I am going to recap Taiwan in three long posts. I just need words, herbal tea, and time. Memory, be persistent. This is post number three.

We were still awake around one in the morning on Monday when I saw a sign in the bathroom that said there would be no water in the pipes starting at 8am for several days. NO WATER. This was the last day in this hostel, but I couldn’t imagine not being able to shower or wash my hands during normal hours for several days on end. Dani and I took showers at that moment. When we woke up, sure thing, no water in the pipes. Awesome. We checked out. The lesbians were much happier with us at this point and even smiled at us. Maybe they just needed time to warm up to us? Too bad, because we liked them when they were smiling at us.

We went to the post office so I could mail postcards back home. Two people cut in front of me in line, but with limited Chinese language knowledge, I just submissively accepted it. I didn’t know if I could muster a sarcastic “hello” or “thank you.” Can Chinese sound sarcastic? I don’t know.

Dani and I found a hardware store to buy a few things before we headed to the airport. We found $3 dildos in the hammer, nails and screws section. They were called “lady massages” and were advertised for “healthy well being.” Haven’t seen that in Korea yet. We had a good laugh.

We took the subway to a station where we believed we could find a bus to take us to the airport. Please understand that most of our trip went this way. We would “believe” things about how to get places by what we could piece together on the internet and from what other people had overheard from others. Surprisingly, everything panned out, and we got all over Taipei cheaply, safely, and quickly.

I bought bus tickets from a lady on the street. After several minutes of the mysterious bus not showing up, I began to worry that we had gotten scammed and no bus was coming. And the lady disappeared! I think it was the heat and exhaustion making me loopy, because when the bus arrived a few minutes later, I had lost my ticket. I lost my ticket in maybe 10-15 minutes. Fortunately, Dani found it a few feet behind me. I guess I threw my ticket down on the ground at some point…?

I ate some nasty bulgogi on the airplane. Once we landed in Seoul, we trekked to the Yellow Submarine hostel, which is a great place. Dani did a double take at the half naked Aussies in our room. Our nights in Seoul got off to a bad start since I got carded at Zen Bar and had no ID. I do not look young enough to be a Korean minor. I think they were just being jerks. No big deal, because we had delicious burritos, girly drinks and two for one hookah.

On Tuesday Dani developed a crush on an Italian girl before I even woke up. We went shopping at H&M and Forever 21. I bought a potentially awesome (or possibly awful) red dress and cute brown shoes. Had the best Indian food in Seoul for half the price of the mediocre Indian food in Busan.

We had dinner and drinks with the Aussies in Itaewon. We explored the wrong street, saw a lot of transgendered prostitutes, and angry military guys. Eventually ended up at Rocky Mountain Tavern and then drank in the park with some creepy dude that was taking pictures of us with his camera phone. If you see pictures or video of me floating around the internet in a floral dress, drinking in a dark park with Dani and two extremely tall gentlemen, you know where they’re from now.

On Wednesday, we packed up, had strong coffee, said good bye to Henry and bought train tickets. Of course this is the day I lose something. Henry said he found it on my bed and will mail it to me Busan. So kind! At the end of the train ride, we lost the Australians. Dani and I dropped our bags off at our apartments, changed our clothes, and then enjoyed delicious Italian food in KSU. That’s also when we wrote out the list of things we did, which is what I based these posts on.

Our vacation was mind blowing. I am so happy I left Busan. It was exactly what I needed to recharge, reorganize my thoughts, and get my head back on. I cannot wait to see the three people I love the most next month! I also cannot wait for all the good times to be had before then as well. Wooooooo!