life's adventures lately

it's pouring rain today in Taipei, and so I find myself inside the apartment and sitting in front of my computer. I've been pretty absent from the internet lately. no particular earth-shattering reason why: I just wanted a break and realized I could take one.

so here's what's been happening...

Taiwan elected its first female president

America isn't the only country with a potentially course-changing election happening in 2016. last weekend, Taiwan elected Tsai Ing-wen as their next president. she is a highly educated, multi-lingual cat lover who was highly supported by Taiwan's youth. this article gives you a brief idea of what she's about, while the New Yorker discusses more about how this could effect the country's future. I can't claim to be the most informed about the political situation here, but I'm interested to see how this turns out.

editing my book manuscript

remember way back in fall of 2013 when I decided to write a book? it took about 8 months of writing to get me to a very rough rough draft. I took a break before printing and reading it through for edits in summer 2014, slowly started making my edits and gave a portion to a friend for her notes that Christmas. in the spring of 2015 I started rewriting things into past tense. which first involved rearranging and gutting the first third of my manuscript. by the time I finished that and got to the actual changing of tenses it was so painful I had to take a break. I went back to it - maybe twice - last fall but I really wasn't ready to pick it back up until a few weeks ago.

right now I'm about 18,000 words into the revisions. sometimes that feels like I'm not very far at all. but looking back over what else has happened while I wrote this book - all the visitors we've had, keeping up with the blog and the teaching I did, moving to Taipei, traveling for nearly 3 months of every year - it's actually pretty damn impressive. and when I sat down at the beginning of this year to read through what I had already revised, I felt really proud of what I have written.

exploring around Taipei

before Anna [of Slightly Astray] left for Malaysia, we managed to have a few adorable adventures together - including the Taipei Zoo, a Disney Tsum Tsum exhibit, and a cat cafe. my friend Sharon took me to the historic Dihua Street, where all the shops are setting up for Chinese New Year. [and where delicious peanut-covered mochi balls can be found.] I met another expat downtown in Ximen to walk around and chat while drinking coffee, and have made habits of biking around our neighborhood, shopping at the local market for produce, and mid-week pho lunches with another friend.

planning travels for 2016

it's the time of year where everyone is talking about travel plans... and while I'm not quite ready to reveal everything yet, we've been making steps. a lot of this involves the least fun part of travel planning: making a budget. when I heard how gas prices have been dropping, I thought we would luck out on plane tickets... but no.

one thing I can say is that I won't be heading back to the states this summer. [I know that makes certain of you very sad - and me too.] but after three years of not planning to go back and somehow ending up in the US for a month or three each summer, I'm at a 99% confidence level that this will be the year it doesn't happen. but what Husband and I are trying to plan for instead should be pretty awesome.

what have you been up to lately?

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what we did wrong on our trip to Singapore [and why it felt so right]

do you ever feel pressured to do-see-eat-go everywhere when you're on vacation? maybe it's the travel blogger curse, but sometimes I think people have developed a prejudice against vacations that actually feel like a vacation. we want to get our money's worth, not waste our time, and immerse ourselves in the culture we are visiting. those are all great aspects of travel. but from time to time I just want a vacation, you know? eat good food, get a tan, have some fun and then put my feet up.

Husband and I visited Singapore over Christmas break, and we barely touched what's on most travelers' must-see lists. we didn't see the Merlion fountain, ride the Singapore Flyer, or visit Chinatown. we skipped the night safari and strolling through any of the famous gardens. and perhaps what most would consider our greatest offense: we didn't. even. set foot. inside a hawker stall.

gasp in horror and shut your laptop if you must, but we still accomplished everything we wanted to. maybe this is a weird way to tell you our itinerary. I just feel like there's still value in doing your own thing on a trip, rather than what people expect of you. even if you do encounter a judgmental "I can't believe you went to X without doing Y!" when you get home.

where we stayed in Singapore

like I said, our main goal in visiting Singapore was to relax. with this in mind we decided to splurge a little when it came to our lodgings. some friends of ours like to tell the story of how, during their 3-month budget backpacking trip through Asia, they spent Christmas in Singapore. this story involves a $10 per night hostel where a crew of Germans kept them awake until 4am by watching Texas Chainsaw Massacre clad only in their whitey-tighties. obviously that was not the experience we were looking for.

our first few nights were spent in a quirky boutique hotel called Wanderlust, set in the heart of Little India. each of the rooms is themed by color and song - we were in the Yellow Submarine. while it wasn't the most convenient location for exploring the whole city, it put us near some delicious Indian food [most notably Lagnaa Barefoot Dining] and lots of photo opportunities.

we then relocated the the surfboard, aka the Marina Bay Sands. in my research on Singapore I found extremely conflicting opinions about this place. budget-minded travelers call it a waste of money to stay there since you can visit the skypark separately, but everyone else has the rooftop infinity pool on their bucket list. I can understand why it doesn't make sense to stay here when your main goal is to explore the city. but for us - and our plan to spend all of Christmas Day lounging at said rooftop pool - it was perfect.

what we ate in Singapore

ask anyone what you should eat in Singapore and they will tell you: chili crab and chicken rice. the hawker stalls are famous for cheap and delicious local delicacies. but thanks to my abundance of food allergies, we skipped that. instead, we gorged ourselves in Little India and hunted down foods that we can't find in Taiwan. this included British breakfasts, a fancy Christmas Eve dinner at one of Mario Batali's restaurants [Osteria Mozza] and several meals at Sacha & Sons New York Deli. if you question this decision I have 3 words for you: pastrami. latkes. hollandaise. [also I totally failed on food photos, but my poolside Christmas drink was both delicious and festive.]

what we saw in Singapore

though we skipped many "major attractions" we did a lot of walking around the city - through Little India, Arab Street and Haji Lane, Emerald Hill and Orchard Road. we visited the Asian Civilizations Museum which Husband really enjoyed [he is a history teacher after all] and I was happy just about anywhere, drooling over the colonial architecture.

the view from our hotel room was as close to the famous Gardens by the Bay that we got. we intended to go wander on the night of Christmas, since there was a special holiday light and music thing happening. but after swimming through the crowds exiting the MRT, we realized that pretty much every other person in Singapore had the same idea. so we didn't.

honestly, we spent a lot of time at the pool. I didn't even take "real blogger" photos to document everything. [I do have a hundred pool selfies on my phone though, and a dozen instax photos.] I may not have had a vacation that lends itself to informative blog post writing, but it was just how we wanted to spend our holiday... so I'm happy with it.

don't worry too much though. I did take some photos, mostly of the gorgeous buildings. and you'll be seeing those later. hope you all had a lovely holiday, I certainly did!

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15 best travel moments of 2015

2015 was another year full of travels. we spent the bulk of our "vacation" time in New Zealand [which I can't say that I regret] and I've done much more exploration in our expat home of Taiwan. obviously I had great moments not related to travel - meeting my nephew, being at my cousin's wedding, finding our home in Taipei - but we're going to stick with a theme here.

2015's travels included 5 countries and 3 continents: Taiwan, New Zealand, South Korea, United States, and Singapore. rather than recapping everything by destination, I've decided to select a few of my favorite travel moments from throughout the year - along with my favorite photos of course!

relaxing on a rooftop pool in Singapore

there are a lot of amazing things to do in Singapore. places to go, food to eat, neighborhoods to explore. but one major to-do on this trip for us was relaxation.  so we decided to splurge and stay at the Marina Bay Sands. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about: the giant surfboard-looking hotel with the infinity pool overlooking the Singapore skyline. for us? it was completely worth it.

cruising Milford Sound

Milford Sound is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places on earth. the drive there left us in awe, and cruising through the sound itself was just magical. if my enjoyment of an experience was measured by the amount of photos I took while there... this one may be at the top for the year. [consider: I had to add another blog post about the cruise to share all the photos.]

hiking Elephant Mountain for the first time

"the mountains are calling and I must go" - guys, this feeling is real. not knowing where I was going and ill-equipped for a hike, I decided to climb Elephant Mountain on a whim. the views were too clear to refuse. and though I've returned to do this hike several times, the views and the photos from my first visit were still the best.

going over the edge at Sleeping Bear Dunes

a mix of childhood nostalgia and gorgeous views made this one of the best days of summer, while spending quality family time back in Michigan. scrambling down [and back up] a steep sand dune may not sound like fun, but there's a reason why Sleeping Bear Dunes was once voted the most beautiful place in America.

taking a journey through Hobbiton

I may be more into Star Wars than Lord of the Rings, but I wasn't going to pass up a chance to tour Hobbiton while in New Zealand. climbing into hobbit holes, drinking a cider at the Green Dragon... totally worth the carsickness from the long and hilly drive to get to the shire.

riding the bus in Beitou

a friend and I got on a bus to go see some geothermic activity near Beitou, and had no idea what stop to get off at. the driver didn't speak any English, but tried to help us anyway. then an adorable old man got on and knew a little English, followed by a young mother and her son. pretty soon the entire bus of people was giving us advice on which stop to get off on, and which trail to take to get the best views. some days living as a foreigner in Taiwan is difficult, but this was one of my best Taiwan moments ever.

visiting Nugget Point Lighthouse

I have a thing for lighthouses [it's genetic, right Mom?] and we drove 3 hours round trip just to visit Nugget Point Lighthouse. the scenery along the coastline was simply stunning - jagged rocks, green hills, and beautiful blue water. seeing as this day also included a picnic on the beach and a visit to see penguins, it was one of my favorites from our NZ trip.

girls weekend in Kenting

why did it take me so long to get down to Kenting? I don't know, but I had an amazing time with friends, relaxing on the beach and enjoying amazing food [and of course some beverages.] this weekend reminded me that there is so much of Taiwan I still haven't explored - and definitely made me itchy to get out there and see more of this island.

biking through Taroko Gorge

maybe one of my favorite places in Taiwan - you know I can't leave Taroko Gorge off this list. our most recent visit was somewhat less successful on the hiking front [due to typhoon and earthquake damage] but we tried something new: biking through the gorge. it's always great to see one of your favorite places with fresh eyes, and that's exactly what this experience was.

the views of Lake Tekapo from Mount John's Summit

this hike to the top of Mount John was not something we had on our itinerary, but turned out to be one of my favorite days from New Zealand. the weather was perfect and the views were stunning. I'm so glad the campground on Lake Tekapo recommended this hike!

photographing the Michigan night sky

the last night we spent at my Husband's childhood home this summer, we arrived late at night and decided to forgo sleep in favor of playing under the stars. having the photos and memories made it totally worth the exhaustion of the following day.

climbing Seven Star Mountain

I'm almost embarrassed to admit I haven't been back to Yangmingshan since this amazing hike up Mt Qixing. aside from having a beautiful name, this mountain also has beautiful views. some friends from Hsinchu came up for the afternoon and it was great to catch up while enjoying some fresh air.

beaching at Cathedral Cove

thanks go to Pinterest for adding the beach at Cathedral Cove to my NZ bucket list. I was worried the reality wouldn't live up to my expectations - but once again New Zealand proved me wrong. it was stunning. we had an awesome picnic here before making a mad dash to escape a summer storm.

chasing lanterns in Jiufen

the mountain town of Jiufen was another Pinterest-induced bucket list item that lived up to the hype. sure it was rainy and we got a little lost, but that's all part of the adventure. the tasty mochi balls and thousands of glowing red lanterns made this trip one of my favorite Taiwan days this year.

standing on the Moeraki Boulders

they're rocks, they're round, they're fun to stand on... the Moeraki Boulders were a short but memorable pit stop during a long day of driving. I think I loved this place so much because of this photo. it pretty much sums up my feelings on New Zealand in general.

our plans for 2016 aren't yet settled, but I've got my fingers crossed for some exciting adventures. if you're curious, you can check out 2014's year in travels - including Bali, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Taiwan, Detroit, Ludington, San Diego, and Austin.

what was your favorite destination in 2015? do you have any exciting trips planned for next year?

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an expat holiday home

say hello to our new Christmas tree. she may not be the most original, but for the first time in my adult life I have a tree that looks like it was decorated by an adult. [or really, IKEA. since that's where all this color coordinated decor came from.] I also love that this tree is "long needle" and did not scratch my hands up terribly while I decorated it.

a few rogue ornaments have slipped in since these photos were taken. a small silver house frame Husband brought back from his work with the Tabitha Foundation NGO in Cambodia. a painted footprint from my nephew. and most recently: Christmas coasters from a German beer hall here in Taipei.

I also hung up some of my favorite instant photos from our travels over the years, and added some tiny ornaments. the couch got a pillow makeover with burgundy and reindeer print - IKEA again.

add some vanilla cookie scented candles [why don't they carry pine tree fragrance anywhere in Taiwan?] and you've got about all the holiday spirit I was capable of this year. sadly I was in a cold medicine haze for about a week and not feeling very jolly. [hopefully since writing this, our time in Singapore has changed that!]

one of my favorite things is buying crazy Taiwanese holiday cards. the translations never quite come out right, but they are always so cute and elaborate I can't resist. this year's theme seemed to be "an army of Santas." I guess that's one theory on how he makes it around to everyone all in one night!

I keep telling myself that one year I'll get around to printing and mailing actual cards to everyone. this year I went so far as to mock something up - one of my favorite photos form earlier this year when we visited New Zealand. so you can go ahead and consider this my holiday card for you:

I hope your holidays are very happy! I'll be back from Singapore with lots to share next week.

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