It’s been a long time since I’ve had enough time to update this blog. I’m queueing up a few posts and hopefully this new year will bring some new discipline. 
Right after the new year I went on a trip to Taiwan for 12 days. I am so incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to travel with some of my closest friends.
We went to Taipei, Kaohsiung, and Taichung with some day trips sprinkled here and there. Although it was “winter” in Taiwan, it was so warm! I think the coldest it ever got was mid-50s. Definitely a welcome change from snowy Ithaca.
These are some photos from our day in Tamsui. I really wanted to do some bike riding and my friends let me indulge in my wish (some quite begrudgingly 
). That was the start of our problems. Almost immediately we lost our friend and after 20 minutes we gave up on looking for him. Rest in peace Justin, gone and kind of forgotten. Another friend was hesitant to get on a bike and freaked out the whole time. The cycling trail was very close to the water, which was lovely for me, but for him it was a near-death experience.
Admittedly, there were a couple of times I thought I was going to crash into a grandma or fall into the water, but it was fine!
The scenery while biking was truly breathtaking. If we weren’t biking by the river, we were near the main road which was lined with flowers and palm trees. I would have taken a photo if I wasn’t biking so quickly! Actually, I was biking so fast that when I turned around only one of my friends was behind me… What can I say! The feeling of the wind blowing through my hair was addicting. Thanks to that addiction we ended up losing our all of our friends. Man, maybe I should check into rehab… How a group of seven managed to get so disoriented, I’ll never know. But it happened a lot throughout the trip. It was all okay, though! Once we got to Fisherman’s Wharf we were able to find each other! 
On the way back we had some braised pork, a new favorite of mine, and frozen yogurt that we thought was going to be soft serve ice cream. The latter kind of broke my heart, but I will live on. 
Our time in Tamsui was cut a bit short because my friend and I were getting tattoos, but I definitely want to try visiting Taiwan again and exploring more biking trails! Taiwan is absolutely beautiful and I don’t think there’s enough time in the world to see it all.
I’ll be updating more frequently this year. I promise!
Love,
Jamie
jamiesque 