MOCA - David Lachapelle

So I've got some great news! After all of my huffing and puffing about my hair, I washed it on Sunday and let it air dry and it came out looking quite nice - completely straight and smooth with minimal frizz. I never doubted him for a minute.

Last Friday Tatjana, Claudia and I decided to get out of the campus and do a day trip to the MOCA gallery for the second time. It was a new artist that I'm sure some of you are familiar with: David Lachapelle. He is known for his ability to create scenes of extreme reality using rich and vibrant colours which we definitely saw from the exhibition. He's photographed plenty of images for magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair and GQ, and has photographed many stars including Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, and Muhammad Ali to name a few. He's also directed a number of crazy music videos for many new age artists.

I don't think I've ever enjoyed art so much as this. It was very racy and shocking and completely beautiful with all the colours and fine detail. We ended up spending the entire afternoon there, taking our time as wen walked through and trying to capture as much with our cameras as we could.

The objective of this exhibition - in Lachapelle's words - was to document America's obsessions and compulsions in the broadest sense of the word, using popular people in the world to communicate to the public in an explicit and understandable way. Here are some of my favorites:


This is Lachapelle's modern day interpretation of Michelangelo's great fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. It represents the future that may await us, and what it might look like if it were to come. Being the first piece of the exhibition it also sets the theme/tone for the rest of the tour. I thought it was really funny to see this painting with a modern twist - women in heels, televisions floating by, girls with fake breasts etc.


Courtney Love is photographed here in a death scene that is supposed to contrast Michelangelo's Pieta. The level of detail and the lighting in this piece was incredible.

I chose the following three pieces from a section Lachapelle calls, "Destruction and Disasters." The following are landscapes that have been devastated by natural disasters or technological catastrophes, as well as the blind fury of individuals:




Reality really struck me while I was looking at this section. It eerily mirrored many movies we see in Hollywood these days about the future devastation of the world.


This piece entitled, "Rape of Africa" shows the land being sucked of its natural resources for the purpose of mining gold and diamonds. It was also inspired by Botticelli's painting, "The Venus and Mars." You can't see it here, but Naiomi Campbell plays Lachapelle's Venus.


Uma Thurman. Both Tatjana and I agreed that this piece looked incredible in real life. The colours were so rich and deep, it was almost mesmerizing.


For some reason, this piece really hit me. Lachapelle was trying to present the idea that if a figure such as Jesus was alive today and preached the same gospel, this is where we would see him - as a man of the people and the streets caring for the less fortunate, not a high society elite.


Lady Gaga. I really just put this one up for you dad.


I don't know about this one. Just wanted to show Lachapelle's bizarre nature.

After the gallery we went to Shida (a small part of the city comprised of neat boutique shops, funky lounge bars, and diverse cuisine) for some dinner and shopping. We went to a great Moroccan place that had delicious chicken curry with naan bread and garlic salad. After that Tatjana led us to a cake cafe that actually had the really good, dense, sugary sweets that I've been missing for so long. Take a look at what we ordered:


Chocolate orange cake, raspberry cheesecake, and warm apple pie with ice cream. It was heaven.

We had so much fun chatting and indulging together before we knew it, three hours had gone by and it was time to head home. We all agreed that the night was just what we needed to get out of the "weather slump."

It's Tuesday night now and I am trying to force myself to study Chinese so I don't have to when I'm in HONG KONG! Did I mention we leave this Thursday? By "we" I mean Tatjana, Leslie and I. It worked out perfectly actually. Leslie was planning a trip around China in early May and had to fly to Hong Kong first anyway, so she'll be spending the first few days with us. When Tatjana found out we were going she hopped on board right away (she can't stand sticking around in one spot for too long - a quality I really love about her because she is always up to something fun). So Tatjana and I will have a full five days to explore Hong Kong and the surrounding area (including Macao). We plan to meet up with her friend Max who was with us on the Kenting trip plans to get a tour around the city. My parents have some friends through friends that live there also and my mom just informed me that they would love to meet up as well. Of course I will also be visiting one of my dads business contacts early Monday morning at his office, as that was the whole purpose of the trip from the start. I am really looking forward to it, and will have lots to blog about when I get back.

Until then!

Birthday PARTY, Hair DISASTER & MOLD

Wow, this posting is long overdue! I had to gather pictures from everyone from the party last Friday (I wasn’t going to take any on my party night) which took a bit of time. But here they are:


Claudia and I in the room before heading out. I was still a bit sick and Claudia a bit tired. We laughed about skipping out on my own party, but pushed ourselves out the door in the end and had no regrets about it afterward.

I was responsible for leading the group to the restaurant because Tammy was going to be a bit late. She actually had to take a few of the boys (Loe, Felix, Mo, and Jeffrey) to a practice session for the cultural night that they volunteered to participate in the following Sunday. Going off track a bit, they were paid a small amount of money to wear Volkswagen shirts and carry some special Chinese God through the streets of Taiwan. I really don't know too much more about it but the event was broadcast on T.V.Sunday night and now the four of them are local stars. It's actually pretty funny - just copy and paste the following link into a new web window and you can watch the brief news cast (and the boys' Taiwan T.V. debut):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU_0jZeyUag

Back on track - since Tammy was off with them I had to lead the group. I didn't really know where I was going but with the help of some of the girls we managed to run into it while walking down a very quiet side street deep in the heart of downtown.


This is a view from the outside - very "zen-like" and tranquil.

They already had all the tables set up when we arrived. Like the noisy obnoxious foreigners that we feel like here, we insisted on moving the tables so that we could all sit in one big row together. About five minutes later we were all seated and ready to eat!


Table view #1.


Table view #2. Jan, Jan, and Lukas were nice enough to buy Pim and I some lovely Whisky and Coke which we shared as we waited for the food.


Enjoying my drink.


And then the food started rolling in. Tammy did such a great job of ordering. We had: steamed garlic spinach, sweet and sour pork, crab cakes, tempura shrimp, grilled chicken, some sort of spicy tomato pork salad and soup. It was sooooo good!


This is the spinach (bottom right), sweet and sour pork (top right) and the tempura shrimp on the plate. Inside those triangle seaweed balls are the best grilled chicken pieces I've ever tasted.


Sorry Micheal - We snapped this one before he could swallow. Charming...

The others arrived as we were eating. We found out that we had been eating for the entire group of 24. The servers had brought out all the plates that Tammy ordered before everyone arrived (oops), so the group that was late sat in another area and ordered more.


Felix, Mo, Loe, Sanjay.


Fabrice, Casper, Tammy, Diego.

We stayed at the restaurant from 7:30 to about 9:30 when we took off for the all-you-can drink lounge bar. It was very convenient, located just a five minute walk away.


This is the view inside the bar.


It had a very interesting atmosphere - weird mismatched furniture, old run down walls, gaudy chandeliers and awkward paintings...It was totally cool.


Thanks to Joe (another native Taiwanese - like Tammy - who is always a great time), we had our own section right near the bar.


It was just so nice to all be able to hang out with each other in a comfy area with couches. As I mentioned in previous blogs, there are no mixed dorms and absolutely no boys in girls dorms and vice versa so we are always forced to sit and socialize outside on hard benches or concrete slabs. It was a nice change..


Micheal, Emily, Fabrice.

It was so nice - At this point in the night Kaja pulled out two hand-made cards (made by Leslie) that everyone had signed for Pim and I. It's a great memory of the night and the exchange that I'll keep forever.

At around midnight we all took off to Luxy - another short five minute walk away. The rest of the group met us there and it was one of the best nights out I've had since I've been here. No one got many pictures from the bar, but I found these two pretty funny.


Felix after saying the wrong thing to the wrong woman. Haha.


Pim's face with our complimentry birthday cake all over it. I'm glad I didn't get the same treatment.

Saturday morning was a recovery day for me and Sunday I spent the day doing some studying. Sunday night Leslie Kaja and I went to see a movie in Ximen - Date Night with Tina Fey and the guy from 40 year old virgin. I didn't have high expectations but it it actually made me howl with laughter at some points. It was pretty cheap - about $10 CDN for the ticket, popcorn and a drink - much better than the $20 you'd usually pay in Canada for a measely pack of M&M's.

Monday I started my internship at Trend Lighting. Our first project was to research other Lighting companies and write a report about what we found attractive and/or useful about their websites. The information we provide is going to help them reconnstruct theirs.

I also had Chinese class on Monday and Wednesday. This is the home stretch now. We only have two more weeks of Chinese class before the exam and there is A LOT of material to cover. If I manage to perfect everything I've learned, I will be able to get by fairly well speaking to the natives - actually understanding them and having a lengthy conversation is another story.

Thursday morning most of the gang left for Malaysia (I have class on Sunday so I could not join, but I will be going there in June so it's O.K.). I was supposed to go to Wu Lei with the other girls who stayed behind, but I woke up Thursday morning with the worst throat pain I have had in years. It just does not seem to want to leave my system. I figured it was finally time to see a serious doctor so, instead of joining the trip I spent the afternoon at the hospital.

I checked in, got a number, and waited for about 30 minutes in the waiting room before one sweet Taiwanese girl came up to me and informed me that I had to go give the nurse my number to let her know that I was in line. After that I got in fairly quickly. I sat with the doctor for about two minutes. He asked the usual questions - do you have a cough, a runny nose, any muscle pains? Then he felt my throat for pain and I flinched when he rubbed my tonsils. He asked me to open up and blurted out a surprised, "WOW, you have the 'tonsilities.'" I saw him write on his computer, "patient has severe tonsil swelling with pus covering..." great. Thank goodness he took me seriously and perscribed some anti-inflammatory and disinfectant pills. I was in and out in under an hour and the second I hit the street I started popping the pills right down my throat.

It was a rainy day (as usual) and with my throat feeling the way it did I wanted to do something to make myself feel better, so I went to the hair salon. A lot of the girls have been going to get their hair permanently strightened and since it is something I've always wanted (not to have too worry about blow drying my hair and strightening it EVERY morning) I decided to make it the day to get it done.

I went into the salon (the same one that I got my hair cut at a few week back) and they all welcomed me in. I told them what I wanted and the manager understood, "you want your hair straight forever?" I said yes and then he took me in. He held up my hair (which was curly at the time) and asked if it was natural. From what I understood, he wanted to know if my hair was naturally curly and I said yes. What he actually meant to ask, which I found out later (very unfortunate), was if my blonde hair colour was natural...

So I sat in the seat and they started the process - wash, steam, very toxic rub, wash...I was sitting in the chair enjoying a magazine and before I knew it there were three hairdressers surrounding my chair talking very quickly in Chinese. Every time I looked up they would pause and give me a smile, and then go back to what seemed like a very intense conversation. The manager started to sweat a bit. At this point I was getting a bit worried so I asked if everything was alright. That is when the manager asked if my hair was bleached and I replied that, "yes I have it streaked." Then I got a blank look and a quiet "uh-oh." UH-OH? Then I started to sweat! The manager proceeded to tell me that the hair straightening process is VERY damaging for bleached hair (oh boy). He said - not joke - "You have a beautiful face...but you do not have beautiful hair." I'm lucky I'm not too crazy about my hair because at this point I can see a lot of people going nuts. I realized it was a miscommunication from the beginning and I think he appreciated that I kept so calm. He told me not to worry and that he would take care of me. Next thing I know he was back at work blow drying my hair, inspecting each strand as he went along. As it dried I could see the blonde dying (literally death) before my eyes. It was frayed and hard and crisp. I could see the other stylists glancing over at me from the corners of their eyes, a bit nervous for me, but more for the manager. As I watched all this go on all I could do was laugh, and then everyone started to laugh. The manager told me not to worry. He told me that he wasn't worried so I shouldn't be either. It really wasn't comforting at all but I figured it had gone this far so I may as well just let him do his thing. He had his assistant put some 10 minute diffuser in my hair and then they washed it for the upteenth time.

When all was said and done it wasn't all that bad. I don't know what he did but it turned out pretty straight and not so dead looking. At the end of the ordeal he gave me a speech (actually, there was a Taiwanese girl who spoke a bit of English that somehow, throughout the 3 hours turned into our translator). He (she) lectured me about colouring my hair saying that it is "too bright" and that in Taiwan bright blonde is not pretty. He told me that people would die for my natural colour and that I should really consider going back to it if I care about my hair at all. On a nicer note, he offered to take care of me free of charge if I noticed it getting too out of hand during the rest of my time here. When I was up and ready to go he reminded me that because of the treatment I should not shower or get my hair wet for the next three days. Ok, fine. I really just wanted to get home and grab something to eat because I was so hungry after the three hour stay.

When I walked out of the salon it was pouring rain. Obviously. I stood there for a bit, my mind completely blank. When I finally came back to I decided to go to 7-11 to buy an umbrella for my 2 minute walk back to the dorm.

When I got back I told the whole story to Claudia who tried to make me feel better by telling me that I didn't miss anything at Wu Lei. Cute. Then we moved back to the discussion about my sickness.

She was glad that I had been to the doctor. The pills had already started to work. She figured it was a result of rain and my insistence on wearing flip flops in all weather. Then we remembered the mold situation. I don't know how much I've said about this little "issue" but since it is so moist in the room, we have noticed that some of our things have started to grow other...things. Every morning when Claudia gets up she has got into the habit of turning her matress upside down to let it air out. The last time I checked the bottom of mine it was fine, but I decided to check again, and this is what we found:



Yeah...I know. I threw my mattress out in the hall to be picked up by the musical garbage man the next day. Hopefully, not sleeping centimetres away from toxic green growth will help me stay healthy until the end of the semester.

Now that I've sucessfully grossed everyone out, I am going to go to bed (Claudia is completely embarassed by the way that I am actually sharing our "mold situation" with everyone back home - she says she wouldn't dare mention it on her blog - but, what the heck). Anyways, I love you all back home. Have a great night and don't forget to check under your matress before you go to sleep - oh, and before you think about going to the salon next time, remember my story and give your natural hair another chance.

Bye for now.

Turning 23

Well, I woke up this morning to another rainy day. If you've been following the forecast in Taipei, you've seen that it has been rainy and cloudy for the past four days, and the next 10-day forecast isn't looking much better - bummer. Wasn't I supposed to be arriving at the END of the rainy season?

Apart from the rain, this week has had its sunny points. As you all know, I turned 23 last Monday - thank you to everyone who sent me Birthday wishes! Tatjana and Claudia organized a little birthday cake get-together on a patio on campus which was a nice surprise.

Tatjana grabbed me around 12:30 to get a coffee. We strolled around town, talking about whatever - I later found out it was all an effort to keep me occupied until 1:30 when the group was scheduled to meet for the surprise. When she brought me to the spot, the group was waiting with a cake, candles, and a bottle of wine which Felix bought for me (he knows I miss my wine nights with my parents and Dav back in Canada).


Surprise! They sang Happy Birthday and we ate lots of cake.


It was so good - chocolate cake, whip cream icing , cherry filling and strawberries on top.


Group shot. Thanks everyone, it was really sweet :)

Later that night Tatjana, Claudia and Emily came into my room and gave me a book about Taiwan. It goes through, from A-Z, all the different unique things about Taiwan and the culture - it's really great! I went to bed early that night to get a good rest because I had an interview for an internship the next day.

I haven't mentioned it yet but a few weeks ago I applied to an LED Lighting company here in Taiwan called Trend Lighting. If you're interested you can check out their web page here: http://www.trend-lighting.com/eng/

They are a fairly new company looking for interns with international experience to help them generate fresh ideas for marketing their products. When I applied they asked me to write a marketing plan focused on online initiatives, and a week later I had an interview at the Starbucks down the street from campus. I met with the head of marketing for a very informal interview (perfect for me because it takes a lot of the pressure off)and he hired me on the spot. It is an unpaid internship that will last for 2-6 months and open a lot of interesting opportunities for me I think. All of the work can be done online, which is nice because I can do it from anywhere around the world, and it's idea generation which is something I really love to do. I start on Monday so we'll see how it goes!

Today is Friday and Claudia, Tatjana and I are sitting in the student lounge trying to get some work done. Claudia is booking flights and pausing every few minutes to watch another bit of the new Sherlock Holmes; Tatjana is making the necessary corrections to her thesis and trying to not be distracted by stories of Heidi Montags numerous surgeries; and I am trying to finish this blog but I keep getting interrupted by calls from people about tonight's festivities.

Since Pim and I both have a Birthday in April we decided to have a conjoined party. We will be going to a nice Thai restaurant first - Tammy used to work there so she got us a deal of $400 NTD per person which will include a variety of Thai dishes and all you can drink soft drinks. After that we will be heading to a bar and lounge nearby for the rest of the night. So far about 40 people have confirmed so it's going to be a big group! Unfortunately I woke up this morning with a really sore throat, so I don't know how much I am going to be able to handle, but we'll see. We are off in a hour so goodbye for now and talk soon.

Spring Scream 2010

What to say about Spring Scream in Kenting...

Honestly? It was one of the wildest craziest spring break party experiences I have ever had. All of the students play it really cool here around campus, but they aren't fooling me anymore: "I know what you did last spring break in Kenting."

Last Friday night at 11pm all forty of us (approx.) loaded onto the private bus that Tammy arranged for us - actually she arranged the whole trip (you're the best Tammy.) Since I was the absolute last person to make up my mind and join the trip, I got the last seat which was located directly beside the bus driver in the lower compartment of the double decker bus. I laughed about it at first but later in the trip was really grateful because it gave me a retreat to go to when I wanted to sleep. I also got to pick the movies for our 12 hour bus ride home (hmm hmm), and he'd share his snacks with me ever so often which was nice. But that was the ride home. The ride there was a completely different story.

Apparently none of us wanted to wait until Kenting to get our Spring Break started so the second the bus pulled out of the NCCU drive-way dance music was blaring over the sound system, drinks were being poured, the girls were dancing, and everyone was having a jolly good time.

There were a few new students on the trip with us - friends of Tammy's from when she was on exchange in Germany. All of them flew from Hong Kong where they are currently studying at one of the same schools that some of my friends from Ivey are studying at - they even knew them too. Small world.


This must be a few hours into the trip. As you can see we were practically walking all over each other. That carried on for almost the entire 7 hour trip.

At around 6am the bus arrived in Kenting. We weren't able to check into our hotel room until 1pm so the bus driver parked on the side of the road and let those of us who were up get out and go to the beach.


This was the first view of the water at 6am.

It took Pim, Felix, Daria, Marie and I quite a while to actually find our way to the beach - must have been the lack of sleep. Finally we made it and I thought it would be a great idea to go for a morning dip in the ocean, but no one else wanted to join.


Can you see me in the wave?


Daria and Pim - a little shaky, it's still early. Is that a beer in your hand Pim?

A few hours later after amusing ourselves with head stands and beach games we decided to check out the other beaches nearby. At this point the others were slowing starting to trickle down from the bus. It was getting really sunny and beautiful.


The view in the daylight.


The beach started to get pretty crowded around 10:30.


There were people banana boat riding and tubing - it reminded me a lot of trips to Bahamas with my family when I was younger. This time most of us were quite happy sunbathing in the sand.

At 1:00pm we were all hot, dehydrated and burnt and it was time to check into the hostel.



Our hostel was just of the main strip here. It looked totally different in the daytime than it did at night.

Our group had two rooms filled with massive bunk beds so we all picked a spot and lay down for a ciesta. Others went out to the strip to shop and we all met up in small groups around dinner time to get the night started.

I went off with some of the girls - Daria, Hannah, Adeline, and Nancy - to explore the strip at night.


There were bright lights and food stands and trucks passing blaring music with half naked girls dancing on the back.


There were little concerts and dance shows being held along the street.

We found an area where girls were handing out free vodka shots and hosting beer drinking contests where you could win a six pack of beer if you drank a can in under 10 seconds.


Adeline after her big win. We got a lot of six packs.

This was the night Nancy announced she had a crush on the "sunglasses guy," and made us slow down in front of his stand which ended with Daria and I walking away in the most ridiculous looking sunglasses.


Yeah, I know.

Then it was time to make our way down the strip to the beach party.


This is the entrance way. Techno music was blaring and it was packed.


This is what it looked like at 11:00pm.

We found our group over to the left just outside of the big crowd around a bunch of tiki torches. It looked really cool with all different groups of people huddled around these fires. It was so nice right by the ocean too.


It looks harmless enough but we didn't get away without having any burn victims...you know who you are.


The guys: Pim, Sebastian, Elie, Diego, Michael, and Nicolas by the stage. There was a big DJ booth and bar right at the front up the hill a bit.


There were some really nice fireworks all through the night too. Some people were lighting them really close to the crowds - maybe not such a good idea.

The party went on until early in the morning.


Most of us were dead by the end.

Unfortunately I lost my shoes that night in the sand somewhere. I wasn't the only one. Adeline actually lost both pairs of shoes and had to go around barefoot the entire next day. Haha.

The next day was Easter which I missed spending with my family in Sharon. Tammy had us right onto the days plans though to go up the coast to another beach to learn how to surf!

On the way we stopped at a beautiful lookout area.


I didn't get much sleep so the goofy glasses came in handy. They actually self destructed later that day.


Group shot.

When we got there some of us scoped out a cute little restaurant close by the surf shop. It was actually a bed and breakfast started by this sweet Taiwanese girl and her boyfriend after they graduated university. Now they spend their days taking care of the B&B and their nights surfing in the sunset - I thought that was pretty neat. What was even better was that they had PANCAKES on the menu - blueberry, chocolate chip, banana... A bunch of us had to have them - I don't think I've seen a real pancake in months, and these were amazing.


This was the view from the B&B.

After that experience we went out to learn the basics of surfing.


Our teacher trying to instruct us.

I don't think anyone of us still really knew what we were doing, but we headed down to the beach anyways to give it a go. Most of us shared a board so we took turns trying it out.


Jan going out for his first round.


Leslie, Angelina, and Emily. Angelina actually caught a wave and stood up. She was one of few.


Waiting for our turn.

When I actually got out on the water and tried to stand up on the board it was almost impossible. It would definitely take a lot of practice! I was out there for about an hour and caught a few waves but only made it to my hands and knees before I toppled over and got taken away. The experience was actually pretty dangerous for me. First I rode right into a mound of rocks, and then a strong wave came in and threw me off the board skidding across the gritty sand. I came out with a bunch of scratches and a really bloody knee. It's alright though I had a blast. Hopefully when Dav and I go to Thailand I'll actually master the surfing part.


A view of the beach and our boards. Right up over that hill there is free camping. There were a bunch of people having fires and swinging in hammocks as we were leaving - so cool.


Beautiful sunset view.

Now I know we spent two nights here but the pictures from the previous night are basically exactly the same. We had so much fun at the beach party that we went back again Sunday night. The same girls and I even did our run down the strip again with a few other additions.


A picture of the group the second time around.

The only real difference about the second night was that we tried BEETLENUTS. All of us girls were sitting having a drink at some chairs on the street when two older Taiwanese men took a seat down beside us. Leslie and I were sitting next to eachother and she bent over and whispered in my ear if I thought that one of the men chewed beetlenets. I took a look at his teeth which were blood red and looked at Leslie and smiled. We were thinking the same thing. Within 5 minutes the man had a round of beetlenuts out on the table for us to try. Leslie and I tried first. Unfortunately none of us had our cameras - it would have been such a funny picture.

The nuts looked like big green lima beans wrapped in a corn cobb leaf. I found a picture on the net so you get a better idea.


The men showed us how to eat them. First you take of the cap that sits on the top of the nut. Then you pop it in your mouth and start chewing. Within seconds you feel your mouth filling up with warm red juice that you have to spit into a cup - really attractive. The juice keeps filling your mouth so you have to keep spitting it out for a few minutes. The taste of the nut is like subtle black licorice and grass.

All of a sudden Lelie and I look at each other and both of us have gone beat red - Leslie is even sweating quite a bit. After a few minutes of chewing the nuts make you feel this intense tingling sensation in your upper body and then you get really hot. I felt hot for at least 15 minutes. It also makes you a little bit light headed. After Leslie and I tried the other girls did too. Such a funny experience.
The Taiwanese men were getting a real laugh from it, taking pictures and calling their friends over to watch.

The next morning we left and like I said it took us 12 hours and six movies to get home - Very exhausting. But the memoires are fantastic.

I've been home now for the week and it has not stopped raining the entire time - Something nice to come back to.

Tonight the girls and I are trying to find something cheery to do amist all the nasty weather. None of us want to spend any money (or drink after last weekend)so we are going to have to get creative. Have a goodnight!