Kaohsiung

Hello everybody! Hope you all are well and keeping cool! Miss you guys!

Went to Kaohsiung for 2 days and it was GREAT. It's a port city in the South of Taiwan, right on the beach. It's the picture of paradise: palm trees, wind,etc. loved it. It was super cool because our hotel faced the famous Love River and there were people practicing in boats for an upcoming festival.

Our hotel was fabulous, probably one of my favorite hotels of all time

view from our window 

Sunday night, I got to meet some of my relatives. I met my great-uncle, great-aunt, and 2 distant cousins. We went out for dinner at this restaurant that was so yummy 

After dinner we went to one of my favorite places: THE NIGHT MARKET. these markets are so much fun, I love finding random things for cheap. and there is always good dessert too :)

 nom nom nom 

On a more serious note, I visited one of my great-aunts in the hospital on Sunday with my mom, grandma, and great-uncle. She has stage 4 cancer and will be starting chemotherapy this week. Her spirit was still strong and she talked about everything positively. My grandma and mom sang her the Chinese version of the hymn " In Christ Alone" and I couldn't help but tear up a little. It's one of my favorite hymns of all time. It was inspiring to listen to my great-aunt speak of her situation. She has no fear.  She quoted one stanza that I thought was extremely powerful and pertinent to her situation. 

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me

From life's first cry to final breath

Jesus commands my destiny


No power of hell, no scheme of man


Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till He returns or calls me home

Here in the power of Christ I'll stand
Till He returns or calls me home

Here in the power of Christ I'll stand

I'll miss her.....

Kaohsiung was wonderful, but I have to say, Taipei is still my favorite city in Taiwan. Nothing beats the big city with sounds of people milling around, taxis bustling everywhere, and the smells of delectable food stands. I love it here.

8 more days here :(  I wish I was staying for another month... I'll have to come back soon! 

A Perfect Day

Today was such a perfect day. I went exploring with my cousin in an area of Taipei that I think is just perfect. I've fallen in love with so many aspects of this city. It's perfect. There are cute shops everywhere, delicious smells of food, a convenient metro system that allows for independence, and streets filled with cabs, motorcycles,and people going about their daily lives. I wish pictures or words could do this place justice, but they can't. I'll try anyway...

Today started with my cousin and I going to the most amazing/ adorable cafe I have EVER been to. SO CUTE, I was so elated. Aleigha, you would have loved this place. It was a French set-up with a warm feeling. Couches, French wall hangings, etc. It was precious. and that was just the design. 

THE FOOD WAS AMAZING. 

Even that was so cute. We ordered tea , sandwiches, and a chocolate banana Belgian waffle. it was the best waffle I've ever had. 

after that delightful lunch, we went shopping in the streets of Taipei and found awesome deals. This is what I love so much about traveling. Finding cute shops, food places and people watching. A lot of things make me happy, but traveling brings joy to the soul. so fulfilling. 

Today was a great day. I love it here... 

the citizens' kindness

Helloooo everyone!
Hope everybody is having a wonderful, relaxing summer. I hear the NC is freaking HOT recently. Stay inside and stay cool guys! I'm actually surprised that NC is hotter than Taiwan this year, usually it's a bazillion degrees here. Apparently there's a typhoon coming, so it has been mild and windy. very nice.

So since i've been in the country, I've realized that many Taiwanese people are so incredibly kind. Strangers on the street will ask me if I need help because they can tell I don't live here, store-owners will offer free samples of food if they see I especially love an item. The kindness that I come into contact with daily is touching. This is the part of Taiwanese culture that I hope I never take for granted. I can only hope that when visitors come to the U.S.A, they might be able to leave with a good feeling.

I've been able to spend a lot of time with my aunts and my grandma. I really love  being in the company of my grandma, she is 78 years old and spunky as heck. I love her sass and vitality and my relatives have said that I remind them of grandma. She tells me stories of when I was young and the year that I lived in Taiwan when i was 3. She remembers so many little details. I hope that when I'm old, I'm just like my grandmother. Independent, sassy, and absolutely adorable.

Tomorrow I will be going to explore Taipei and I'm finally going to Taipei 101, the 2nd tallest building in the world. It was #1 until Dubai had to go and one- up Taiwan. of course. I never get tired of Taipei's beauty:

Much love, Karen 

Shopping & Eating & National Drills

Hi everybody!
sorry for not updating in a while. Haven't been feeling too great, I have literally laid in bed for the last 3 days. But I"m feeling a little better!

Tuesday, my aunt, grandma, mom and me went to a department store/ mall named Miramar. It was AWESOME. The way malls are set up in Taiwan are super cool. This one had a ferris wheel in the middle of it. Did some shopping and then had dinner in their " food court", which of course was SO much better than food i would find in a mall in NC.

 me very happy about food

 my dinner! ( vegetable steamed buns, hot & sour soup, fried rice, and some grean beans) nom nom nom 

 HEAVENNN 

Well, I got to witness something very interesting on Wednesday. It was kind of a like a national security drill. From what I understood from my cousin's explanation, it is a drill that occurs to practice in case an enemy nation tries to attack. It was pretty interesting for someone who had never really seen it. Basically, everything stopped in Taipei. At 2 p.m , a siren went off around Taipei and life stopped. Cars stopped in the streets, citizens had to go into stores and stores shut down. I think the army/ air force were doing drills during this time. It was fascinating because Taipei is never still. I thought it was pretty cool.





Just for fun: there are TONS of motorcycles in Taiwan. everywhere. common scene in taipei:

Miss everyone back in the States!

Much love, Karen 

the first few days....

Hi everyone!
The first few days in Taiwan have been awesome. haven't gotten to do much shopping or exploring because it's been rainy, but next week will be nice. AKA karen will be frolicing around Taipei in a sundress.
We're living in an apartment complex inside Taipei. It's awesome and very comfy. the view  from our window:

So many things here are different, here's a few to name:
1) FOOD. Taiwan is basically my heaven. it has been nonstop eating for the past 3 days. Every reunion with family has included food, lots of it. Our dinner last night lasted 3.5 hours and included 20 different dishes. Of course, my relatives looked me over once and declared me " too thin" and proceeded to fill my plate everytime and it was half empty. And i had no choice but to eat it. Had to be polite right? The accessibility of food here is awesome. I literally can walk outside of the apartment and there's food everywhere.LOVE IT.

 my cousin and I at dinner!

2) If you think Asians in the U.S drive crazy, think again. Asians in Asia drive insanely. Everyone, bus drivers, taxi drivers, the normal drivers. It is pretty exhilarating. I've already seen my life flash before my eyes like 8 times. I'll leave it at that. 

breakfast time! I miss everyone so much and wish you were all here! love you all :) 

i made it!

So got into Taiwan an hour ago. it's 12:45 a.m here. The last 24 hours were interesting to say the least.

Flew from RDU to Chicago to L.A. Started to feel horrible when we landed in Chicago and proceeded to panic because I thought I was going to be fine this time around on the plane. WRONG. literally threw up every 10 minutes from Chicago to Taipei. SO FUN. had a wonderful little mental breakdown before getting on the plane to Taipei because it is the 13 hour flight. Traveling sure does have a way of turning me into a weak little kid. felt like a complete failure. Thanks to wonderful friends who talked me through my worrying. I literally would die without you all.

Going to Spain is still up in the air as of right now. I don't know if i can travel internationally again for a very, very long time. Each time I fly for a long period, I'm reminded of all the reasons why I hate airplanes, airports, etc. And my mom was with me this time. I'm questioning if I can travel alone anytime soon. So we'll see.

But I'm in Taiwan and I'm so pumped to frolic around for the next month. It's been 6 years and wow, Taiwan has changed so much. The best moment of the last 24 hours: landing in Taipei and seeing all of the lights below from the plane. Made me tear up a bit....
Until later!

getting ready to leave!

Waking up at 6 a.m tomorrow to start the trek to Taiwan! I don't think it has really hit me yet that 1) it's summer and 2) I'm going to be in Taiwan soon. I'll be flying from here to Chicago to L.A and then to Taipei! It's been 6 years since I've been to Taiwan and excitement is setting in. I can't wait to walk the beautiful streets of Taipei, eat the AMAZING food, and shop like there's no tomorrow. But most of all, I'm going to be reunited with my aunts, uncles, and cousins that haven't seen me since I was 13.

I'll post pictures of probably everything on this blog and hopefully some of it will be interesting. Of course, I'm going to miss my friends dearly ( I mean, all of them except Kohl ) , but Skype does wonders. It'll be bittersweet for me to experience so many exciting things without my best friends because I know I'll wish they were beside me sharing the little moments.

The countdown to the start of this awesome month begins now. I can't wait to see what I'll learn this time around in Taiwan!

Love, Karen