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!

Am I a celebrity? I didn't know....

It all began at the Forbidden City.

My friend Yi-Ting and I were on the prowl, soaking up history and documenting ourselves standing in it.  Right after she took this picture of me,

I looked to my right and realized that the people standing next to us were gazing at me with polite shyness.  I smiled back in kind, and turned to walk away.

Suddenly, there they were, standing next to me.  Pointing at their camera and then back and forth to each other.  I took this as the universal sign for "Will you take a picture of us?" and said "Of course!".  I looked down as I fumbled to put my camera in my bag in preparation for my photographer duties, until I realized that one of the women was holding onto my arm.  Cuddling with me, for all intents and purposes.  I was a little shocked.  Then I realized she was looking toward her friend who--another unexpected moment--was pointing the camera at us.  I quickly smiled.  

As they walked away I thought to myself "What in the world?".  I thought perhaps they'd mistook me for someone famous.  I thought it was a bizarre but interesting anomaly.

Until.

It happened again.

This time they didn't even need to ask.  I recognized the look. I said "ok!", and put my arm around the mother as her son snapped our likeness for posterity.  I felt warm and fuzzy inside as we smiled deeply to show our mutual appreciation for each other.  I thought, "I should be an ambassador".  

 There were other interesting moments, like when I was taking this picture at the Lotus Market:

Yi-Ting came up next to me and said 

"They're taking your picture.  3 o'clock"

I turned to my right and sure enough, there they were, cameras pointed in  my direction.

[Caught.]

By the time I got to the Great Wall on the second to last day of my trip, I had decided I needed some documentation.  Some proof, so that people back in the States would believe me.  I told my friends (by this time Yu-Chen had joined us) to be at the ready.  We didn't have long to wait:

This lovely girl was the first.

 Then the rest of her family joined in on the fun.  

According to my Mandarin speaking friends, they were debating amongst themselves about who was taller.

I think they think I'm a freak.

Then this kid came running toward me.  

I would have taken him home with me--he was too funny.

Later, this guy saw me coming from about 20 feet away and made a bee-line for me.  

He spoke pretty good English, and welcomed me to China.  

(Apparently he wants to be an ambassador too.....)

By the time my trip was over, I had been openly gawked at, shyly stared at, blatantly pointed to, and randomly photographed more times than I could count.  

How will I ever settle back into a life of anonymity?

Hello home...It is good to see you

As good as it may be to be home, I don't anticipate that the next few weeks will provide any interesting blog material.  That's ok, however, because I have a BUNCH of interesting material from my trip to Asia that will take me awhile to dig through & document.  Stay tuned for an exciting series of LAUREN PUSHES HER WAY THROUGH THE CROWDS OF CHINA, coming soon to a blogspot near you.

For now, however--a tease:

Mountain Star Hot Springs Hotel, Taiwan

Bamboo Forest, Taiwan

Bamboo Bridge at the Bamboo Forest

Temple of Heaven, Beijing

Forbidden City, Beijing

Confucius Temple, Beijing

Ming Tombs, Beijing

Cable Car at the Great Wall

The Great Wall

Beihai Gardens

A great trip, wouldn't you say?  ;-)

Birthday Camp

Did I say birthday camp?  Oops, what I meant to say was piano camp.  I guess this reflects my underlying resentment of piano camp for usurping my birthday this year.

Luckily for me, my piano camp buddies treated me like royalty.  (Yes, I am wearing a made-just-for-me crown.  The paint is still in my hair....)

It was actually quite a treat, because some of my favorite people are included in the category "piano camp buddy".

Case in point:

Kristen.

The other half of my brain.  Literally.

(Case in point: We wore the same colors three days out of five with absolutely no planning, and ordered the exact same food both times we went out to eat.  Not to mention all the times I think "I should say...." just as Kristen is saying it for me...)

Then there's my dearest Mrs. Noll--the maker of giant card and crown--who knows how to bring fun to all situations.  (The picture is not her best, but can anyone explain why she is holding cymbals? I can: To make life hilarious.
WE LOVE HER.)

And then how could I forget the campers? Tolerant of my 5 minute reminders that it was--in fact--my birthday, they made us laugh.  They made us smile.  They made us jump up and down and scream until we got the sound we wanted from their little fingers.

As I listened to them play their little hearts out so beautifully in the closing recital today, and as I reflected on why they like to come to piano camp when all we make them do is work (and then work some more), I realized something: 
Finding beauty in life is hard work, but it is essential.
It is "doing gravity".
(Favorite quote of the week: "We do gravity here")  
And so, my final conclusion:  
Sacrificing my birthday week to be with these good friends was not a sacrifice, but a great big giant-sized gift.

Let me not forget to mention...

Have I mentioned it's my birthday weekend?
Have I mentioned I've got this great family?

Have I mentioned that traditionally these two things go together--or should anyway?

Since this weekend was also a little thing called Arts Fest in State College, my family (minus the newly-married members) made their way my way for a 24-hour visit.  (Can you find some of us in this 1 of 390  pictures Keith took with his fancy camera?)

We did typical festival things, like consuming festival food...

...indulging in freshly squeezed lemonade

...and browsing the booths of interesting items.

When we'd had our fill of downtown, we headed to Meyer Dairy for some sitting in the lovely shady breeze and some ice cream.  We needed to rest up--

We had another fair to get to, after all.

(Have I mentioned there's another fair held a town away on Arts Fest weekend?)

We wandered, browsing and talking, until it was time to get over to the local historical tavern for our evening refreshment.

(Have I mentioned we love local historical taverns?)

We ate well.

We laughed much.

We reveled in the opportunity to be together.

Our evening was far from over, however.  

Because have I mentioned--a birthday is not a birthday without blueberry cobbler?

Marisa and I had work to do.

We donned our aprons (in honor of Dave & Kara, who gave me the aprons, and were missed...)

We gathered ingredients, and mixed them together.

It seemed to take us awhile...

...somehow we just kept getting sidetracked.

Eventually, however, there was blueberry cobbler.

There were a few gifts.  (Much appreciated ones, despite this horrible face I'm making.  It's no wonder I have wrinkles in my forehead these days.....)

And there was the requisite game.  

(Have I mentioned that you cannot spend time with Keith and not play a game?  Especially once he finds the game in your living room that you brought out of your childhood, and which he remembers playing for hours on end?  And yes, we played the Strawberry Shortcake game on the weekend of my 32nd birthday--have I mentioned there is no age-limit on reliving childhood memories?)

It was a great day.

And have I mentioned?  Because if I haven't, let me not forget:

I am one privileged, grateful, joyful girl.

Treats

July 12th marks the anniversary of my birth.  I love the anniversary of my birth.  I love it because it is a reminder to me to celebrate my life--the woman God made me, the blessings He continuously gives me, and the Purpose He has for me in His kingdom.  It is a reminder to give praise and thanks for the year behind, and to live well in the year to come.  And--in all honesty--it is a reminder to continue to live, when sometimes I don't quite see the point.

Now, included in those blessings mentioned above are the multitude of friends I have who catch my vision, and who want to help in the celebration--the reminding.  (If you don't have friends who want to get in on the vision of celebrating life--get some.)  And so, my birthday weekend began yesterday morning with this little scenario:

Lauren: laying in bed, contemplating life, being lazy, when the phone rings
Heather (via phone): "What are you doing right now?"
Lauren: "I'm laying in bed, contemplating life, being lazy"
Heather: "Well, come outside to your front porch--there's a surprise for you there!"
Lauren: "What?"
Heather: "Come outside to your front porch!"
Lauren: "Why?" (She is a little slow on the uptake, this Lauren)

Turns out, the "Why" was this green tea latte, delivered by Heather and another lovely friend, Tracy.  My "You are special" radar hit the roof, and thus my day began.

It was just the beginning of course--a promise sealing the deal that there was more to come.  Later that evening found me at Hi-Way Pizza with Heather and Tracy, indulging in yet another treat:

Heather: "Do you want to get an appetizer?"
Lauren: "Sure!"
[moment of silence and reflection]

Lauren (in a high-pitched squeal):
"I never get appetizers when I go out to eat!!"

Add to the list of treats, however, the additional facts that a) Going out to eat, in and of itself, is a treat and b) Going out to eat with these two friends in particular and having time and space for intellectual, deep, spiritual, graceful, and life affirming conversation is a rarity.  As in--it has never happened before.  As in--it was lovely.

But it didn't end with dinner! Next up? Over to the chocolate aisle in Wegmans, for a dark chocolate dream.  We perused the selections carefully, and chose what we felt to be most indicative of "celebrating the anniversary of a birth".  We took it to the car.  We looked at it lovingly.

We proceeded to take "chocolate communion"--a completely irreverent term that somehow seemed to fit the moment, as my friends broke off their square and prayed a small blessing over me for my year to come.  Heather prayed for Love.

Tracy prayed for Peace.

I prayed for Joy.

But guess what? Most apparent to me, as I dwelt in the love of these friends?  I've already got it all.

Barukh attah Adonai