Another Saturday in Taoyuan

Slept in, like ya do, finally got up and out of the apartment around noon. This time I wandered down the other end of Jungjeng to see where it went. It has some impressive stores - one that reminds me of Fry's or Best Buy, tons and tons more, food everywhere. It ends up with lots of green area, I guess as you head into the next city. I tried to take pictures, even took my camera with me and got it but - lo and behold! the batteries were dead - all I got was a pitiful beep from my camera... so next time, you'll get more pictures one day, promise. Decided not to walk back down the street to return home, but to wander in the direction of TESCO in hopes of making a quick stop there before I went home (rather than getting irretrieveably lost of course). Wandering more, lovely, lovely. So many sights and sounds and smells to soak up in this country. It was really windy today ( I think because of the aforementioned typhoon 16 and 17 headed around either end of my island) but the rain has stopped. It may even be slightly cooler - perhaps the beginning of a fall season? I stopped at a cute little 7-11 and picked up some water and an "egg butter bread" roll. I ate it and I was delighted to find cheese too. It was one of the most wonderful foods I've had in perhaps a week. Truly delicious - I do miss the baked cheese. Found the right road for TESCO and the hospital - felt the sense of victory ( did you feel it too?). Headed down it - in the correct direction and everything - and visited some stores there too. The panasonic store with fun water purifier thingys everywhere. I'm thinking about getting one and dropping all this bottled water. I accidentally drank a bit of the water when I was brushing my teeth the other day and still no adverse effects. I think I'll ponder it a while longer.. and wait for my health coverage to kick in before I try any more. :) I also found a sports/adventure store with all I need to go hiking and camping and rock climbing. It had all the really nice brands from back home - North Face, Lowe Alpine, Marmot, etc. - and the same prices too. I'll check to see if there are any more impressive stores in Taipei and what sort of hiking I'll be doing before I go and spend some of my newly earned monies. :D But it was all lovely and exciting and make me want to travel even more! They had all the super lightweight gear like the sleeping bag that's only 650 grams and the tents that weight nuthin. Maybe I'll even take a semester off somtime, come back and do the Appalachian Trail (hear me Dad? that means you too!). After that I browsed through the TESCO, picked up selected items and came back to the apartment. I ended up spending about 4 and a half hours on my outing and I was tired, so afetr I put my stuff away I 'read' (read=sleep) for an hour or so. Even though I slept in you see, I didn't get my full 8 hours. After I ate some of my newly purchased French bread, a particularly glorious bit of watermelon, and I tried my lemon curd. GOOD LORD!! I don't know how I've lived without it. It's one of the best things I've ever eaten. Reflecting, everything has tasted really wonderful today except my breakfast. I therefore rate this a 9.4 day. :) But, not that I've rested and eaten, it's time again for me to go out. PS I will fill in all these gaps in my blog, patience. Later ~allie