Cheerios & Wind-up Alarm Clocks

This past week I have been blissfully discovering some great shopping spots.

Chris, my neighbor and soon to be co-worker, has a membership at Costco. He was kind enough to let me tag along with him last time he went...I struck gold! I was like a kid in a candy store. Some of my biggest scores were Cheerios, Chunky soup, California pistachios, Treetop apple juice, dried kiwis, and Pop-Tarts. What a great place. I barely scratched the surface. Planning on going back sometime this week.

Last night, we trekked over to the north-east side of the city. I rarely get over there. I live in the extreme south-west. There are two coveted places that beckon you to take the long subway ride...Ikea & Outback steak house. I convinced Chris to join me and we headed that way. Ikea is a pretty nifty place. Tons of stuff that would go perfectly in any apartment, remarkably useful. It takes forever to get through the place, but you always end up with both arms full of gadgets and such that are bound to make life easier. Last night I found a great little wind-up alarm clock. Remarkably useful considering that it's starting to get hot here and during this time of year we have our fair share of power-outages. Everyone starts cranking up the air-conditioning and it overloads the circuitry...kinda frustrating. I bought a few other little items to help streamline my life. I saw many other things that I'd love to have for my place but I resisted the temptation...everything in moderation...lol. After perusing that Swedish manufacturing mecca we headed next-door to the Outback. Sheesh, my stomach is still aching. We both had the garlic steak plate with mixed vegetables and a blooming onion. Good stuff. It's a nice break from the usual dining experience here (no fish!).

Thus far my holiday vacation has been great. The next 5 days should prove to be just as fun, I hope. I picked up a Taipei day trip book from the hostel. It's time to pick one or two things to do and give them a whirl...stay tuned.