familiar faces...

Right after mommy left, tiffany came to visit! she was a little bored in hong kong, so she decided to come here to sightsee on a whim... literally... i think she booked the plane ticket the day before she got to taiwan...

it was super cool too because jonathan.. my fave and only big bro.. was here too ..

but we all weren't able to hang out together... instead like... i hung out with the two groups in shifts... first with tiffany.. showing her around and hitting up all the tourist hot spots .. then with jon for a couple of days... and then with howard and will... who i met through tiffany

i had so much fun being like a tour guide .. even though i've been here barely 3 weeks... but i feel like i've done soooo much.. i'm out all the time ... doing different stuff.. exploring new places.. i love that feeling :)

anywho... so we started tiffany's trip with a bang at spark ...

first night out in taipei for both of us.... ballin' with a table and belvedere galore!! thanks brandon :)
pix courtesy of tiffany ... sorry bout it

when i was still awake at spark... i passed out half the night ... oops 0:)
pix courtesy of tiffany ... sbi

munchies after spark... eggs benedict at NY Bagel
pix courtesy of tiffany ... sbi

we hit up the food stands at shilin first! it was a very successful night... hopped 3 stands..
pix courtesy of tiffany ... sbi

tiffany had the stinky tofu... she was a brave soul... and yes it tastes yummy... and no...it doesn't make your breath stinky
pix courtesy of tiffany ... sbi

so i totally forgot... but we ended up having shaved ice twice that night... once with howard ... then with brandon
pix courtesy of tiffany ... sbi

i'm in mickey & minnie heaven <3

so this place is apparently a restaurant chain in asia... the food's served in toilet bowls ... the drinks are served in urinals ... and the ice cream is shaped like poop ... too bad i hear the food's pretty nasty here... i guess it keeps with the theme of the restaurant :)

and we sit on toilets :) just in case you need to go while eating...

this was at the basement floor of taipei 101 ... lived it up by eating ribs with gloves... so classy!
pix courtesy of tiffany ... sbi

the view from the 88th floor of taipei 101

i have noooo idea what this ginormous yellow sphere is... but it's everywhere

damper babies.. in that ball

it took 37 seconds to reach the 88th floor... 1250 feet from the ground.... so fast!

382 meters! ahhhh!

outside on the 89th floor .... this is the tippy tippy top of the building

and it was suuuuper windy up here....

if you look far enough.... you can see LA from here ... honest!

it's super smoggy here....

i think it's so pretty how you can still see so much green amidst so many buildings...

taipei is soooo dense with buildings... and people!



the hallway leading to the ginormous yellow ball... the lights are crazy!

yet another damper baby...

this is the ginormous yellow ball from a side perspective... taken on the 87th floor

i love you twin!!! everytime i see pandas .. it always reminds me of you :)

i can't make my O as big as that damper baby can...

crystal snowman figurines... soo cute!

we run LA ... at taipei 101 ... i guess i missed the memo about looking G ...

Luxy!!!!!
pix courtesy of tiffany... sbi

i didn't pass out that night...
pix courtesy of tiffany... sbi

DJs Filo & Peri were aaammmaaazzzziiiiinnnnggggggg... gave me newfound respect for house mixes
pix courtesy of tiffany... sbi

the next day... tiffany and i slept in past noon... then we had some niou rou mien .. and i dropped her off at the bus station that brought her back to the airport .... thanks for the awesome company tiffany! hope you had fun too :) ooo.. and thanks for letting me steal your pixes without permish! <3

and then.... that night.. i went to go hang out with jonathan and his best pals, mikey, mimi, & ashley ...

the storyland museum... it was completely underground :)

the whole museum imitated taiwan back in its' .. like creation

the evolution of transportation... cars were all wooden back in the day

and apparently ... the KKK isn't so derogatory here... i saw a store in ximen called KKK... and i've seen so many things with swastikas on them... culture shock much?

cute little schoolhouse tables ... i thought they were only used in elementary and perhaps middle school.. .but i was mistaken... i use these desks here at NTU ..

the piano was fake.. there was no sound coming out of it...

the tiles had the cutest pictures on them!

i guess hopscotch is universal ... and this one was fancy... the boxes were taped to the floor.. not drawn with chalk.. :O

they were playing so jonathan could win a full cigarette... not just half :)

old school shaved ice parlors... so cute!

fortune shack...

wishing well ... apparently i have medium ordinary luck... whatevs.. i don't need a wishing well to tell me how lucky i am anyways!

we've engraved our presence on a chalkboard located underground in the middle of taipei!

small doors :)

old school video cams :)

perf timing! mikey's so pro at slapping he's even able to do it in midair :) ... we took this pix in a super dark theater while an old school black and white cartoon was being projected... crazy how the background turned out white!
pix courtesy of mimi... sbi

so ... i didn't get to document a lot of our time hanging out together... so i stole a couple of pixes from mimi :) but thanks jon for letting me hang out with mikey, mimi, & ashley.. you were so right... they are the absolute best!

it was only the 4 of us at the bed ... my first hookah bar... this room was pretty nice :)
pix courtesy of mimi... sbi

mikey hooked it up with primo invites that night... only people with tables and the nifty shiny blue camera cards were allowed in that night :)
pix courtesy of mimi... sbi

hookah bars two nights in a row... this one was at ximen.. and it lasted us a loooonnng time... so cool guys :) i got a really good high that night... and then i felt nauseous... too much hookah for me to handle :(
pix courtesy of mimi... sbi

we walked like.. a mile to get here... but it was SOOOO WORTH IT! jon finished the gnarliest looking flaming lambo ever! .. i think it had like 3 things of absinthe in the glass...



this was when he was ... 70% buzzed... muahrharhahrhar... so funny jon!

then after we got to go karaoking... or KTV as the locals call it ... jon passed out 15 minutes after we went into our room.. that included a bathroom!!! ... and mimi, mikey, and i took turns eating jon's niou rou mien ... it was super delish!

but after KTV ... it was bye bye to jon ... hope you come back to visit :)

after jon left... i hung out with the EAP kids ... future posts to come :) ... but i wanted to hang out with howard and will before they went back to the states... we met up at room 18 ... sorry will & howard.. i feel like you guys always had to wait a long time for us...

Room 18 was craaaaazzzzzzyyyyy... so crazy that i don't remember taking this pix...

the morning after... hangover and all... mickey d's to the rescue ... for some reason fast food tastes better in asia... i think will probably said verbatim "the chicken nuggets tastes the same as when i was a kid" 5 times during the meal...and howard would say the same thing right after will said it .... oh boys.... and when howard opened his filet-o-fish box... we were all in awe of how perfect the bun was shaped... looks like it came right out of a poster ad :)

then off to ximending ...

the shoes look delicious enough to eat... like skittles :)

so cute... t rex skater shoes!

this little cafe had swings as chairs... so cool!!!

but we weren't allowed to take pixes of the dolls... the strawberry green tea was so refreshing!

i guess it's pretty common seeing cafes with swings around here...

this arcade repped the SF giants big time here.... disgust!

my first time at a batting cage ... i look like i'm swinging a golf club .. or dancing.. but def not like i was playing baseball... on a side note though.. batting cages are so cheap here... $1 for 20 balls

K BBQ with will and howard... i pretty much ate the whole thing.. totally outate the boys combined by like 4 plates :)

the next day we ate really, really good xiao long bao at din tai fung... the waiters kept refilling our tea... even if the cups were still full... during our dinner convo.. will insisted that i blog about him crying during the pursuit of happyness, up, and fox & the hound.. i think the latter usually creates incessant waterworks .. it's ok will.. real men admit that they cry ... and today they came to gongguan to have fantabulous kfc with me right before they flew out... now they're gone too... come back to visit boys so we can watch taipei 101 explode at new years!!! :)

but i think it's time to hang out with the EAP kids again ... i'm sure they've missed me sooooooooooo much :)