in transit and Happy year 100, taiwanese calendar!

I'm only 11 hours into my trip and I'm already blogging about it. I'm pretty sure there's an excellent adage about narcissism that can be applied. I'm hoping it's less that than my being bored to death in Narita on my layover to Taipei. I also have a confession: I just paid 24 dollars for a rainbow roll. I completely and utterly failed to check the exchange rate and it said "New Year's Special, rainbow roll 2011 Yen" so I was thinking, in the US a good price for a rainbow roll would be 8-10 dollars and Japan has been in a recession. Anyway, upon realizing my folly, I spoke to the rainbow roll and said "you better be the best damn rainbow roll ever made, or else!" (I hadn't defined what "else" would be, but you can bet that the lady wearing the surgical mask who cheerfully sold the exorbitant roll to me would be involved.)anyway, luckily for all, it was the best damn rainbow roll ever made. I also bought chocolate covered potato chips made by some company called Royce who claim to "break down old customs and produce consistently original products". I wanted to save them for Ma Hartle, but they expire the day after I return, so I may need to share them with Yasmeen, my foodie soulmate, when we get to the wedding in Jaipur.

I realized when I woke up from my sleepy plane haze and was trying to arrange my Taipei activities, that I have been talking ad nauseum about the wonderful things I will eat in Taipei, but in arranging my days, it was actually catching up with people that I was craving, and I wasn't really hungry for food. And I thought that was quite nice because I would certainly rather be that type of person...And then I realized that apart from a few very close friends, I had really only announced my arrival by facebook. And, funny enough, that really isn't adequate. So now I have been sheepishly emailing people like "heeyy, I'm coming across the ocean today--want to meet up?" just in case they didn't get from my status updates on facebook that i was coming and would really like to catch up on how people have been. classy. cl-ASS-y

Slept through almost the entire 10 hour flight, which was good for my jetlag (I currently have no idea what time it is anywhere) and good because the American guy sitting next to me on the plane was terse and rude as hell (and this discerned just from interactions asking him to get up so I could go to the bathroom. I'm not chatty on planes.) Strangely, though, he kept single white femaling everything I ordered. how many non-Commonwealthers order sparkling water with lime and black tea at the same time? and then get beef and diet coke? only I can do that. Anyway, it was unsurprising that said man was reading a Hemingway book. Not all people who like Hemingway are assholes, but they're a high-risk population. I recently came up with a similar rule about Tom Waits when my friend tried to defend someone heinous just based on the fact that if he loved Tom Waits he couldn't be bad. au contraire, people. It also holds for Sufjan Stevens, whom I enjoy as much as I do Tom Waits. Good taste in music does not make you immune to assholery. That's a lesson. in addition to the greater lesson of this blog: check the exhange rate!

Well, it's New Year's Eve evening ( I just lost 17 hours in time change) and should be stepping out of my cab with just enough time to pour some champagne and witness the fireworks at Taipei 101 from Andrea's rooftop bay windows. I also realized (after Yvonne mentioned it) that this is the 100th anniversary of the Republic of China founded by the Guomindang, 1911 being the year zero on the Taiwan calendar. So the fireworks should be epic!

Happy New Year!