All in a day

Saturday I had plans to spend the day with my friend Tania. We were going to a store that carries clothes that will actually fit fat foreign people. (We're not fat, but by Asian standards we are obese)
I woke up Saturday morning and noticed that it was pouring outside. Bleah. I didn't really want to wander around in the rain, but if I let a rainy day deter me every time I wanted to go out I would rarely leave my apartment.
We had planned to meet at the appropriate MRT stop at 12:30. I gathered my stuff up and headed out the door, slipping my way to the MRT because I chose to wear flip flops in the rain. Not a great idea when walking anywhere, let me tell ya. I wasn't too worried about it because I figured my feet would dry fairly quickly in the air conditioned MRT. I got to the MRT station and started digging around in my purse for my wallet. Crap! I forgot my wallet. I dread this situation and always double check my purse for my wallet just to make sure it won't happen. Now I have to walk back to my apartment (a ten minute walk in the rain), get my wallet and then walk back to the MRT. I'm going to be really late.
I called my friend, told her what happened and that I would be late. I headed back home in the rain and into the wind that was blowing the rain directly at me. The umbrella I was carrying was not doing a whole lot to keep me dry. By the time I got back to my place I had to change my shorts because they were completely soaked through. I ended up changing completely and putting on rain boots and finally headed back to the station.
An hour late I arrived at my destination and met up with my friend. We headed to the store and spent a while sifting through the racks of clothing, but had to cut it short because we were meeting another friend for a late lunch and general info session. We pay for our things and go grab a cab. 2 minutes into the ride I realize I've lost my jacket and forgotten my umbrella outside the store. I have lost so many umbrellas in this country. I walk into a store and it's not raining anymore so when I leave I forget to grab it. Anyway, we ask the cab driver to go back and I hop out to go grab my umbrella and hopefully find my jacket. I see the jacket lying on the pavement where I drop it, thankfully, and my umbrella is right where I left it.
I head back to the cab and see my friend standing on the side of the road. For some random reason the cab driver kicked her out of the cab. We have no idea why. The meter was running and we were going to pay him for his time. It's not like I was asking him to wait while I went to try on a few outfits. Many things about this day are making me agitated. I woke up in a good mood, ready to spend the day chilling with my friend and as soon as I walked out the door things went wrong. Oh well. It's not like it's hard to find a cab in this town.
We arrive at Alleycats, which makes some of the best pizza you can find in Taiwan. Matt walks in the door a few minutes later and we have a nice late lunch and conversation and I feel much better.
After lunch Tania and I head over to this store that we've seen from inside a cab a few times, but have never actually been inside of. We could never really get a read on what is in the store from the quick drive by, but the front of the store is all windows and the inside always looks like it's worth wandering through. We finally took the time to go check it out. It turns out to be a general purpose store. Taiwan is filled with these stores that are similar to Dollar Stores in the states. They have a selection of nearly anything you could possibly need for daily life. Most of the stores are pretty similar, but they all have something a little different. This particular one was a higher end Japanese brand store. When we walked in the door, immediately on the left was a wall of knives. Beautiful, drop forged, Japanese kitchen knives. If I didn't already have a good set of kitchen knives I probably would have stood there for a good twenty minutes checking them all out. The one thing I need that they didn't have was a sharpening steel or stone. I have not been able to find one in this country. Ikea had them before I went home last summer and I was going to get one when I returned, but when I went back they didn't have them anymore. I will keep looking.
So we wandered around the store for a bit and then headed home, because we had to get ready for dinner and clubbing. Our friend Genevieve is leaving Taiwan and going back home for good and she was having her goodbye gathering. This is not something we could miss even though we were tired from wandering about.
I'm so glad I went. She chose a restaurant that I wasn't too sure about because I had heard mostly bad things, but the food I got was tasty and the company was great.
We went out to Roxy 99 after dinner for drinks, dancing and a smoke filled atmosphere and had a good time. My hair still smells like smoke two days later, but it was worth it and I will miss her even though I hardly ever saw her when she lived here. Good luck Genevieve.