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When I was younger, I used to only go to Shilin Night Market but now I find myself gravitating towards Ningxia and Raohe. Maybe it’s because there’s more food options, though I’m sure it’s because of the people. If you ever visit Taiwan, you will most likely find yourself captivated by Taiwanese people too. There's a certain charm, especially when you're willing to spend those extra minutes to observe the random things that happen around the streets of Taipei. And if you're lucky, maybe you'll capture a piece of it which then becomes engraved deep within your memory. Where there's a ocean, piers, and a cozy sunset — is my favourite place to shoot and wander around. Much of the last two weeks has just been me visiting Tamsui Fisherman Wharf over and over again. I'll sit amongst the rocks right before sunset, watching not only the sun go down, but also the fisherman catch the last few fresh fishes for the day. As the tide starts to rise, the sea water begins to slowly creep back to shore as well. All you see in front of you at that moment is the bright golden red sun's last rays glimmering against the ocean. It's my hidden spot, but if you ever visit Taiwan when I'm there I'll definitely show you where it is :) What most people who visit Taiwan don’t realize either are the day markets throughout this beautiful island. Someone who I look up to gave a small demo on Taiwan’s fruit markets recently which I was fortunate to have attended. And he reminded me of how hard these people work — day and night, night and day. These last two weeks — I felt what these fruit market owners felt too. We all work behind the scenes. When the rest of Taipei city is sleeping, we're hustling and bustling before the crack of dawn so that people have fruits to buy and vegetables to eat. For me, it's making sure that everything I need or someone needs for either work or school the next day is completed. And it becomes a never-ending cycle on repeat. Though it gets tiring at one point, Jerry told me one thing and that was "只要你把這些回憶好好記住,即使別人再怎麼遺忘,也都搶不走你曾經置身的事實。" This roughly translates to: you just have to remember the memories that come with all the hardships we go through, whether good or bad, as long as you hold onto these memories — it serves as a lesson and the laughter you need. After his demo, I remembered I named this one picture I took after Taiwan’s name “Ilha Formosa” which translates to beautiful island. And this one trip studying abroad, I came home at least five times. But, every single time — there was always a familiar view waiting for me. Even if it was to go to somewhere I’ve been to a hundred times, I never grew tired of those views. That's the beauty of Taiwan to me. I hope that this is what you feel too when you embark on your study abroad journey to whichever country you choose. It'll become your second home without a doubt, just like Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong has become to me. So remember those memories you make because even if everyone else forgets about them, it'll never take away the person who you've grown to become. I'd like to think I grew more too, although I know I still have a long way to go after this. As I’m leaving Taiwan in less than two days, I searched through my memory of the brief but rewarding four months I spent in Singapore. I was able to witness the whole Singaporean life, how tough it is to be a student at NUS, and still be able to showcase the best of themselves to compete in our world today. Every module I took, every time I sat in the canteens, and though I hid in HSSML almost every day — the determination of everyone at NUS motivated me again and again. It’s been one of the best experiences in my entire life and I’m positive that I’ll return one day. For now, I guess I’m kind of ready to go home, study some more, and wish I could get a cup of milo-c from the aunties down at Old Airport Road. The following pictures are my handpicked favourites that I collated from this trip abroad starting from Singapore - Hong Kong - Seoul - Penang - Bangkok - KL - Bali - Macau - Nagoya - Osaka - Kyoto - Kaohsiung - & Taipei. Most of these are just pictures of the backs of people who I've met or known for years, but they're equally important and a huge part of my life. Thinking back, I met up with Anna in most places and got to meet her roommate, Qiuyi, too when they visited Taiwan together. It's always nice to have someone to travel with and they gave me the chance to put everything I was doing on hold to be a tour guide again. Funnest week I've had in a while :) Jonathan just hopped onto a plane from Boston and dragged me to various parts of Singapore I probably would never have discovered if it weren't for him. Because PGP is such a hard place to meet people, I'm glad Felice invited me to the performances that NUS's Wind Ensemble & Orchestra showcases so that I could get to know her more. Everyone that I met in Biz in general truly showed me what the word "teamwork" means and I couldn't have asked for better teammates than every single one of them. Most importantly, I caught my old students right before they graduated down in Ruisui, Hualien County, Taiwan so that I could congratulate them. A.I.D. was definitely a big reason why I decided to study abroad and to think that they're already graduating — the least I could do was sub in for team C3-6 to visit and give them our well-wishes. And hearing them call me teacher one last time brought me back to two years ago that very day where I stood in front of them for the very first time, introduced myself, and tried so hard not to speak Chinese to them (we gave up by day two). Once my students, now they're like my little brothers and sisters. I couldn't be any prouder. With that, I'm humbled for these people who gave me the absolute trust to travel with them and to be able to call them my friends, thank you. Thank you to everyone else who visited me as well, it meant the world to me and it’s been a pleasure to document this awesome journey up till here in Taipei. I'll always be thankful too for the Freeman Foundation and the Shidler College of Business for bringing me to places where I've only dreamt of. Here's to bigger dreams.
「長髮短髮捲髮, 記住每個瞬間 / 直髮黑髮白髮, 直到我們白髮漸漸 / 百看不厭妳容顏, 一輩子都不變。」 While I waited for the sunset, there was an old couple sitting nearby which is pretty usual. But, they're special - they've been coming to the pier every single day for the past forty years of their marriage. And I guess they remember me still because only a handful of people call me by my taiwanese nickname. If they didn't, I would've never noticed - although they're healthy and strong, you can tell that they've aged since six years ago. We exchanged a few small conversations and I caught them up on what I've been up to since I left TAS. When I told them that I was at the pier to bid farewell to my old friend, a-ma (taiwanese for grandma) just held me tightly. At that moment, whatever I was worried about didn't matter - just seeing the cute interactions between a-ma and a-gong was enough to cheer me up :) These past few months, whether I was in s'pore or somewhere across Asia - I ran into people who left me with stories to tell. Though some events were heartbreaking, most put a smile on my face. Like Aidan said during our unintentional reunion in Hong Kong, "this opportunity for you to be abroad is not just life-changing, there's so much more to it - the people you meet and catch up with through you being here, the things you discover spontaneously, the everlasting memories that we both know you won't forget, it's a raw human connection that you of all people always appreciate." It's friends like him where I always have to pinch myself every now and then, to tell myself how fortunate I am to be able to witness the places I've been meaning to go but haven't gone in a while. And in those places, are people who I either care about or have become friends with in such a short amount of time. Thank you. Currently typing this in the hospital due to the amount of check-ups I need to do before I depart for Hawaii in about two weeks. And aside from being a responsible human being, it's been a slow week in Taiwan. My daily shenanigans consist of bribing my cousin to get him to finish his homework, waiting for the rain to stop, cafe hopping here and there, but mostly catching the sunsets when I get the chance. After a semester of no accounting, I've been trying to catch up on my studies too. If I feel like I studied enough for the day, I either hike Xiangshan or rent a U-bike and bike down Tamsui River. These are all just things I would do in Taipei if I actually lived here every day. Today also marks exactly a month since I left Singapore. Though I left, my group for MNO 3303 still keeps in touch with Mr. Koh on Project Dignity. They update me as well and for all the hard work that we put into creating our presentations, I am content with the final grades that we received for that module. There's more adventures to come next week, and if you want to see those pictures, just hover over the "TPE" tab and click on "TPE PT. 三"
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Apa Kabar, Ni Hao! My name is Irene Chen. I am currently a third-year undergraduate student at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa pursuing a BBA in Accounting & Finance. Join me on this journey through Singapore!
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June 2019
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