The masterplan begins.

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Wahey, my first day in Taipei. I wake up at 11:30 having slept a near solid 12 hours. Time to start work on the masterplan. First things first I need a sim card. I head out into the baking midday sun stopping to grab a rice triangle at the 7/11. They had these things in Korea. They come wrapped in seaweed that always comes off in the wrapping so you can't eat it. They're an extremely average snack but my mandarin is non-existent and I've got stuff to do. Both the Rough Guide and the Lonely planet tell me I can get a sim at 7/11. All I need is my Taiwanese address which I have bluetoothed cunningly to my phone. 7/11 however say otherwise and direct me to MyPhone store. MyPhone store tells me to go back to Martin's and get my passport. I start to head back to Martin's and then realise i'm lost. My inability to read Mandarin is stopping me from recognising almost everything. All the streets look similar and I'm extremely hot and starting to get ratty. Eventually after a lot of toing and froing I get back to Martin's, grab my passport and head back to Myphone. Next bombshell is that i need two forms of ID to get a sim. I have a passport and credit card but MYphone says this won't suffice. Now i'm really ratty and head back to Martin's in a sulk.
I regather my thoughts and decide that I should go and visit something. A quick glance at the tourist map tells me that the both the Grand Hotel and Shilin night market are located near Jiantan MRT station which is inly two stops from Minquan road station where Martin's place is. The MRT is great, so much cleaner, cooler faster and cheaper than the tube. It costs me 50p to get to Jiantan and takes about three seconds. I head out the exit and go looking for the Grand Hotel. An hour and a half later I give up. I can't find it and i stupidly left the map at Martin's thinking it would be obvious. I feel like a total pratt and i'm starving. I haven't eaten since the rice triangle and i'm getting a headache. It's only late afternoon so I don't bother investigating the night market. To be honest I'm no longer in the mood. I hop back on the MRT. Just as the doors shut I spot a sign indicating that the Grand Hotel is in fact located out of the opposite exit from the one I chose almost two hours previously. I get back to Minquan road station and decide to go and get something to eat. I find a place called Moe's burger where i eat a small cheese burger and chips before retiring to Martin's. I had planned to try and get some authentic Chinese food but to be honest I'm no longer in the mood. Taiwan has pissed me off a little and I'm pissed off with myself. I'm jet lagged, de-hydrated and a little lonely so I just crawl back to Martin's and watch Frost Nixon (excellent btw) on my laptop. I find myself still awake at 5:00 so I set an alarm for 10:30 because I don't want to wake up 10 hours later having lost another day.

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