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Tom Bach
 Another interesting restroomThis was all they had... I wasn't sure how to use it... nor how to flush it... so I just left... |  First day arrival.First day of arriving in Taiwan and we went straight to the nearby night market in Chungli! |  BOBA LOCAWhere does boba drinks derive from? No, not China.. Taiwan! The true bliss of drinking one of these bad boys was tasty in every way! So many different flavors to try! |
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 Kenting :)Surprisingly when you think of southeast Asia, you think of tropical everywhere.. well Taiwan was nothing like that. It is probably one of the most industrialized and westernized countries I've been to. Majority of the countries cities are currently being developed and all you'll see are tall skyscraper buildings. UNLESS, you go to the tip top bottom of Kenting. |  Sign to the trail!ELEPHANT MOUNTAIN HIKING TRAIL! |  Elephant Mountain Hiking Trail.So three steps after getting out of the car and onto these steps, Arch backs down, stays at the nearby cafe with a fan facing toward him, and orders a coffee... Leaving Margarita and I behind to take on this trail by ourselves... |
 VIEWS FOR DAYS!Margarita and I looking over the incredible city center of Taiwan! We made it! And the weather was 100 degrees or so humid. It was HORRIBLE. |  Photo time!Forget which restaurant this was at but one of the only group photos we were able to take with Arch, Margarita, myself, Ivy, Arch's mom (Jennifer), and Arch's moms boyfriend. |  Beautifying ArchThere's nothing greater than getting your blackheads and pimples popped by Arch's aunt. I went here about 4-5 times to get treatment since mine blew up while in Taiwan, lol. |
 HELLA SKINNY!!!Arch when he was extremely fit! |  So freakin' GOOD!We ate at this restaurant twice about two shops to the left of his aunts esthetician shop! So good. I'm not exactly sure what was inside that clam shell but it was moving and you eat it ALIVE!!! |  Taiwan here we come!Margarita, Arch, and I boarding EVA Air to the small island of Taiwan!!! An excursion with two of my closest friends is a must! |
 One of those clique movie photos.You know in one of those movies when it's extremely windy and the bridge rocks back and forth? Well no that didn't happen to me. Instead, I was brutally injured with mosquito bites and various bugs attacking me; but hey, what a view right?! |  Taiwan artwork.You know how much I love my art, culture, and history... I fell in love with this carved mural outside a temple in Yangmei. |  Come on now Mar...Margarita chowing down on her first Taiwanese garlic noodles. Margarita was extremely hungry as you can tell and ordered three bowls.. THREE! Arch and I only had one... |
 Cheese!Photo of me looking over Taipei from the Elephant Mountain Hiking Trail! I looked up "where to get the best view of Taipei" and found this trail! Such an incredible view; but honestly there were some wild and vicious bugs along the way. -____- |  LMAO!Arch and I snapping a photo with Margarita as she takes one of her "daily" beauty naps. Margarita was tired throughout the trip therefore we had to make sure to cater to her. Margarita was well rested after this photo. |  Inside a templeThe golden arches (not Arch), the sparkling poles, and the beautiful view of me smiling. What more could be better? |
 The meal is served!Right before the New Year was about to approach in Taiwan, we FEASTED. I told Arch to tell his mom, "wow, your mom really knows how to cook and prepare a meal!" Arch: "Wuthafuck, she buy all food, lala" |  Inner AsianI wanted to embrace my Asian culture and believed that if I were to pray with the Buddha sculptures, I will receive internal good luck... or I just wanted a cool picture with Buddha sculptures... |  Large Buddha?I told Arch's mom that I want to see a very beautiful Buddha sculpture since I have such a fascination with them... Three hours later? She drives us to the largest Buddha sculpture in Taiwan!!! I couldn't believe my eyes! |
 GRILLED SQUIDSo freakin' good! They literally cut the whole squid up in front of you, put a secret sauce on the squid, and serve it to you. I love the night markets here! |  So interesting!I entered a restroom at a restaurant in Taiwan and they had a MINI TOILET! I've never seen this before. I was so inclined to use it but then I decided to just use the big and boring toilet. |  Kiss Kiss MALOL Margarita always blowing Arch kisses. I swear if they got married, I'd be the happiest person alive. Literally true love, Margarita just doesn't want to admit because she's scared of commitment. |
 The amazing Taipei 101101 floors, tallest building in 2006, in the Xinyi District area of Taipei, AND.. the iconic figure of this country, you must see this incredible man made structure. You really don't think of how large something is until it's right in front of you. Amazing, PURE amazing. |  From the 95th floor of 101!I was scared, forlorn, and almost cried... no I'm just joking! But really, majority of Asians hate heights unless it's fully secure... Everything literally looked like ants. |  Haunted Taiwan house...LMAO just joking! This was a creepy looking restaurant not too far from Arch's house in Yangmei. Honestly I'm not one to criticize cultural food, but it was just too hard to eat majority of the things here. But this restaurant... pure deliciousness in my stomach. |
 Views for daysAside from the hectic cities along the coast of Taiwan, I snapped this photo of the country side. This small little island is very unique. West coast: busy cities East coast: country side |  Sunset in KentingOur last day in Kenting before we take the high speed rail and head back up north to Yangmei. Surprisingly the ride back up only took 55 minutes! That's because Taiwan is so small! |  Grubbing time!Hot pot is so well known in Taiwan. It's simple, yet delicious and you eat it for hours without getting full! |
 Bruce Lee on your _ _ _ _ _!!This reminds me of Rush Hour 1, 2, and 3 when Jackie Chan goes into his stance agains the bad guys!!! |  :)So every time I would get my facial treatment from Arch's aunt who is an esthetician, we would eat at this restaurant next door but this time, it was different. She ordered the thing in the middle of the photo and it was moving... MOVING!!! And you were suppose to eat it alive! WTF! |  A saddening truth?Asians are known to have a gambling addiction and it's widely publicized as a problem. It's sad because you think these little crane games are for fun, yet in reality they can lead to stimulate addiction at an adolescent age; and since majority of Asian countries are so poor, you'd bet they'd take the risk to try to earn money for themselves; but when they lose it all and become in debt? Suicide or homeless. Oh and that's Margarita in the photo randomly standing... |
 Elephant Hiking TrailMargarita and I wanted a view of the whole city so we looked up a place and found this trail. We climbed up over 4000 steps just to reach this magnificent view! You ask: Where was Arch? He walked seven steps and said: "Too tired, already sweating. Staying down here next to air conditioned cafe and smoke. See you down here when you done, lala" |  View from the hotel!Enjoyed a nice buffet breakfast on top of a beautiful view of the beach. Margarita: "I think across that beach is the Philippines." |  75 night marketI'm telling you when going to Taiwan, there's a night market in every single city, township, whatever you want to call it. Pure fun, pure relaxing, pure enjoyment. |
 ...YEAH, I got stuck riding with Arch's uncle who literally kept sweating and not just that, his sweat towel legit slapped me to the point where I almost fell off! And not just that, we were so heavy that our stupid mo-ped/scooter or whatever you call it broke going up!!! |  You snooze, you loseYeah I lost because I snoozed on this hammock for over five hours and didn't care. I had my coconut juice, my steak, and no care in the world. |  I got my Pi TaoSo Arch's ex girlfriend had a piggy bank of this famous character in Taiwan and I told him it would be my journey in Taiwan to find a keychain of him... and I did... and I was HAPPY! |
 Pi TAO MANIA!What does that Chinese writing say? "The point of the game is to try to pick up the product and throw it in the basket. If not, just put in 20 coins and the crane will for sure pick up the product"... so ridiculously stupid. |  True Love...Margarita specifically wanted to ride with Arch... not sure why... but I didn't even argue... |
Taiwan Pt:2 - Taipei, Yangmei, Hsinchu, Kaohsiung, Kenting
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