My exchange course info is on the internet!

Check it out :)

http://uwaterloo.ca/engineering/current-undergraduate-students/engineering-exchange-oportunities/exchange-opportunities/hong-kong-1

Gotta get UW Eng Exchange to update my info to the courses I actually took tho

Tech Tips: Know what type of memory card you have!

Quick tip for anyone planning a big trip overseas that I believe is usually overlooked: You want to capture memories so you think about buying the nicest, newest camera out there. But 2 things that people often forget about: you need to make sure you have adequate batteries and memory cards as well.

Adequate batteries is pretty easy to understand. You need enough battery to last you until the next time you'll find an electrical outlet. Memory cards is a different story.

Jan 26 - Flight to Hong Kong!

So on Jan 26th, we left our urban island paradise of Taipei, Taiwan. It was a sad feeling to leave a place where we were well fed and well exercised from scouring many areas in Taipei. The city ended up being a lot bigger than I expected. I initially thought that we'd only need 4-5 days to explore Taiwan and after that we'd want to go south on the island, or move on to other countries. Melody and her dad showed me so many beautiful places in Taiwan that I think we'd still have a list going if we did 2-3 things for 4 weeks.
But sadly, 10 days is all we had to give Taiwan on my first time there. It was a great time there, but only a sampling of the beginning.

Taiwan Adventure Journal - Day 9!

Day 9 (Jan 25) was our last day in Taiwan :'(
We started our day off with a trip to see the Martyr's Shrine. It is reminiscent of Chiang Kai Shek square with its immaculate upkeep, large stone architecture, and brilliant red contrast decorations. While we were their we walked around the inside and entered rooms that are dedicated to martyrs who have died throughout history while serving Taiwan.

 The main gate. Note the stone-faced guards under the arch

Taiwan Adventure Journal - Day 8!

Day 8, aka Jan 24th, was another drizzly day in Taipei. Streets quiet, the few pedestrians scurry by with a flurry of umbrellas and Mandarin chatter. There are fewer cars in the streets.
On this day we went to the National Palace Museum, just a few kilometres out of Taipei's city centre. You can find in google maps here. To get there, we took a city bus from one of the main city intersections in Taipei. It was a 15 bus ride or so, which drops us off in a little landing area outside the museum. As you walk in, you see a garden off to the side as well as an open stone walking area that surrounds the museum itself.

Mountains in the distance, right in the backyard of the museum, a comfortable silence pervades the scene.

 The walkway up to the museum

Taiwan Adventure Journal - Day 7!

Day 7, aka Jan 23, was our first day of the Chinese New Year. Our first day in the year of the Dragon. As mentioned in other posts, Taipei practically becomes a ghost town when CNY rolls in. People travel and go on vacation, visit family, and generally take a break from their daily grind for about week or so. The city being nearly empty, is a good time to sight see any of the open venues for pictures, but isn't as good for shopping and markets, as many of them are closed.
On this day we went to Sun Yat Sen memorial hall and took a look around. 

It was a cool, overcast day. Taipei 101 loomed in the distance, spire occluded by the clouds overhead. The general lack of crowds and the low hanging mist created the feeling of a quiet morning that endured throughout much of the day. 

We walked around Sen's Memorial hall and then moved on to the notably bigger Chiang Kay Shek Memorial square. The large square is bordered by a gate on one side and three large, traditionally decorated buildings on remaining sides. One of which is the National Theatre, National Music Hall on another side, and finally the memorial hall, which lies to the South-East side.

Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall

Taiwan Adventure Journal - Day 6!

So this is Jordan's first time delving into the lengthy writing process of our Taiwan, so spare me if these entries aren't as well written as Melody's :P

Day 6, aka Jan 22, was the day we went to the mythical Taipei 101. Please note that this is also Chinese New Year's Eve.

The first thing to know about Taipei and a lot of Asia in general, is that Chinese New Year is not a big street party. It's a time when people get time off work to go home and take care of their family, see relatives they haven't seen in a while, and generally eat a lot of food. That said, all that family time means that a lot of food stalls and attractions are actually not open. For this reason, we had to leave the morning comfort of our Taipei hotel room to get our breakfast for the first of 3 or 4 days where the city was very quiet in many different areas.

This particular morning, we got some Chinese baking and some noodles for breakfast.

 This is how dead the malls are on CNY Eve

Taiwan Adventure Journal - Day 5!

January 21st was actually one of my favourite days, simply because we ate such amazing food. All the food we had was pretty amazing already, but today was EPIC. My uncle and dad picked us up from the hotel, and we set off to Tam Shui (淡水). A more proper translation is actually Danshui). The first stop was at a temple called Guandu Temple 關渡宮. This temple is a Tao temple, so there were many different statues of different gods that they worship. Like many other temples, this one was very beautiful as well! It was special in the way that it was very large; the part we entered in was where people would practice and light inscents. We walked up the stairs and onto the look out area, where we can see a majestic view of the infamous red bridge that brings people into Tamshui. Before this bridge existed, people had to take the ferry over to get into this town. As we progressed further into the temple, there was a park and garden area where people can relax enjoy the beautiful view. We didn't have much time to spend around the garden area, because we were actually on a schedule today, but it was nice to enjoy the calm, serene part of the Guandu temple.

 Outside GuanDu Temple

Sai Kung weekend: Seafood and hiking

Ended up in Sai Kung twice this weekend. Saturday night was a seafood adventure. We got off the bus and walked around looking for restaurants to eat at. Found this one place and managed to get a pretty reasonable price for an amazing dinner. Initially found out that the prices were generally high in the area following the period of Chinese New Year. Finished dinner and went around for a walk. Found their "Temple Square" where a large bamboo stage was built for a traditional Chinese Opera, which was about to start. We ran across the street to one of the three 7-11's that we saw in Sai Kung and bought some beers and went back to enjoy one of the acts in the show.
We didn't have a very Cantonese dinner group so we didn't stay at the Opera for long, but we were there long enough to admire their intricate costumes. Walked further around Sai Kung and found some of the larger restaurants with their fish tanks - the ones that you point at a lobster and get to have it steaming on your table 20 minutes later.

 Beautiful Scallops dish