Today's Downtown Adventure...

I have a fear of public transportation in America. I was fine taking the MRT in Taiwan, even when I didn't live in the city that had it and even though I didn't use it that often. But for some reason, getting around on public transportation in America makes me anxious.

I'm not afraid of creepy people I might sit next to. I'm not afraid of germy seats and railings. I'm not afraid of fights breaking out on the bus (saw a YouTube video of that).

I'm afraid of not knowing what I'm doing. I'm afraid of getting lost and not being able to get to where I need to go.

So, the solution to this should be to just go with no real time crunch and no real expectations. And go with a map... or iPhone.

So today I went with a map and no iPhone.

I didn't take any buses. I only took the MRT type of system that they have in this city. For some reason that seems a lot less intimidating to me than the buses. I did a little research in the morning and then went for it.

Piece of cake...

It was a 5-10 min walk to the station closest to me. The fare was $4.50 for the day. And I was off to downtown without much of a plan.

This was my plan:

• Enjoy the brilliant sunny and warm weather.


• Visit downtown's public library


• Go to Old Navy (if I could find it)


• Go to Daiso (if it was still there)

This is what I ended up doing:

• Enjoyed the brilliant sunshine by walking lots and sitting at a park overlooking the water while I ate my turkey, cheese, and spinach crape (and I managed not to get sun burned).


• Toured the Art Museum that happened to be free today. Always a good thing. Favorite exhibit... fabric and clothing from around the world.


• Looked around at an antique shop. I love those!


• Then I found Daiso, which is no longer opened, and happened upon Old Navy, which I feel like has changed since I went there two years ago (or maybe I'm just getting old...).


• Finally, I made it to the Public Library, which was the only thing that was for sure in my original plan. It was amazing!!! I have NEVER seen such a humongous library! I was blown away. The only creepy part was when I got stuck on the fourth floor [all alone], which was call "the Red Rooms." Everything from floor to walls to ceiling was true red. Creepy... could have been the scene for a murder. But once I found my way out of that I was just in awe. I love children's books so, of course, the children's section was on my itinerary. The Children's "section" happened to be a whole floor in this ten floor establishment. Needless to say, I had a good time there. I may or may not have checked out a few picture books...

Mostly I just enjoyed wandering and exploring downtown. Though I love adventuring with others, there is something very freeing about doing it all alone. It is me against the city! My goal was to see how little I could use my map and try my best to not look like a tourist. I think I did pretty well... minus that time when I was... never mind. You didn't think I was going to reveal ALL my secrets on this blog, did you???

Anyway, I made it home tired, happy, and much more confident about taking public transportation... or at least that mode of public transportation.