National Center for Traditional Art

A shot of the National Center for Traditional Art's
old street recreation.

In January, my dad and I were lucky enough to be driven by a friend to Yilan which is on the east coast of Taiwan, about an hour away from Taipei. We were able to visit many interesting places, primarily the National Center for Traditional Arts.  It's a huge compound where you can take in replicas of old buildings and enjoy Taiwanese art and snacks.  There are several activities for children as well as adults. Luckily, we went on a bright, sun-shiny day!

Happy Lunar New Year!

Source

February 10th was the Lunar New Year Day and the official start of the year of the snake!  Lunar New Year is one of (if not) the biggest holiday here in Taiwan.  It certainly is a great departure from hearing about the holiday from friends who celebrate it when I'm back in the States as it's interesting to see a busy city like Taipei basically shut down. Most stores, restaurants, and banks are closed until around February 15th (some until even February 17th according to the signs!) and many students have gone back to their hometowns, if they aren't from Taipei, of course.  So, I've had to cook most of my meals lately. Thankfully, I enjoy cooking!

I am now 23! (+cafe review)

Drinking my favorite Imperial Earl Grey tea
on my birthday.

As February 7th was my birthday! For some reason, I feel much older than one a turned 22, maybe since this is the first birthday I have celebrated away from home. Also, I now feel like I have more responsibilities and have matured. Mainly, I'm grateful to be alive because many do not live to see 23.

I treat my birthday like New Year's day in that I always make new goals for myself. So here are three things I'd like to accomplish before 24:

1. Be more responsible 

2. Be happy with myself

3. Be proactive and achieve something big

Recently, I've been talking about dreams with many friends, and I feel it's time to develop a feasible long term dream and life goal for myself. Those are things which encourage me to stay motivated.