under my umbrella

...i still get wet.

it is currently monsoon/typhoon season, and of course, that means seasonal summer rain.

today, i went biking with michael, robert, allen, and jeff with the intention of going to Hengchun to get hair cuts, supplies, etc. but right as we left the gated area of nmmba, the skys opened. i was literally dripping water from my arms and legs as we rode back the 500 meters back to the lab to get ponchos and plastic bags for our stuff. then of course, as we rode back out, the skys were clear, for the moment. bike ride literally took about 1 hr, considering the strong wind resistance and the rain pouring down... fun.

didn't do much in town except eat some beef noodle soup, buy a few random things, and a mahjong set (felt jipped; i paid about $499NT for a miniature set... then i went into a bookstore today and saw a nicer set for $10NT more D=)

after getting back at 7:30pm and riding in the rain for another hour, i went to take a shower in the apartment. first thing i see, a centipede. hmm... hope they aren't frequent visitors.

let's see.. i got roommates over the weekend. melissa and annie, both are PhD students at SIO and UCSB respectively. they both pretty nice and awesome, but now i'm sleeping in the living room, on the sofa... haha. it's ok, i've gotten used to it, plus it's almost like having a room to myself, whereas annie and melissa are both in the room.

michael, robert, and i met up with cindy zheng of SDSC and tony tuesday while we were in taichung... and with hank too. psh, awol hank decides to show up and feign intelligence to our mentor and a few important spokes people.. lameass. anyway, we all went back to kenting together (except for hank).

of course, because cindy was there, us PRIME kids got pampered for a day... went to the tourist portion of the aquarium, had our lunch and dinner paid, and we to the kenting night market for the first time. blah. it was fun though.. while it lasted.

anyway, my experiment finally seems to be starting up now, but of course only because cindy was there and voiced some of our concerns to tony... *sigh* we'll see how everything comes along in these next couple of weeks.

taichung, part 2

alright, well, between these past 2 days, i can say that i've been mosquito bitten on every appendage except for my left arm. i currently count...3 on my right arm, 5 on my right leg, 9 on my left leg, and 2 on my face. *sigh*

on the other hand, it was well worth it considering all the places that michael, robert, and i went to yesterday. we did a temple tour of the northern part of the city.. taxing to the first temple, and then walking the whole day to the other ones. wooot.

as usual, there are about 20ish pictures, so hope they're enough to keep people occupied through all of them.

[food! it was like, fish steak something with mini hotpot on the side]

[bridge from the street to the outer wall entrance]

[the walkway leading to the Great Perfection Hall]

[close up look at the door to the temple]

[temple 1: Confucius Temple]

[fine details of the dragon in the middle of the stairway]

[shrine inside of the temple. i don't know if pictures were allowed inside.. 0_0]

[look at the details! lanterns hanging near the entrance of shrine area]

[baseball stadium(?) across the road from the temple]

[busy street below overhead crosswalk. traffic is scary]

[temple 2: Bao Jue Buddhist Temple. what's interesting is that there's also a Shinto Shrine as well. currently undergoing renovation][giant Buddha!! 0_0]

[pokeball! it's not supposed to be there...]

[smaller side shrine inside temple grounds]

[close up look inside the smaller shrine]

[temple 3: Wan He Temple. picture of entrance gate][view of temple itself. it has 5 floors]

[inside picture of the gate][furnace near the entrance. people go there to burn "sky gold" for ancestors]

[picture of main shrine on 5th floor. again, i didn't know if pictures were allowed...]

i have to say, i was in awe for most of the trips around to the temples. the 3 of us covered a Confuscius, Buddhist, and Mazu Temple at 3 different locations... absolutely amazing. and as i said several times.. i didn't know if i could take pictures. it felt a bit intrusive and almost disrespectful, but they were just so amazing and awe-spiring, that pictures had to be taken to remember their gloriousness. whew.

edit: happy birthday mom! =D i will call you later when it's actually feasible during the day in L.A.

taichung, part 1

whew. starting at 1:40pm, i waited 1 hr for the bus, 2.5 hrs to travel from the bus in checheng to the kaohsiung high speed rail, spending about 40 minutes on the HSR to get to taichung, then taking about 30 minutes on the bus to the SOGO stop, then waiting another 40 minutes to get picked up, i finally arrived and met up with robert and michael in taichung at 8pm.

the day and 2 nights i've been here has already been so freaking amazing and fun. after getting picked up, michael, robert and i, hung out with some of the guys that worked at NCHC at a japanese restaurant place, and later going to a pub. WHEW, pub, haha... it was very interesting for sure. the alcohol was ok, but ohmygoodness.. stupid boys. they had the pole dancer come up and dance... on my face. like, literally, on my face. she took my glasses off, put it in her panties and told me to take it out with my teeth. !!!! hahahah, oh man, i have to say that though it was super awkward and very very embarrassing, it was hilarious haha. got back at 2am, tired and a bit drunk, but had so much fun.

today was fun too. michael, robert, and i went to the national museum of natural science. when we met up with lydia, it was already 40 minutes past our original meeting time (we were unfortunately both waiting at different entrances). it was really fun and awesome. lot's of cool displays about chinese/taiwanese history, saw a 3D movie thing of planet earth, and toured the museum grounds outside the botannical garden. then we went and ate at a good restaurant and shopped around the night market. we finished off by going to a supermarket and buying lots of beer and such.. for the guys at NCHC of course, haha.

and now, pictures. there will probably be a whole lot, so bear with me.

[on the road to kaohsiung. the gray towards the water is the rain from the typhoon]

[strange boat like things on "water farms"]

[random temple in city street of kaohsiung]

[clock with moveable face parts at the SOGO mall in taichung]

[great hotpot food at the japanese restaurant]

[nice hotel room]

[random tea(?) station on the way to the pub]

[some local singers]

[on the street walking to the national museum of natural science]

[ONE of the entrance to NMNS..]

[living fossil tree, called bottle tree. originates from australia and was a gift to the museum]

[giant elephant that was endemic to taiwan back near the ice age]

[giant clock made especially for song dynasty emperors. operates by gears turned with water.]

[astronomical gazer sitting atop of the water clock]

[preserved baby giant squid]

[cool diorama of ancient, agricultural village]

[model of ancient fabric making machine]

[dried out, dead cicada]

[night market!]

[view of the street on edge of night market, very very busy]