I Heart IKEA

After a failed week of apartment hunting -- though it has been conjectured that I'm being too picky but I don't care because if I'm going to live there for a full year, you can bet I'm going to be selective such that I like it and I don't regret signing at that lease price -- I'm was feeling a little depressed yesterday. I needed a little pick-me-up, and more importantly, a break from looking at sub-par apartments. So late in the afternoon, with slightly sore feet from walking around, I dropped by the intersection of NanJing East Road and DunHua North Road: home of the only IKEA in Taipei.

Oh. My. Gawd.

I love IKEA. It was like seeing an old friend on the streets of a foreign country. It's the exact same stuff over here, except that some of the tags are in Chinese. I wandered through the underground showrooms while my iPod was funneling "FeelGood" into my ear (which is the playlist of music that always puts me in a good mood). I was so happy. So happy.

I mean, I loved IKEA back in Vancouver, even more in Palo Alto (when I actually had my own place to do up). And here, I don't necessarily have a place to decorate -- I'm only looking for furnished apartments -- but dammit, I was so happy there, I practically wanted to rent an empty room and fill it up like page 372 of the IKEA catalog! *

I heart IKEA, and I thank it for brightening up my day.

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* No, page 372 is just a blind example for writing purposes. I doubt IKEA even has a page 372 in their catalog. Oh, but they have a lot of catalogs in-store, which is different from the rare-as-gold IKEA catalogs of North America.