Taoyuan,
Taiwan
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
I realized that I should take advantage of the cheap gym memberships in Taiwan and get my ass off the couch and get fit. Meghan found this 'Extreme Gym' place at one of the malls not to far from one of the schools we both teach at on Mondays. It's called the Tai Mall and it's like 10 storeys high. It's funny here...all the malls are severely vertical and have at least 8 storeys. Anyway...this mall is extra cool cuz it looks like a giant castle from the outside. As soon as I take some pics...I will post them for you all to see. It's pretty cool. Anyway...she found this gym and then she joined. I had been post-poning the joining until I got a scooter because bussing and taking a taxi everywhere is an expensive pain in the ass. LOL. On Saturday though I was able to purchase a scooter from this teacher who is leaving Taiwan to go back home. This scooter is like 10 years old and is a bit of a legend. The scooter has the name RHONDA on it right on the front. The GUY who first bought it was named RHONDA and had this scooter personalized (Taiwanese people have no concept of English names). It's this somewhat ugly shade of green and neither the gas gauge or spedometer on it work. LOL. Neither does the high beam. She was selling it for around $120 for it...so I really wasn't complaining. I was going for practicality and not esthetics. Anyway...I closed the deal with it and became the proud owner of RHONDA just this past Saturday. I joined the gym on Friday and did my first work out then as well. I also took Rhonda to the mall on Sunday and worked out while everyone back at the dorm was hung over. LOL. My plan is to go at least 4 times a week if possible. I wanna see some solid results in 3 months. I don't have a lot to lose...just tone things up here and there. All that delicious food in Brazil did some damage. LOL. Here things are easier to control and there are lots of herbal teas and tasty soups to choose from.
I also received my debit card in the mail (finally) and decided that getting a laptop would be my top priority. I had to go into Taipei today with 3 other teachers to drop off my work permit application. I took the opportunity to check out NOVA...this huge electronics store with all sorts of neat stuff. I found this one laptop I really liked and just purchased it. I didn't wanna spend a lot of time shopping around... I would just get confused and there were 2 people waiting for me (the other teacher went back to Taoyuan on her own). Got my laptop and then took the train back to Taoyuan and prepared for the two classes I would be teaching.
