Taipei 2008: the prequel

i'm back....miss me?

i also can't let this go unmentioned: i'm sitting in Professional Responsibility and my professor is talking about deception and legal ethics and he starts going into this hypo and starts it by saying:

"i'm going to build this building. yea, it's 3X larger than everything else aroudn it but i don't care. i'm going to build it, just like a penis into the sky."

ahem, excuse me professor? that's really the only reason to come to class. anyways, back to the point of this entry...

for spring break this year, Princess and i went to Taipei for 10 days. technically i'm an ABC, but i spent many summers as a kid in Taipei and it always holds a special place in my heart. then when i was legal drinking age...phew, Taipei became my favorite playground as well.

we took a thursday flight out so we could maximize our time in Taipei and manage to have 2 full wkds in the city. we had a nightmare incident occur with lastminute.com: they lost our tickets (it happened in an X-files mystery kind of way; they were supposed to send it via FedEx and supposedly someone in Feil signed for its receipt but Princess never got it) and then we called American Airlines (AA) and were told that our reservations were on record so there was no worries. on the day of the flight, all hell broke lose. i've never spent that much time at check-in counter. apparently, lastminute.com had issued us paper tickets when they should've just made it e-tickets. and lastminute.com had the authority to change it, but they were too lazy. basically, w/only 30 mins left to get onto our flight, Princess and i had to pay for "lost tickets" ($100 each, although lastminute.com has promised to reimburse Princess for the fees-we'll have to see if that pans out) before they would issue us boarding passes.

the flight over was fine, tho 17 hrs is always brutal. we made a stop in Tokyo Narita Airport. the Japanese really know how to live. the terminal was nice: shower rooms for freshening up, free internet lounges sponsored by Yahoo, delish food. the only negative is how expensive everything is. we transferred to Japanese Asia Airlines (JAA). i totally recommend flying Japan airlines from now on. the food was awesome, the service was all smiley, and complimentary booze! after this trip i've made a not-so-shocking discovery. Asian stewardesses are so much nicer than white ones. ok, i know that statement's not PC but whatever, it's true. the flight from NY to Taipei was all asian stewardesses and the service was all smiley, dainty and polite. on the way back, the flight from Tokyo to NY was all white stewardesses and they were bitchy, rude and curt. it made a big difference.

we arrived in Taipei around 10 pm on friday night and altho i was raring to go, Princess was exhausted and jetlagged so we went straight to bed. the next day we headed over to DanShui, and since it was a wkd, the place was packed. tons of ppl on the street, eating street food, buying crazy cheap things, playing carnival games. we took a break at Red Castle for tea and coffee which i'd never been there before although i've been to DanShui many times. the view's amazing and it's a really nice setting. altho we were there in the late afternoon, the place would be an amazing dinner date. later that night, we went to RaoHe Night Market, which was Princess's 1st experience w/a Taipei night market. following the night market, we went out for KTV, which as everyone in Asia knows, is a huge going-out activity. we tried to get into PartyWorld (this and Holiday KTV are the biggest KTV chains) but the place was booked (see? it was friday night and KTV was booked). instead we ended up at K9 which is located in the 24-hour shopping center Core Living Mall. Princess proceeded to polish off an entire bottle of red wine by herself and then all hell broke loose. there were only 5 of us there that night and 2 of us managed to make-out scandalously. i was not 1 of them.

we did a lot of shopping in Taipei. phew, Princess can shop! i've realized we have very different clothing styles. she's classy and elegant vs. me who's casual and teeny-bopper. when i took her down the main shopping strip, for the 1st time i understood what it's like to be a boyfriend accompanying a girlfriend shopping b/c we would go into stores totally Princess's style but not mine and i would have to wait on the side while she tried on clothes. we checked out WuFenPu Night Market, which is all clothes and nothing else. that's my favorite shopping area. plus, at that point i'd gotten really good at bargaining w/vendors. i took Princess to XiMenDing, another favorite place for shopping but also for hanging out. however, this was the day before Princess got sick so she lost steam really quickly altho she did manage to maximize the shopping. lastly, we went to Shilin Night Market but at that point we were both really shopped out and we only shopped for souvenirs and trinkets.

so aside from major shopping, we also ate a lot of food. this is pretty typical for Taiwan. the country's all about food and drink. yet the ppl stay so skinny! i just don't get it and it's just not fair. aside from all the street food: deep fried thick japanese mushrooms, skewered quail eggs, seasoned guava and asian peaches, stinky tofu and duck's blood (don't knock it till you've tried it); there was also official meales that my family took us out to eat at.

G-ma took us out to a ladies luncheon w/her friends on top of the Taipei World Trade Center which was so elegant and "ladies lunching" style. it was about 6 courses including shark fin soup. then there was the Japanese meal Princess and i had in XiMenDing. it was at this adorable place called Big Car Wheel (that's a direct translation). the place has been around for decades and it's novelty is that is has the little train that goes around the sushi bar and you can take things off it. while the food was good, the ordeal was a little trying b/c Princess can't read chinese or speak it and so i had to do all the translation and read the menu (which didn't come in english-and my ability to read chinese isn't that great). of course a trip to Taipei isn't complete w/o visiting Ding Tai Fun: this is the must go to place for soup dumplings and chicken soup. the reputation of the restaurant is still going strong (it has probably been around for a decade or just under) b/c we still had to wait 45 mins before we could get a table. i know, i know, chicken soup sounds plain but it really is worth it. and asian chicken soup is never the same as the chicken noodle soup we have in the states. it's just not.

lastly, there was Ma-la hotpot and shabu shabu. i'd never had shabu shabu before and now that i have i think hotpot is 100X better. i can't say why, but it just is. needless to say, there was a lot of food consumed and just thinking about it makes me feel blech but at the same time crave for all of it again. especially asian bread. and all those small 24-hour restaurants for drinking beer and snacking. ah, Taiwan Beer. i miss it all.

8 am nights

the recent trend seems to be for me to get home between the hours of 6:30 am-8 am. it's very crazy.

i think this all started the night of the Inter-APALSA mixer. the event was held at Aura and APALSA got hooked up by 1 of the 1L reps whose friend owns the bar. the place is ok, nothing special and it's friggin' expensive. all drinks are $10+. i gotta admit, i wasn't that psyched to go but, as an eboard member, felt i had to go and at least make an appearance. however, when i got there i got side-tracked from the ppl i'd arrived w/ b/c i was outside talking to Co-Chair. when i went in the place was packed but it turned out Aura was also hosting a Caribbean night so the bar was packed w/ppl who were definitely not APALSA. i walked all the way to the back of the bar looking for ppl i recognized but couldn't find anyone (it turned out the APALSA mixer was in the downstairs bar but i didn't find this out until later). however, i did realize 1 thing: whenever you're the ethnic minority girl at a bar, it's inevitable that someone will hit on you; it's guaranteed 1 person in the ethnic majority has a minority fetish. and i'm pretty sure this applies no matter where you go (lone white girl at an asian bar/lone asian girl at a white bar etc.). i did finally find my way downstairs and made the rounds and said "hi" and actually did start to enjoy myself, even w/Oni choking the crap out of me every time she hugged me and telling random strangers how much i "hate" the current guy she's dating (and just in case you didn't know, i don't hate him). there was this 1 interesting incident: Oni was talking this guy from Cardozo and we all started talking when all of a sudden another guy pops up behind me and starts dancing up on me (and this wasn't exactly a dancing kind of crowd). he introduces himself and it turns out he's the mentee of CardozoGuy which is ironic since i'm Oni's mentee. so Mentee and i start chatting, the whole time me thinking nothing about it except that we're obviously just talking b/c our mentors are talking. did i mention that i think he's gay? yea, i can't pinpoint any exact reason why, but that's the impression i have. so later, BLS APALSA members all go to Kunjip for food and we're all sitting there eating when in walks Mentee. he comes over to our table and says "hi" and then (obviously not noticing i'm at the table too) turns to Prez and goes:

"hey, where's _____?" (meaning me-i just realized i've never mentioned my name in this blog so i'm gonna stay w/that strain).

everyone at the table turned and looked at me and so i say "hi" and wave. after he leaves i turn to Prez and say:

"there's only 1 question i have to ask you" to which he promptly replies:

"no i don't think he's gay." he knew my question even before i asked it! but i still secretly believe that i was hit on by a gay guy.

we got back to brooklyn around 3 am and then i got a call from DRC so i headed over to Kili's to meet them, where they'd been for a birthday party. even tho i've never been there and wasn't there that long, the place looks chic and nice and the wood-burning smell from the fireplace makes it homey. there was a little CB action going on which caused a little tension for the 1st time in our little 3-some but ended up being the best outlet and we spent the rest of the night all 3 of us curled up in Coleslaw's bed eating tag-a-longs and revealing our most intimate/embarassing law school secrets until 6:30 am.

the following saturday i found myself at Glass for a birthday party being thrown by the Prince-of-Dubai boyfriend for his girlfriend. yes, that may be an exaggeration but i think it pretty much sums up the situation perfectly. although i haven't been a fan of Manhattan lounge scene for a while now, i gotta admit Glass was pretty fun. we danced like rock stars and it was all around good fun. of course, going w/DRC and Coleslaw prob made it that way too, b/c shenanigans always ensue when i'm out w/them. 1 of them had interesting drama w/a boy(space)friend and kept charging our drinks to his tab (which i did not mind at all) while the other played (unknowingly) public tonsil hockey w/a pre-teen (ok, not pre-teen but someone under 21). eventually Oni showed up w/Yuka's crew and they stayed for a bit before Yuka left due to jet lag (apparently she had just come back from Japan that day). as the night winded down i talked to Oppa and we coordinated to meet up. it turns out Oppa was having his own drama that night:

Oppa had gone to some house party and then there was some drama about going out to a club due to some shady guy and he eventually ended up at Maru around 3:15 am. before they'd ordered their bottle they'd been reassured by the owner that they would have ample time to finish the bottle. however, at 3:45 am they advised Oppa and his friends that they would have to leave at 4:00 am b/c that's when they closed and it turns out ShadyGuy, who knew the owner, had something to do w/it. so Oppa and ShadyGuy stepped outside and had a little tussle (tho nothing crazy). Oppa had called me and asked us to go and meet him at Maru to help them finish the bottle but at that point it was already 3:50 am and it would've taken us 15 mins just to get to ktown so we nixed the idea.instead we ended up at this amazing apartment located really close to ktown. the place has a sick view, 2 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and an impressive pool table. however, we weren't there long b/c there was a lot of drama going on so everyone headed their separate ways. i ended up back at Coleslaw's w/DRC once again eating tag-a-longs before getting back to my apartment around 8 am.

the most recent 6:30 am excursion was the BLSPI Auction night. BLSPI did a really good job w/the auction this year, getting some amazing donations to be bid on. they were also very smart about the amount of alcohol they purchased, which seemed to be an endless supply. and as the crowd got drunker, their bids became looser as well. smart BLSPI, very smart. Coleslaw and i ended winning the raffle for free watches which is awesome (Coleslaw has an adorable Kennethc Cole watch whereas i have a sort-of bling-y BCBG watch). Coleslaw also won the bid for the TIVO (a steal at $150 which also includes 7 mths of service). the after-party was held at Brazen Head where Pervert and DRC got into a racist argument (is being that serious necessary?) and Coleslaw was getting her mack on. the rest of the night was a continuation of shenanigans that resulted in someone kissing a preteen, ordering delivery at 4:00 am, 24-hr deli run, someone taking 1 for the team and someone else hooking up. and i just want to reiterate: i am an awesome wing woman.

however, eventually we're gonna have to put a stop to these 8 am nights b/c the next day's pretty shot where we all end up at Coleslaw's vegged out eating a pizza for the entire day.

is this really me?

What Kind of Drink Are You?
	You are a Cosmopolitan. You are quiet and content. You don't stand out too much, but you don't mind and don't care what people think of you. You don't need everything to be perfect, as long as you get what matters. Sure, you may be 'girly' and you may not be the smartest, craziest or most refined, but you really like yourself, and that's fine by you.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

the appearance of the sex face

it's been a whirlwind of info and activity since this event so i haven't been able to write about it, but it's finally here: LAW PROM!!! but before i can discuss the event itself, i've gotta discuss how i ended up there. i didn't go to Barrister's Ball last year (when i had a bf/permanent date) so i definitely wasn't planning on going this year (when i don't have a bf/permanent date). however, Coleslaw, DRC and Ol' had different plans for me. it was about a week before the prom and they had all just assumed i was going and when i told them i wasn't they were all pretty shocked but at this point the tickets had increased in price by 2/3s so my option of purchasing one was pretty much out the window. Coleslaw then turned to me and pulled $20 from her wallet and said, "if i give you $20 will you consider purchasing a ticket?" I wasn't sure what to say and then DRC and Ol' also pulled money from their wallets and said they would also contribute if i just came b/c they really wanted me there. i was so touched! now, when i retold this story to Oppa his immediate reaction was:

"what are you poor?"

whereas, when i told Kiks this story her immediate reaction was:

"aww! your friends are so sweet!"

opposite sexes really have totally different brains. anyways, so after that it was set in stone and i purchased my Barrister's Ball ticket. but i love those girls for making it happen.

Law school prom is just like high school prom, except you can legally drink. all the pre-prom rituals are the same: shopping for dresses, getting manis and pedis, doing your hair and make-up. everyone had such adorable dresses! and then there was mine. Ol' and i went to Forever 21 to look at dresses (yes, i am that classy) and i finally found this blue one that i thought was fun enough for law school prom (b/c we're all too old to wear those poofed-out cupcake dresses now). i showed Ol' and she also liked it, although we noticed that when i jumped up to do a victory "yippee!" that the dress was a little short. the day before prom i went down to Coleslaw's and we all compared dresses and tried them on. when DRC lay our dresses out on the bed was when i realized exactly how short my dress was. and then it started to dawn on me: maybe my dress wasn't actually a dress at all. after further investigating (Coleslaw checked the tag), our suspicions were confirmed: my dress was actually a shirt. but let me explain b/c when i tried it on everyone noticed that it didn't look like a shirt, and looked legitimately like a dress. i also felt better when i realized that, when on, DRC's dress was actually shorter than mine. so phew! there was 1 wardrobe malfunction tho when Lane and i started dancing together and she kept pulling my dress up. luckily i wore nice underwear. afterwards (she was a little drunk) she turned to me and said, "i just rocked you" and all i can say is, yes, she definitely did.

i have to give props for where Barrister's Ball was held this year. since i didn't go last year i don't really have a basis of comparison but i've heard horror stories about last year's venue. Steiner Studios 6 was pretty nice and the view (the 1 time i cared to look) was gorgeous. i preferred the cocktail room set-up vs. the main dining room's set-up but then again, the former made drinking easier whereas the latter allowed dancing. the prom itself is very much like rowdy college cotillions. everyone's drinking like fiends (it was 5-hr open bar) and all the single ppl are all trying to hook-up. about every 10 mins i would notice out of the corner of my eye another couple making out (or maybe it was the same ones just moving around). and, very much like high school, there was an underlying current of drama-it was always there, just on the cusp. DRC had her tensions w/a certain BMOC which continued all the way through to the after-party in DUMBO. Coleslaw was the funniest but that may have been b/c she was the most inebriated. aside from leaving her purse at the prom venue, there were 3 very funny incidents of Coleslaw's (that i heard 2nd hand tho):

1. DRC went to the coatcheck to try and get Coleslaw's coat and since Coleslaw had lost her ticket the coatcheck girl asked Coleslaw to identify anything about the jacket: what was in the pockets, color, etc. what Coleslaw managed to muster was "it's Anne! it's Anne!" what she meant was it's either Ann Taylor or Anne Klein. eventually she did get her jacket (luckily there were only about 3 or 4 left at that time) but it wasn't b/c of the specificity of her description.

2. at the after-party, apparently Coleslaw fell down the stairs.

3. Coleslaw and Ol' got ready to leave the after-party. when DRC sees them she notices Ol' has her jacket on but not Coleslaw. she asks what happened and Ol' says she can't find it, it's gone. DRC looks at Coleslaw and, even tho it's freezing outside, Coleslaw just shrugs her shoulders ambivalently. ok, maybe for this story you'd have to see the re-enactment but the look on Coleslaw's face when she does this guesture is one of the cutest and amusing expressions.

so shenanigans abounded, as they should at any prom. and everyone, even i, was involved in something that they wish they hadn't done...

alcohol blanket

thank god for Coleslaw or else my Valentine's Day would've just come and gone w/no special to-do about it. instead, she decided to have a little Valentine's dinner party for the girls which was exactly what the doctor ordered. however, since it's me, nothing's ever easy.


initially i wanted to go to Trader Joe's and pick up some wine to bring to Coleslaw's, so i gathered my stuff and planned to go after Professional Responsibility which ends at 4:00 pm. i trudged over to Trader Joe's in Union Square, spent 30 mins shopping around for wines, then waited in that always long line to check out. except, as i approached the register, i discovered i didn't have my ID on me (it's a boring and stupid story as to why). so of course, they wouldn't let me purchase the wine. but i was determined, so i hopped back on the subway and headed to Chinatown to run my 2nd errand which took about another hour (have you ever tried to find duck tongue in Chinatown? it's impossible! i'll have to ask Snoopy to recommend a place next time. and yes, some chinese ppl eat duck tongue, my family included. and don't say blech till you try it). i finally arrived back at Feil, picked up my ID and headed back to Union Square and waited in an even longer check-out line before being able to purchase the wine.


the guy at the register made the mistake of asking "and how's your day going," so i told him about my previous excursion and how they had denied me last time. the girl at the register next to him tried to spin it and said, "well you do have a young face" to which i promptly replied, "yes, i know, however i'm 25 and will be 26 this april which is a far cry from 21 or younger." to this she responded, "well we live under the NYU dorms so we can never be to careful." touche. whatevers, i know i'll love it when i'm 40 and ppl still think i'm 30 but honestly, stuff like that just blows right now.

i got back to Feil and then headed over to Coleslaw's (at this point it was about 7:30) where she had filet mignon and jumbo shrimp waiting for me (yea fresh direct!). she even went to the trouble of ordering a pound of strawberries and a fruit plate to go w/the chocolate fondue she made, as well as a chocolate plate full of goodies like brownies, chocolate chip cookies, milk chocolate bark and rugelah. it was a good time full of drinking, noshing and 90's dance party. around 1 am, everybody decided to head out to Brazen for more drinks but alas, i had to pack b/c i was going home for the long weekend and had to wake up at the butt crack of dawn to catch the bus home. by the time i'd finished packing it was around 3 am and i hit the sack for 2 hrs before getting up and heading over to Port Authority to catch the 6:45 am bus back to Jersey.


while at Port Authority i had to wait for the ticket window to open before i could purchase my ticket. there i was on the escalator up to my gate, groggily holding the ticket i'd just purchased 5 mins ago when my butter fingers dropped the ticket and it fell into the crack of the escalator. i swear, i was about to tear up. the 2 hrs of sleep, my reedonkulously heavy bag full of stuff to bring home, laptop and books, and slight headache from drinking had made me seriously grumpy and the ticket falling was the last straw b/c i knew i would have to purchase another 1 (which i did, even tho i tried to go to the operations controller but they couldn't do anything). i had just wanted to throw my hands up and say "why God why?"


see, nothing's ever easy for me.

why is kansas so windy?

b/c Oklahoma sucks and Nebraska blows!

i'm not sure how long Egg was waiting to tell this joke but when he finally did it was perfect timing. we were sitting at Floyd's and on the left side him was a guy from Nebraska while on the right side of him sat a girl from Oklahoma. how much better a set up for that joke can you get?

aside from that moment of hilarity, he was also involved in another pretty comical incident. when we 1st got to the bar (which smelled like fish that night-blech), we had to wait at the bar for a drink. all of a sudden a Dolly Parton song comes on and Egg, being Egg, loved it and he promptly said so. then this random girl sitting in front of us turned around and announced:

"this song sucks."

it was so weird! it's not like we knew her! and here she was striking up a random convo w/Egg while he had me and another girl already w/him. how did she know Egg wasn't 1 of ours' boyfriend? ok, so he's not, but still she didn't know that. regardless she goes through a whole spiel about how the song sucks and how Floyd's is so crowded b/c all tourists go there (implying Egg's a tourist) and etc. so when we finally get our drinks and join the others who have a table Egg immediately goes into what happened and i chime in about the boyfriend part and how that's such an immature way to start a flirty convo. this naturally sparks the interest of the ppl at the table who weren't there for this incident and they all start looking towards the bar to get a glimpse of this girl. we decide to send Egg back to the bar and stand behind the girl and point her out while we all watch. it was a pretty funny image. there's Egg, who's about 6 ft tall, standing behind the girl w/his finger pointing down at her from above her head while all of us at the table are staring straight at him.

i had't planned on going out for a drink but Egg convinced me and just based on the joke and that incident it was totally worth it.