Language

I won't lie.  Leaving the house is kinda exhausting.  It's not so much physical as I am adjusting to the weather and the humidity.  It's more the mental aspect of it, knowing that leaving my house entails complicated, mentally challenging, possibly embarrassing moments when trying to execute simple tasks such as buying breakfast.  Oh well, I guess the good thing is that this will become less of an issue the more I get out there and practice/learn Mandarin, right?  I will say one thing for any of you would-be Asian travelers.  Learning how to say "I'm sorry but I can't speak your language" in the local tongue is sure to elicit laughs and works as an ice breaker.  There's your pro tip for the day.  :)

And I thought my sleep schedule was getting better but yesterday (5.6.2010) was the weirdest day of sleep yet.  Woke up at 6:00am, napped from 8:00pm to 9:30pm and then fell asleep again at 5:30am,  Bizarre.

Anyhoo, yesterday was a great food day.  I discovered the most delicious bowl of noodles.  Just phenomenal.  A bowl of boiled noodles with greens and a bit of pork topping infused with dried shrimps.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.  In addition, I ate the best egg custard tart I have ever eaten.  Perfect flaky crust.  I must eat more.  Once I am done here I think I am going to go out for noodles and the custard tart.

What else, what else.  I took care of my medical examination.  As a fully sponsored employee, I am entitled to state-run health care.  It costs around 15 bucks per month and is, from most accounts, very good.  The U.S. really needs to get its s*** together and provide this service.  The hospital itself was sleek and modern.  My brother informed me that it was recently built.  Oh, and another example of random Taiwan kindness:  Some random, I-just-ended-my-shift dude was flirting with a hospital receptionist but, as soon as he learned that I needed directions to the International Health office, he escorted me to my destination.  It was NOT a short walk but he was super nice and we had a conversation in my signature Chinese/English dialect.  Thanks a lot, random dude!

Other than that, it was a fairly average day.  Morning market, morning exploration, poker/reading, afternoon exploration, more poker/reading, nap, meet with brother for night market eats, late night TV with him and then bed.  Not terrible, as far as I am concerned.

Pictures...as always, hover over "notes" for captions:

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And I made a few videos so you can see what it is like to ride on a scooter in Taiwan:

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