Early Days in Taipei

I went to Ximending（西门町）today, and bagged nothing from my shopping experience there. It has been unproductive for the past day, so I decide that before heading for bed, I had better set my blog up as a fulfilment of a self-promise when I embark on my SEP to Taiwan. Here it is, the start of records of my SEP experience in Taiwan.

I arrived in Taipei in the afternoon of 27 August, and three kind Taiwanese students from the National Taiwan University picked us up at the Chiang Kai Shek International Airport. They drove us to the dormitory, and after we had dropped our luggage there, ferried us to the local Carrefour hypermarket in the vicinity.

The Carrefour is humongous. I purchased bed linen, mattress, blanket, pillow, and other necessities and all these have cost me a hefty NTD 3000+. Looks like I have to settle on cheap air tickets to my preferred destinations from Taiwan.

I went back to the dormitory and made friends with my Austrian roommate, Marcus. For a split second, I thought he's gonna speak German to me but it turned out that he can converse well in English. If linguistics have not posed a problem, the living conditions in my room surely do. I won't deem them appalling, but I spent a good two days srubbing and cleaning until my fingers went all wrinkled. I think I had not done so much housework before this. Despite these efforts, ants still come crawling in from the windows. I continued my efforts at keeping the room clean, till Marcus made a remark that I'm a Singaporean who's always kept himself busy all the time. I can't help it, I guess, though I'm not exactly a hygiene freak.

The second day, 28 August, saw me settling my accomodation with the administration in the university. I had also bought a bicycle for convenience in the campus. Here's thanks to Raymond Kwan who had taught me the now-crucial skills of cycling early this year. I still have difficulties make swerves and acute turns, but I hope that things will work out fine without too many falls on my part. After all, the mosquitoes have reinforced the ants to terrorize me at nights, and my legs are now covered with bites that glow on my fair complexion. Nevertheless, I had garnered enough spirit in the evening to buy a Levi's buttoned shirt. My first and only merchandise in Taiwan, at least for the time being.

Anyway, footages or photographs will be uploaded soon. This blog shall serve as my personal diary on my SEP experience in Taiwan, and as a check on my English proficiency and standard, lest it deterioates during my stay here.