#wanderlust
My Edinburgh trip is already over. I’m sitting on the plane waiting to go home and I’m so gutted. I’ll miss this incredible view (but not the 822ft climb to get there).
10 days left and I thought I was ready? I have two major things to do before departure and I still haven’t even started. What am I doing? I’ve really been slacking these past few days. But let’s think about all of this for a sec. I have been in school for a good 4 years. The break is needed and the break starts now. Beyond that, I still haven’t really figured out what I will do in Taipei when I get there. For I have some spots that I will def hit up, but I need to sit down and curate a list for your girl needs to get organized. Remember that list I created? Let’s revisit it:
Build a computer for my motherVisitArtechouse- Attend a Bicycle spinning class
Visit the DoctorVisit the DentistVisit the Eye DocObtain my Driver’s License?Backup my filesCreate Hair Product Mixture- Invest in Travel Credit Card??????
- Buy a new camera???????
UpdateWebsite
So as you can see, most of it is done. There’s like two with half strikethroughs for it’s in progress . There are more question marks on the two for it most likely won’t happen due to money concerns ahaha. And the spinning class is gonna happen sometime this week, I hope. My good friend of mine has also given me a blog to read about a black girl in Taipei and its quite funny, yet informative. She shares her dating advice along with tips on traveling to Taipei and other needs for black women. I’ve also been reading some other blogs of people living in Taipei like Edna who shares her experience living abroad since her college graduation along with this blog sharing her personal experience studying Chinese in Taipei. So I feel like I am mentally ready?
A few weeks later, but your girl has finally graduated! I made it. School was frying my brain and I was sick and tired of the administration, the people, the faculty…beyond over it. I was ready to leave as soon as I got back Fall 2016. But beyond that fact, I grew as an individual and picked up new skills and met tons of people in the past two years of undergrad, which I will never regret. Hopefully someday curate into something big, something cool. But nevertheless, its over, and I am very hype for the next chapter: T A I W A N. Click that link to see my new blog and read more on what I am doing there.
I will still be posting here, but I will dedicate this blog more to personal stories along with other random posts I decide to write along the way.
So get ready, for another long written post of adventures to come. I have exactly 3 weeks until departure and here are some things I need to accomplish before I leave:
Build a computer for my mother- VisitArtechouse
- Attend a Bicycle spinningclass
- Visit the Doctor
- Visit the Dentist
Visit the Eye Doc- Obtain my Driver’s License?
- Backup my files
- Create Hair Product Mixture
- Invest in Travel Credit Card?
- Buy a new camera?
Update Website
I absolutely love going to concerts/festivals/shows. Invite me to a show and I am there. Whether I know the artist or not, I am always down to hearing something new. There’s something about going and hearing the music live in the flesh creates a different experience for myself. Taking the time to actually hear everything and jamming, vibing for a great music high. I love it. I’m a relatively new concertgoer. My first show ever was @wearephenox right after I graduated from high school in 2013 at the @echo stage. Once I went to that one, there was no turning back and I have been going to shows ever since.
Hands down, my favourite show ever to date was in Aug 2015, just a week before I did my big trip abroad. Never forget. I saw Janelle Monae and her entire crew from Wondaland. That particular summer, they came out with a collective ep called The Eephus (great EP btw). They were doing this “secret” tour across the country in 8 cities all for free. You just had to RSVP in time. Y’all, let me tell you…I never have seen such an energetic crowd and/or performance ever. And I am not just talking about the main singers, but the bandmates, the backup singers, the dances, like everyone was so in tune. You could tell the performers were doing this all for love. And the crowd was wildin’. They received the music so well. You can tell that many of us have never heard of the majority of these artists but when I walked out of there at the end of the night, I was in absolute awe. I followed all the artists soon after and streamed all of their music. And ever since then, no show I have seen since then has topped that. Not even close.
Last few days in Cali, I saw Kung Fu Kenny accompanied DRAM and YG with these lovely ladies. It was absolutely amazing and I lost my voice and it was hella dry by the end of the night but it was a great show. Would 10/10 see them again any day.
The last show I went to was back in October when I saw Goldlink and also found my new obsession, Masego. Did yall know that Masego is a radio host on one of GTA V radio stations?! Crazy but that show was amazing from beg to end. I need to see them again.
Some artists that I want to see, but hard to see due to the location includes 20syl (only plays in France), Epik High (mostly performs in Seoul and big cities in Asia), Deadmau5 (his ass never has shows in the US unless it’s in like California or Miami)
It’s been 5 months since my last one and I am having some withdrawals. Probably won’t be going to any major concerts/festivals due to my upcoming travel plans, but if anyone knows of any small shows that I should check out in the month of May in DC, let me know and let’s go.
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One word. Relaxing.
This time I spent in Thailand was nothing short but amazing. This was my second time going and I absolutely loved it even more. I had a ton of more time in the country so I spent a lot of it just roaming around and just relaxing and soaking the sun.
The first 5ish days were hectic. Flew into Bangkok and from there flew to Koh Tao where we took our scuba diving courses. Quite a challenging yet rewarding experience for I am not a great swimmer nor am I comfortable with the deep water so I feel like with this experience, I really pushed myself beyond the boundaries of what I was capable of doing and it has opened my eyes to yet more a world out there of something different. And what made it fun was that we met up with my friend’s friend whose from the states but is currently traveling around the world and doing a lot of freelancing work. But not too long after, she found a love for Koh Tao and found a job as a Yoga Instructor. You go girl! So happy for her. Wishing her all but the very best.
From Koh Tao, we took a ferry to Koh Samui. And in Samui, it rained the entire time. Like the entire time. It wasn’t hard rain, but moreso little drops. The island is much bigger than Koh Tao, a bit more laid back. There’s not too much to do for things are quite spread out, but it was still nice. When I travel, I enjoy walking around and just seeing the spots hoping I run into a hidden gem. I like to have places that I want to go but I also don’t mind exploring on my own for a lot of expected things can come up and turn out fun.
Flew north to Chiang Mai. And before we get to Chiang Mai, can we talk about the Koh Samui Airport!!! Because its on an island, I guess half of the airport is inside but mostly its outside. Its looks almost like an indoor mall, but its outside. There’s a ton of storefront shops you can visit and they also have these platforms you can sit under for shade (well needed for it was raining pretty hard) and they knew I didn’t eat. The airport provides free snacks, yes FREE snacks. I was soo happy. You don’t understand how hungry I was. They had a few thai snacks that I wasn’t familiar with, but they had this ham sandwich, some juice, and water. I was in heaven.
I went solo in Chiang Mai, but it was awesome for I was on my own, I can do what I want, when I want and no one to hold me back. The city itself was super neat. Tons and tons of temples, lots of bomb ass food (per usual) and tons of great things to offer. There, I got to take care of elephants which was a very cool expereince. Elephants are pretty smart and they eat a lot! The younger kins were so playful esp when it came to bathing in the water. It was so cute. They all had some interesting personalities. I think it would be cool to volunteer for a few weeks hanging with elephants. Definitely gonna look into that in the future. I also ran into these two women from Las Vegas from this cheap city tour I went on. They were so sweet and down to earth. I really enjoyed them so much that I hung with them on the next day. We went to a night market and tried local Thai wine. It tasted pretty good. Students from the local university make the wine (amazing) and I believe each glass was like 50 baht (a dollar y’all). I was in heaven.
We flew to Singapore in which also rained the entire time we were there. We still had a nice time. WE had a very lavish dinner at a buffet in a hotel in the Sentosa area. Then went out to a club that we thought that it was Hip-Hop but just another shitty EDM club. Missed the countdown for i was too busy in the bathroom but you know, we still had a good time. Even though it was raining, it was crowded. There were tons of people out and my feet were killing me (damn you heels). Taking a taxi was impossible so we took a bus back to our hotel. It was crazy.
The following day, we went out to downtown area to the Marina by the bay where they have that amazing green lavish garden. Then, we went shopping and my friend was going ham in the beauty section for the items sold in Singapore are much cheaper than back home. And you know what’s crazy, from there we walked from downtown to our Airbnb in Geyland. 45ish minute walk (which I don’t mind). It was dark, yet nice and quiet and the weather was amazing.
Flew back to Bangkok where we ended our trip by meeting my friends that I met in China from my A+1班 class at Fudan. We had such an amazing time. Bittersweet moment and my friend really liked them. I was so scared that she wasn’t gonna click with them or say something crazy but man it was a good time! We had these amazing cakes, reminisced about our times in China, we even talked about bitcoin and the future of currency and investing along with lots of good laughs.
