National Palace Museum

I arrived in Taipei early in the morning and tried to get myself on the right time zone as fast as possible. This meant staying awake all day if I could. My friend Cassy who lives in Taipei and was the impetus for this trip did a great job of feeding me, showing me around her neighborhood, and giving me the lowdown on all the important things I needed to know to navigate public transportation. However, by afternoon, I was ready to crash and knew that I had to keep moving if I was going to stay up. Cassy had work to do, so I headed off for the National Palace Museum. This place was full of beautiful works of art that were moved from Beijing when Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang retreated to the island after being defeated by the communist party. The objects in the collection were a part of the imperial family’s collection and the jadeite cabbage below is one of the museum’s most famous pieces. If you zoom in on the photo, you can see the katydid hidden in the carving.

food inspired artwork: jade bitter melon, jadeite cabbage, Buddha’s hand citron

Giant museums like this are often overwhelming. One approach I have is to just wander into a room, walk around without reading any of the text and pick out a couple objects that catch my eye. Only then do I slow down and read the text on just those few pieces. I’m a person who is very drawn to the written word, so this helps me to focus on wonder and beauty. Below are three of pieces that drew me in. The first was displayed in a room full of beautiful jewels, but it’s emergent complexity from simple iridescent feathers made me stop in my tracks. Perhaps, a bit mundane to some, but I also loved this long scrolling map showing the routes of the old postal system in Taiwan. On special exhibit were a wide variety of inkstones, a common tool where the flat surface was used to grind up ink, mix with liquid, and then it could be used to write. This one looks like the ink started decadently oozing out of control.

feathers on feathers, postal system map of old Taiwan, fancy inkstone

Around Taipei

A few days later, our friend Chalida and her daughter Rory arrived to join us on our adventures. These photos are all jumbled in terms of time, but one of our first adventures was to a Hakka Museum in a nearby town. Chalida’s family is part Hakka, a southern Chinese minority group who were pushed off their land over and over again. Because of their persecution, many ended up in Taiwan and other neighboring countries. They make up about 20% of the Taiwanese population and many large cities have Hakka centers and community gathering spaces to preserve Hakka culture.

We also made it to one of the Beitou Hot Springs spas, which had seven or eight pools of different temperatures and different amounts of bubbles. There was even a giant rock slab to lay down on, which pulled the heat off after a long soak. The nearby Beitou Library is one of the most beautiful buildings in all of Taipei. Cassy and Chalida are both school librarians so we had to get a photo to commemorate the pilgrimage.

Hakka Museum Barbies in traditional attire, Cassy & Chalida & the Beitou Library, fancy tea

me, Chalida, Rory, and Cassy after our Hot Spring dip; Chalida & Rory trying to blend into the mural

Taipei 101

Visiting Taipei 101 is on the must-do list for most tourists. It measures 508 meters (1,667 feet) off the ground and is the second tallest building in the world (after the Burj Khalifa). The inside had an Instagram feel with lots of cute backdrops for taking photos. I really enjoyed seeing the giant mass damper, which is apparently the only one on display in the world. This giant sphere weighs about 1,500,000 lbs and moves in different directions to offset the swaying of the building, which is especially important given the frequency of earthquakes in Taiwan. There are two other smaller mass dampers (not on display) that also help to keep the building stable.

view of Taipei 101, all of us waiting in line to go up, one of the mass dampers

My other favorite part of the experience was the boba shop at the top. Rory and I, being the boba addicts that we are, had to get one since this is clearly the highest altitude boba we will probably ever enjoy. Cassy, meanwhile, got some fancy Taipei 101 themed waffles for us to enjoy. I’m convinced she makes an amazing model and we definitely should submit this photo for their marketing materials.

Cassy displaying delicious Taipei 101 treats, me & Rory and our highest altitude boba, nearby clothing market

Taiwanese Food

Based on a recommendation of one of Rory’s classmates, we made a pilgrimage to Din Tai Fung, a restaurant known for serving up delicious Taiwanese food. The cucumber salad was gone almost as soon as it was put on the table. I was not very impressed with their vegetarian soup dumplings (not very soupy), but their sesame buns were positively divine.

Rory & Chalida & cucumber salad, xiao long bao (soup dumplings), sesame buns

The golden lava buns below also came from Din Tai Fung, the oozing yellow middles are salted egg yolk. Taiwan is a food eater’s paradise and we ate so much while we were there. One relatively recent Taiwanese invention is delicious mango snow, which is basically hardened mango ice cream cut up in a shaved ice machine. It’s as yummy as it sounds.

fried sweet potato balls from a night market, golden lava buns, mango snow

Taiwanese Triptychs

After some time in a new place, certain motifs and recurring images tend to catch my eye. Here’s some of the images I started to notice after a few days.

manhole covers (Taiwan really does have the best manhole covers)

dragons (on ceramics and temples)

temple decorations