Hi everyone!

The third and last stop on my Taiwan trip was to the capital, Taipei.

After being in the rural areas for so long, it was refreshing to finally be in the big city. I loved all the cities that we spent time in, but Taipei was very different from the others.

I have to say, the subway system was so efficient and handy, and our hotel was right next to a station.

Seeing all the students on the subway made me think about how my life would be like if I went to school in Taiwan or China. I always wonder how I and my life would be different as a result.

On the first day, we went to a memorial and the 401 night market. The second day, we went to Taipei 101, a musuem, and the night market once again (for dinner). On the third day we only spent half a day in Taipei shopping before heading to China.

I really enjoyed my trip in Taiwan; there are actually quite a few vegans living in Taiwna, which made eating pretty easy for me. I did eat some non vegan bread a couple of times since I had nothing to eat at the places my family were eating at (traveling with meat eaters ;_;). I'll be making a blog post about the vegan foods I ate in Taiwan very soon.

I hope to visit Taiwan again soon; it was a beautiful country with many different attributes. ^^

Thank you for reading!

Hi everyone,

Today's blog post will be about the second place I visited in Taiwan, Yuchi Township.

The first place I visited within Yuchi Township was the Sun Moon Lake. It was extremely beautiful; the water was very clean and blue. The weather here was also a bit cooler compared to Kenting.

Right after we got off of the bus, a boat company's spokesperson approached, telling us their amazing deal for riding their boat. We bought the tickets but ended up regretting it, as we later saw a deal for boat rides for a third of the price. If you visit Taiwan, be aware that there will be people who target tourists, trying to make money.

We spent most of the day traveling from Kenting to the lake. We spent the rest of the day and half of the next day near the lake. The first day we walked around the lake and the town we were staying in. The next day, we visited various attractions around the lake.

Later that day, we set out to drive to Hualien. We passed through mountains that reach up to over 3000 meters. I actually got very carsick at the top of the mountains.

Driving through the mountains was a little terrifying, since sometimes you can't see other cars approaching due to the very swift curves. However, the mountains are really beautiful and the temperature is nice and cool.

Driving from the Sun Moon Lake to Hualien took us about 8 hours (including the many times we stopped to take pictures). We spent a night in Hualien then set off for Taipei, which will be featured in my next blog post.

Thank you for reading!

Hi everyone!

I got back from my trip to Asia a couple days ago so the blog posts about my travels are starting. The first place we went was Kenting ( 墾丁) Nation Park in Taiwan.

After the 12 hour flight, my dad and I landed in Taoyuan airport, which is the largest international airport in Taiwan. We met up with my grandpa and spent a night there at a nearby hotel. The next day we took the high speed railway and a bus to Kenting, which is at the southern end of Taiwan.

The weather was extremely hot and humid; I constantly felt sticky. On the first day in Kenting, we went to the beach nearby and took a couple of photos then ate dinner. We spent most of the day getting there, so we didn't do much.

The second day, we took a tour of all the popular attractions in Kenting. The large rock in the third picture above is named after Nixon because it apparently looks like his face. As we drove, we stopped at scenic places to take pictures. It was extremely windy at the top of the hills we were at. Though I didn't take any pictures of it, we visited the Eluanbi Lighthouse and also rode in a boat that was halfway submerged in water to look at the marine wildlife. The second to last stop was another scenic spot, featuring a rock that looks like a cat with open jaws (not in the pictures above). The final stop was near another beach, and we relaxed by drinking coffee and smoothies.

So that covers the first three days that I spent in Taiwan. Stay tuned for the next few blog posts about the rest of my trip. :)

Thanks for reading!

Hi everyone,

First off, I'm sorry I wasn't able to put up a blog post on Monday. I just came back from my trip from Asia so from here on out, I'll have many blog posts about my trip.

I wanted to address the recent events that occurred in Florida. I am not personally connected to any of the victims but my heart is broken. The pain the families of the victims must feel is unimaginable to me.

What frustrates me the most is the lack of gun control in our country. I personally support a ban on guns, but I know many people would argue vehemently against that. I understand that criminals will get their hands on guns, even if there is a ban. However, it would be ideal if obtaining a gun was more difficult.

The man who murdered 50 people at the nightclub in Orlando had been under FBI investigation in the past for ties to terrorism. However, he was still able to obtain a gun. This fact infuriates me to no end. I cannot understand how this is possible. Many of the people who claim to only want to keep out terrorists also support arming people with terrorist links, simply with a little bit of bribing from the NRA.

Of course, the lack of gun control is not the only factor. The shooter must have been extremely messed up, to say the least, to wish to end other lives. People he didn't even know. The stigma around mental health needs to end and proper care for mental health needs to be available to all.

Those victims could've been us. Everyone is at risk. We need a change. Call or email your senator today to voice your dissatisfaction. Text 'Disarm hate' to the number 64433 and you will be directed to your senator's message box.

Although it doesn't change what has happened, my heart goes out to the victims' families.

Hi everyone!

It has been a long time since I've written a book review. I haven't been reading leisurely for a very long time. However, while I'm traveling I have some time to relax and read. Today I'll be reviewing The White Rose by Amy Ewing, which is the second book in The Lone City series. 

I have a book review on the first book in the series here. This post will give you an overview on the series. 

This book was interesting and action-packed, but the characters are banal and unlikable. I still think this plot is interesting, but the book is not very well-written.

Overall, I do recommend reading this second book if you have read the first. I'm still a little unsure about this series as a whole. If you like dystopian novels, this would be a good read. But overall, I'm not ecstatic about the series.

I'll now be getting into the spoilers of the book, so don't read on if you haven't read the book!