Fodor's: WIN

Dear Christine,

Congratulations! Your photo was featured in Fodor's Buenos Aires, 2nd Edition along with photos from other travelers like you as a part of the guide's "Community Photo" feature.

Many titles in the Fodor's Gold Guide series include "Community Photo" features with pictures submitted through one of our popular "Show Us Your..." photo contests on Fodors.com. We believe that these photos and the memories they represent are part of what makes the Fodor's experience unique: enhancing the expertise of professional travel writers with personal insights from travelers like you.

Your photo appears on page 34.

In case you were too lazy to read that, I entered a photo contest with Fodor's on a whim and it won! All I get are bragging rights and a free book. LOOK AT ME BRAG. YAY!

Cute Chinese Crime

Note to Self (and any American that comes to China): When you are taking pictures of cute toddlers/babies on the side of the street, review the picture after you take it. Chinese babies have a tendency to wear split pants that show, when they are stooping down, their baby privates.

 

For example, in the case of this cute little nugget, maybe I took a picture of his baby junk, maybe I didn't. For legal reasons, I can't show you. 

Arachnophobia

There are pouches of spider nests in my room. I don't know if that makes sense and I don't know how spiders are born but I'm assuming they form from these HUGE POUCHES ALONG MY WALL. Eeks!

AH! Phoebe and I were hanging out in my room and all of a sudden a huge spider crawls from nowhere into the wall, a place which I originally thought was just a knot in the paint.. BUT NO, it's a living, breathing home for spiders to throb in. It was moving in there like a heart beating in someone's chest - another assumption, I don't think I've seen someone's heart beat in their chest.

I know that spiders are good for you because they kill zee bugs and obvi I have a ton of bugs in my room but, RAWR! I don't like either. At least they're pretty easy to get rid of... I'm trying to figure out what to do with the pesky cat who is always staring at me from outside my room when I exit and CRYING at night. Look kitty, I'm a tiger but I'm not your momma. 

What's for breakfast?

What about a large dose of internet with a huge bottle of water and some crackers? YEAH.

I can't. stop. reading. Jersey Shore recaps. 

Nothing reminds me more of trashy American TV like Jersey Shore. I can't wait for real TV to start as well, though I'm having a hard time figuring out how to watch it all. Tudou.com? Maybe when I get more regular bandwidth. I can't bear to steal too much bandwidth from my fellow postmates.

Oh look, another pic of me and Phobe, who doesn't like? We're probably wearing the same clothes in other photos that you've seen because we wear the SAME THINGS over and over in China and no one cares and no one remembers but us. Both of us were actually thinking about keeping track of the things that we wear, just so we can shame ourselves into wearing a variety of clothes. Recently, I wore my Anthro butterfly dress for 72 hours in a row. I love that dress. Good to sleep and good to party. 

But seriously... I need to go find food and unpack. 

Countdown to September

School starts on September 1 and I don't yet have the teaching materials. I also haven't completely unpacked because of a combination of many things: 1) I'm lazy, 2) There isn't any room, 3) There hasn't been power here on my mountain, and strangely enough I haven't been able to contain my panic when there's no power. I assume soon I'll get used to this, but for now... when there's no power, I usually want to do everything in my power, to find it. 

How to I make my room into a home and less of a storage space? Remember when I used to have issues cleaning my room? Well, it looks like things haven't changed. BTW, fun tidbit: last night, I used my bra as a pillow. It definitely didn't work as well as I had hoped and today I thankfully am back in my own bed and my own foam pillow. NO REGRETS ON MY OVER PACKING!!!

Teaching Schedule

I've just been told that I'll be teaching one class of 7th graders consisting of 60+ kids and one class of 5th graders, who knows how many? The people of my town have yet to see a white person. They are SO excited at the possibility of seeing white people! The eyes of the little girl who I spent the morning with literally widened in anticipation of the possibility of seeing my friends who are real. white. people.

Soon, little girl, soon. 

Get ready for this!

Just put it in a bag

What is up with the Chinese habit of putting everything in a bag? I remember once when I was a child, my mom put fried rice in a ziploc for me and I was horrified. Well, this is like that, but much worse. 

Oh, you're done with dinner but you can't seem to finish that soup? Where is the cylinder container that you're used to carrying your soup in? NOT here. 

Dump it in a bag. Afraid it will leak? Double bag.  You must be wondering...what sort of bag? Surely they must use a special soup bag. NOPE, just a regular grocery plastic bag. OH ZHONG GUO.

Hello, Shaojie

How did I go from baking cupcakes in DC to living in rural China?

 

I now live in Shaojie, Maolan, Yunnan, China. Population: 8,000. Elevation: 5,905.51 ft or 1800 m. It is a for real mountain village. The 'ville, for short if you please. One mountain road in, one mountain road out, nothing to do but play Picasa (classify faces on Picasa) and marvel at the fact that I live in the mountains.  

 

Shit just got real. 

 

I just spent a full hour washing less than 16 pairs of underwear. I think once I get proper internet I'm going to have to figure out the right way to do this in the least time possible. How the hell do you use a washboard? I just bought one and it has helped me to feel a little more confident that my underwear is clean, but the fact that I can't be sure is sad to me.

 

I can't decide right now if the fact that I'm worrying about clean underwear is refreshing or… something else entirely. What did I used to worry about? How many claims I was going to complete in one day? Sitting in a cube? Playing with old files and trying to understand what constitutes PTSD? Traffic?

 

Now I worry about whether or not there will be hot showers in winter, how will I get all the nutrients I need to survive and I rejoice in the idea that maybe the 20 lbs I gained while eating ribs at the VA will come off my ribs, that much faster.

POSTED... 4 to 5 days later

Thanks to rural China and its random power outages, I've been running in and out of hotels, sometimes the same hotel for the past week. 

One night, I checked into a hotel, thinking I would stay one night, and ended up extending it to two nights, checking out, then rechecking in to the same room for a third night. Bliss.

It's ok. The rooms were ca. $10 USD per night and there were Western toilets. My standards for luxury are obscenely low, I'm happy with air conditioning and with a toilet. I'd be in pig heaven with just a toilet actually... because this is where I'm living.

It's super quaint, if you're going away for a romantic weekend... mountains surround me, mist rises in the morning and I feel like I'm in the midst of a scenic paradise.

 

Then my foot hits the ground and I realize that I live in a structure that was built in 1970s in China, which may as well have been in the 1870s. Boo. Whatever. If it's been around for 40 years, it will stand for another 2?

I have way too many things for my baby room, but who is surprised there? Instead of unpacking now, I'm planning on camping out in front of this laptop until someone makes me go to bed. (NO one makes me go to bed)

I'm not quite sure what pics I've just posted but I'm assuming it's my room, mi casa, and another pic of mi casa. I live on the room most on the left. The ceilings are probably no more than 6 feet tall and that makes me unhappy. I also just saw a spider nest. That makes me unhappy as well. I just yelled in frustration. I WILL KILL THEM TOMORROW :(

Posted!

Dear Blog,

Too bad my poor internet connection won't let me post pics. See you soon! Love, Christine

Can I get an amen for hygiene?

Tonight at dinner, Tom asked me if there was I felt a cat brush my foot under the table. I shrugged him off and told him it was probably my skirt. Then, a cat scurried from under the table into the outer room. 

This picture is that cat. Eating freshly cooked fish under the table that I am eating from. The same fish. Rawr, indeed. 

Sanitation? Hygiene? FACK. Oh well, it's China. 

Chinese people let us ride their cars and smoke their pipes

In the name of winning the scavenger hunt... Phoebe and I were willing to do anything to win, including coax strangers back into their tragons and hand over ciggies to smoke from their metal bongs. 

Who doesn't want a sexy treat?

Look what was waiting for me at the hotel! RAWR! All I ever wanted. Senior man trousers? Oh, how I have missed you. 

...and there were free toothbrushes!

Before the posting

So apparently, instead of going to Shaojie directly, my administrators decided to give us a mini-vacation. I'm bunked up in a hotel right now with some of my friends and writhing in anticipation of going down. The place that I'm going to go to is apparently quite poor but the people are very kind and generous. Our administrators have told us that they're going to pay for our kitchen supplies so that we'll be able to cook for ourselves. I'm excited and terrified all at once. 

I can only hope that where I'm living looks even a little bit like Lincang No 1 Middle School: in the middle of nowhere but... gorgeous. 

LEAVING FOR POST TODAY

I'm leaving from the training to my post around 5 pm today. It's 2 hours away from Lincang. We're apparently living in a wooden teacher's dorm and there is only running water on the ground floor. IN-TER-ESTING. Cannot wait to tell you more. 

READ THIS BLOG

Because I don't write as much as I want to - you should probably take a look at Tom's blog.

http://blogs.princeton.edu/pia/personal/thoffecker/

He may have sounds on his blog but I adamantly believe that I have better pictures. 

Beautiful Tuscanesque Views?

I can't decide which one I like better but both were taken off the roof the place where I ate fried rice yesterday. I don't know if you'll be able to see this, but you should definitely click to enlarge. 

Paradise Found!

Pizza exists in Lincang! Cheese! Bread! Meat! Mushrooms! Peppers! All in one place. My mouth. Rawwwwwwr. 

... and how we found the place was so random! A few of the staff were at the airport picking up the new intern when they ran into a blonde lady from Oklahoma with big blue eyes, named Jermaine. I've only been told this story about 3x so I'm just going to go off of what I have heard. Jermaine has been living in Lincang, Yunnan, China for about three years now and she loves this pizza place. She also seems to have a farm and some sort of cheese farm with mozzerella, feta, and ricotta. Jermaine/Germaine may also be Mormon. I suddenly want to know more about Christ that is within me (at least my name).

 I know that this weekend is going to be better already, because the first thing that I want to put in my mouth after a few beers is a hot slice.

C'mon, you have to admit. This might even look good in America. NEXT, the quest for hot wings and ranch. 

CS-ta

Everyday in training, from 3 to 4pm, we take a CS-ta aka... we revert back to 8th grade boys with very few friends and play Counterstrike. There are even mic'ed up headphones that allow us to talk with our teams. By we, I mean like... 8 of us that all play in the same lab. One of the 8 of us is, in fact, a 12 year old boy named David, who constantly has to listen to us curse foully and make up creative relevant names that pertain to our work. 

This is the fourth day that I have played CS and I have to say, thanks to CS I now feel confident in my ability to shoot someone/zombies with a gun if necessary.

Meet Tom. He kills me ALL ZEE TIME.

Everything I do....

I've done it for them.

Meet the kids attending my camp! From L to Right, Tom, Sandy, Lucy, Emma, Heather, Bryan, Lucas, Sam, Jack, Happy, Patrick, Nina, and New Nina (New Nina entered the class after I had already named another girl Nina...both are VERY CUTE)

The naughtiest with the best!

Tom is walking away from New Nina who is trying to get him to listen to me.

SEEN IN CHINA

A dream is a wish your heart makes

What does it mean when I dream of BBM and heels?

I really wanted to type up a blog post last night when I finally got to my computer last night.... but I got a little too melancholy, then too sleepy that I couldn't type. :( I miss my friends!

Most of my nights are spent doing work and making lesson plans for K-3 kids who just like drawing pictures and laughing at the teacher. On Friday, we completed a scavenger hunt where we did amazing things with strange Chinese men. You know my motto, anything to win, anything. I sweat blood and tears, scraped my legs on gravel and pebbles and BOOM. My team won. 

 Pictured: All winners.

I miss coffee. SO MUCH.

I miss other things too.

Being able to digest food solidly.

Not coughing up shit

Elevators.

Electricity in my room.

My friends. 
All of my shoes. 

You, especially if you're reading my blog.

Today I read If you take a mouse to the movies...   to my kids - they're ridiculously cute and supremely gifted. There's nothing I love more than seeing interest in children's eyes... and nothing annoys me more than children who cut up and don't pay attention. I named all the kids in my class after boys in our program. Alex, Lucas, Tom, Patrick, Peter... Hello America! I named all the girls beautiful names that I love - Lily, Eva, Kathleen, Emma, Sarah, Nina, Sophie, Charlotte... these kids are just summer camp kids, I only have them for another week. Don't feel bad if you're name wasn't named to someone else... these are only my temp class! You know who you are - get ready to meet your Chinese counterpart.

Things about China that are awesome... I can eat tomatoes and eggs EVERYDAY if I want to...

My breakfast costs only .33. The people that I surround myself can all carry tunes and know amazing amounts of words to songs that I love with the exception of Rocky Top. 

I don't know if you can access this but... this is the song that I'm obsessed with right now.

 http://huilingcashmere.com/swf/02.mp3

Happy trails!

Pics of me looking hot

HA! If you thought that you were going to see me looking sad or suffering on my wooden slats.... dream on.

 

Please pay special attention to the picture of me and Phoebe - Feebs and I are stationed out in the country together. Us and one other Chinese fellow will be living in a county where there are hot springs and supposedly a brewery...... :) BOOM. I can't wait!

 

The other photo is simply of Tom, Lucas, Sam, and I balling out of control at this Burmese resto in Lincang, Yunnan, China!

Decisions, decisions.

Let's take a quiz. Good idea or bad idea.

 

Good idea or bad idea:

 

When your friend is a 6 ft tall sweaty boy playing basketball and he wants to switch shirts with you, you say sure. Good idea or bad idea?

 

What about if I told you that we were in an intercultural basketball tournament to the death where the other team was cherrypicking and sandbagging out the ass?

 

This is probably a bad idea, but I did it anyway! Something in my 24 years of living that I have never done before, switched my dry white tee for a dark grey (originally light grey) wet one.

 

Hmm. Pictures to come later.

Rural Living

DOES include access to karaoke. Fear not my friends, if you thought that I would be in Asia without a KTV in sight, you will be relieved to know that I can and have sung many a BSB song last night. .. and Spice Girls. I'm in good hands.

 

I haven't really updated this blog because I've been just continously ill. Working too hard, you know?

 

Let's see... here's the lowdown on my living conditions:

 

I sleep on a wooden slat, which over time, makes everything on it, including me smell like the wooden slat.

 

I shower in stall that not only has a shower head, but also has a hole, where I could - if I wanted to, pee in. YAY.

 

Where I live has no mirrors, but I was smart enough to already have brought one.

 

There are no electrical outlets in the rooms. It is incredibly strange and it allows many people to be social.

 

I'm a hot mess and I'm sure that my roommates hate me. We live 3 to a room and there are 8 beds. Guess how many I might have adopted as holder of my things? If you guessed HALF OF THEM, you would have been correct. Sad, but true. I don't regret it!

 

Crocs are my life saver.

 

Do you ever enjoy coming home and kicking off your shoes, then running to the toilet, maybe unwind a little bit with some reading material on the john? NONE OF THOSE THINGS CAN HAPPEN ANYMORE. Instead..... I run home all the time, switch into flip flops and hover over a porcelain - (swank!) hole.

From Lincang!

I've just traveled from Kunming to Lincang... a rather large city to a generally much smaller and more conservative one. So small in fact that we've just been issued a curfew and cannot stay out past 11 pm, which is probably for the best since yesterday, I spent 8 hours on a bus where I was alternately heaving and weaving on a bus going throught the mountains because I had stayed out until 4 am the night/day previously.

 

Things that I've discovered since arriving in China:

 

Finding a McDonald's at 2:30 in the morning is always worth it, especially when that option is imminently going to be taken from you.

 

Crocs feel amazing.

 

I can't believe that I'm doing this for two years. Yikes.

 

I don't think that this is a complete blog but I'm going to post it anyway.

 

Cell phone stolen!

My first night in Yunnan and my cell phone was stolen while I was dancing on stage at the disco. WHAT A MESS.

Because I can't post on Facebook and it's only two pictures!

I love that I'm back in Beijing and already I've seen two of my friends from studying abroad, THREE YEARS AGO. Rawr! (1) Mike and I at First Floor, (2) Keiko and I in the lobby of the Raffles Hotel! I hope these post in order!

AHHH

It's DAYLIGHT in Beijing and FINALLY SPAIN HAS SCORED!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THE WORLD CUP. Who cuts Fernando Torres's hair? I would like to be that woman. ... and is Iker Casillas crying? LOVE WORLD CUP.

The end is near!

A cab driver told me that the progressively hot burning heat that Beijing is experiencing is inevitably going to lead to the end of the world. I didn't understand about 15% of what he was saying but he seemed pretty rational. He commented that the end of the world wasn't going to come in one fell swoop, it's a gradual process. One much like the conditions that we're experiencing. It's a 104 degrees right now. I encounter heat exhaustion every time I return from outside. When I'm outside, it feels like I'm being roasted alive inside of a Dutch oven. FFFFFFFFF this heat!

The end is near!

A cab driver told me that the progressively hot burning heat that Beijing is experiencing is inevitably going to lead to the end of the world. I didn't understand about 15% of what he was saying but he seemed pretty rational. He commented that the end of the world wasn't going to come in one fell swoop, it's a gradual process. One much like the conditions that we're experiencing. It's a 104 degrees right now. I encounter heat exhaustion every time I return from outside. When I'm outside, it feels like I'm being roasted alive inside of a Dutch oven. FFFFFFFFF this heat!

Back to Beijing!

I figured out a way to post and see my own blog, but I can't post pictures. AH!!!! Either I brush up on my HTML or cry cry cry all the way to eccentriciqi.onsugar.com. Boo!

The flights back to Beijing were eventful. I sat next to an extremely obese man in 4F who loved the fact that I was an American that he could talk to. Too bad he lacked a little of what I like to call volume control and tact. I know, we should talk about the most controversial things in American politics and bad mouth the President with no regard of the opinions of the other person that you're talking to.

That makes a TON of sense. Needless to say, he drove me to drink and promptly pass out. Then, after exiting the flight, I promptly began my run to customs. My policy is always to get from the plane to customs as quickly as possible since you have no idea if you're the only flight to get in at that time.. or one of 10, as was the case tonight.

I ran into the line right after a couple that had sat 2 seats away from me. Surrounding me were people from Kazantzakis and Indians. Guess which group didn't respect the idea of queuing? About 5 minutes after I waited in line, this guy rolled up in his suitcase and just stood next to me. No words, no response. He wasn't with the people behind me, he just stood there. I looked at him and said, if you cut me in line, I will trip you.. and smiled. He didn't understand. About 30 mins later, I exited past customs after multiple people including a woman with a baby in arms cut in front of me. Seriously, I understand that you have a baby but at have the decency to fill out those damn immigration forms BEFORE YOU CUT 100 people in line.

Lines make me insane. I get into a cab where I have no idea what the cab driver is saying because he has a classic case of muffin-in-mouth Beijing accent. He asks me where I'm from (of course he does) and I ask him to guess, agree with his guess and commend him on his brilliance.. OOOOOOO and then the car halts in the middle of the highway where Chinese drivers have gotten out of their cars and are just standing in the streets to see what the commotion is. Only in China people. It was obvi a gov't thing because we sat there for 10 mins before I asked him to find another way, which was also blocked. By the time I got to my cousin's, it was 12.30 and my body was throbbing.

RAWR. I hope you had a great America Day! A/C, Cold beer, grills, and gingham.. nothing's better.

Scary huge contacts

I just read this article in the NYtimes on contacts that enlarge the eyes and colored contacts being not only the rage in Asia but it's now coming to the States. How true.

Before on bottom. YIKES. But remarkable!

The girl who washed my hair these past two weeks had these huge anime eyes that made me stare at her more than 10x the first time I saw her. I kept doing this eye flick, back and forth from my eyes to her eyes. The articles talks about how risky it is to wear contacts not prescribed by a doctor. I know that the article is right. In Asia, the emphasis is all about physical looks and mainly the eyes. I have one cousin who has had the surgery done and as a result looks rather strange to me. The other girl cousin has green contacts. I don't know what it is, but I just don't like them. Love yourself, love your brown eyes?

I've tried the blue contacts on myself. I thought I looked good, at 13. Not ten years later ya'll. There are two types, one is the kind that you're probably most familiar with, they're simply colored, but the other type, apparently were inspired by Gaga's Bad Romance video - which I actually don't think is true. They're newer but not that new...they creepily enlarge the radius of your eyes.

They look huge and fleshy and gross! You can purchase them here: www.tokioshine.com.

Seeing this girl makes me think I'm in the middle of a disco underground rave, maybe some sort of strange anime live action movie...yuck!

Whose ear?

Oh right, the Jew's ear sweet soup! Isn't that right next to the ...

It's amazing what gets printed for public consumption in Asia. Thanks for the treat, Taiwan.

Hello Kitty SWEETS

First of all, let me preface, I don't even like to eat sweets and yet all I've been taking pictures of are sweets. They are cuter. No one likes to look at a curry. But the culminating sweets experience that I've been meaning to have is the Hello Kitty Sweets experience. It's an authorized Hello Kitty resto!

AH! I've been fantasizing about this moment for a long time.. and yet, I couldn't. First of all, all the Shin Yeh buffet eating prohibited me from stuffing my face with sweets and when you're not in the mood, there's no use trying to force it. Fortunately, as my aunt was distracting the hostess, I managed to snip snap a ton of pics.

the exterior.

the sumptious interior.

Hello Kitty prints on marble? CLASS.

.. You've seen the HK bit, now the Sweets.

 I love my college roommate Whitney for humoring my love for HK and baking me all those Hello Kitty cakes two years ago. Now that I've seen the authorized cakes, I love my homemade ones even more! It's scary how delighted I was to see these cakes! SO freaking cute!

 It's off of the Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT exit, in case you were wondering.

Pâtisserie Sadaharu Aoki

There are only 7 Aoki Patisseries in the world, one of them is in Taiwan. It's open in the newest most decadent shopping center in Taipei, Bellavita. Everyone has a different story and who has opened it and how it came to be, basically it's down the street from Taipei 101 and inside, all the most expensive stores that you would expect on 5th reside here!

I heard about Aoki through the blog, hungryintaipei.blogspot.com, one girl's amazing blog, eating through all of Taipei. If you're there, I highly recommend giving it a read through.

After I saw some of her pics, I knew I had to go. I was salivating in anticipation and shamelessly took as many pictures as I could.

macarons. drool.

zooooooom. looking at them makes me starvingggggggg

not hungry for macarons, fine. get one of these babies in your mouth, stat!

splendid! they look like works of art. it's amazing how beautiful food reduces me to only complimentary phrases.

Bonbon? Oui!

Choco covered macaron? Seriously, do you get the idea?

I wanted to sample so badly!

I recommend that you should go and drool for yourself.

I just love all the colors and the attention to detail. If you're in Tokyo, Paris, or Taipei, you should stop by Sadaharu Aoki!

Obvi click to enlarge, .....this blog had no point except me showcasing how awesome food is.  :)

Somebody to Love... Justin Bieber

FACK. I don't know why. I can't explain it. I LOVE THIS SONG.




I'm trash. Love me?

Thinking thoughts and Listing lists

Sorry guys for not posting more often. For a while, I was on a roll, but now, since I'm not sure which blog I want to continue on - based mostly on the accessibility in China thing - I've been testing out all my options over at the other blog:


eccentriciqi.onsugar.com


The truth is, I don't like it as much, it seems sterile, this one is more homey. It feels more mine. But... it won't feel as mine after I no longer have editing capacity for months at a time. The idea of having a word misspelling and not being able to correct it gnaws at my soul..


I'm leaving Taipei on the 4th and once I land in Beijing. I will make my final decision. For a while, I may just send links from the other blog to this one. 


Trust me, it's for the best. More pictures, polls, links, and possibly videos of me. I've been uber busy in Taiwan and I've bought very many things. I probably shouldn't equate the two, but if you know me... you'd know it's related.


Today, I cut my hair off.... and I did while video chatting multiple people - Greg, Flora, Grace. Hey! I also went to the Hello Kitty Sweets Sanrio authorized cafe here in Taipei. I don't know what I was thinking, thinking that I wouldn't buy anything in Taiwan while I was here. Sure I've overpacked by a ton, but now I have even more stuff!!


I miss hanging out with people my own age. Seeing Nick last week was a breath of fresh air and I might have acted like a complete insane person because I have not spoken much English to someone that I can see in a long time. I MISS YOU, AMERICAN FRIENDS.


NEW THINGS ACQUIRED IN TAIWAN
3 pairs of shoes
2 new necklaces
8 pairs of socks
1 origami craft book
1 Muji notebook...maybe 2, not positive
7 Muji pens
2 Muji markers
2 kirigami craft books
1 book on drawing with ball point pens. 
2 HK folders
10 sheets of stickers
1 new umbrella
1 set of chopsticks and spoon in a soft pouch
1 HK bag in the design of Marc Jacobs - tre cute!
1 USB powered fan in the shape of a tiger
1 pitcher with two cups
1 mug designed by my cousin who is not book smart but kind of good at drawing stuff
3 sets of clips to hang my wet laundry
4 delicate clothes holders
1 yellow beard papa bag


THINGS I LEARNED IN TAIPEI
portable washing machines exist and hello, I will be buying one.


you can swing on a swing in a restaurant at your table, and i have. 


you can chat while having your hair cut, online.


Hello Kitty is everywhere. and i loves it.


arguing with the woman at fujifilm is infuriating. leaving my face for her to stare at as i am planning on never picking up my picture, WIN.


humidity = life in taiwan. can you say, sweatfest? my clothes are continuously drenched in m-f sweat