Déjà Vu Pt. 2

A couple of days after our arrival in Taiwan we teamed up with another familiar face, Daniel, in Taibei. And just like Tailin and Linda, this guy hasn't changed a bit. Our conversations with him usually consist of sexual innuendo, beer drinking stories and other depraved, frat boy-esque topics, although he does occasionally let his guard down allowing for more mature communication. He's a good guy though, and definitely a fun person to be around.

Anyway, Tailin and Daniel had decided we should pay a visit to Maokong, which is located in the southern tip of Taibei. The plan was to take the cable car to the top of Maokong mountain, but due to a heavy thunderstorm the cable car service was put on hold for a couple of hours, which meant we had quite some time to kill. While we were fondling our scrotums, Daniel had an epiphany and requested to be educated in the Dutch language. We, out of the goodness of our hearts, of course obliged. I submit to thee, my dear readers, the fruit of this unholy alliance.



After this most satisfying exercise in linguistics, the storm had passed, the skies were clear, the cable car service was resumed, so we were finally off to Maokong. The view from the cable car was stunning; even more so because dusk was slowly but steadily creeping up on Taibei. Even though we weren't exceptionally high up in the sky, it was remarkable how many people failed to keep their shit together, as we were frequently greeted by screams of terror and despair from passing cable cars, as if each individual cable car contained a Sarah Connor watching the world burn in her dreams. Get a grip. Maintain. Enjoy the fucking view.

Maokong itself was teeming with people, mostly locals on a day trip. Despite the fact that it was quite crowded, the atmosphere was surprisingly relaxing. We had a bite to eat and Tailin prepared some fine Wulong tea for us while Daniel diligently pursued his new found passion for the Dutch language. After a couple of hours, we decided to call it a day and took the cable car back down, once again accompanied by the occasional screams of passengers in the throes of death.That night we stayed over at Daniel's place, the pinnacle of bachelor crib-ness by the way. The next day Tailin and Daniel both had to go to work, so Chun and and I indulged ourselves in our area of expertise: wandering around aimlessly through Taibei. We visited Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to take a few snapshots of the old geezer.

Having done so, we decided to go to Ximending, in order to experience the most excellent variety of shopping possibilities and the latest fashion trends.

Time flies when you're having fun, so before we knew it we were on the train back to more familiar turf, Zhongli. Before we went back to Tailin's apartment however, we made a quick detour to visit one of our favourite places in Taiwan. Best. Store. Ever.

Oh, and one last thing. For all the people out there experiencing plumbing difficulties, know this. There is a solution, a kryptonite to your internal vileness.