A Smiling Bike? 微笑單車

Besides the MRT, you can bike to places as another form of transportation (others include buses and taxis).

With a rental rate of only 10NTD for 30 minutes, there's no wonder why UBike (YouBike) has become popular. This simple bike system adds to the convenience of travel in Taipei City. 

If you see a bike with a yellow thingy on the back wheel (with a smile or a commercial), your looking at a UBike bike. 

To rent one, you must register your EasyCard at a station's kiosk with a  phone (for an authorization code). 

Then you go to a bike dock and put your EasyCard over the sensor, thus loosening the bike dock. 

After... bike for as long as you want. Don't forget that 10NTD/ 30min. will be deducted from your EasyCard.

Later, when your done with the bike, rack it into any station. And swipe your EasyCard. You're done! 

If you can't find a YouBike station nearby to rack or retrieve a bike from, download this app:

臺北好行 or Fun Travel in Taipei

Hope you enjoy biking with UBike!!

Typhoon!! 颱風蘇力

Omg!!! A typhoon (Soulik) prepares to hit Taiwan!

A typhoon is kinda like a hurricane. Well... work and classes have stopped in the Taipei area. So we can all look forward to strong winds and heavy rain! Yay! Jk. 

Look at this MRT station! Wa sai! 

One time while walking with 4 umbrellas in a typhoon, all of them flipped upside down! 

Last Message: 

BRACE YOURSELVES!!! Jk.

---------------
Aftermath:

Many more trees followed suit.












So, typhoons are something to prepare and be alert for.
Please do not rely on convenience store umbrellas in a huge storm like Soulik (several flipped upside down in a previous typhoon- Not fun!).

Take MRT 啦!

To get to places I take the MRT/ subway (捷運 jie yun). It's sooo convenient.

Yet it's crowded!!!

So when one train comes, a big crowd comes out and transfers to the other one , and it becomes smaller. Then another train arrives. And it repeats and repeats... train after train...

        To take the MRT, you simply buy a token from the token station or you can use an EasyCard (yo yo card) 悠遊卡, and put either on the card sensor. The "door" will open. 

        I recommend the EasyCard, because you can use it for the bus, MRT, convenience stores like 7-11, and much more! You can buy one of these at many convenience stores for 200NTD—100deposit, 100usable (esp. 7-11 for their card designs). 

  The green card is a student card, while the multicolored card is the regular one.

        Next you simply just go the side of the platform that your destination is and slide your card or push in your token at the exits. Careful not to fall into the train tracks (most stations don't have platform screen doors)! Refer to this map:

http://web.trtc.com.tw/img/all/routemapDanfengbig.jpg 

In da Taiwan!

Many people like to go to places like Hawaii for vacation, right? Well I go to Taiwan.

          The airplane.

          My ticket to happiness!

While landing, I thought to myself, "I'm finally home!" Right when I got off the plane, a familiar warm, moist air greeted me.

I knew jetlag would be a derp, so sleeping was the priority. On the second day, it kicked in alright.

DIY Duct Tape Wallet II 寬膠帶皮夾 二

Part 2 (The Accessories)

So... I hope you have been successful in making the wallet. Now I will show you how to make accessories for your wallet. You can place these anywhere in the wallet. 

Step 1:

        First, let's make the gift card holders. Measure your gift cards' lengths. Accordingly, cut six pieces of any color to the length you measured PLUS 1.5 cm or  0.6 in. One piece's length = 

card length + 1.5 cm. Stick two together, so you get 3 strips. Trim the sides for straight edges if desired. 

        Use any left over duct tape of the same color and cut thin strips to connect the 3 strips. 

Do NOT stick this entire piece onto the wallet yet.

Step 2:

        Now we're going to make a coin holder. Make a strip of duct tape the same way we did the wallet, but only use three strips. Cut three strips of the wallet's color to the length of just a little less than half the wallet. 

        Once you get to the step pictured in the bottom right, fold the sticky side in half over the non sticky side. Trim the sides for straight edges. Use tiny strips of the same color to stick 3 sides of this coin holder onto the wallet, and leave the top part open. I suggest adding a cover to it, because my coins fall out sometimes. After sticking the coin holder on, stick the card holder on top.

Step 3:
        For the opposite side of the wallet, we are going to put a business or gift card holder and an ID holder.
        Make another piece similar to the coin holder piece and repeat the steps to stick it on, but leave the left side open.
        Find a piece of plastic, like from products that have a plastic cover. Cut it to the size of your ID card. Stick this onto the wallet with the color of your choice. I used black, the second color I chose.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Comment YOUR questions if you have any and if you're stuck!