Aiesec winter explore day 39

Went to church in the morning!

Theme today was on love!

Pastor and his wife are so nice. Upon knowing that I would be flying back to Singapore tomorrow, they gave me a box of chiayi's local biscuits to bring back. (I'm so dead, currently have 3 hand-carried bags plus backpack)

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After that the geeky duo Angela and Jocelyn went to the national Taiwan science education center!

Photo with DNA~

Rolling beads to see Pythagoras theorem in action! a^2+b^2=c^2 anyone? ^_^

Selfie time cause we were tired again lol

Nice butterfly exhibits at the bug section. Poor Jocelyn was so afraid of seeing cockroaches lol

Bike with square wheels work well on curvy ground

Huge buggy at the lobby

Overall the center was quite okay, but many exhibits weren't working properly TT we didn't get a full experience of the museum but were still wowed many times haha. The awesomeness of science *_*

A must try is the 3D show where we put on 3D glasses and the seats could move! Spoiler: it shows a crazy trishaw ride where we travel along the Great Wall of china! Very realistic and fun!

Ok hasty end cause i need sleep! Flying home tomorrow!!! Yay!

Aiesec winter explore day 25

Yay, went to church today and was very blessed by the message again!

Singing the songs in mandarin in tunes I've never heard before actually helps me to focus on the meaning of the lyrics because it's all new. At Singapore when we sing the familiar songs in English it can be easy to just go through the motions when singing.

Today's message was about the parable in Matthew 20:1-16 where the vineyard owner was looking for workers promising to give them a standard wage for the day. The workers who worked from morning were very unhappy with those who started working late since they received the same wages.

This is an analogy for those who came to believe in Christ early and late. Having to "suffer" persecution and "difficulty" in living their lives for God, we are resentful for those who come to believe in Christ late but receive the same blessings as well.

The pastor brought the focus back to the thankfulness of being able to believe in Christ early. We receive more grace from God this way. :) it's just human nature to compare and look at how others are better off.

He made us say to the people around us "你的薪水比我高，真的没关系！” Lol so cute. When God seemed to have blessed others more, be it in terms of wealth, intellect, looks, thank God for the blessings on them and count your own blessings. God is fair and great!

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After church I was supposed to go on Jocelyn's school trip to dadaocheng but due to the Romeo and Juliet-ness of our situation, I couldn't make it in time to join them.

But I travelled all the way to Taipei so I decided to go hike Xiangshan (elephant mountain myself!)

Worked with trusty google maps and found my way easily from Xiangshan mrt station. 

When I reached, all I saw were stairs.

More stairs

Looking pale already haha.

By the second flight of stairs, I was already asking myself "what am I doing here?" Lol. I think I made up for my 3 weeks of no exercise.

Felt like giving up but all the uncles and aunties were climbing well so I just gritted my teeth and climbed on.

Doggie climbs well too lol

Stopped to take pics and rest at every opportunity haha

Finally I reached the summit!! So tired but worth it.

Got a good view of the skyline and Taipei 101 building.

Jocelyn was there with me in spirit though. Spot the iconic necklace haha.

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After that I went to Shilin by myself!

(Big mistake right, 好不容易exercised but going to gain back all the weight)

Had ah Zhong meesua, 鸡蛋糕 and awesome bananachoc prata!! Recommended by Josephina haha.

Quite nice, tastes like the one we have in sg

From this shop

Flips it well!

Going back early to slack. Weekend sure flew by fast!

Aiesec winter explore day 18

One of the best things of my current homestay is the church 林口教会，just a 5 min walk from my place. Really homely place and everyone is so nice. Pastor and pastor's wife already can remember my name. :)

Today we had a guest speaker to share his testimony! His name is lin chenghe, I think. (Why is my memory failing me). He used to be in the triads which subsequently caused his injury and handicap. But through his years of staying at the church that took him in, he learned how to play the guitar and became a song composer.

His story was so great, I couldn't help but cry for the 1 hour duration of the sharing. So embarrassing cause I was in the third row. ._. Actually a lot of people crying also haha. Quite sad cause I woke up to apply skincare (double dose moisturizer woo!) and now it's rolling off my face.

What struck me most in his sharing is that even though his self esteem was destroyed and he often felt that he was useless after his injury, in believing, the glory of God became his pride and changed his self-worth drastically. Sobs. 

This is his beautiful wife who got married to him (10 years after his injury). So touching to see her supporting him and singing with him. Sobs.

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After that huijang brought me out along with her son and daughter!

First we went to the mountains (no idea which one haha) to have lunch and try their specialties. Their piping hot luroufan (braised meat rice) is so good in the cold weather!

This tree grows sideways haha.

Then we drove down and went to the museum. Learnt about qianlong emperor and saw artifacts from that time.

Next we went to the kids' grandparents' place to visit them and eat tangyuan because today is dongzhi.

Next was Keelung miaokou night market for street food! Awesome food and I spied some good shopping. However because we were there as a group of 4 and it was raining quite heavily, I didn't have any time to shop. Paiseh to make people wait! Maybe I'll go back when I'm free :)

Caught a glimpse of the giant rubber ducky that is in Taiwan now!! 

Last part of the day (and the most awesome) was when I found out that there's a hot spring where I'm living!! Perfect for the cold weather here. One catch, it's a nude hot spring. Braving the odds and awkwardness, I went with huijang's daughter (my student!!!) and went to the hot springs. Somehow everyone was just prancing around nonchalantly 0.o I guess if I go again I'll just concentrate on the shiok ness of the hot springs. 

After effects are great! Normally I'd be shivering before I crawl into bed but I feel so comfy now! Going to jio Jocelyn to come soon muahaha.

Great weekend! But needa get down to work tmr already ahh

Aiesec winter explore day 11

Today I went to another church that is near to my new homestay place!

This church is great because it's quite similar to QLC back at home. Also the pastor is really kind and passionate. And today he baptized his own father-in-law and mother-in-law! Really awesome to witness that.

After that I was supposed to meet Jocelyn at raohe night market but it was raining so we decided to change plans spontaneously. I googled the ilo ilo movie and a confusing website with ximending came out so I told Jocelyn. After we reached we realized that I made a grave mistake and ilo ilo was not showing anywhere near ximending... Failed...

We tried to look for cinemas at ximending but the movies showing looked very boring. So we stopped by for delicious but unhealthy (what's new) food again.

In the end we went to party world ktv to sing kbox and eat the buffet. But... They didn't have any kpop songs that we like and we don't know how to do the Taiwanese pinyin so we had to scroll through all the songs (of which 90% we don't know) and select. 

At least the buffet was okay. Booked the room for 4 hours but we got drained after 3 hours (what's new lol) so we watched running man and ate for a bit. 

After that we went to get bubble tea for Jocelyn and headed home. How uneventful lol.

Note to self: need to have wet weather plans beforehand.

Aiesec winter explore day 4

Today my host mum brought me to a church nearby her place to go for worship! I was put into the youth service where we had 1 hour of singing and another hour of sharing how God has been working through our lives.

Was quite shocked because everyone randomly speaks ups and participated in reading the bible and the rest of the people says "Amen!" unlike back at QLC where we normally we listen quietly to the pastor lols.

At the self introduction part we had to say our name and when did we get saved (baptism or confirmation date which everyone could remember very clearly somehow). I was picked to go first because I was right in front and in my confusion I accidentally said 2012 instead of 2007. Totally failed. Lols.

After that I had a simple home cooked lunch by host mum before chionging to meet the other eps at tamshui. Started off as a group of 10 but everyone separated in the end and I went shopping with Jocelyn only. 

Endless shopping and eating~

After shopping for 2 hours, we got really tired of the crowd (introverts get exhausted from interactions) and we settled at some park to watch running man to recharge. Haha. Very effective btw.

After that we had really good mini steamboat, Jocelyn had mala soup which was Yums!

The group was supposed to congregate and go Shilin night market together but we decided not to join them because the shops were endless and we were tired already! 

My family was having dinner together back in Singapore and they facetimed me, making sure to pass the phone to every family member haha. 

Ps, here is a funny pict of tired Jocelyn waiting for me to buy water from the supermarket lol

Haih, weekend over and have to do proper work tmr!