Sprucing up the pad

My cousin, the taxi driver, (You Hong Yi) took me to get my new cell phone (look below) and then I got some plants to add oxygen and green to my room.

On the way he took me to The Grand Hotel, which is a 5 star hotel in Taipei. I didn't have my camera w/ me so I'm gonna post an online photo so you can see haha.

It's a really nice hotel. It's perched on the top of a mountain and behind the hotel is hiking path that leads to a big park like area where you can play tennis and other recreational sports (I didn't see it firsthand-he just told me so). I saw the huge pool down below the Grand Hotel. Oh and it's a 5 star hotel but according to my uncle it's cheaper now and he says each night will only set you back around 3,000-5,000 NTD (approx. $100-150)! Not bad at all!

He also took me to the BEST restaurant/hole in the wall (in my opinion) I have been to so far. He ordered lu ruo fan and SHARK w/ wasabi, ginger, and soy sauce for dipping, and a soup to which I added white pepper and black vinegar. SO GOOD. I also learned how to say 'more white rice' and 'more lu ruo fan' in Taiyu (ming nan hua or Taiwanese): bei bun go che le and ...damnit i forgot!

Oh yeah and I'm going w/ him and his family to some lao jie (old street) on Sunday; he said it used to be where they made porcelain and china, etc.



FYI for those in Taiwan, my new cell phone no is: 098-653-0012

This is my new FREE phone. I just have to pay a fee every month for my minutes.

For a free phone it's pretty damn nice. In fact, it's the nicest phone I've ever owned. It has video-chat, text (English or Traditional Chinese), and photos at no extra charge.



My Plants:

This is the second time that blogger has tilted my photos to the side even though I rotated it upright before saving the photo...can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong??

I posted this one bc I can't stand the tilted photo, but I'm leaving that one up in case someone can tell me how to rotate photos on blogger (like I said I already rotated it and saved it before uploading it to blogger in the previous photo).

Anyways, it's a nice bonsai plant (I think), in a nice blue pot. There's some moss growing on the soil, but I think that just adds character.


My small cactus (cacti?). I like the little buds around the main guy.

Side view.


Oh yeah and this was part of my breakfast/brunch. My aunt brought over sweet and salty