space Mountain which was a disappointment.

The park includes an European Garden, which has no relevance to indigenous Taiwan people at all.





Back in Taipei, and the National Palace Museum was a collection of Chinese antiques. The place was teeming with Chinamen, which was really frustrating.



The Grand Hotel in Taipei: