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hello world after 2 months… just got back from taiwan! despite the hiatus i think that talking about my trip will kind of encompass what i've been up to in the meantime. there's been a recurring theme in how life has been going for me and it has just been this: i like playing and hanging out! i don't care where and i almost don't care with who! and maybe this has lined up nicely with the gaming laptop bricking itself (sorry patrick) but i've been busy with the half marathon training, forcing myself to either go to bjj or to be ok with not going to bjj (both are hard battles for me ok..) amidst plenty of days seeing friends and just being outside… weight training has been on the backburner even though i would high-key prefer that over bjj but y'all know i'm a sucker and can't say no to yukari-sensei so getting arm barred by 12 year olds it is! i'll pick it back up once june starts and i don't have a race to avoid getting injured for T_T

anyways i soft launched having a cold on thursday by wearing a mask and having no make-up and telling the ever lovely mio-sensei that i wasn't feeling well. it helped that 95% of the school was gone on field trips so i actually just meandered away from the office and went to the gym to run 8.6km and even showered. i came back looking like a wet dog when there was 15 mins left of work and then went back home to haphazardly pack before meeting up with erik! we got some airport beers and famichiki before our midnight flight and promptly passed out before waking up in taipei… and lowkey had to go through some obstacles before making it to gigi's place (we were saved by a lovely local whose drink smelled so good idk like some fruity milk smoothie) and then promptly passed out again!!

we seized the day by getting some konbini coffee from a local hi-life and ate dan bing from a restauraunt around the corner. i love savoury breakfast… erik started his car tune-up errands by dropping his pants off to get hemmed for cheap and LOWK ive got shit that needs to be hemmed need to get on that stat once i'm back T_T we got some spicy chinese food at a place that gigi's housemate mari took us to and i drank tf out of that water but it was yummy…. we went to ximen and erik got his ear pierced while i scouted the area for bubble tea to no avail… then we were on our way to have a gondola moment! condolences to whoever got sat into our car with us cus we were talking nonsense beginning to end. once we got there i mulled about a sweet treat but nothing spoke to me… other than a chocolate waffle split with gigi at a cute little outdoor patio but we got some fun pics taken while walking around before speaking even more non-sense on the gondola ride back! then we went to the night market and while the huge stick of chicken thighs intrigued me, i got a sausage, bubble tea finally and a deep fried crab leg and a seafood bake thing served in a clam shell that was wonderful… after that we had a siesta and then went clubbing. YAY

saturday we had a pretty big itinerary that started with us moseying over to shifen!! it was a long ass commute but we kept ourselves entertained… one of us always has to crap our pants at any given moment… and once we got there we made the decision to set off a lantern later but first we had to go check out a waterfall!! and we then proceeded to take the not-so-friendly trail and basically hiked our way over when it could have been a cute little walk but it's ok we got pictures and i was in my xt-6s anyway.. after that we went to a pretty big night market and got PINEAPPLE BUNS!!!!!!!! amidst other foods… like a wonderful crispy pork! i did not get boba this time… but i was a good noodle and drank my water before we picked up some shooters and went clubbing again. YAY

the plan WAS to get up early enough to get my sunday run in but that didn't happen. instead we rolled around in bed with marnie until making our way over to a big old flea market underneath a bridge! everything you could ever imagine being sold at a fraction of its worth in yen. i got a fake louis vuitton ring to round out my stack and we all got some pants… or well they found nice camo pants and i got basketball shorts to jog in while i was here… super fun just walking around and looking at stuff though! after that we had some time to kill before din tai fung so we did some preliminary shopping and erik fell in love with a 6000$ (after some begging) bracelet that was made of some very heavy 925. din tai fung was very good… yummy dumplings… yummy fried rice… yummy peanut noodles that would be even yummier mixed with spicy sauce… what a good lunch!!!! happy my first DTF time was here with good company. after that we checked out a cute little shopping district and went into some crazy stores…. one vintage store had whole playboy spreads with cookies out uncensored, and also pet frogs…? and another store had a rack full of ketamine themed shirts that i shouldve grabbed one from. there was some pick-ups! and with a beer intermission at a familymart, we then proceeded to go to another night market and ate good chinese burgers and quail eggs and meat over rice and went home rubbing our bellies! we have moved on from the club. we're grown and wise at this point

the next morning i finally got up to go do my freaking run even though it was unfortunately raining a bit and i definitely underdressed… but it did feel nice to just run in a sports bra once i worked up a sweat god bless. came back and got ready with the gals and then we were on our way to get the BEEF NOODLE SOUP they've been hyping up for the entire trip. we the second group in line before it opened which was great!!! salivating down that single chef's neck fr… i was kinda whatever about the sauerkraut but omfg it really was delicious yall that meat was out of this world i ought to meet the cow… and i love fresh hand pulled noodles so much!!! the soup was so good… meaty and sweet and decadent… and it was a good amount of food too!!! yup yup we were satisfied af after that. but clearly not for long because after touring memorial hall we proceeded to buy an entire oreo cheesecake (candle included) and eat the whole thing at the park. a group asked us if it was one of our birthdays so we just went with it being mine. One of the biggest moments of the trip icl. as in like big of us. unfortunately gigi had to leave us after so erik and i did some more shopping!! the rain started piling on real bad so we got a little discouraged at one point and i wanted to re-visit the playboy cookie store but shit was no where to be found… so we ended up getting kfc and had to protect it from the downpour of rain before heading back!

last day of the trip came so soon despite all of the activities… we got up, made our way to another big shopping street, had a plastic stool breakfast and konbini coffee that threw my stomach for a loop so i had acid reflux for the rest of the day… but i guess it was my turn to suffer so whatever.. we did some more thrifting where i bought some long sleeves, gigi found the eater we've been manifesting all trip but it's up to her if she follows thru, and we all got to enjoy more peanut sesame noodles at this cheaper restaurant that charged 7$ per dumpling. my stomach was ok for a bit…. thought i was legit going to throw up on the train back #TBTOSAKA… but i calmed down again and felt better after lying flat on our mattresses as we relaxed before our flight. no airport beer this time, just a dab pen hit… thank you mari…

other than a vast hunger that we had to satiate with random airport bakery bread, the flight back home went by with no trouble!! got to nagoya at 6 ish… but had to travel back to the boonies so got home around 10am………. i promptly passed out for a few hours but did my best to muster up the energy for another 8k run u_u! back to the grind!! #dryjune?? #dryhalfofmay?