Food, Hospital, and New Year!

 Happy New Year 2026!  How did the last day of 2025 and first day of 2026 go for you?  It was certainly a roller coaster for me!

On the 31st I got dressed and went out for eggs Benedict with a friend.  We last-minute decided to get eggs benny the night before because I was streaming Monster Hunter Wilds and the current festival, Lumenhymn, has a limited-time meal which is eggs Benedict!  The animation for it looks SO good so a CRAVING was unlocked! 

 

Only had time for a selfie style outfit photo after everything 

We went to this Australian place called 墨爾本布蕾斯咖啡廳/Melbourne Press Cafe which was very cute with interiors, sort of shabby chic, but was rather expensive!!!  Normal salmon eggs Benedict are already a pricey food item, usually around NT$420-460, but this one cost NT$640!!!

I honestly suck at food photography... Even after looking at tips online!

It did taste decent and came with a nice salad (good dressing) and curly fries, but it wasn't LOADS better than other eggs Benedict I've had before.

Me attempting to do a cut-and-show photo

You also get $50 off a drink, so the $150 Long Black costs $100 instead.  The cups and saucers they use were all different and all very pretty!

The sauce wasn't as thick as some other places so it slid off quite easily, but the flavor was good overall!  There was also a flower in the salad and I really liked the dressing.   Ketchup was not provided with the fries, but we asked for ketchup and they actually had it, so that's nice.

After lunch, we were chatting when I got a phone call from my mom.  She asked me to go to the hospital where she was as she needed a blood transfusion!  I headed right over and fortunately, it only took maybe two or three hours and everything went smoothly.  I was able to get medication and help push my mom around in her wheelchair.  The nurses were also pretty nice!  Considering the sheer amount of work Taiwanese nurses have to do for very little pay, they really are angels.

 

Our family friend was able to come pick us up from the hospital just before 8 and I helped my mom back to her place before heading out to a New Year party!  My mom insisted I go though I did offer to stay if she needed any help.

 

The party was ok! I had invited two people I know, and many other people I know were there too.  Also met a couple new people, had awkwardness with the friend-turned-not-friend still mostly ignoring me though I did try to talk to him a bit as we have quite a few mutuals who were at the party too.  I still don't know why he suddenly treats me so poorly.😿  Whether his ex-gf had problem with me (we've never met) or if he just feels bad for sort of using and dumping me and can't face it (another person I told suggested this might be a reason, though I personally find it odd), it is still very uncomfortable to be in the same place I think.  I did try to stick to chatting with others until he left.  Then I was able to talk to our mutual friends more easily. 

 

We were probably awake until 3 in the morning or so!  Not university students any more, so the energy sure does dwindle faster! 😹 

 

After a nap, I headed home around 9am.  Then I crashed and had another nap 😹 

 

When I woke up in the afternoon, I cooked some three cups frog and brought a bit over to my mom.  She said it was really good!! 

First day of 2026!

One of the things we talked about at the party was "best and worst things of 2025" so I thought I'd share here as well!

Best of 2025: Going to Tokyo to my friend's wedding!  It was a wonderful trip and I'm so happy I could see so many of my friends in one place again!

Worst of 2025: Well, the job situation currently is probably worst as it is ongoing and could threaten my ability to be independent if I don't find another soon, so I suppose that is it.  The other big negative was the fallout with the aforementioned friend that is still lasting to now.  The biggest bit that nags me is that I don't even know what the fallout is about!!!  So there's nothing I can do to fix it or learn from it or prevent it from happening in the future, and that really bothers me.

Thanks for being a part of my 2025 journey!  What was the best and worst parts of 2025 for you?