Goodbye 2011

Christmas in Taipei was a success.  Although I was missing friends and family back home, I managed to still have a very Merry Christmas.  Christmas Eve was spent with several friends at an English pub where we enjoyed another turkey dinner.  Afterwards, some of us went out walking in an area of Taipei that is all lit up with Christmas trees and Christmas decorations.  The atmosphere of Christmas was alive and comforting here in Taipei, but I still was missing home a little!  Christmas day was great; Mark and I woke up early and opened presents, and then skyped with several family members that morning.  It was nice to talk to family for a few hours and have them be apart of our day.  For Christmas day dinner, I took Mark (as his gift) to a Western style restaurant that was serving a full course turkey dinner.  It was way too much food and wine, and we both left feeling disgustingly full, but since that's how you usually feel on Christmas, we enjoyed the discomfort.  The next day it was back to business as usual as we returned to work.  Having a day and a half off at Christmas was definitely not enough, so I am counting down the days til our vacation abroad... 22 days!  Here are some pictures from our Christmas.  Hope everyone back home had a wonderful Christmas!

How adorable is she?

The gang at Christmas eve dinner

  

 This year has definitely flown by, but I guess every year does.  In 2011, I finished my last semester of university, graduated, enjoyed an amazing summer with friends and family, moved across the world, settled in a foreign Asian city, began my career as a teacher, surfed in the ocean, ate tons of random food,  made new and amazing friends and learned a bit of Chinese (not much).  I think 2012 will be a great year.  I have a trip to Thailand coming up at the end of January, and then I am blessed to have my mom and brother come visit me in April.  That right there makes the year already amazing.  Not sure what the rest of the year will hold, but I will make it a good one.  Hope everyone had a festive holiday season, and has a very happy new year!  All the best in 2012!

Christmas In The Air

I've been really slack and have been feeling guilty for not updating my blog.  I am going to do a pre Christmas blog and a post Christmas blog to make up for it!

It's been a month or so since my last blog.  Not too much has happened seeing as how work takes over my life.  I have had to work every Saturday morning in December, and having one day off a week takes a tole on your sanity.  I am working Monday-Friday 8:30-6:30 (with the exception of Tuesday which I only work 3 hours).  It is technically not a full 10 hour day as my day is broken up into three classes.  So I usually have a 2 hour break at lunch and a 40 minute break in the afternoon.  Nonetheless, it is still a long day which makes for a short evening, and a lack of a social life.  Mark and I have been on a fitness kick since October so once he is home in the evening (7:30), we go to a track nearby and run a few miles most evenings.  By the time we get home, eat and shower, it is basically time for bed.  So we are rather boring most nights.  The fitness routine is a bit lacking this week with a lot going on for Christmas and not enough time in the evenings to get the necessities like laundry and grocery shopping done.  I will be blaming my laziness and mass intake of food on Christmas, because I know I would be doing the same back home!

We got a few packages in the mail a week or two ago, one from my Grandma and another from Mark's parents.  We were spoiled with homemade cookies, stove top stuffing, presents, clamato (ahhhh) and cheese!  We were so very thankful!  We had our first caesar the other night before heading out to a Christmas dinner and it was amazing.  We have about 8 more cans of Clamato that we are saving for Christmas and New years.  Then I will be devestated once again not having Clamato until my mom and brother come and visit!  We have already had one Christmas turkey dinner that our company put on for us new teachers at Hess.  It was decent, kind of cold, but free so I wasn't complaining.

 

This Saturday, we have reserved a table for 20 people at an English pub where we will have a proper turkey dinner with several of our friends.  However, we only have the table for 2 hours as the pub is so full of reservations, so we will have to find something else Christmasy afterwards.  Looking forward to skyping with family this weekend when they are having their Christmas dinners without me wahhhhhhhhhhhh!  Definitely going to be missing it, and I'm sure I will be feeling a bit homesick.

He loves me, I swear

Miss you allllll very much!!!! Will blog post Christmas and let you know all the wonderful, extravagent gifts Mark buys me. Hahah jk.

More pics to come!

Mail me treasures!

So, I have recently been spoiled with two little packages from home arriving within the same week.  The first was a package from my step Grandma which contained homemade cookies!  I was so surprised and excited when I got them.  Let's just say Mark and I had them polished off in 2 days.  The next package I received was from my mom which contained Christmas cards (which I we are not opening til closer to Christmas), Kraft dinner and some cough candies; as I can't seem to find proper ones in Taipei.  We have not eaten the Kraft Dinner yet, because I guess we are saving it for a special occasion lol.  It is a luxury to have and once it's eaten, it will be gone and I will be sad haha.  So, I am going to nonchalantly post my address on here........... feel free to send little treasures over anytime you'd like! :D

I don't think the postage costs too much if you don't care how long it takes to get here.  The faster you want it to arrive, the more costly it is.  So just get the cheapest postage, and it'll eventually make it's way here. 

Our Address is:
Suite #15F-1
No. 188, Section 3, Cheong Hsin Rd.
San Cheong Area,
New Taipei City,
Taiwan

:D

Movember - Asian Edition

As promised, I am posting some pictures of our Movember party.  We had about 10-15 friends over on Saturday night.  It was our first time hosting a gathering at our apartment and it was rather lovely.  We have a lot of space, with a bar in our kitchen and we also discovered we have surround sound speakers.  So, all in all it was a good time had by all.  It was overwhelmingly handsome in the room with all the mustaches.  We will have to do it again sometime! 

Asian Movember

My favourite month of the year - Movember.  Tis the season for the showcasing of the mustache, while supporting the awareness of prostate cancer.  I always love this month back home as I think mustaches are hilarious, and seeing friends, family and random people on the street sporting a stache makes November truly enjoyable.  Just because I am across the world does not stop me from enjoying the month.  Mark had a beard growing for most of October, and in true Movember style, he shaved the beard leaving nothing but a legendary upper lip decoration for all to enjoy in Taipei.  I also made other male friends here in Taipei aware of the month, so our friend Jaime from the U.K. has a nice one growing as well.  I am planning on having a Movember get together next weekend to showcase some of Taipei's finest mustaches.  Stay tuned for pictures.  For now, here is some beautiful pics of our Asian inspired Movember to tide you over:

Taiwan Kindy Halloween

This Halloween was rather different than most.  I didn't do my normal dress up, go out to party Halloween routine, but I did have a great time with my kindy kids!!!  They are absolutely adorable, and the loves of my life every morning Monday-Friday.  Add a Halloween costume to their cuteness and they are RIDICULOUSLY adorable!  Here are some lovely pictures of our Halloween celebration, going trick or treating and showing off costumes. 

The class and some of their parents

I am in love with this kid.

He is also another fave.

Singing trick or treat.

Singing again to get some candy!

Very fun Halloween!  Can't believe it is already November.  It's 27 degrees and sunny right now! I was outside in a tanktop.. ahh love it!  Hope everyone had a swell Halloween back home!  Now Movember has begun, get those staches growing! 

KTV

Last weekend, we went out with a bunch of friends on Saturday night to a KTV to celebrate a friends' birthday.  KTV is what the Taiwanese call Karaoke.  Karaoke is a HUGE thing in Taiwan, and Asia in general.  There are KTV bars on almost every street corner.  The one we went to is called Holiday KTV.  The building itself is like a hotel; fully equipped with a lobby and elevator.  When you get to your floor, you are taken to your room.  The deal is, you rent the room for a certain rate per hour, sing all the songs you want, drink as much as you want, then leave.  The room is very dim, it has a huge leather couch with two tables, a flat screen TV, microphones and speakers, and it's own washroom.  You program all your own songs through a remote, and when your song comes up, it's your turn at the mic.  So, so much fun and so hilarious!  One of my best nights out in Taiwan yet.  Can't wait to take my mom and brother here.  I know after some liquid courage my brother will be all over that microphone.  This night made me miss my friends soo much as many of the songs we sang were oldies (Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Aqua, etc), and I know they would absolutely love doing something like this!!! I'm definitely having my birthday here.  Here are some pictures of our night out:

This is the KTV bar...the entire building is KTV!

This must have been a Backstreet Boys song

Magic

Voice of an angel

This KTV was in Ximen, a place I had heard of but had never been to.  I can't believe I hadn't been there because it was amazing!! It is like Taipei's times square.  There is SO much shopping every where in sight that it's actually overwhelming and you don't know where to start.  I'm going to wait on my next pay and then get down to business in this district.  Here are some pictures of it during the day and at night.  Oh, and the street food there is amazing!

Mark and I are back into a workout routine, and will hopefully stick with it so that we have nice beach bods for Thailand in (less than) 3 months!  We have been eating in more lately since it is late by the time we work out and shower, and it is nice to not have to go find food.  I began a weekly Wednesday pasta/wine night starting yesterday.  It is my thing to look forward to in the middle of the week.  Instead of always looking ahead to the weekend, it's nice to have an evening in the middle of the work week to cook a fab dinner and drink some wine with my guy.  He has no complaints, since pasta is my forté.

Don't worry, we didn't eat all of this!  Leftovers for tonight!

Well, Halloween is approaching, and yes they do celebrate here in Taiwan, so all week I have been doing fun crafts with my kids to decorate our kindergarten area.  Tomorrow is the Halloween party at my school in the morning, then Mark and I will have a Halloween party on Monday at his school (as I teach there as well).  Not really celebrating Halloween as adults, probably just heading to the beach this Saturday so Mark can catch some waves.  Maybe me too..... IF it's not freezing out!  That's all for now.  HAPPY HALLOWEEN to those back home.. enjoy the parties!! xo