Deets and recap

Dear diary,

I’m having difficulty thinking like, giving a theme to this lifestyle, took me a while but I’ve managed to collect my thoughts now.

Lately, our lifestyle revolve largely around laundry, and trying to keep the floor clean, and avoiding crowds, only entering crowded situations when food is involved. Cue pictures of food.

IKEA ice cream, we sure do love a cheap treat after stuffing our face full of meatballs, the seasonal flavours are bomb too, the best I’ve had was in 2025 durian, they have real durian meat with reasonable price 

We sure do spend a lot fueling our sushi addiction, said partner, for someone who doesn’t even like seafood, still manages to get hooked on it, mainly consuming beef slices and egg plant sushi, AKA, haram sushi

IKEA meat balls and the delicious vegetable medallion

LuRouFan at an affordable price in Fulong, we always come here for our meals

A rather nice but expensive Indian curry place in Taipei 101, prior to me, partner would only order from some Japanese curry shop, I would like to consider myself a culinary evangelist

Pork buns from a night market, most likely from the claustrophobic Raohe, which probably became more claustrophobic after Jensen Huang’s visit 

Stinky tofu fries, something worth coming back for everything in Hualien’s Luodong night market, and something that I always would order if I see it in a night market

Sports nation! Famous for its dynamically changing booze price where non popular booze gets cheaper and cheaper

Cozy little bar with a friendly host and a rather delicious milky alcohol, a cat kept us company while a projector was screening an episode of Queen’s Gambit, remember I was a tad bit worn out and sick at that point

Saizeriya, where we tend to pork out, however. I always feel nutritionally deficit afterwards 

Just some half eaten street food, upon scrolling through my photos, it’s in Shifen and I was with my mom 

Same trip my mom came to visit, we had a meal here underneath Taipei City Hall, she insisted on ordering the huge arsed chicken soup, was so stuffed, however the price was quite worth it I would say, it’s a shame when she came back on 2025 her knees was messed up and we couldn’t do as much, didn’t help that I got laid off

Somewhere away from the busy area but not too far away, the Panna cotta was absolutely delicious

All I want is the balls yo, could I pay full price just for the delicious salted egg yolk balls

Honourable mention of my first job’s annual dinner, only the lobster was something worth mentioning because everything else looks unique but doesn’t taste good, and it was an expensive price per table! 

Partner’s favourite waffle provider which was an unassuming place called Apt cafe, the addiction stems way back when said partner was still a student and this cafe was in close proximity, it’s quite far from the center however there’s still reasons to visit this place as it is close to a nice hike with a Gondola service 

Popular but actually really good pork belly rice, however, one time due to the long queue in summer, they pretty much stuck us in this very stuffy alleyway with hot vents above and it was actually really dangerously uncomfortable, so, wouldn’t be in a hurry to go back

Not sure what possessed me but I had a fried chicken craving and attempted to finish all the chicken, it was close to a success but not quite

Trust a chubbums to make great soufflés

Tuesday ritual 

The shop that stole said partners heart, effectively helped her moved on from the tourist trap that is Three Sisters in Ximending

Cheap, good and convenient breakfast shop, unfortunately it stops service at 2pm

The memorial hall is our goto place to avoid the crowds currently, it also satisfies said partner’s compulsion to feed fishes. 

We also found a nice breakfast shop which we would often get takeaway and head to a less populated riverside bench and have a picnic and read our book.

In the beginning of our relationship, which is around the time when a really huge earthquake hit Taiwan on April 2024, a part of a ceiling in my then company collapsed, the convenient thing is, the earthquake hit just before a long holiday, and the company declared the day before the long holiday a holiday to do structural checks, this allows us to have a solid block of time together which probably sped up the development of our relationship.

I was very new to the workforce, AKA having money of my own (unfortunately this also means being responsible for your living expenses such as the pesky rent). It feels like I’ve tasted true freedom, I guess finding each other meant having someone to go to places with, that includes clubbing, lots of buffets, experiences, and different new spots and views. We were both new to the city, so it felt like a long continuous holidays during the weekends, therefore I was okay going all out.

Discovering free entry + free all you can drink with a nice balcony with a view surely didn’t help my sleep schedule, at one point we came here twice per week, the tranny who works there seems to recognise us, but probably knows we’re cheap fncks since we don’t spend a single dime in that establishment. What’s crazy is there’s a few clubs in that area functioning with the same business model of free entry and drinks for chicks. 

[cue picture of the various but not all affordable buffets ]

Uncle Tetsu, it’s unlimited cakes, drinks and omurice, however the time to let you eat is quite short at like 90 minutes… unfortunately, it’s closed down at the time of writing, 

Watch barbecue, one of the first buffets we frequent, however, due to finding better deals we stopped coming here as it can be quite a trek

Iranian buffet, the owner also owns a night club called 1001 nights, which I celebrated my birthday in, it’s quite a good birthday and appreciated people who spent it with me 

Gosh this picture makes me wanna go back to Hi Lai buffet, unlimited salmon sashimi and about 2 hours time to eat, it’s easy to get your moneys worth there, even though it’s on the pricier side

T

Honourable mention pork barbecue, the pork is delicious and the portion size might as well be a buffet, however there’s always a huge queue and again, it’s quite far away so we stopped going there after being upset over a unrespected reservation.

Said partner leads a very active lifestyle due to the fear of being obese again, at that time I was trying to impress, therefore I did all those physically intensive walks, rain soaking hikes, long bike rides under intense heat, at some point it burnt me out. I’m not sure if it’s because of that or the air vents in the then company was nasty, but I got sick quite a few times in 2024, developed a toothache which end up needing a root canal, was also really sick for days, considering that my sickness usually recover after one day of solid sleep this is quite serious for me. Also got tonsillitis twice, not great. My parents also visited, which is nice, I could take them to all these nice places that me and my partner explored, and gave them a memorable trip, of course, I’m much more kind and omitted the physical abuse.

[cue pictures of hikes and sights seen during physical abuse]

Early days of abuse, we frequent scissor rock, it’s quite a nice view and it was close to my accommodation at that time, it’s also got a fun rocky bit which I liked, unfortunately, that area is rainier compared to an already rainy city

On the way to scissor rock if I’m not mistaken, edit: this is apparently Maokong

In my humble personal opinion, I do think Teapot mountain is one of the best hike in Taipei, it’s very accessible by public transport and boast a very beautiful view, it’s not too difficult during colder weather and it’s got a fun rock climbing bit at the end

Playground at the riverside park which I’ve decided to go inside to hide away from the sun a little bit 

Wulai isn’t usually mentioned in those guides but it’s worth visiting, even my parents enjoyed it

Weird vegetable selection up for sale in Wulai 

Cycled all the way here, but it was worth it at the time. It’s opposite the popular Tamsui called Bali, not to be confused with the tourist Indonesian destination, also not mentioned in those travel guides, wouldn’t know about this place if it’s not because of said partner, remember we had a conversation where she was worried that she’ll get found out and stop “living this lifestyle”

Hualien pebble beach, always beautiful 

Fulong 

Elephant mountain per chance 

Shitiping in Hualien, partner also “shit” here before, nature calls you know 

One of those river side walks, probably on our little pilgrimage to a buffet 

Avian part of Taipei Zoo. The ticket price is an absolute deal for the quality you’re getting 

One of the view in a restaurant in Kenting

Kenting sunset by the beach, sipping on absolutely overpriced coconut while an old man approached us to have a little chat which I forgot what was about 

A never ending hike up to the tallest peak of Taipei in Yang Ming Shan, the view is breathtaking but it was not too much fun getting up there 

Come 2025, after some discussion explaining that I can’t keep up, the physical abuse slowed down a notch, much to my relief, we still do physically intensive things, but maybe the extreme heat is omitted or not to such a high frequency. The ailments pretty much as well, not sure if it’s because they cleaned the vents etc or I got used to the germs in Taipei, as you know, it can get quite crowded and you’re in close proximity with a lot of people. I’ve also made a point of chugging vitamin C when I feel an illness coming.

We also took less within Taiwan trips since we’ve kind of visited all the places and all the novel experiences we wanted to do, also, hotel prices are an absolute rip off here comparative to neighbouring countries. After spending a whole year trying out what Taiwan has to offer, I started to value overseas trip more since it’s more novel. So, unless it’s some unique trip (whale watching, surfing) or to just revisit the good ol spots which isn’t too inconvenient (Fulong), I’d rather go overseas. So far we’ve visited Malaysia, Geneva/France, Vietnam and Shanghai, I’m quite happy with the amount of traveling in 2025, it’s probably my most traveled year.

I like the little life I have with my partner currently, I’m very fond of this person and enjoy their company. Most weekends and evenings are spent with just 2 of us. But we kind of know no one but each other in the city, except for partner’s ex and a friend who moved here recently; we’ve decided to try and make more friends, however, unfortunately, it’s a little difficult making quality friends at this age. Maybe trying to make friends in clubs was not the best idea. Said partner isn’t exactly fond of spending time with my friend group from university back in another city, I guess that our lives have diverged greatly and it’s difficult to find a common ground, they are also fond of big party with millions of strangers, therefore I’m not exactly a relaxed ball with them. Anyhoo, I appreciate the adventures I had, always enjoyed it and the pictures afterwards, I guess this is life. We’re now planning to get out of the toxic work culture, to get to Europe, oh; imagine the work life balance and the amount of time off.

Life only took off after 2024 due to finally having an income, did not emphasize that the job on 2024 is the first ever proper job I’ve had, and I’ve forgotten how different it was pre job and after job, it’s easy to forget that it’s not always been this way. 

I’m currently writing this still in Shanghai, the company has given us 3 consecutive holidays last week but unfortunately we worked Sunday till Saturday, so like, 7 days solid, with Saturday clocking out at 8:30 pm. Sometimes I feel like I couldn’t breathe from their insane work schedule. The worst part is there’s so much idle time. 

Anyhoo, I suppose that basically wraps up these 2 years of time skip, hope you appreciate the effort it took for me to write this down future me, not sure when I’ll have the mental energy to write and compose my thoughts and pictures so much next. Toodles for now!