Shifting

As I noted earlier, I slept until 10am today.

But that was the end of my non-productivity. After that, I was on a roll, still in Thailand adventure mode, but now in Kaohsiung, and so putting that energy towards productive things like unpacking, doing laundry, running errands, backing up my hard drive, uploading photos (but not editing yet--sorry, they'll be up soon!), etc etc. This, of course, contributed to several one new things. And, as it's late now, I'll just throw out a few before I hit the sack.

Thing 7:
I tried a "Mexican cake" at Brunch, across the street. I've been assuming it was a quesadilla for a few months now, but had never gotten around to trying it. Today, when I told the cashier I wanted the cheese one, she said it was "甜的," or sweet, which confused me like crazy (partly because I had gone over a week without using my Chinese; partly because why would a quesadilla be sweet?) and she suggested I do the chicken one instead. The chicken one, as it turned out, was like a quesadilla--chicken, peppers and onions in a folded grilled tortilla--but without the queso. I mean seriously, no cheese in a quesadilla? What is this! Good, actually--just not as good as I'd expected from this fabled Mexican cake.

Thing 8:
I went to the post office! Funny thing, it's literally three blocks from my apartment, jammed in between several places I frequent often (grocery store, favorite Taiwanese restaurant; a block from the fruit stand), but I had never noticed it before. I asked Fonda where the nearest post office was a few weeks back, and even with the street name I looked for it across the street at first and was (obviously) disappointed.

But today I went! And discovered that mail here is so-so on pricing, and that simply saying "美國" (America) and shoving a pile of letters at the postal worker works perfectly well to communicate that you want to send them to America. Also of note is that the post office is actually 2/3 bank, 1/3 post office, and that none of the stamps (or envelopes) here have their own adhesive, so my trip today involved standing at the counter with a glue stick affixing each stamp individually to my already-taped envelopes, as dozens of people sat behind me waiting to deposit money in their savings accounts.

Thing 9:
I went to TGIFridays! I don't think I've actually even been to one in the States before; I noticed it here my first week in Kaohsiung, and earmarked it as somewhere to go when I needed Western food, but had never followed through on the idea. Until today, when Rachel's mom Barbara invited me to join them! We had a delicious meal of shared appetizers (real quesadillas, potato skins, and chicken fingers), salads (chicken Caesar for Rachel; steak for Rachel's mom and I), drinks, and to-go molten chocolate cake for Rachel and I. Delicious, and fantastic when coupled with a great conversation! I'll have to go back sometime.

Well, that's it for tonight. Lots of photos to edit tomorrow, and another retrospective blogpost to write--look for pictures, videos and more blogs on here then, as I keep shifting from Thai adventures to Taiwanese daily life.