Back in Taipei

It feels so surreal to be back in Taiwan. Just half a year ago, I thought it would be ages before I set foot on Taiwanese soil. But here I am using New Taiwan Dollars, speaking in my Singlish-accented Chinese and hearing Mandarin and Hokkein spoken inside of the all-too familiar Singlish. The best thing about being a foreigner in Taiwan is that your nationality itself is an ice-breaker. Today I just met two Taiwanese girls who casually asked me what time Sogo closes. Apparently I look pretty local (that’s good meaning I won’t be “cheated” when I go shopping, but then again when I open my mouth...). Have met my host AL, very easy-going chracter. I have a whole room to myself. Only drawback is that there is no wireless. So I have no idea when I’ll be able to update my blog. Knowing how “monophobic” I am, I’m pretty proud that I made it all the way to Taipei all by myself. Sure I was all jittery when I saw the flight announcement of how the gates were closing, trying hard to figure out which stop to get off the coach, but everything went pretty smoothly.

Taiwan from above