What we’ve been up to…
Two weekends ago, Zack and I were finally able to have dinner with our cousin and aunt from Japan (sitting beside me).The last time I saw them was when I was too young to even remember, so it felt great to finally be reunited. Our cousin Hikoya works for ANA (All Nippon Airlines) now as an engineer.
We ate at a restaurant called 天廚 or Sky Kitchen and had Beijing Duck. After you order one, they bring the whole duck to your table for approval. Then they make separate dishes out of it such as wrapped duck skin and duck soup.
You take the crispy duck skin and dip it in the sauce and then wrap it up in a small tortilla along with a stick of scallion. Basically the most delicious thing ever. Zack almost cried when he had his first bite. Literally.
Us at a museum at Bali. Pretty cool corridor.
We went bike riding alongside the beach at Bali. We had two, four person bicycle things. That’s Zack and La Fonda trying to catch up. It was pretty tiring because the girls made us do most of the peddling.
This is Zack now. Here’s me being sexy by the ocean. Down the side there are rows and rows of big cranes that unload tons of crates. It was really nice, there are tons of rocks to my left and right you can climb around on.
Phil and I at Shilin Night Market. Tons of people out that night, and it wasn’t even the weekend. That place is always always packed and stays that way until like 2 in the morning. What you’re seeing is tons of little vendors and shops selling everything from shoes, jewelry, food, clothes, and all sorts of crazy shit.
One of the biggest nightmarkets in Taipei, you can also find tons of awesome food for really cheap.
Me, Rox, and my two cousins having a couple of drinks at a local bar.
It was like the first time we really got to know them, and it was a good time.
Rox and I eating delicious ass food with our dad. What Rox is about to eat is basically Hsia Long Tang Bao, except flat and cripsy, but it’s still filled with juice. If you can imagine what I’m describing then it’s fucking delicious.
I’m eating this tortilla thing filled with sliced beef. Very common northern China dish. Also fucking delicious.
Little gecko things my friend bought at the nightmarket. Tight!!
These little girls are my family friend’s kids. They were so wild and kinda annoying, but very typical of girls their age.
Except for this little girl, Annie. Annie was the best! We kept telling her, “Annie, you are the most guai” LOL
Rox and I had to take the little girls, like six of them, to the pet store. It was hectic getting them not to run around, but it was fun. They liked all the little critters.
Us answering questions in class on the chalkboard. Rox and I have actually been studying pretty hard to improve our Chinese, and we gained alot doing the program. It’s pretty fast paced, we have a quiz everyday and have to write a good amount of mini-essays and speak dialouges, but the improvement in our Mandarin is so worth it.
Little craft things we made during our afternoon cultural class. They gave us the cloth and we had to sow it together and do the strings ourselves. It was pretty fun, and the little pouches are filled with Chinese perfume smelling thing, pretty dope.
This is a little alley shopping area that’s suppose to be a little more antique than others. They sell alot of different toys, and really authentic cultural foods, and it was a really quaint place to spend the afternoon. It was on a mountaintop and you go through all these alleys with shops, and beyond them there are gorgeous views of the mountain and the ocea.
Rox and the Thai girls eating Shaved Ice with this chewy boba like thing, but much better. And they’re playing with a toy Rox just bought. It’s a crocodile toy, you open it’s mouth, and it has a bunch of teeth. You take turn pushing the teeth down, and randomly one will set it off and it will bite your finger. Great for drinking.
There we went to a store, and you pay 30 cents to get in and it has a bunch of crazy old fashioned costumes for you to try on and take pictures with. Here’s us with Ah-Guay and Pomelo (That’s her name translated literally) wearing some old dynasty shit and taking pictures.
Rox in his scholar wear, being all smart with his coke-bottle glasses.
Just me in my old-school Nationalist army trench coat thing chilling with Sun-Yatsen. If any of you guys are familiar with that era, the Communist fighting the Nationalist in China era that alot of our grandparents grew up in, it was a crazy time.
Rox and I in lion dancers costume.
Here is the view I was talking about earlier. Though the weather wasn’t that great, I think the view was still very beautiful. There was alot of low-altitude clouds hugging the mountain just like you see in Chinese paintings. Great vibe.
This is Rox and I with out godmother. She’s always so good to us, and everytime we see her we always come to this Thai restaurant. It’s the shit.
I don’t know what this dish is called in English, but it’s Chicken and it’s very crispy on the outside, and tender on the inside. But my God, spices and sauce in this is sooooo fucking good. They use all different types of herbs and chilis, alongside lemon-grass and lime juice and cilantro, making it a little sour but very light at the same time, but full of flavor. Americans really don’t know how to make something very flavorful without making it super heavy. This restaurant really has it down perfect.
If you know about Thai food, then you know Moon-Shrimp Cakes are the fucking shit. Fried shrimp paste with a really sweet sauce in the middle. Best appetizer ever.
This is a type of shaved ice that is popular in Taiwan right now. What you see is shaved ice, with grass jelly and the pink and yellow stuff are just really chewy pieces of dough, kinda like boba. And then the milky stuff is just some cream. It’s crazy good. Like, crazy good.
This is what Rox and I eat for free 3 times a week. Our camp gives us vouchers to alot of restaurants in the vicinity, and one of them is a Korean BBQ restaurant. So the right is Korean BBQ, and all the little side dishes are delicious and all you can eat.
Rox and Ah-Guay at Miramar, a big shopping mall with that Ferris Wheel on top.
Here’s the Ferris Wheel up close. It actually really fucking big, and gives a great view of the whole city.
Palmelo and I in the Ferris wheel! :D
Here is the view of the beautiful city of Taipei from the top of the ferris wheel. That is Taipei 101 you see there, previously the tallest building in the world. Eat your heart out Jon Linn.
Rox and I at the arcade playing the basketball shooting game. If you’ve been to Taiwan, you know how popular this shit is. Also, my hoop was jacked up, so Rox wasn’t really schooling me that bad.
Here are the 3 gangsta kids, Christina, Rox, and Stephanie, dressed up as gangstas for our class play we had to perform in front of the camp.
Rox ate 27 kim-chi flavored potstickers that day. BEAST. We also get this for free always.
So here’s just a small part of our trip thus far.
We have been having a great time, and have become very good friends with the kids in our camp.
We haven’t had one boring day this whole summer thus far, not one.
Everyday is filled with some new adventure, new food, or just a great time.
I was talking to a American kid the other day on the MRT, who’s from Boston, white boy. He had been in Taiwan over a year, went back home, and now is back. He says he can’t live in America anymore, he feels more at home here than he does back in the states.
I asked him how he describes this place to his friends back home.
His reply, you can’t.
You can’t imagine how good the food is, how easy the transportation is, how friendly the people are, how convenient everything is with a 7-11 every intersection literally, how many things there are to do at night, how pretty the girls are, how fun the clubs are, and how fucking good the food is.
Taiwan is really one of a kind.
If you want to visit Asia and see it all, Taiwan has it all.
I can’t imagine leaving this place
More adventures!
Here are some pictures from before and after clubbing on Saturday for Zack’s Birthday.
On Thursday (5/20) our auntie ordered a giant birthday cake and surprised Zack during class. It was so sweet. She even brought party poppers lol.
Every Monday and Thursday afternoon from 2 to 5, we would have cultural classes that usually involve arts and crafts. This time we made clay figurines of lions, lol. Mine’s the one in the middle with the crown, Zack’s is the angry one to its bottom left.
In Taiwan, we have something called a Dim Sum BUFFET. Yes, all you can eat Dim Sum.
Zack posing with “La Fonda” in her bird costume after the class performances. We gave her and a couple of other Thai girls ghetto ass names so it’d be easier for us to remember, lol.
Us in front the of the Lomography store for their Opening party on Dong Chu street. They gave out free beer and ice cream cake! Left to right: (Clovis, Wendy, Ann, Me, Jessie, Phil, and Zack)
The cake was reallyyyy good. They just ran out of forks…
They also had a live band playing in the bottom floor. Good vibe everywhere.
Zack and Phil in a Nike Store also on Dong Chu
A bread pyramid.
Walking in the Rain on the streets of Tian Mu with Zack and auntie.
OYSTER OMELETTE! There’s this place that my aunt always takes us to, on top of a food market, that makes THE best oyster omelette in town. (Im drooling right now…)
Yummy whole fish and other tasty dishes.
In our other class, we learned how to make a semi-automatic rubber-band gun made out of chopsticks and rubber-bands. It even has a safety feature, lol.
Orlando crewww
The Ice-Skating rink
The group! Us and a bunch of the Thai girls.
Wei Li Na sitting and me dancing
ON TOP OF THE WORLD!!!
We still have a lot more pictures, but we’ll save that for the next entry.
Keep checking for updates. Peace
-Rox
Finally updating this
FIRST AND FOREMOST, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BROTHER ZACK! BIG 20 DAMNNN! CLUBBING ON SATURDAY GONNA BE CRAZY!!!
Sooo we haven’t been uploading any pics lately because we forgot our usb cable at a friend’s house and our camera was broken for a week.
But turns out… there’s a memory card slot on my laptop lol, so now I can upload stuff!
So the next few pics are mainly of food, because one of the best things about being in Taiwan is eating delicious food every. single. day.
This is a famous Night Market called Miao Ko.
A stand selling all sorts of random food.
Authentic dry noodles and soup with meatballs.
Our new favorite snack. Taiwanese sausage wrapped in this rice thing with vegetables.
The streets of Taiwan. A bunch of ppl riding on scooters.
Me with my Ai Yi (Auntie) eating Korean BBQ.
MMM BBQ PORK CHOPS WITH KIMCHI
A war memorial
Us and new camp friends messing with soldiers that aren’t allowed to move lol.
Cool picture using one of the huge doors.
My dad getting crunk at this really nice Japanese Buffet.
Zack with my Dad’s friend and her daughter who brought us to the buffet.
Yummy pastries
Our camp took us to see this hot spring. It was pretty hot. Steamin’ hot.
Din Tai Fung is a really famous restaurant that served this steamed pork bun (xiao long bao!) (viet: bun bao!)
OM NOM NOM
You’re suppose to bite a hole on the side of the bun and let the juice drip onto your spoon. Then you drink the juice and then eat with bun with sliced ginger, omggg so good.
This next video is dedicated to Jon Linn. Zack demonstrates how to properly eat a xiao long bao.
-Rox
Just Arrived
So we’ve just arrived in Taiwan last night.
It’s pretty crazy coming back to the motherland.
Having to speak Chinese to get around is pretty interesting, but I like it alot.
They always look at me like, aw shit, you’re not from around here.
Below are some pics from the transit, not too exciting.
I’ll be posting more pics soon showing you guys what I see around town.
So be sure to come back from time to time and see what we’re up to.
Hi! Wassup with this Blog.
I am in Narita, Japan right now at the Raddisson hotel after missing our flight to Taipei.
So while I have free time, I decided to start up this blog.
The purpose of this blog will be to document my 2 month vacation to Taiwan.
I’ll be uploading all the things that we do, funny looking people, crazy food, etc.
So if you guys wanna follow what’s going on with Zack and Rox in Asia, please check back from time and to time and see what we’re up to.
Cool!
Later guys!
-Zack
