This week, we went to the Pinglin district, a rural mountain town in southeastern Taipei known for its Wenshan Pouchung tea. Before going, we were notified that the trip would include a muddy hike and I realized that my poor decision making had caught up to me. I only brought one pair of shoes, leather designer shoes, that would absolutely get ruined in mud. So, in preparation, I packed my bag well. I brought plastic bags for my feet, a change of clothes, a towel, and I was ready to face the rainy muddy hike ahead of me. To my absolute relief, however, the hike was cancelled. Maybe that town brought me good luck because that day the sun came out for the first time on this trip and a breeze flowing through the mountains cooled me down. And thus the trip turned out to be very fun. We rode a bus up to a mountain to got sight seeings, and we visited the tea museum. I learned about all the types of tea, and there was this very cool interactive element where you could take a block with the n...

I hopped off my Delta flight at Taoyuan International Airport late in the evening. I was wearing my long sweatpants and sweatshirt to fight the air con of the plane; which I would later learn would be very inappropriate clothing as, when I walked out of the airport, I was hit with a wave of warm humid air that made my sweat glans start running and my breathing stuffy. The climate in Taipei has been the main thing I have noticed since Ive arrived. The never ending rain, the hot and humid air and the sticky sensation on my skin. I can never determine what is different from moisture or sweat. Though, this is my only complaint. The rest of Taiwan has been an amazing combination of cute street shops, clothing stores, and amazing food. When I first got out of my uber and into a hotel, the first thing I did was get changed and go to a night market. I got bubble tea and 煎饼 (fried flat dough), and had the most amazing first meal. So far, I have been to two beef noodle soup restaurants, two trad...