Wednesday20thJune07

Okay, this late blogging is starting to become a bit of a bad habit but with barely over a week left you can't blame me for being a little busy.

Today my roommate re-emerged. She has been MIA for the past few days and we were starting to get a little worried. (Especially due to the fact that the last time she disappeared for a weekend she came back married... but that's another story.)

This time she came back with the worst sunburn I've ever seen in my life. It was fairly horrific. When I asked how she managed it (thinking she'd been with a friend in Taipei for the whole time) she said she woke up one day with some friends on an island off the south of Taiwan and had no idea how they got there. (Taipei is in the north of the Taiwan and it's not massively easy to get around unless you speak Chinese.)

I've said it before and I'll say it again – the weight limit for planes to get here is stupid. Thankfully my parents took out all the stuff I couldn't manage on the way here (books etc.) but then they all have to go back again. So today I dragged my other roommate to the city to help with Chinese at the post-office and to share the weight of the box that had been christened 'Gigantor.' (I guess it wasn't that heavy, but I'm not that strong.)

The woman at the post-office seemed quite amused at my request to send him to the UK (and wasn't sure where it was) but was nonetheless helpful.

Later I got a call from a friend who had managed to acquire a moped from the lady he buys his breakfast from, asking if I wanted to go for a short trip. We headed up a mountain (there are lots around here) with a great view of Taoyuan. Then to a random temple that turned out to be closed for the night.

I'm not the worlds biggest fan of mopeds, and given he'd only been riding it for a few weeks he didn't exactly fill me with confidence.

But when you're face with the choice to go or not to go, it's generally better to go, right?..