Loveprint in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Guangdong

Hiiii! First off, please pardon any spelling/grammatical/(random) train of thought errors. 

Graduation. Thank you to everyone that came to the pre-party and/or the graduation. I sincerely apologize for not being a good hostess and having to finish my essay! Graduation was.... surreal, it still doesn't feel like it really happened... especially since I only walked and haven't actually graduated. 

Time sure does fly... I can't believe that it has already been four years since my high school graduation. Where did all that time go? I can't remember most of the craziness that has happened. 

But I'm very happy to have met so many of you wonderful people!! You guys are amazing! Thank you. <3 

Leaving the states. Out of all the things I could miss, being abroad, the one thing that I miss dearly is the people that I'm used to. I miss you guys! How I wish I had constant internet access to talk to you all! But since I don't, all of you should find a way to keep in touch and keep me updated with your lives. For those that have, I love you! :) & <3


A couple of things. I don't understand clouds. Airplanes are one of the greatest inventions ever. So are in-flight movies (finally saw Hugo and 失恋33天). Flying is absolutely amazing. 

5am in Hong Kong. 

I felt tall in Hong Kong, compared to the average height here. Also, I love all the cutesy things! Like dashboards filled with Hello Kitty dolls and teenagers' backpacks clipped full of adorable key chains. After a day of running errands and visiting family, we left to go to Taiwan. 

We followed a Hong Kong tour to Taiwan （台灣）for 5 days. I LOVED it! I definitely want to come back to visit. I'm not sure what it is, it seems so much like Mainland China, but at the same time, it just isn't.

  People in Taiwan are generally nice. I kind of think that they dress better. The service here is outstanding! The entire hotel staff walked out to wave us off. I have never seen that before... Plus, I love all the traditional characters! 

Our tour bus. 

 We started our tour in Kaohsiung (高雄) in Southern Taiwan. Pardon me for the inadequate descriptions of the tourist sites. Frankly, I don't remember most of them and am currently too lazy to look them up or find the piece of paper in my luggage. Most of Southern Taiwan reminded me a lot of 福建 Fujian. 

美濃村 Meirong Village

 成佛大道 The Path of the Buddha

Taiwan's Night Market 台灣夜市

Authentic Stinky Tofu 臭豆腐

The Pier

One cool thing about Taiwan is the ridiculous amount of Buddhist and Daoist temples that are found everywhere. Here's a Daoist temple. You go in through the dragon's mouth, come out through the tiger's mouth. 

The hotel at 阿里山

 阿里山香林神木 

This sacred tree that supposed to have lived for about 2300 years. Being in this forest reminded me of Totoro, or even Princess Mononoke. 

The sunrise on top of 阿里山

Two super cute uncles from the tour

九族文化村 Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village

This place is suppose to show off the culture of aboriginal tribes. But half of it is an amusement park and there is a very strong One Piece theme everywhere. I wish there was more time to see all the different cultural aspects and go on all the rides... 

But at least I got to try my hand at archery!

Even got to dance clumsily with the performers 

中正纪念堂

Changing of the guards  

Taipei101 

My new friend from Hong Kong! He has a theory that people who don't eat fish, also don't drink milk. 

More yummy food!

My tour was divided into three groups for meals. This was my group. We all got along very well. That might have something to do with the overall pleasantness of the people in my group... and the presence of alcohol. You see, one of the older gentlemen in my group likes his beer and orders it with almost every meal. But he doesn't like to drink by himself, so he buys the larger bottles of beer and pours a cup for everyone at the table to share. 


The first time, some refuse, some accept, me? I didn't say a word and just smiled politely at him. Understandably, he took that as a yes and poured me a cup (and continued refilling it til the end of the meal). So if you accepted the first time, no matter what excuse or refusal you give, you're stuck for every meal after that. For those that refused the first time, it is near impossible to try and get in later on.  Needless to say, I had beer with almost every meal while I was in Taiwan. It also took a lot of sweetness and talking to even get to pay once. 

Upon returning to Hong Kong, we did what most tourists do and hit the sites. <3 the Hong Kong scenery.

Here's us in a cable car going up and down the mountainsides, heading towards Lantau Island. That thing in the distance is part of the Hong Kong airport.    



大嶼山 Lantau Island



香港山頂 The Peak 

Here comes  a change of scenery! 广东 Guangdong

 
丹霞山 Mount Danxia


 
美人山 Sleeping Beauty?

This was.... not pleasant.  

神笔洞  I have the urge to literally translate this into "the cave of the magical pen"

Yayy cousins! <3


Annnnd this is it for now. I've chosen one or a few pictures that I feel best represent the location/my feelings for said site/location. For more detailed and exciting pictures, please visit facebook. I will upload them soon. So much has happened that I don't know how best to summarize all of it into a short, concise, easy to read blog post. But my next post will be all about Dream Corps! :) & <3