Out from nowhere, I suddenly started researching facts and things on how I can go to Taiwan.
Where do I begin…? I REALLY THINK I NEEDED TO GO — as in, I need to experience a place where I wont be hearing English too much (I know it’ll be a hassle going around, but think about the adventure it’ll present!) and I need to go someplace where I haven’t been, eating food that I haven’t got to experience for two years worth of travel.
Right now, I am trying to rack my brains of reasons why I should go. Let me see?
1. Taiwan is the home of the 2nd tallest building in the world – with nice architecture and background story to boot (you know like how the building moves according to the strongest winds, or adjust to the earthquakes that plagued Taiwan)
2. Taipei looks a lot like Tokyo — especially the Xi Men (!!!!) area. Obviously, I’ve already done my research. Trusty Mr. Google said that apart from the numerous permutations of the Chinese (and the Taiwanese ethnic language), the Taiwanese are more adept on the JAPANESE language than the English language. So apparently–when people started getting confused with the language barrier, the Taiwanese will bust out first the Nihon tongue rather than the Queen’s Language.
3. The culture and history – saw a lot of great architecture and history and I am already fascinated.
4. Cherry Blossoms and 6 Degree Temperature during the winter season – Traveling with my husband required us to experience below 10 degree temp since the Hubby thrived on the cold
…and more importantly:
5. METEOR GARDEN TOUR GALORE – how can I forget THE ONE that started my fascination with anything East Asian? This series, up to this day, remains my favorite version of the Hana Yori Dango lore (with HYD – Japan a super close second). Yeah, the succeeding versions (*cough*South Korea*cough*) has better costumes and styling and waaay bigger budget — but for me, this is the version with the most heart. Who can forget the enormous pineapple hairstyle of Jerry Yan (according to lore, the production crew had to resort to the pineapple hairstyle cos Jerry Yan looked awful in curly hair) or the scene where Shan Cai had to run after the bus? I could go on and on…
Anyway, the obvious challenge for me is getting that damned Taiwanese visa tho I was informed that it’s easy as long as you have complete information–especially your form 2316 and the employment certificate which basically assures Taiwan that you are going back to the Philippines. I also need to breathe life to my bank account–which was sorely depleted by the SG trip. My guess is I would to have at least 60-80k on my bank account covering me and the Hubby.
But I already made a separate folder for Taiwan on Momo’s desktop along with a grid plotting how much I will need to save per payday in order to come up with a starter account for me and the Hubby. I swear to God.
…I am getting ahead of myself, especially since I have a HongKong trip to plan for the end of the year. The sis and I are bringing mum and dad on their first overseas trip.
Imagine the beating that my bank account and wallet will be having due to these plans currently in place.
But hell yeah–give me a year and a half–I AM GOING TO TAIWAN!
LIFESTYLE WANDERLAND 