VIDEO | This is how I spent my weekend in Taipei

Here with another video, don't worry I'll be posting outfit pictures soon as well. But last weekend was filled with cultural activities, so you can imagine how much I filmed and I had to put in a video of course.

I visited three cultural attractions. First one is the 'National Palace Museum'. This museum was filled with all kinds of historic scriptures, ornaments and art from wayyy back. First let me give you my backstory. I know absolutely nothing about the history of Taiwan, which is shameful I know. So when I got there I was kinda lost. I was seeing all this old ornaments without really knowing what it's about and the museum was packed. And I mean really packed. There were probably 10 tour groups at a time. So walking around at your own pace was quite difficult. There was this area about an emperor ordering frenchmen to make copper plates which really blew my mind. You could watch a short (not really though it was about 45min and without sound) film about how art played an important role in eternalising accomplishments of emperors at that time. And how France was important to them. This suddenly made me realise how real this was. How much history everything had. So my time there was quite pleasant. 

Second thing was the Chiang Kai Sheik Shilin Residences. This place was packed as well. As the previous attraction, I didn't really know much about the place. I went there with a family whom I'm acquainted to (to make it short) and she told me several things about the place, which I guess is pretty important for Taiwanese people. We went to see the flower garden. It was supposedly the last weekend that they'll be exhibited. So we went there. The flowers weren't that spectaculair, but it's quite nice to see a bit of nature and green. I was more interested in the buildings and people there actually.

My favourite cultural activity, which you probably can guess already was the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park. It was a really last minute thing to go to. I was just browsing in my LonelyPlanet guidebook and after I saw it, I was at that place within 45 minutes (roughly). I went there with a purpose to visit the Taiwan Design Museum and (if I could make it) the Red Dot Museum. The museums were situated in an old tobacco factory, which made the inside kinda industrial and interesting. There was this Deutsch Design exhibit and European Design at the (International part) of the museum, which was fine but I've seen it quite often already. You could see some stuff for Braun and Alessi, nothing I haven't seen already. Which was a bummer but nothing I can do about. Other designs were interesting though. I don't know if I've missed anything, but I was done looking around after an hour, so I went outside and walked around the area a bit and saw this other exhibit by GQ. This was most definitely my favourite. It was interesting and inspiring. It reminded me a bit of the 'Kunsthal' at Rotterdam. It was about dreaming big and having the courage to do so. I didn't want it to be a long post, which it already is. But I wanted to expand on my experience of this particular exhibition in an other post.

I like the way the video turned out. I think this is more up in my alley than the vloggy type of videos. I'm just still so awkward on video. I'll learn in time though. Let me know what you think of the video in the comments below.

x J.

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GRWM + TALK | First week in Taipei

Say whaaattt? Another post? I thought it would be nice to sit down and talk to you guys a bit about my first impressions and findings in the first week in Taipei. So I filmed a Get Ready With Me video while blabbering about random stuff. Stuff about Taiwanese people, Food, MRT system and having a Chinese name. Not exactly how I wanted this video to be, but practice makes perfect right? Enjoy this video! And let me know your thoughts on this video in the comments below :)

x J.

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OOTD | Hello new pants!

Hi guys! I'm back with an outfit of the day! I'm slowly getting used to everything here in Taipei and starting to feel a bit more myself. My parents aren't here anymore so I'm by myself from now on, which means more time to take outfit pictures! I bought this uber cute pants on sale at Forever21 here in Taipei. it was 475NT which is approximately €13, such a deal! I decided to wear more patterns in my outfits and I think this is a good start. It's quite chilly in Taipei so I'm wearing my leather jacket today. I planned to walk around a bit around the neighbourhood and around my uni. 

What do you think of this outfit?

x J.

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Quick update | Taiwan winter essentials

I've been 'living' in Taipei for almost a week now and I say 'living' in between quotations because up until now it just feels like going on a holiday. In case you haven't seen my latest vlog, I was travelling to Taiwan with my parents. I'm 23 years old and my parents still worry over me, so that's why they wanted to join me for a few days first. I've been busy with arranging school, getting a bank account and getting a Taiwanese phone number. I've also been exploring the neighbourhood, the metro system and visited some night markets. In the next vlog I'll be talking to you about my first impressions and show you a bit of Taipei. In the upcoming days I'm a free agent and will be able to do this vlog!

But first. I thought it would be fun on my thoughts on how to dress for Taipei in the winter season.

The weather is nothing like in the Netherlands.. at least for what I'm experiencing at this moment. The weather in the afternoon is hot but still windy and sometimes even rainy.

So this Rains raincoat is perfect for the weather in Taipei. The material of this raincoat is light, so it doesn't get too hot but still manage to break the wind and shelter you from the rain. I'm so happy I got this eventually over the ones from Stutterheim which I was dying to have. Another thing I have been into lately is wearing a plain black cap. I just think it makes the outfit a tat more interesting and it will help me through the rain as well.

As I'll be going to school, this leather laptopbag is a musthave. I think the model is classic and timeless. I think it will suit with any outfit. I found this one from Burkely at marington.nl. They have other classic and timeless designs on the website. They are a bit pricey but for genuine quality leather it's okay to splurge sometimes.

Even though I know I can walk on my trusty ankleboots which I've been wearing non stop back in the Netherlands, it is so much better wearing sneakers around in Taipei. You'll be walking a lot even when you're planning to take the MRT, you'll find yourself walking more than you think. And it's so much easier when you have to take the stairs etc. 

Another thing you must have is a camera. You'd want to take pictures. There's always something interesting to capture on film. May it be the people, food (almost everytime it's the food) or just the streets of Taipei, you'll regret not taking it with you. I must admit I've been lazy to grab my camera when I see a great opportunity to do so, because I'm thinking myself I'll be here for a while, I can take the shot another time. But be honest, you won't do so till it's too late. Or the lightning or the moment isn't right anymore. So don't hesitate to take the shot! This is also a reminder for me.

What do you think of my musthaves?

x J.

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