a week in the new digs

I moved into the new apartment on Monday. It has almost been a week. I did some major upgrades today:

• bath mat
• trash can
• pot (not the herbal kind, the steel/teflon kind)
• 2 bowls (not the herbal kind, the ceramic kind)
• pair of scissors

So far I love the neighborhood, and the neighbors for that matter. Everyone I share the elevator with says "Hi". The security guy always says "Hi", or "Hey". We're in a new high rise building mixed in with 5-6 story buildings constructed in the 70s. That's what you get in Taipei. It's pretty black and white. I'm a bit put off by being in a haves vs. have-nots situation but it's not really that way. There are a few westerners in my building but mostly Taiwanese. The ex-pat community here is not big enough to make it an economic demarcation line, outside of Tian Mu at least. 

There is a park that runs through the middle of our street with a Buddhist temple in the middle. Older guys in the park play mahjong or cards. You get a couple homeless people camping out at night, but the vagrancy situation here is quite low. There is a big fruit market at the corner and another market at the other end of the street that I haven't really checked out yet. 2 blocks away is the Shilin Night Market, perhaps the most famous in all of Taiwan. We're in a perfect situation where we get no noise from the market but the convenience of great food a 5 minute walk away, every night of the week. Near the night market is an arcade type place with a basement bowling alley and a mechanical bull. They make you wear a helmet and face guard when you ride the bull. No fun.

The bus (15 minute ride) for Shirley to get to work is 100 yards away and the MRT (subway) is another block away so we can get to anywhere in Taipei very conveniently. There is a bigger park a block behind the building and they have an 8 lane 50m outdoor pool. An 8 story YMCA is about a 10 minute walk; I haven't had the chance to get there yet. If you head a couple blocks away from the market and MRT line you hit the river and there is a network of paved trails along the riverbank that you can run/walk/cycle. So, it really is a great location. It's also pretty close to the highway and my commute to work has been about 30 minutes which is a nice relief compared to the Sherman to Wilton commute of 1hr+.

The only reason I bought the pot is because I took home a bowl of oyster noodles from the market last night to eat the next day and realized that I don't have a microwave...