Dreams

So I have a lot of dreams.

-find a darling mixed heritage man

-learn to play the ukulele

-bake cute EVERYTHING

-lose ten pounds

-own a cat

You know, the kind of big things that I've always wanted in life.

One of them happens to be to own a romper for every day of the week. And now, I am the proud owner of five different rompers, thanks to my favorite place on earth: Shi-Lin night market. I have now added a purple tinted grey tie-dye piece, and a very bright tiffany blue floral piece to my beige fish-pattern, lacy powder blue, and battleship grey rompers. And, yes, I do look up my colors every time.

Anyway, this place is the best if you've got the munchies or if you're just a shopaholic. I will probably gush continuously about it, and maybe one day I will provide pictures of this wonderland, ha. 

My other dream is to eat at Hello Kitty Sweets, which is, obviously, a Hello Kitty themed restaurant.

Look so cute!

Except this dream was brutally shattered because I didn't make reservations, boooo. I bought two cakes to take home, which got kind of melty after a few hours running around Taipei. I got a raspberry chocolate-y sort of cake and a tiramisu. Uhhhhhh, so tasty! Even if they weren't as cute as when they were in the store, I still enjoyed every bite of the melty goodness. I am definitely coming back to try again, this time with a reservation.


And did I forget to mention that this cakey adventure could also be called Cornell AsianFest pt. 3? I met up with Laura, who half scares me with her intellect and half just makes me giggle uncontrollably, and Jerry whom I met last time during pt. 1. 


We had a great time, despite the Hello Kitty Sweets disappointment; we ended up going to an all you can eat cake place a few streets down. 

These two kids just crack me up, of course that might have been the alcohol talking (laughing?)..... I kind of can't help but take advantage of the lower drinking age here. Don't judge! They come in cute fruity flavored cans of bubbly goodness!


We made a brief trek to Taipei 101 to take the yearly, just about mandatory picture of the iconic skyscraper.

And while going home, I met this little fellow. He was so adorable, when I approached he started rubbing his head against the glass, just waiting for me to pet him. I need one of these guys in my life!

While I may not be any closer to my half-asian-half-white (or is it half-white-half-Indian?) prince, I can cross one-point-three things off my list. A very good weekend. 

Cornell Asianfest 2011

So I noticed that there are a great number (4+) of Taiwanese kids going to Cornell. Some of us decided to meet up this weekend. And it wasn't too bad. I'm certainly not used to being around a great number of other asians that are my age. Hailing from Mesa, Arizona means I only know Kenneth and Kathie(asians), a great number of mormons, and other non-mormon but nonetheless very cool non-asian kids. I'm not a huge fan of asian culture; I guess I just missed out on the Chinese school group and have never really learned how to get along with the kind of kids that are all pep and k-drama.  

Saturday, I met up with Angela and Jerry for afternoon tea and cake at the Agnes B. Cafe. Their confections are quite intricate; more than I could ever manage on a regular basis. I had the  strawberry rose tea and the chestnut mousse cake, which consisted of a: pie crust-esque base, layer of chiffon cake, chocolate ganache, chestnut mousse, and marshmallow center. Quite a lot of work. 

Not quite up my alley, but still very enjoyable. 

Afterwards we went shopping around the area, and I think we all know I just can't resist cute bake-ware. Now I can bake super cute cupcakes in heart and star shapes. 

Tuesday, I had dinner with my future roommate (!!!) Stephanie, who, wouldn't you know it, is also Taiwanese and was just in the area. After some Shanghai cuisine, we shopped the underground Metro Mall. And like always, the shopping is so good. Things are crazy cheap in Taiwan, and with so many shops so close together, it's really easy to shop around for the perfect thing. Purchased a pair of pale seafoam green shorts and a creme and vintage maroon striped shirt with a keyhole collar to the back, it even came with a matching tulle slip. 


All in all, two very productive and interesting days. Still not so sure about all the asians I will end up meeting, but I will deal, and maybe it won't be so bad.

Ximen

One thing that seems to be gaining popularity here is themed restaurants. On my way to lunch with my friend Alice, I must have passed half a dozen other themed restaurants, ranging from maid cafes to cute little jungle restaurants with swinging seats. 

Well, one of the craziest ones I've heard of and actually had the chance to eat at today was Modern Toilet. Which, as its name suggests, is a toilet-themed restaurant with showerheads, urinals, and toilet seats as wall decorations. 

All the meals come in little bathtubs and toilets. The food was okay. Nothing absolutely spectacular. But then again, when you're busy chatting and catching up, you don't really notice all that much. I ordered a pasta gratin, but they also have hotpots, ramen, and other dishes. They also have ice cream and other frozen deserts in absolutely gigantic portions, I swear you need at least 5 people to finish. 

It's a bath tub for a table!

Afterwards, we just went shopping in the super crowded Ximenting area that just has shops upon shops all lined up. I purchased super cute pale pink oxfords. They have a very small heel and they're way comfy; and I think I will end up wearing them everywhere!