OOPS I'M BACK

Woah sorry for that long gap without any updates. We took a short trip that ended up being not so short haha( ^▽^;)

I'll get to that in the next post though, for now let me start back in Taipei before we left. This post is pretty picture heavy so I apologize if it takes longer to load. We had our first "shaved ice" (more like Suno) here at this place called Smoothie House. I guess it's a pretty popular location for it because there were many of these same restaurants in the area. Anyway, we tried the one covered in fruit and it was quite big. We split it between 3 people and I was satisfied. The pricing was about average I think for something similar in the US. 

After the tasty treat we hopped on the train and headed over to see the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial hall. It's a fairly large and noticeable building built in a very traditional style. I thought maybe it had been a former palace or something but it was actually built in the 80s as a memorial to the deceased president Chiang Kai-Shek. It houses a performing arts center and a concert hall as well as a historical center.

 HUUGE DOORS

 There was a band getting ready to practice I think, as we left. There were a couple gardens surrounding the main halls. They were pleasant and although very small, they offered a refuge from the hustle and bustle of outside where you could sit for a moment and watch the wildlife. It was extra hot outside while out in the open so we didn't stick around too long.
   Bicycles and scooters seem to be the travel must around here so we thought we'd give bicycle riding a shot. My last attempt at using a rental bike resulted in torn tights and a few scrapes, this time I'd say I fared a little better. Tell me why all the bikes for rent are always so BIG!? They never have smaller ones available so I'm stuck riding very high off the ground with my feet barely touching. It's okay while I'm moving but stopping and getting off are a challenge hence my new bruises on my leg. We rode and rode very far all the way to the shopping district of Wu Fen Pu and I only nearly got hit twice, not too bad for my first time biking in Taiwan! WE SURVIVED HAHA

We walked around a bit and I'm not sure where it was we ended up (We were basically just following our guide of the day) but there was more shopping and food so we stopped and ate at this funny little Italian place where they played kpop and most of the customers appeared to be women. Yue and I had a pesto pasta dish that was delicious and as usual it came with black tea (I don't know if I mentioned this fully but Black tea is the tea of choice here).

The day was not yet over though, there were many salons in the area so after checking some prices we picked one and Yue got herself a haircut. The salons here seem much more laid back and very busy for how late it was (it was after 9pm). I suppose people don't have time to get haircuts and end up getting it done in the evening. The stylists appear to wear what they want so they almost look like customers until you see the scissors come out! Yue is pleased with her new cut~

OKAY we called it a day after the haircut and a stop by the steam bun stand! And what a full day it was. I'll be updating more soon with our trip down south as well as a few more vlogs hopefully. The next few posts will also be pretty picture heavy as well so be prepared! 

~Savi