Lauren and Yu-Chen eat their way through Taipei

My first day in Taipei began quietly, in the mountains, on the deck of a hotel built on hot springs.  (You can bet there will be more on this later....)  I leisurely sat and pondered life, preparing myself for the day ahead.  A day that--according to Yu-Chen, who had picked me up from the airport the night before and was my official tour guide--promised much good eating.

I soon found out there is really no way to prepare yourself for a day like this.

Soon as in: breakfast.  Such delectable treats have never crossed my lips in the early am.  Dried pork, a variety of pickled things, beans turned into dreams, cabbage done just right, eggs unlike any I've ever tasted.  We dwelt at our table for a good long while.

Eventually, however, we moved on.

We had other places of cultural importance to visit,

more beauty to ponder over,

different sights to see.

We enjoyed them, leisurely, until....

It was time for lunch!

This rather strange looking feast is Agay, a Japanese dish of tofu stuffed with rice noodles, topped with fish in a pinkish broth.

It. Was. Delicious.

Then we needed dessert.

Shaved ice, red beans, sweet potatoes, "bubbles" and black jelly doused with condensed milk.

I was skeptical.

I was wrong.

The nourishment came in handy as I next battled to win two of these little creatures, only one of the many amusements found on Danshui ("Old Road") down by the harbor.

(Another amusement: Stores that sell hats.  Stay tuned for the story of "Brownilocks and the 3 Hats".....)

 I was so worn out from my adventure, we made our way into downtown and found a store famous for their Xiao Long Bau and sesame buns.

Need I say it?  Yummy.

We then headed to a trendy little street-side place nearby for a pile of fresh mango with shaved ice, over which is poured condensed milk, condensed mango juice, and a scoop of the creamiest mango ice cream.

Oh. My. Goodness.

(So good.)

By this point we'd had a lot of food, so we decided to do some walking (on our way to dinner....)

On the way we took in the sights.

(This is a Memorial to Someone Important...)

Taipei's Concert Hall

A Gate to A Square

We soon decided we were hungry, so we made our way to the subway in order to meet up with some of Yu-Chen's friends at an Italian-Asian bistro.

Yu-Chen had this very pretty plate of pasta with octopus legs.  

Oh--and the sauce? The ink that squid shoot out of their eyes, or wherever it is they shoot it from.  

(The point is--they shoot it.  And she ate it.)  

I enjoyed this much simpler plate of basil mushroom pizza on the thinnest of crusts.
It was the perfect way to end our day of eating and overall fun together.  

Following dinner, Yu-Chen dropped me off at the high-speed train which sped me away to Yi-Ting and her waiting family toward the South of Taiwan.

My adventures there await you, so stay tuned!