life's adventures lately

hi, friends! it's been a loooong time since I've written you a little life update. with so much blog material from the past year's travels stockpiled, I sometimes miss out on the present happenings. [I haven't posted one of these updates since February!]

but -- here's a few things that have been going on around here lately

writing for a cause

many of you might recall that I've been writing a novel off and on for the past year. I kicked off my current project last November with a program called NaNoWriMo, which is an online collective that encourages people to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. well, I didn't quite make it that far. I have, however, gotten my word count over 30,000 these past few weeks. I had been planning to participate in NaNoWriMo again for some motivation to start writing more regularly [and to finish my first draft.]

enter: The Mighty Pens. authors Susan and Kat have put together a writing group that will fundraise for the Malala Fund with every word. when November 1st hits I will share a link to my fundraising page, and I hope you will consider a donation. not only will you get to motivate me to keep writing, but help fund education for girls who desperately need it.

celebrating fall weather

the weather has finally, FINALLY changed. temperatures have been in the mid to high 70s this week and it has felt fantastic after all the heat and humidity of the past few months. the overpriced pumpkins are out in the grocery stores [I had to buy myself a tiny one, it's tradition] and half the locals are already in puffy jackets. I am even wearing jeans today. jeans! we are also prepping for Halloween by planning a Stranger Things marathon and of course: Hocus Pocus.

adventures around Taiwan

I did a lot of hiking over the 10/10 weekend -- in no small part thanks to borrowing a friend's car. [we are very seriously considering purchasing a vehicle now, because being able to escape out into the mountains so quickly was amaaaazing.] in the past few months I have also taken a trip down to Hsinchu for a scoot adventure, biked across Taipei in search of giant lily pads, and revisited some of my favorite old temples and hikes with new friends. now that it's cooled off, I hope to be getting out even more.

haunted by a cockroach

the other day, I spotted a cockroach in my living room. while it's true that roaches are just a part of life in climates like this, it has been a long time since I've seen one in my apartment. [I've had plenty of ants and my ceiling sprung another leak though.] the cockroach was squirming around on its back -- it should have been easy prey. but I hesitated. and instead ended up flipping him back over, and he dashed under my couch.

so now I'm living in fear that he will climb out to interrupt my Netflixing Star Trek Discovery, Mindhunter, or Outlander. Happy Halloween?

so, I might be a witch

speaking of spooky things... the other day while skyping with my parents, my dad filled me in on some interesting ancestry facts. namely: that we have both a witch and a murderer in the family. I guess I should say falsely accused murderer. he was executed for killing his mother, who was then exhumed, twice, and it was determined he did not actually murder her. obviously, a little too late.

but I'm more excited about the ancestor who was tried as a witch. apparently she lived. so clearly, she must have been an actual witch and used her craft to survive her trial... and therefore I've got magic in my veins. [I haven't been this enthused about family history since my mom told me a great-aunt claimed we have gypsy blood.]

upcoming blog projects

I still need to complete my expat recap series, though year 5 has proven difficult to write. I am working on a blog redesign, but can't settle on a small tweak vs complete overhaul. [this also may be put on hold since November will be pretty focused on book writing.] I think there may be another reader survey coming, an update to my "visiting Taiwan" series, and of course continued posts from Turkey, Prague, and the Pacific Northwest.

also: I've just realized that publishing this will bring my number of posts this year to 31, which is how many I managed last year between several extended breaks away from my blog. so that's kindof exciting.

and since I've run out of both coffee and things to talk about... that's all for now. hope you all are enjoying October, wherever you are.

[if it's a place that has candy corn, please eat some for me, ok?]

walking Hanoi + the Temple of Literature

Hanoi, Vietnam. to me -- it's the golden yellow buildings with green trim, bundles and bundles of electrical wires running overhead, a flood of scooters rushing by, and eating a steaming bowl of pho on the side of the street while sitting on a plastic stool so tiny that your knees are in your ears.

between all the trekking and cruising we did in Vietnam, we based ourselves in the city of Hanoi. we stayed in the gorgeous Old Quarter and spent several days wandering the streets and shops by ourselves. but on our last full day in Vietnam, we booked a walking tour of the city to be sure we saw everything Hanoi had to offer.

our guide let us pick and choose which sights on the itinerary we wanted to see. [which was great, rather than waste time being dragged to things that weren't of interest to us.] we started off at the Ho Chi Minh complex, walking past the mausoleum and presidential palace. in truth -- we didn't spend much time here. lines for the famous One Pillar Pagoda were insane so we just breezed past that as well.

at this point in our trip, we were all pretty exhausted. I would recommend taking a tour at the start of your time in Hanoi [which we had attempted to do but were foiled by the weather.] it wasn't much better on the day we did our tour -- it was alternating between blazing hot and torrential downpour, and we were all dripping sweat. but there was one place we very specifically wanted to see: the Temple of Literature.

the Temple of Literature is set in a sprawling green space, a welcome relief from the grimy concrete streets of Hanoi. it was familiar -- I've been to many Confucian temples in Taiwan -- but still foreign. sadly, the temple is not filled with books a la a mega "Beauty and the Beast" style library collection. but it is the site of Vietnam's first university, and many students and scholars still come here to pray.

our guide took us through the temple, explaining the history and significance of all the buildings and courtyards... and I'm sad to say I barely remember a thing about it. one of the problems with not blogging "in the moment" is that you tend to forget so many of the little details of what you see.

but what I do remember: the feeling of being in this place. it was peaceful, intellectual, and a lovely break from the chaos of the city.

I remember touching the belly and feet of the statue above, as thousands of visitors do. I remember our guide telling us about the four holy beasts in Vietnamese culture -- the dragon, the tortoise, the unicorn, and the phoenix [the last of which our guide was named after.] and I remember buying some kind of sweet rice cake snack from a lady selling them on the street outside the temple.

it's true that I could google the info on this temple for you -- give you the guidebook highlights. but maybe, the details aren't always so important.

eventually we left the Temple of Literature for the chaos of Hanoi outside it's walls. there was more rain, hordes of scooters, and even egg coffee at the famous Giang Cafe in the Old Quarter. but my favorite memory of the tour was our peaceful wanderings through the gardens of the temple... even if I'm sketchy on the details.

linking up with Lauren on Location, Snow in Tromso, The Sunny Side of This and What a Wonderful World for #wanderfulwednesday