day 13! ximending, zhongxiaoxinsheng

The number of photos, and amount of stuff accomplished every day are getting smaller and smaller. :) I think I'm just getting used to being here, and there's less of an urge to "vacation hard", and run around trying to find novel things to do.

Anyway, I took my time getting up and getting ready, and we don't leave the apartment til early afternoon. Michael is antsy to go cuz he's hungry, I think.

Can't remember why anymore, but we decide to go back to ximending. :) I think because most night market areas (which have food that we want) don't really open til closer in the evening, but ximending is like more of a shopping area? So it is open all day. Plus it happens to have food. Anyway Michael wants food and I want to shop (which so far I had done surprising little of, since it's hard to shop with so many people together), so we go back to ximending.

When we get there, Michael stops to get some...I guess it's like popcorn chicken. The guys that worked there were kind of weird, they kept singing and chanting. About chicken, I think. O_o

While we were getting the food, it started raining really hard. Like from 0 to downpour in 60 seconds. Hoping it would stop equally as fast, we stalled for time and browsed this neighboring stand. Such a cute Totoro backpack!! I didn't ask how much it cost. I want it but don't think I'd ever get to use it. :( I wish I was 5 again. hehe. The only thing I can think of is at the rave, a lot of girls had cute lil backpacks (like that), so I'm thinking maybe I can get it for that. :3 too single purposed??? Depends how much it costs I guess. :) But I could be the water bitch!! Making water runs was almost as fun as dancing haha.

Pouring rain. (can you tell)?

Fortunately ximending is somewhat covered, so we shop around street by street, under the eaves, and making 5 second sprints through the rain to cross the street when we run out of stuff.

We found our way to this place, Ah Tong (?) rice noodles. We kept passing it those other times we were here, and there's always a ridiculously large crowd of people eating noodles outside. We decided to see what all the fuss was about.

A "small" bowl. Enough to make you full, I think it cost ~$1. It's thin rice noodles in a thick gummy sort of soup. Plus, intestines! :3

All these people are standing around having noodles, and/or avoiding the rain.

After eating, we run across the street to look at some shoes. I've been in desperate need of shoes since getting here, since I only brought a pair of almost-disintegrated boots and a pair of wedge sandals, neither of which really fit the season/weather too well. I ended up getting two more inappropriate pairs of shoes! :D Which are awesome but not good for walking around Taipei in. :( WHERE ARE ALL THE BOOTS AT???

Stepped into a cute little candy shop. They have a wall here, full of differently wrapped chocolates. You can mix and match to form a gift set...

like so! Isn't this adorable???? I heart Asia.

Biagra candies anyone? Little blue miracle pills :) pirrus?

Little candy sushi set!! So adorable, but I don't know anyone that would be able to open it and eat it. So it would just sit there taking up space....

buuuut Michael doesn't care! Cuz he bought a ginormous lollipop, just for it to sit there and take up space. $9. lol. :p we really have opposite ideas of what we want to spend our money on.

After ximending, went back to grandma's house to have dinner and hang out. Didn't stay too too long. :)

Then home!