Post on Haulien coming soon!

For now some pics are on facebook.

Levi

Songs, upcoming events, and why I don't right that much...

This week in pictues:

My chinese character practicing

Pictures of the district from up on the mountain side

My Noodle cooking method

A massive triple cheeseburger that was just alright

Some food that I think was fish

And the Administration

Top Ten Songs of the Week

In no particular order:

Give Me a Sign by Breaking Benjamin

Ulysses by Franz Ferdinand

This River is Wild by The Killers

Waking Up with Wolves by The Black Maria

The Best I Ever Had by Gary Allan

Get Off on the Pain by Gary Allan

I'm Like a Lawyer by Fall Out Boy

The Unforgiven 2 by Metallica

What Goes Around Comes Around by Justin Timberlake (release another D@#N ALBUM!)

I Love this Bar by Toby Keith

(Gary Allan wins this week)

Now that is out of the way, this week I'm going white water rafting. Also I might attempt the zoo again, without forgetting my camera, yet that is likely going to happen next week. Pictures of rafting probably will be harder to take as I might just but a disposable and scan them at the library. Will also try to take pictures of my classes and buildings and stuff.

I do not write that much anymore because I have class almost everyday so I do not have that many opportunities to go sightseeing at the moment. Plus I forget to bring my camera, a lot. Also I did tai chi wednesday which was fun. And I'm losing fat and gaining muscle So I'm happy.

Levi

Music I have been listening to: Version 1

I'm going to make a top ten list of the songs I listen to each week just to amuse myself and hopefully inspire y'all to agree with my taste. Which you should, because I am awesome. Also I have nothing better to do at the moment.

In no particular order:

Wrong by Depeche Mode + music video

Long Hot Summer by Keith Urban + music video

Stricken by Disturbed + music video

When You Were Young by The Killers + music video

Tranquilize by The Killers + music video (classic)

You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift (I know I am cool like that with my music, which leads me to...) + music video (cracks me up)

Sexy Ladies by Justin Timberlake

Hey Little World by The Hives

Bruises by Chairlift + music video (kinda weird)

I Bet You Look Good on The Dance-floor by the Arctic Monkeys (video sucks)

Also the picture signifies how much warmer it is here. I took that 2 weeks ago.

Levi

Catching Up: The Big Post

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This stuff is all from basically two weeks ago.

The people in the picture(the one with people) are Terry, Jenny, and Annie in clockwise order. They are my buddies assigned to me by the university and are pretty fun to hang around. That is at a restaurant they all took me to, which is where the food pictured came from. It is some kind of spicy stew like thing in which you add different meets and vegetables into. It also comes with tofu and blood pudding in it. It was duck blood and while it had the consistency of jello, it tasted delicious. The servers kept bringing out tons of food to keep adding to the bubbling pot in the middle. I don't remember if I already wrote about this but I really don't care either way; I do what I want. We also had ice cream, although it really wasn't ice cream in the American since. It was better.

The statue is just a cool statue in front of a building. I thought it was really funny that the big lion was killing the little one.

The other pictures of food are fried dumplings and bubble tea, which are everywhere in Taipei. The dumplings are supposed to be some of the best in Taipei and I find that a hard statement to argue.

The dogs on the lawn in front of the library are just dogs in front of the library. Dogs are everywhere in Taipei and I don't think there are leash laws. Some are strays, some are just like cats in the States that just get to wander about. It bugs me about the ones that are obviously just abandoned because that isn't right.

The other pictures are of the Taipei Game Show, as in Video Game Expo. It was interesting to go to but completely not worth it. It was crowded to the point that I started to midly freak out about not able to move. Literally you were shoulder to shoulder with people. It was strange and fascinating but I shouldn't have gone on a Saturday. The picture of the car is front of the Sony area and is a Grand Tourismo; just for Brad. There was tons of cool stuff like a proffesional Starcraft II tournament, and areas for each of the main systems; plus game girls advertising things which is always a plus. But again, it wasn't that great. Especially since I can't understand the language.

Now the Lantern Festival I went to which I will not be posting pictures about was at Taipei 101. Pictures are on my facebook page where I posted all of them. This is not the traditional one where the light the lanterns with the wishes on them and let them fly into the air. I didn't go to that one because, honestly, I just didn't want to have to go that far out of the city and get back in the morning. This one was plenty cool though, with awesome lantern sculptures and a more fair like atmosphere. Plus the giant bunny was awesome. I don't really know what to write about this besides link the pictures to this. It was more of a you had to be there thing. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=1332804344&aid=2111402 Thats were the pictures are, I guess.

And we're caught up. I haven't taken any pictures of school and class yet which will be my next endeavor for this blog.

Levi

Where I got my computer, a farmers' market, and a video store of Ill repute.

This is the long delayed (because of slacking) post about my trip to go get a new computer. My second long delayed post about the Lantern Festival will be posted shortly later. By shortly I of course mean within the next couple of days.

Let me start by start by saying that the picture of the cute little yellow guy is in front of Guang Hua Digital Plaza, which is where I purchased my computer. The building is a mixed assortment of computer, audio, and video tech for the professional and for average shoppers. The important thing here is to shop around to find your best price. Most of it is cheaper than back in the states but some of it is not. Getting a good deal could lead you to multiple shops. I myself got a good deal by buying mostly new computer tech and having the shop I bought my components at build my computer. With this I got the guy to give me a discount on the majority of it, and got a free keyboard, mouse, and monitor out of it. The place has six floors if I remember correctly. The computer was still expensive, especially since I paid for a lot of new tech but was still about 500 to 700 USD's cheaper than buying it in the states. I would describe more about it but I don't feel that the components of my computer are very interesting, and I don't remember what most of them were called.

The farmers market, I think it was a farmers market since it had the symptoms of a farmers market all over, was a pleasant surprise to me. By the way if you ever see me spell surprise wrong and I don't catch it let me know. I usually don't pronounce the first r in it so I forget to put it in when I am spelling it. Anyway it had your traditional fruits and vegetables all over with a few ones I had never seen so big before (sweet potatoes a yard long and amazing carrots). The carrot was the best thing besides the cheezy magic show. Better than the crappy folk music playing at the one back home.

And lastly we come to my short comment on the dvd store. Well it was defiantly not a dvd store, as there were only normal dvds in the very front of the store. Also the store was down a dark alley with completely covered windows which should have given away as to the stores true nature. Once I saw what it was really selling I started busting up laughing very loudly and left. What I found out online however was that these kind of stores are technically illegal in Taiwan (I guess) which made it that much funnier.

I cannot find the rest of my pictures of this day so I don't have more pictures of the place and its surroundings. The picture of the blurry building is of the Taipei Tech College which has an awesome metal tree with vines growing throughout the whole thing, creating an awesome mix of nature and steel. I want one.

Levi