Ready Steady Go

Another busy start to the week, and also the first day it hasn't rained in awhile. It didn't rain Sunday while I was in Tainan though, either. Speaking of which, Tainan was a very interesting trip. Experienced the luxury of THSR (and the ample legroom was indeed luxurious), arrived in ChiaYi in an hour and a half, and got into the car with my Dad, aunt, and grandmother, just in time for lunch. We ate in Tainan at this amazing noodle place, and then went off to explore. Stops included the Museum of Taiwanese Literature, located in Tainan's old City Hall; a Confucius Temple; Mazu Temple (sea goddess); GuanGong Temple (war god)...

See a pattern?

Oh, and it justed started raining again. Spoke (rather, typed...) too soon. I posted an invitation to start a hiking group at ShiDa's Mandarin Center, but who knows if I'll get any interest at all...

Hopefully the rain won't dissuade people from hiking (and, by the way, hiking in the rain isn't quite as bad as it sounds!), but there's the upcoming Dragonboat Festival to consider anyway. Might be awhile before any kind of hike gets organized, if at all. Ah, well. I keep my hopes up!

---

Pictures from Saturday in Tainan:

The noodle place in Tainan (of which the name escapes me, as most Chinese restaurant names do) has a unique cooking method. Very cool!

Big tree in the Confucius Temple

Incense sticks burning in Mazu Temple

I love the carvings and reliefs on these temples! I believe this was at Mazu Temple as well. I took a lot of photos of temple decoration.

Another year older...

None the wiser?
Here's to hoping I'll survive my 21st year.

With lots of good food, presents, and company, I felt that last night was pretty great. I even made it through my homework for class afterwards. All in all, a nice, quiet success. Though, there was a near-encounter with some guy who insisted he could teach me how to pee standing up, like a guy. Ah, as curious as I was, caution took precedence there...

Changing subjects now...Today was fairly eventful, as I met with the director of the Taiwan International Animation Festival, a friend of my professor's who introduced me to the goings-on of the place. And now I'm booked to help them out every morning before class, starting at 9. Oooooh boy...We'll see how that works out.

Now, I suppose I should get packing for my trip to Tainan tomorrow morning. I'm super-excited to be traveling via Taiwan's High Speed Rail. My camera will be feeling that excitement heavily, I'm sure.

And Happy Birthday to fellow Gemini, Ingrid!