I forgot to post yesterday so I'm going to make a double post today. I finally got to go to karaoke last night. I've had friends that have gone before but I really didn't know what all to expect. We went to this place called Party World which is a 24 hour karaoke bar. The whole main entrance has crystal chandeliers and pianos. I was really surprised by it all. We had a pretty large group with us so we decided to get the large room which came complete with granite counter tops, a flat screen TV, and a huge wrap around leather couch. It was massive and even had it's own private bathroom. We sang the night away with American classics as well as Chinese and Taiwanese songs alike. They also had really stereotypical regional foods you could buy. We got the American plate which consisted of hot dogs, onion rings, and potato wedges. We had a great time were super tired.
The next day in class was filled with lecture after lecture about the Insects and marine biology of Taiwan. We finished the day with a scavenger hunt around the NTU campus and played charades together. It was a lot of fun. I was really tired for most of it but overall a really great two days!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
First Day
Well, day one in Taiwan is under my belt and I gotta say... this city is AWESOME! After my grueling long 30 hour travel day (24 of which were spent in a plane flying) I finally made it into Taipei where I was greeted by a couple NTU students to take me to my dorm. I passed up and slept for 8 hours and then woke up for my first real day in Taipei. We went to the Taiwan national museum which was a three story building near the center of town that had a bunch of normal exhibits. All of the exhibits were in mostly Mandarin so I didn't really know the significance of some things but thankfully, my new Taiwanese friends were quick to translate for me.
After the museum, we had lunch in Taipei Main Station which is basically like Union Station in Chicago. The place was not only one of the largest train stations I've seen but it also has a giant food court in it with a bunch of tiny restaurants. After lunch we went to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Square. The square was huge and reminded me somewhat of China's Red Square.
After dinner back at NTU, some of us called it a night while i went with a couple other people to the Huahsi Night Market. The market is famous for its snakes stores. That's right people, snake store. Following in Taiwan and Asia's, "weird foods" trend is a store tat serves snake soup. The make a brother like soup with chunks of snake boiled right into the soup. The snake meat tasted great but surprisingly snakes are really bony so you really have to work at it to get the meat. The soup is served with a trio of shots: snake alcohol, snake bile, and snake venom. The alcohol was nothing special, but the other two shots were really cool. THe bile tasted really sweet like sugar cane juice. The venom on the other hand I didn't try. The said it was mixed one-to-one with the anti-venom but I didn't want to take my chances since the guy across from me had an allergic reaction and couldn't feel his hands.
And all that was just my first day in Taiwan. I'm having a great time and can't wait for more. Check in tomorrow for my update about NTU and my first karaoke experience.
After the museum, we had lunch in Taipei Main Station which is basically like Union Station in Chicago. The place was not only one of the largest train stations I've seen but it also has a giant food court in it with a bunch of tiny restaurants. After lunch we went to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Square. The square was huge and reminded me somewhat of China's Red Square.
After dinner back at NTU, some of us called it a night while i went with a couple other people to the Huahsi Night Market. The market is famous for its snakes stores. That's right people, snake store. Following in Taiwan and Asia's, "weird foods" trend is a store tat serves snake soup. The make a brother like soup with chunks of snake boiled right into the soup. The snake meat tasted great but surprisingly snakes are really bony so you really have to work at it to get the meat. The soup is served with a trio of shots: snake alcohol, snake bile, and snake venom. The alcohol was nothing special, but the other two shots were really cool. THe bile tasted really sweet like sugar cane juice. The venom on the other hand I didn't try. The said it was mixed one-to-one with the anti-venom but I didn't want to take my chances since the guy across from me had an allergic reaction and couldn't feel his hands.
And all that was just my first day in Taiwan. I'm having a great time and can't wait for more. Check in tomorrow for my update about NTU and my first karaoke experience.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
3 More Days!
Hey guys,
My name is Matt. I'm a Microbiology Pre-med major from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I'm really looking forward to studying abroad in Taiwan this summer and can't wait to experience the country. I'll be updating my blog several times throughout the trip so stay tuned for updates...
My name is Matt. I'm a Microbiology Pre-med major from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I'm really looking forward to studying abroad in Taiwan this summer and can't wait to experience the country. I'll be updating my blog several times throughout the trip so stay tuned for updates...
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