In The Shoes of Mila Librodo

Japan is very cold, especially at night. We would know, we got hungry and there wasn't any food in the house. We walked to a mall in freezing weather because the other place we wanted to go to turned out to be closed. We got Raman and were the loudest ones. We had to learn a lot about Japanese etiquette. It's kinda funny, in Taipei we would run into 7-11 for AC not heating.  Ban. K is one subway stop and a bus ride from our apartment.  Ban. K is the mountain that we're going to be skiing at this season. It's small, smaller than Squaw. Since I've been skiing, which is 20ish days, I've only gone one lift out of four. Ban. K has a very good lunch selection. There is Raman, Udon, curry, and even churros, which are my favorite. Much better than the 20-dollar chicken nuggets Squaw has.  Team Bankie is the team me and Dai are joining for the year. Unlike OV Free they specialize in moguls. There are some couches from the Japanese national team, and athletes too. Buildin...

Two countries so close, but different in so many ways. From the Spanish-sounding words of Tagalog to the crisp-yet-elegant tones of Mandarin. In the country made up of thousands of islands, the smell of fish sauce wafts through the air. Only a two-hour plane ride flight away, stinky tofu overpowers everything else.  When looking at the neon signs that fill the streets of Taipei, you might notice the spelling… Sometimes Tamsui might be Dansui. In Manila, all you see is the English alphabet, as it is used in Tagalog. Going to Filipino malls, you’ll hear a good amount of English. In The Philippines, malls aren’t places to break the bank but to hang out with friends. In Taipei however, coffee shops are a more popular place to hang out, filled with Chinese chatter with little to no English. English is Taiwan’s Achilles heel, they don’t use it often. People here will try to use English, and we always had Google Translate.  In the city of boba tea, education is as essential as food. ...

 Another 6 weeks of school went by, so last week we went to the Philippines. We flew into Manila from Taipei. the hotel we stayed at was the Sofitel. It was pretty nice. There were a lot of Christmas decorations. When you drive into the hotel there are people who will check under cars for bombs, and dogs who will smell for them. It was pretty crazy, the security. The Sofitel had a pool, so Dai and I went swimming while my parents met up with my Tito Nelson.  The next day we flew to Coron. The airport in Coron is teeny-tiny. After we landed, we drove to a boat that took us to the houseboats that we would be staying in for the next three days. The Paolyn houseboats were amazing. There was a big deck that we could jump off, or flip off. There was a table outside to eat breakfast and dinner. We ended up playing cards on the table. Also,  on the deck, there were chairs for sunbathing, but we used them to look at the many, many stars. At night the sky is beautiful, there are so...

 When we start to miss English we go to Maji Square. Maji Square is right next to YuanShan station. There are a lot of people who speak English, so Dai and I don't have to translate. We go there pretty often when we miss home. Sometimes we just go to Costco instead. Maji Square has this pretty awesome oyster place. The owner is super friendly and speaks English. He knows his oysters. I always see kids riding in little electric cars around the square. I think I want to try it one day. Sometimes I'll just read my book under a big tree. 

 One thing I said to myself when I first got to Taiwan was that I was never going to ride a scooter. Well, I also said that I wasn't going to try stinky tofu, but I did.  My first time going to 小琉球 was also my first time riding a scooter. Our plan was to rent bikes a bike around the island, but there was no place to rent a bike. I mean there's one place where you can rent a bike, but it was closed. Keep that in mind when you go.  The first day we walked around the island. We looked very odd. Nobody in 小琉球 walks around. Everyone has a scooter. That's probably why the sidewalks are so small. Actually, there aren't any sidewalks at all. Our plan was to get one of the two taxis on the island to drive us around when we met someone who convinced us to rent scooters instead.  We ended up renting two scooters. It was a good thing because there are lots of hills in 小琉球， biking would have been really hard. It was my mom's first time driving. Dai and I ended up waiting in a 7-...

 Every 6 weeks our school gives us a week off because it's the end of a Quest. Last week was our week off. We took the HSR then a bus then a ferry to 小琉球（Xiao Liu Qiu). 小琉球 is a little island off the bottom of Taiwan and kinda looks like a footprint.  After dinner the first night we found a little shop called the Iran Bazaar. A really nice guy named Chirs owns the place. We got saffron and rose-flavored ice cream. I really liked it. We also met his friend's daughter Hana. She had just turned 5. Hana was also really sweet. My parents were really excited to meet someone who can speak English. We went back to the Iran Bazaar 3 times the next day. We bought a lot of yummy food each time. While we ate Chris told us how he had met a lot of people from all over the world because of his business. He is from Iran and moved to Taiwan. Ever since he was a little boy Chris had a dream of selling ice cream on the beach. Now, he sells Persian food in 小琉球 and gets up super early and goes to ...

 For school, the guides said because we don't have grades we have to earn badges. You earn badges by meeting a goal. Like, finishing a Khan Academy course or a unit in IXL. So far I've gotten 4 badges.  One badge that took me a long time to get was Badge Book. I had to choose a book and write some stuff about it. The book I read we A Promise Land by Barack Obama. I don't know why I chose that book, I think it's because it has a lot of pages and you can earn stuff by reading books with a lot of pages. It took me 2 and a half weeks to read the book. It was ok. Not my favorite because it was about US politics. I definitely learned a lot of things from it. Like, how they pass a bill. I also learned what it's like to be President. I don't think I'll ever want to be a president. Too hard. The president would literally go to the other side of the world for a meeting then the next day goes to a whole different place. You see when I go across the world I at least st...

 I and Dai have stated calling the MRT the "Mert" because why not. I think it's shorter than saying MRT.  I like the art in the MRT stops. In one stop there were giant hands you could sit on. At another stop, the staircases had pictures on them.  I really liked this mural of a kid sitting in a meadow.  I think the artwork in the MRT makes it more colorful and fun to look at. I wish the subways in America were as colorful and clean. 

 There is this really good burger place off the blue line. We saw a lot of people who don't speak Chinese there. I got the OG burger. I really liked it. The burger place had a pretty cool sticker wall. Also, they had mouthwash in the bathroom. We went to another yummy burger place. It was Burger King.  I watched Dai eat steak at this restaurant. It was a fancy place that we went to for our friend's birthday. I really liked the salad there. That's the one thing I miss, good salad. The Rohan Night market off the Song Shan MRT stop is a good place to get food. I think there is even a booth that has a Michelin Star. I warn you though, it gets busy. I tried this dessert that is a jelly with red ben on the inside. Kinda slimy but good. There is this restaurant by our house that makes really yummy noodle soup. They also have good veggies. We didn't actually order the good veggies, the lady accidentally gave them to us. My favorite part of the place is that they have a rice coo...

The Taiwan vacation is finally over. School started 2 weeks ago. Acton Academy is super duper small, like really small. From kindergarten to 7th grade there are only about 20 kids.  There really aren't any teachers. Only Guides. The funny thing is that the guides can't answer any questions. If you have a question you ask the other Eagles, that's what they call us. Not students, Eagles. Last week the Guides told us to make a lip dub and it had to be done by next Thursday.  That's kinda all the instructions they gave us. Instead of a teacher there to teach you we use online learning. Khan Academy and IXL. Sometimes I have to work on it at home and ask my parents the questions. I think I would rather have a teacher teach me than a computer. I think I'll get used to it though Me and Dai get to go to and from school by ourselves. It's kinda cool. After school sometimes we go get boba or ice cream. 

 I don't mean to brag, but I've been in the 10th tallest building in the world. That's right, Taipei 101.  The last time we went, we just went to the 5th floor. The mall. This time we took the world's fastest elevator to the 89th floor. The view is amazing. I could see all the places I'd been to.  The buildings are all crammed together. That's probably why the city has so many people. The  98th floor has a gift shop, coffee shop and a photo booth.  There was also many places other places to take pictures.  After a little bit Dai got hungery. He got cheese crackers that were made out of fake cheese. I didn't like it. I also saw the big ball that keeps that building from falling during an earthquake. Thats Taipei 101 for you.  

Have you ever been paragliding? Well, paragliding is when you run off a cliff with a kite attached to you while carrying a selfie stick.  That's what I did on the third day in Yilan. It was really fun. The views were amazing. The people working even taped my shoes to my feet so they wouldn't fall off. I'd do it again, but I would want the ride to be longer. At that time the ride was about three minutes.  In the sky, I could see the whole beach, and the cafe I called the Cheese House, it looked like a wedge of cheese. After paragliding, we played at the beach for a while. Then went to the place we were staying at. After going to dinner we went trash picking-uping at the beach. It's pretty sad how much trash there is on the beach.  Day four. We went to a water park, it wasn't the best water park, but it was ok. I think my favorite part was when this guy's brother kept calling him, really loudly, that we ended up knowing his name. Let's just say you had to be t...

 Yilan Packing List:               ~ Swimsuits.                    ~ Phone/charger               ~ Sunscreen                    ~` Teddy Yup, you guessed it. We went to Yilan. Of course, I packed more, I packed like a million things, those are just the important things.  Yilan is a surfing city if you didn't know. It was about an hour's drive from Taipei, with lots of tunnels.  On Monday this surfer-looking guy named Allen picked us up from Taipei and drove us to Yilan. I liked the songs he played in the car, they were very happy songs. I like happy songs.  This week was the third camp of the year, a surfing camp. It was a three-day camp to learn how to surf. Allen was one of the coaches.  On the first day, we had Paninis for lunch, which had a pineapple in it.  Watched a YouTube video on h...

1. Wavey Escalator At the Xiang Shan stop off the red line there is a kinda wonky escalator. This escalator has a wave in the middle. Right, when Dai and I saw this we immediately wanted to take a picture. Dai even went back up to get a better picture.  2. Taking Hand Sanitizer To The Next Level Wow, it's seems like so long ago sice we first landed. When we were trying to get a taxi to get to our quarentine place the airport people sprayed all of our things and us with hand sanitizer. They sprayed us like how my dad sprays us with bug spray, except it was with hand sanitizer.  3. Squat Toilets Just like Japan Taiwan had squat toilets. In the bathrooms they have half squat toilets and half regular toilets. The regular toilets are usually occupied and the squat toilets are vacant. I'll use the squat toilets if they look clean even if there is a regular toilet that I could use. If you think about it, when using a squat toilet you don't accually touch the toilet and your shoes ...

Mosquitos. Little flying bugs that are more annoying than siblings. Don't get me wrong I love Dai, he's my brother.  There are so many mosquitos in Taiwan. They like to go for the ankles, so wear long socks.  My dad finally won the mosquito war. We kept getting bitten by mosquitos not knowing where they were coming from. He got us all mosquito nets to put up around our beds. When I FacedTimed my grandma she said it made my bed look like a princess bed. I like my prinsess\mosquito protected bed with superhero sheets.  I also have a mosquito zapper thingy in my room. It is a UV light that attracts mosquitos and then fries them. I keep it on when I'm not in my room because my mom says the UV light is not good for me.  Every day before we go out I put on wine-smelling bug spray. I don't know why it smells like wine, it just does. I only put it on my feet because they go for the ankles. This one week I had so many bug bites on the bottoms of my legs that there were tiny r...

This blog post topic was an idea from my mom. She has the best ideas even if I don't know it  Taiwan has some awesome stuff but also has its fair share of wonky, slightly odd things. Well, it's not normal to me anyway. Only in Taiwan do you see so many motorcycles or scooters. There was this one Monday, so everyone was going to work. The whole street was filled with scooters, with no cars whatsoever. Never in my life had I seen so many of the same vehicles.  Only in Taiwan do you see a dog riding a scooter. I have seen dogs just standing inside a scooter, not moving at all. It seems kinda scary to me. Also, only in Taiwan do you see so many dogs not walking. Most of the dogs I've seen have been in strollers or bags. I don't know why, it's a mystery I have yet to solve.  Only in Taiwan can you get such amazing food so easily. Sometimes after getting off the MRT we walk 2 minutes to the night market and get yummy food then walk back to the house. There is food everyw...

 Me and Dai use Chinglish a lot, Chinese and English mixed together. For example when we order food. Ordering food gets easier over time, that's how I felt. When I order food I point, give money, and ask if it's spicy. Sometimes I say something in Chinese and the things I don't know in English. The English part other people usually don't understand. When that happens we play charades with the vendor.  If Dai or I can't do it, ole mighty Google Translate comes out. I love ordering food at the night markets, I'm not really sure why.  You know how else uses Chinglish? My dad. I've been teaching him phrases that are useful. Like, "I don't speak Chinese", "can I have this", and "I'm American". The last one he doesn't say to anyone though. My Dad is getting pretty good at it though. Most people understand him when he says "I don't speak Chinese". When we're walking he likes to practice with me and Dai. My...

 Taiwan is full of cool places to see. We have been to night markets and climbed a mountain. Also, went to other cool markets.  We have tried food from the Shipai Night Market and the Linjiang Night Market. The Linjiang Night Market is much bigger and busier than the Shipai Night Market. I got some yummy noodles that were served cold. I bought this lemon honey drink that was a bit too sour. When I ordered I didn't know it was lemon honey because I couldn't read it, I just blind ordered. The Linjiang Night Market also has some clothing shops and arcades.  One of the prettiest views in Taiwan is from XiangShan. After you climb the many flights of stairs and drive the narrow road to get to the top of XiangShan, there is one of the best sights in Taiwan. When we went it was around 6:00pm so it wasn't so hot and wasn't too dark. It was dark enough so that all the city lights were turned on. You can see Taipei 101 and the whole city. We took some cool photos. There are also s...

I have accidentally punched Dai in the nose, pinched him, played chess with him even though I don't really know-how, and dragged him across the floor so I could get a bouncy ball. Dai has slapped me in the face when making up a handshake,  likes to say what I say, and steals bouncy balls from me.  We aren't mad at each other for doing those things, we remember them though.  Those things are just what Dai and I do, as siblings.  When there is only one other kid around you, which happens to be your little brother, it's your job to have fun. Even if you have to drag them on the floor to do it.  Sometimes Dai can get annoying but thats what he dose as my little brother. I am probably sometimes annoying to him too.  

The food here is amazing. In our neighborhood is the Shipai Night Market, shaved ice, and a lot of things we still need to try. We also found a super cool waffle place. There is still so much more food! The Shipai Night Market  has little booths with different kinds of food, we have yet to try all of it. The food is pretty cheap, but is still super yummy. There is this really good dumpling booth that makes the best dumplings, and sauce. My mom loves them, we have gone there almost every night.  The booth owner are very nice, they like to ask you questions, and encourage you to try their food.  There is this really good shaved ice place near the Shipai Night Market. There is always a line so it’s not that hard to find it. The toppings are endless, they have boba, jellies, fresh fruit, and yummy sauces. I know it doesn't look like shaved ice in the picture, but it is. There is this really good waffle place called Coffee Alley.  I got a waffle with black sesame ice crea...