Halloween

I am not usually one to dress up for Halloween, but Taiwan made it too easy for me this year. I am not even sure where the idea for our Halloween costumes came from (well let's be honest, it was from Pinterest), but it all started with a flower crown- I really wanted to wear one and from there it snowballed into this:

For 15 dollars we got the costume, accessories, and these beautiful flower wreaths, with the added bonus of having an excuse to feel beautiful for the day!

Our morning class was so fun! All the kids came dressed up in costumes. And if there is one thing Asians love it is the opportunity to take pictures. So for your viewing pleasure here are are a few of my favorites!

After teaching we headed to Taichung to hang out with our friend's Peja and Elias. We started the evening off by taking to wrong BRT exit and arriving to dinner 30 minutes late. Luckily Peja and Elias patiently waited for us. During dinner I re-discovered my irrational fear of fake bugs. Ib put a fake centipede on me while I was chatting with Carolyn, Peja and Elias about squatter toilets. With the help of Cassidy's theatrics, I completely lost it. The sequence of events are all a blur- I do know there was an ear piercing scream, I may have jumped into Peja's lap, and then ran as far away from the table as I could. With a mixture of laughter and trying not to cry, it took about 5 minutes to compose myself before I could go sit back at the table. As a person who is usually reserved and composed this reaction shocked everyone, they had never seen me so panicked. 

P.S. Isn't Peja's costume legit? He made those merit badges by hand! 

After dinner we headed to a park and really just hung out. We played another one of Grant's silly games and ran around chasing lights. Peja was a trooper as we made him do all sorts of things like getting on Grant's shoulders and letting Ib and Cassidy stunt him. 

Finally at 2 am we headed back to Taichung- which seemed like a good idea at the time until I had to get up at 6 am to go to Tainan. 

Taipei- Day 3: River Tracing in Wulai

We had tentatively rescheduled our river tracing excursion for Monday- but I was EXHAUSTED! After 2 days of non-stop action, I wanted nothing more than to have a relaxing day seeing a few of the remaining sights from our bucket list before heading back to Fengyuan.

Part of my initial hesitation to go was because I didn't know exactly how to get to the Jia Jiu Liao stream. Besides mentioning the hike, the Lonley Planet book was almost completely worthless in terms of directions. In my preparations, I consulted several blogs for additional information and tried to piece as much information together as I could, but for the first time on the trip, I wasn't 100% confident on how to navigate us there.

After sitting in bed for 10-15 minutes, neither Cassidy, Heidi, or I, wanted to admit that we would rather stay in Taipei. I finally dug into the deep recesses of my motivation and decided to YOLO it. I decided that I would never regret an adventure (unless that adventure involves climbing down the face of the mountain).

It was actually MUCH easier to find the stream than I originally thought. After packing up our hostel, we said good-bye to the boys and went to the MRT station to store our bags. It was only 30NT per 6 hours- which turned out to be 30 cents each. We took the green line to the Xindian station, which also happened to be the end of the MRT line. We then waited in, what seemed like, a never ending line for the bus to Wulai.

Once on the bus, it was a steep, windey road and at one point a little girl threw up all over her mom's white shirt. I was a little shocked that the bus driver (and almost every other passenger on that bus) did absolutely nothing. I desperately wanted to help (after all it wouldn't be the first time I have had to clean up vomit), but I figured with the language barrier and my lack of tissues or wet wipes, I would actually be more of a nuisance. Instead what I got to witness was a sweet act of kindness- a complete stranger aided the mother by wiping up the vomit from the little girl, the mother's blouse, and floor.

I spent the rest of the bus ride a little bit nervous, the fate of our day rested on me being able to get off on the right bus stop- which was not that easy seeing all I had to go off of was the relative time frame it would take to get there, the knowledge that it would be around the 11.5 mile marker, and the name of the bus stop. (You would think it would be easy if I knew the name of the stop but unfortunately I have learned that you cannot always rely on the bus intercom system. After getting off at what I hoped was the Cheng Gong Village, the directions said to "continue walking downhill until you get to a red bridge." Well when we got off there were two downhill's we could go down, and nobody was around to ask. I decided to stay on the main road and after 10 minutes quickly realized that I had made a *huge mistake* (said in the best Gob voice I could muster). So I stopped to ask a man at a roadside fruit stand. Luckily pointing is a universal language. We ended up having to do the walk of shame as we turned around to head back down the other downhill. After about 15 minutes of walking I was relieved when this blessed bridge came into sight:


From here the directions were a little clearer, but not by much- besides turning prematurely into somebody's backyard we found the entrance to the stream with very little problems. True to their word, the scenery was breathtaking! It was so different than anything I have ever seen-the book wasn't lying when they said it looked like it should be part of a Tarzan's movie.

We started heading up the river and I realized one thing very quickly- the rocks were SO SLIPPERY. I wish I would have counted the number of times I fell, because saying "I fell a lot" is probably the understatement of the century. This is the first time in 7 years that I have ever been disappointed in my chacos.


Despite all the bumps and bruises from falling the day turned out to be pretty magical. I had created a secret bucket list for this vacation: I wanted to get invited to a family's BBQ, and I wanted to see fireworks. Well folks, Disneyland isn't the only place where dreams come true.

Apparently Wulai has so magic of it's own. About 10 minutes into our hike a family called us over to share their food (of course this was only after I fell right in front of them). Although their English was limited, and all I could say was "this food is good", "no thank you," and "we are full," it was such a neat experience. I did learn a few things- first as if moon cakes weren't bad enough, there are such things as "adult" moon cakes and second- even if you say no you are going to get some anyways. The mother kept giving us more and more food, some of it good, and some of it questionable. After telling them we were so full a million times, and taking a picture to commemorate the moment, they asked if we would sing Amazing Grace with them. So we sat there in this beautiful, amazing, place, singing Amazing Grace and having random strangers tell us "God Bless You". It was, hands down, one of the top 10 best moments of my life.



For the sake of my dignity (and perhaps your time) I will skip over most of my falls however there is one that deserves an honorable mention (because everybody loves to laugh at people falling, right?!?) Right after we left the family there was a cement barrier that we had to walk around to continue going up the river. Just as I was getting to the stairs, I slipped, but because of my placement on the rocks I could not seem to get up. Every time I would get on my hands and knees I would slip again, so I did what any self respecting person would do in this situation- I started laughing and exclaimed, "Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!" Finally after about 5 minutes, I was finally able to compose myself enough to get my footing and go around the barrier.

The rest of the hike consisted of falling, getting up, falling again, posing for pictures, falling some more, getting up, falling again. I was humorously pissed (any one on Spring Summit would know this attribute). It can be really confusing for onlookers because I may appear ornery but really I am just frustrated in myself and the hysterical situations I always seem to find myself in.


There was also the time I banged my shin so hard on a rock I'm shocked it didn't break in half and protrude from the skin. I guess if anything this trip was another testament of the resilience of the human body.

When starting on the journey, our original goal was to get to the water slide at the end. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had a different  plan. About 10 minutes from the end we started to see lightning and hear thunder over head. I was nervous about the possibility of flash flooding (which the travel book warned us about), so we quickly turned around and got the hells out of there, of course not without falling another million times.

The 2nd most epic fall was probably when the universe decided I need to be humbled as I confidently started moving faster towards the end. Instead I slipped on a pretty smooth rock and landed straight onto my tailbone- I am shocked it didn't break but even 8 weeks later it still  hurts occasionally! 

Despite my initial reservations, I am so glad we decided to make the trek over to Wulai. It was a nice break from seeing the same architecture, same pictures, same signs, same scenery, etc.. (Can you tell I'm a little burnt out of sightseeing?) This is by far one of my favorite things I have done in Taiwan so far.

And as luck would have it my dreams of seeing fireworks were not dead. We saw a beautiful firework show from the comfort of the our bus seats- which I 've decided is the best way to see them. No crowds, no waiting in line, no being shoved by random Taiwanese people. It was magical- although not as magical as these seats from Disneyland last year.

Day 2- Always Look for the Jade

We had originally planned to go river tracing in Wulai today but unfortunately the weather forecast called for rain and thunderstorms so we decided to postpone those plans until Monday and instead packed our day full of the obvious tourist-y destination locations.

Stop 1: Jade Market

 We left the house early to get breakfast and head to the Jade market. I was a little iffy on the location of the Jade Market but felt like I had a good grasp on the map. We got off at the right stop and started heading in the right direction. We stumbled upon the flower market- which my book informed was just south of the Jade Market. We walked in and looked around, and after being a little unimpressed and realizing the vastness of the market we turned around and walked out. I thought I knew where I was going so we continued on up the road. About 25 minutes later we still hadn't eaten breakfast and the Market was nowhere to be seen. We finally stopped to ask for directions/find a bingsha place and found out that we were about 10 minutes away from the Jade Market- by car. We decided to hop in a taxi (Cassidy, yet again put her cab hailing skills to use), and 75 NT later we were at the Jade Market. Now imagine our surprise when we look across the road and find the entrance to none other than the flower market. Once again if we would have just gone a little bit further we would have saved ourselves a lot of heartache. We affectionately coined this phenomenon that kept happening- 

always looking for the jade." 

I have to admit after the Pearl and Silk markets in Beijing I was a little underwhelmed by the Jade Market. I guess the book was right when it said, "It's a good place to go to buy jewelry, trinkets, and religious items, but it lacks appeal if you are just browsing." The market is literally under an underpass of a busy street and has vendors upon vendors selling the same merchandise- jade, pearls, and jewelry. 

Stop 2: YongKang Beef Noodles.

It has been open since 1963 and is on of Taipei's "top spots" for beef noodles. The guide book told us to expect a line for lunch and dinner- and their advice was spot on, the wait for lunch was about 45 minutes. Luckily the lunch gods were smiling upon us and we were somehow lucky enough to be pulled from the line 15 minutes later and seated upstairs. The noodles were 180 NT ($6.00), which is typically more than I would spend on noodles (usually about $70NT),but they were worth every penny. Now most of you know that I am not a huge meat eater- and by that I mean I eat chicken breasts on occasion, the end (with the minor exception of the perfectly BBQ'd all beef hot dog in summer). I would be disappointed if I didn't actually try the beef in the infamous beef noodles so I decided a became adventurous and eat the beef- when in Rome, right? Although I only eat 2 out of my 5 pieces due to the fat and tendon covering the others, the book didn't lie when they said the meat melted in your mouth. It was AMAZING!

Stop 3: Chiang Kai-shek Memorial

A grandiose monument to their authoritarian leader. I am not very familiar with the history behind Chiang Kai-shek, but from what little I do know and remember, he used to be the leader of the KMT in China prior to Japan and Communists taking over the government. Hundreds of people, including Chiang Kai-shek were exiled to China and in return they brought with them (aka- stole) a significant amount of gold and Chinese artifacts-in turn saving them from the cultural revolution that destroyed China's culture. The monument itself was very Lincoln Memorial-esque. Fun fact- there are 88 steps to the top, one for every year of Mr. Chiang's life.

 It was interesting to see and even more entertaining to see the guards stand like statues for an hour at a time. They even had a man that would come around and move their feet and fix their uniforms. We ended up making it to the changing of the guards-and even got a front row seat. The precision was amazing but my goodness it was a long presentation! Pushing hasn't been as big of a problem here as it is in China, but for some reason the man next to me kept trying to edge me out of my spot. Little did he know he picked the wrong person to push around, I hate being edged out and learned how to throw an elbow or two in China. For the sake of time let's just say I won.

Stop 4: National Palace Museum

First I have to say that I dominated the MRT, public transportation ain't got nothing on me! We took the MRT to the bus station to go to the National Palace Museum, a "repeat see" according to the Lonely Planet. The museum is full of ancient Chinese artifacts that Mr. Chiang brought over from China. There are actually so many artifacts that they rotate them on a quarterly basis. After paying $250 NT we got our maps and headed in. Determined to not have any more Jade experiences we decided to go to every exhibit on all 3 floors- WORST IDEA EVER!!! We made it through the first exhibit and after that had to find ways to keep ourselves occupied- I mean you can only see so many scrolls with Chinese writing you don't understand and Chinese writing before you want to poke your eyes out from boredom. In honor of the hundreds of Chinese tour groups that were there Cassidy and I decided to make up our own interpretations of the pieces. This kept us entertained until the second floor, but by the third floor we just couldn't do it anymore. We went, saw a few pieces of Jade (or what little we could see because of the before mentioned Chinese tour groups), and busted out of there, it was literally a NEVER SEE AGAIN in my book, but I've never been much of a museum goer.

Stop 5: Hello Kitty Cafe

Taiwan is known for their themed restaurants. There is the prison restaurant, the hospital restaurant, the toilet restaurant, the cardboard restaurant, and of course the Hello Kitty, and Barbie Cafe. After the disappointment of the national palace museum we got back on the MRT to head to the Hello Kitty Cafe, I didn't have the exact directions so we just got a cab and taxied to the cafe. 10 minutes later I was happy to see the Cafe for two reasons, A: we made it without getting lost, and B: We made it there without dying from our taxi driver watching a movie on his I-pad while he was driving.

Both the Barbie cafe and the Hello Kitty Cafe required a 300 NT minimum per person, so we opted for a photo shoot and treat at the Hello Kitty instead. All of the treats were darling! 


But I settled on this one, I can't even remember what was inside, but I can tell you I was not disappointed.

Stop 6: Barbie Cafe

Ever since seeing this pin on pinterest I knew that this was pretty high on the bucket list (maybe #2 behind the Lantern Festival). Prior to leaving for Taipei I took all the necessary precautions to ensure that there would not be any mishaps or obstacles blocking us from enjoying a nice semi-American meal. I did my research on pinterest, blogs, and news articles, to figure out what was involved, how to get there, and typical prices. I was told that it would be crowded and there would be a one or two hour wait so I had Charlene, one of the Chinese secretaries, call ahead and make reservations for us. this was slightly challenging because it would be the only activity we had to be someplace for- all of our other destinations were come and go when you want. Because of our disappointment at the National Palace Museum we end up arriving an hour before our reservations. Luckily everybody was out BBQing for the moon festival so not only did we get in early, we also had the place to ourselves, which meant one thing- PHOTO SHOOT!! I just wish I would have planned my outfit better and worn pink (or better yet wore the tutu Ashley assured me I wouldn't want/need here). I also with I would not looked so haggard from travelling all day but as I like to say, "you can't win them all." Regardless, I LOVED every minute of the Barbie cafe. It unlocked the inner child in me and reminded me how much I love pink, and tutus, and dolls with matching accessories. I remember asking for a Barbie every Christmas and birthday. I remember the ones with the matching earrings and high heels, I remember the barbie house and limo we used to play with. I remember their elbows and knees would crack at the joints to enable them to "sit". I remember that when their heads would pop off and my mom would put them back on you they would no longer have a neck. Despite their unrealistic body proportions, I do love Barbies, and I LOVED the Barbie Cafe.

The food was really nothing special. It was still really weird, like tuna cakes, and octopus pasta. The meal was around $600 NT (around 10 USD), and included a drink, soup, pasta salad, bread, appetizer, entree, and dessert. The selection was limited so I opted for a potato skin appetizer, and hamburger with fries. I thought that based on my previous meat eating experience I would be able to stomach a hamburger- FALSE, I took one bite and was thoroughly disgusted. So I did what any person in my position would do, I took off the meat and just ate the toppings. Out of all of our activities I would say this was a repeat see- it was so fun, and childish. It made the concerns of the world stop and brought me back to my childhood. I loved it!

Stop 7: The Hostel

We were exhausted! After our dinner we opted to just head back to the hostel and hang out. We debated going to fisherman's wharf but it would take another hour to get to the other side of the city. Instead we just spent the night chatting with the gentlemen about their day and plans for Monday. I feel an honorable mention needs to be given to Josh trying to jump onto our bed- not realizing that the mattress wasn't on the bed and completely falling onto the floor. That took a hit to the ego- but was so worth the laugh!

This Is a Rant About Social Media....

When I first went to college I had a land line that I used regularly, only one of my roommates had a laptop, and most people had a limited number of text messages they could use per month. Text messages often took up to a minute to reach the intended recipient and we were still using discmans to listen to music. If we needed a recipe, craft project, decorating advice, or help on homework we would actually go to the library and get information from magazines and books instead of hoping on Pinterest. 

Four years later when I graduated from college it was unheard of to not own a laptop, almost everyone had unlimited text messages and the use of smart phones were on the rise (however iPads had not made an appearance yet). Since graduating 4 years ago technology has continued to change and has become an ever increasing presence in everybody's lives.

I began using Facebook shortly after it was created, which happened to be my freshman year of college in 2005.  At the time it was only open to college students and as a recent high school graduate I was excited to be able to keep in contact with my friends from home. At the time there was no news feed which meant that I wasn't flooded with pictures of other people's vacations, selfies, pets, or political views. There were no status updates that allowed people to overshare information they would not typically share in public situations. There were no "share" or "like" or "comment" buttons that seem to flood my news feed these days. It was a simple site that allowed people to remain connected even though they were thousands of miles away.  Facebook has made huge changes since that time and now it seems like there is more "junk" on Facebook than actual conversations. 

My opinion of Facebook and other social media sites are often wavering between disdain and appreciation (especially while overseas). However I had an experience this week that has really caused me to question the usefulness of Facebook in my life. Here are two of my thoughts about Facebook: 

1. I recently read an article about a girl from Amsterdam who fooled her family and friends into believing she was on a 5 week trip to Asia through the use of social media. "(Her) goal was to prove how common and easy it is to distort reality. She states, 'I did this to show people that we filter and manipulate what we show on social media.'  (http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/509243/Student-convinced-family-trip-around-Asia-despite-never-leaving-bedroom)

This women so eloquently puts into words my exact feelings towards social media. We only post the best pictures, the happiest moments, the most perfect parties we host. We never post that it took 500 failed pictures until we got one where we looked skinny enough, or the tears that lead up to the party because nothing was working out according to plan. We create a reality about our lives that we want others to see, and as a result our followers get caught up in the trap of comparing their imperfect life to a facade of perfection.

 

2. For some reason, beyond my comprehension, social media (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc...) has also become on on-line playground for bullies. Before technology you only had to be concerned about bullies when you went to school, now because of social media everyone has to be concerned about public criticism at all hours of the day, from people who may or may not even know them. 

Earlier this week I watched a Jimmy Kimmel segment called mean tweets- it is where he gets celebrities to read mean tweets people have written about them. I always think they are funny, but there is always a part of me that doesn't understand how somebody can say something that cruel to another human being they have never met- all they know is this false reality that the media (and sometimes the actor/actress) portrays. Well 2 days later I got the answer to why I feel uncomfortable with the "mean tweets" segment and unfortunately the answer came to me in a personal attack from a co-worker via Facebook. 

For those of you unaware of my current living situations I am living on the 4th floor of the school I teach at.  I share a room and bathroom with three other girls, and a kitchen and laundry area with 7 other people. Despite having that many people share one small space there have been little to no negative interactions. This is largely due to the fact that 7 out of the 8 people are considerate, understanding, and respectful. One person (whom we will refer to as HP) really struggles with the concept of "community" living. 

I will not go in depth about what the situation that led to the Facebook post was, as it is not relevant and I don't feel comfortable airing somebody else's dirty laundry on social media (which is a little bit funny because the altercation was actually about laundry.) 

Thursday night (after I was in bed) HP and I had a disagreement about when I should get my clothes out of the washer. A conversation ensued, I moved my clothes, and went back to bed. I thought the conversation was finished. Well imagine my surprise when I found out that HP had posted his perception of our conversation on FB which of course shows him as the kind, understanding hero, and me as the awful, bitchy, villan (granted I could have handled the situation better, he was not 100% innocent either). What really got me though were the comments that people were saying about me- people who don't even know me were calling me spoiled, awful, horrible, in need of "motivational" speeches,  the list can go on and on. What killed me even more was HP responding affirmatively to all these negative comments- this is somebody I have to see on a DAILY basis. I kept trying to remind myself that I shouldn't care what HP and his friends are saying about my life, I know I have flaws but I try to be a good person. I have plenty of people who love me, I don't need validation from his friends who are making snap judgments on somebody's perception of me. But it still hurts. I still have to fight EVERY urge not to fight dirty, not to hurt back like he hurt me. I also have had to try really hard not to shut down. So at the end of the day I would like to thank you HP and your douchebag friends for allowing me to practice my wholehearted lifestyle- after all that is one of my major goals while inTaiwan and you gave me a great opportunity to practice. 

Moral of the story: Facebook can be a slippery slope, not everyone will use it appropriately. I am still trying to determine the appropriate balance but after this experience I am pretty determined to only use Facebook to spread kindness. After all the world needs more kindness. 

Bright Lights, Big City- Day 1

The first weekend in September we took the opportunity to enjoy The Moon Festival holiday by heading up to Taipei for the long weekend. The week proceeding the vacation, the program director in me came out and I spent a few hours coming up with an itinerary, locating destinations on the map, confirming details on Pinterest and various blogs, and color coding my book. I even looked up our hostel on Google street view so I would be able to recognize it when we got there.  

And while some of you may think that I went a little overboard (and you might be right), we had a relaxing, stress-free vacation and we never got so lost we couldn't find our way back (the navigating God's were definitely smiling upon us!!!)

Saturday, September 6, 2014

I had already purchased the bus tickets earlier in the week for NT 260 (which is about $5 American dollars). It was a 3 hour bus ride which I spent watching the American movie they were playing, it was some Wolverine/X-men movie- I didn't really care what it was, I was just happy I understood what they were saying. 

Our itinerary for Saturday was as follows:

First stop: Elephant Mountain: this is a beautiful hike up a billion stairs to catch a view of the Taipei skyline. I forgot the Chinese version of hiking is just climbing a bunch of stairs- but at least my glutes got a workout. We stopped at this spot to take a few pictures:

It was a breathtakingly beautiful view. Thinking we had reached the lookout destination we were debating whether to turn around and head back or keep hiking. After 10 minutes of debating, the girls decided to go just a little bit further- and I am so glad we did, because 20 steps away was this lookout point:

This is the actual lookout point, the one where all the photographers go to set up their equipment so nobody else can take good pictures. And to think we almost turned around and missed this spectacular view!!!

Second stop: Taipei 101

Our first stop was this sculpture:

It has always been a goal of mine to take a picture in front of this sculpture. I know there are replicas in lots of places around the world but the first time I saw a picture of the sculpture it was in Taipei- it was meant to be!!

After our golden hour photo shoot we headed up to get tickets to the top of what used to be the tallest building in the world. At first I wasn't going to go up- I had just been up the Stratosphere in February and felt like the experience would be to similar- I mean if you have seen one skyscraper you have seen them all, right?!? FALSE! We went at sunset, which made for some amazing views (or would have if I was a good photographer). All for only NT 500 or $18 (and the cashiers spoke English!!!!!!). We stepped off the elevators on the 87th floor, which was enclosed, and we were trying to take pictures, but it was so CROWDED!! Then we got smart went to the 91st floor which was outside and had breathtaking views of the city at sunset. Views that made us question why we spent so much time on the 87th floor. So once again we should have just gone a little bit farther for a better view. 

What's really cool about this architecture is they have this damper ball on the 88 floor to keep the building safe from typhoon's or other natural disasters. 

Third/Last stop: Rahoe night market/rainbow bridge

We most definitely would not be able to go to Taipei without going to a night market. I thought it would be easier to walk to the night market instead of getting on the MRT and switching lines twice so we started walking until we got to a tricky intersection. While we were looking at the map a kind young man (who spoke English) stopped in the middle of his conversation and asked us where we were going, and let us know that it was too far to walk and a taxi would be pretty cheap. The man was right on all accounts, it was too far to walk, and the taxi only cost NT 75 or $2.50. It was her first time hailing a taxi and Cassidy did it like a pro, it must be all those HIMYM episodes. We spent the next hour exploring what the night market had to offer- I am not a huge fan of night markets, but was happy to help Cassidy find her Hello Kitty sweatshirt (just in time for the Hello Kitty Cafe). I was able to find these yummy dumplings and cranberry juice as well as an awesome Chinglish shirt.

At the end of the night market we found a temple (expected) and a sign for a rainbow bridge (not expected). We debated whether we should go to the end of the night market and once again we proved why we should go just a little bit further. This time we would have missed this view:

It wasn't the rainbow bridge I was expecting but it was still beautiful and relaxing to sit and watch all the families eating BBQ. 

In order to get back to our hostel we decided to take a taxi back to Taipei 101 and catch the MRT from there. Cassidy got us a cab, we sat down and I told him where we were going (in Chinese!!!). We got to our destination at 11:01 after he circled the block and stopped at the longest red light of my life. I went to pay him NT 100 and he tried to charged me an extra NT 20 because it was after 11 am. I was annoyed- just on the principle that it was 1 minute over and he circled the block. I tried to rationalize with him and gave him and he wasn't hearing it so I paid him NT 10 and shamelessly pouted until he said "ok ok". I then proceeded to feel bad for denying this man what would be pennies for me. It was more of the principle- as you can see I am still trying to rationalize it. 

We came back to this arrangement in our hostel. Oh the things we do to save money. 

Stay tuned for day 2 and especially  day 3- it was full of "Classic Tiffanee" moments!