Arrival: Taipei, Taiwan!

Howdy Friendfolk!

I have safety arrived in Taipai after a 4 hour flight, 1 hour forward clock switch-a-roo, and a 15 degrees drop in temperature!! :| it is only 20 degrees here - I am dying its so cold! haha. Why do I always choose to travel to the cold countries! silly me!

But yeah arrive and then took a bus then a subway and then met up with Ken, my couchsurfing host! hes from Taiwan but grew up in Oklahoma, and his 4 other roommates are americans from arizona and michigan! they are all going to school here!

So tonight Ken asked if I wanted to go to kickboxing with him- I said sure why not! haha So we went to this beautiful area with temples and a pavillion and it is a Danish guy named Anders who hosts this kickboxing class on Tues/Thurs every week. its basically just all Foreigners who go and do kickboxing in the middle of this area. It was really fun but also a hard workout! hahaha Im lazzzzzy!! :D

Then afterwards Ken took me to a night market around his house and we just wandered and drank milk tea - its kind of like bubble tea cause it had tapioca beads on the bottom - but more milky! but it was supppper delicious!!

Tomorrow I am going to wander Taipei unattended in search of Temples and pretty things!! Wish me luck :D

Cheerio Folks!

Lets learn Thai!!

Heya Friendfolk!

Lets learn all the Thai that I have learned thus far!

Lesson time! :)

yes = Chai
no = my chai

ka/krap = (fem/masc) added to the end of words to be polite

Hello = sa-wat-dii-ka
Goodbye = lah gorn
Thank you = kap-kun-ka

spicy = Pet not spicy = my pet
want = ow don't want = my ow
can = die can not = my die

How much is it? = tow rai

No Worries = My Ben Lai

Sorry = Kor Toht

like = Chorp
Dont like = My chorp

I/me (masc) = pom I/me (fem) = di-chan
You = kun

How are you? = Sa-Bai Dee Reu
I'm Fine = Sa-Bai Dee

Go Straight = DTrong PBai
Turn Left = lee-o Sigh ka
Turn Right = lee-o Kwah Ka

Temple = Wat

Help = Choo-ay Doo-ay

Stop = Yut

A little = Nit Noy

I understand = Kow Jai
I Don't Understand = Mai Kow Jai

0 = soon
1 = neung
2 = sorng
3 = sahm
4 = see
5 = hah
6 = hok
7 = jet
8 = baat
9 = gow
10 = sip
20 = yee-sip
21 = yee-sip-et
50 = hah-sip
100 = neung roy
1000 = neung pan

How much? = tow rai
Expensive = Paang

Big = Yai
Small = Lek

Today = wan nee

Bus = rot bat

Fat = uon
Chubby = uop


Thats all for now!! Don't you feel smarter?? haha :)

Koh Chang again!!

Oh Koh Chang! What a wonderful place!! :) Kayaking, Trekking, and waterfalls galore! :) Happy times! Geoff and I went together on Tuesday because it is exam week and thus we have Tuesday-Saturday off for vacation! We stayed at Jungle Way, the same palce I stayed at last time. I love it! and Geoff rented a motorbike for us - cause I cannot drive myself - and we toured the island for 3 days! Then everybody else basically showed up too!! So there were LOTS of exchangers around! But thennnn due to the political demonstrations that are currently occuring in Bangkok - they stole ammunition and grenades and such - my final exam on the Sunday was cancelled along with classes on monday/Tuesday! BUTTTT we didnt know about Mon/Tues until we arrived BACK in bangkok on Sunday evening!! DANG! hahah coulda spent two more days on the islandddd!! thats ok though i had a great time! :)

Taiwan Travel plans :)

So here are my plans for Taiwan.

Flight BKK - TPE March 18th Depart 13:10 Arrive 17:50
Stay two nights by myself in Taipei to explore :)

Train from Taipei - Kaohsiung March 20th Depart: 06:30 Arrive: 08:12The conference in is the south in Koahsiung. :)

Symposium March 20 09:00 March 21 17:00
APXLDC March 21 17:00 March 27 18:00
Post Tour March 27 19:00 March 30 15:30

Flight TPE - BKK March 30th Depart 18:20 Arrive 20:50

My Post tour includes this:
Day 1: Kaohsiung - Taipei
Show us around Taipei city and go to Shi Lin Night market.
Day 2: Taipei - Hualien (Eastern Taiwan)
Go to Chingshui Cliff, Visit Taroko National Park and hike the Shakadang Trail to see the Eternal Spring Shrine then Go to the Buluowan Recreation area and see the Swallow grotto then go through the Tunnel of Nine Turns Trail. Afterwards go to Hualien City and visit the Nanbin Night market.
Day 3: Hualien
Arrive at Songyuan memorial residence which is the only remaining architecture build during Japancese colonial rule. Then head to Chixingtan which is a famous bay shaped like a new moon. There take the Coastal Bicycle trail. Then visit RuiShui form, and at night visit MAKUDAAI. Then return to hotel in RuiShui hot spring zone to have a nice peaceful night.
Day 4: Hualien - Taipei
Travel up to Taipei via train.

Woot!! I am so VERY VERY excited!!

Bed Supper Club!

Hello Friendfolks!

a few nights ago a bunch of us went to a club called Bed Supper Club. Now why do they call it this? Well because earlier in the evening they serve you dinner in bed, which is expensive but delicious apparently, and then later it is a Club....that has beds everywhere! hhaha Now, While I was there I did not see anything inappropriate on said beds, but I was there early and left early as well.

Bed Supper club offers ladies night every first Wednesday of the month! Means no cover and 3 free drinks! Which is a steal since drinks are expensive at this club - $10 a drink. BRUTAL! haha Catch is you have to get there before 11 and drink your dirnks before 11. So we arrived at 10:45PM. I ordered all three of my tequila sunrises at once since they stop serving free drinks after 11 too, so I ordered em up, and drank em down. too bad they were half shot drinks. haha Otherwise it may of taken some effect. No such luck. Just some tasty orange juice really!!

But the club is filled with Beds, which were funny to hang around on. They played bad techno on one side of the bar, and Latino style music on the other. So we were on the Latino side, but that is hard to dance to if you are untalented - WHICCCH I most CERTAINLY am.....untalented that is. hahha. So we were on the floor, attempting to move gracefully, but really all I wanted was some Lady Gaga to come on. HAHHA. So we left fairly early!! Below are some pictures from the club :)

And that was my night!

Cheerio Folks!

Videos of Adventures!

Midterms!

So! As my half way mark approaches (HOLY MOLY 2 MONTHS HAVE PAST ALREADY?!?!?!) I am preparing for Midterms. I have Hotel Management March 7th, Thai Economy March 8th and International Economics March 14th. Soo not too bad. But I wish the 14th one was earlier so then I could travel more. But the first two Im not too worried about. Its hard to study for them though because Hotel Management has almost nothing to study, its more common sense, and Thai Economy.....has 300+ slides per lecture....so actually attempting to READ them is incredibly daunting. haha But I think I'll go back to Koh Chang from the 9th-13th. I loved it there :)

Go tugboat Go!

So every few days, as I wait to cross the ferry, you can look out onto the Chao Phya River and see a little tugboat, tugging at its best. Watch this poor thing give its all to pull not 1, but 4 HUGE things. I dont even know what it is pulling - somebody said merchandise and department store goods. But Who Knows. The poor tugboat. it thinks it can, when really, it looks like it cannot. Its only 8 seconds to watch carefully. haha

Random Pictures!

What Fun!

Taiwan here I come???

Chrystal is going to Taiwan March 18th-30th 2010!!!

So! As most of you know, I have been a member of an organization called AIESEC since my start of University! I was on the executive board in Ottawa for 2 years before coming here!

Well AIESEC is global and here in Asia there is a conference called the Asia-Pacific Exchange Leadership and Development Seminar (APXLDS)! SO I contacted the coordinator and asked if it would be possible for me to attend and he said he would love it is I attended!! So I asked my University just to make sure and because it is a leadership conference, they are exempting me from my classes during that week so as I do not get marked as absent!! That is AMAZINGGG!! Sooo I am now flying to Taiwan for from the 18th to the 30th. There is a symposium on the 20th adn 21st. and then the conferecne from the 21-27th, the a country tour from the 28th-30th!!! So I am amazingly excited for this experience to get involved with AIESEC again but to experience it in ASIA!!!

Lots of pictures to come!! Taiwan looks to be one absolutely BEAUTIFUL country!!

Koh Chang!

I went to Koh Chang this weekend. It is an Island 5 hours East of Bangkok near the border of Cambodia. It was one of my best times I've had so far in Thailand!! I went solo mission to the island.

I stayed in a place called Jungle Way. The sign is above! They are stilted huts in the middle of the jungle!! Which is amazing!! So I wasnt on a beach, which is more expensive, and way more hot. I dont really enjoy spending hours on a beach, so the jungle was a better choir for me!! I met a whole bunch of people also staying there, a couple from France, and the girl, Nathalie, came to the animal foundation with me so it was great, and then two guys from Switzerland!! :) And Pet, one of the workers there, was a huge Bob Marley fan, dressing all Reggea and playing his guitar for us in the evenings as we sat around the table on cushions and did what Bob marley does best. It was great evenings with all these other travellers and hearing all their stories.

So, I went there since I heard about the Koh Chang Animal Foundation which has volunteer positions. And since we all know I Love animals....I went to help out. And I really really did!! The lady who runs the organization is named Lisa, and she is from New York, she operates the foundation off of donations and does most of her work for free. It was great. I was allowed to watch and slightly help with a dog neutering and 3 cat spays! Now that MAY sound really gross to some of you - but to me it was amazing because I always wanted to be a vet!! SO it was an amazing opportunity to learn about the profession on the surgical aspect, and an opportunity I could NOT receive in Canada without attending University for it!! SO I spent the day at the foundation with the animals. I spent the afternoon socializing with the kitties. :)

In the evening Lisa invited me to attend a party with her, the party was mainly adults (40 plus with kids) so I didnt enjoy the party much, but the food was great, and I did not stay long. Other guys who volunteers, Justin from Colorado and Dan from Sweden, also left early, so we went out onto a pier and sat and watched the stars and chatted for awhile. It was nice to meet strangers.

Then Sunday I went to the Elephant Santuary! :) I just walked over by myself at 11AM and they told me it would be 1PM before I could start my 'elephant experience'! I said that was fine, I would just lounge on the inviting hammocks and read a garfield comic book I found of a table. But 20 minutes later, they said I could go now cause other people bailed and I could spend a long time there since I was talking to them about me being a Thammasat Student! What advantages!! So I spent about 3 hours with the elephants!! I started out in the sultans chair with a driver for my elephant named Chorlie! But about 5 minutes in my driver jumped down and said I could come up and sit on the elephant and drive it myself!! It was amazing!! I just tapped with my right or left foot and Chorlie would move in that direction!! Yelling Who-Eh made Chorlie go faster. ahha but he didnt like when I said that and he would blow air at me from his trunk, jog about 3 meters, then slow down again. It made me laugh!!

Then after my hour long elephant ride we had to Clean Chorlie up cause he was all dusty!! So we took Chorlie into the pond and got to scrub him down all clean!!! haha But then Chorlie pooped in the pond and I had to get out!! hahah

Then we went back and fed Chorlie and the other elephants. But they only had green bananas and NO yellow ones, so Chorlie wasnt having it. Apparently Chorlie is a picky eater!! haha But that sok.

All the rest of the people who had rides with the elephants all left but I was allowed to stay and hang out with the elephants some more since I was just by myself and they kept asking questions about me and Canada. I loved talking to them!!

Then I spent the afternoon uptop the central hut in a smaller ceiling hut with a small grass roof on a hammock and took the best Nap of life! 4 hours in the cool tropical breeze! The beautiful smells of the forest just rocking on my hammock! Such an amazingly relaxing afternoon I had!! Pineapple Juice next to me. Yes - Thailand is luxury!

Then on Monday, I decided before I left that I should see a beach since I WAS on an island!! haha So I walked along the beach for about 30 minutes and I was bored. So I grabbed a taxi and went to Treetop Adventures!! It is an aerial park and ziplines!! So I went alone again, So I just went me and the guide instead of with a group which is time consuming!! My guides name was Mokmin he was alot of fun, he took my camera and took a bunch of photos for me!! It was fantastic!! But because I was alone, I got to do both the easy and the difficutl course instead of just one of the courses!!

Then I took the fairy home and a bus. And I am returned to Bangkok!!

Overall, it was by far one of my BEST weekends in Thailand so far!!! I had so much fun and met so many new people!!