On Wednesday lunch I tagged along with Bianca and Harrison to Din Tai Fung - a soup dumpling chain all across Asia (with a branch in Seattle!), but, reputably, the Taiwanese versions are the best.
Nana had mentioned hanging out with me that night, and she suggested the Danshui Old street.
She had a later call, so I spent an hour around the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. I was perhaps more dazzled by the opera and performance halls that flanked it - their traditional red architecture and massive size.
Surrounding the massive buildings and in the broad stone square below were dance groups. Dozens and dozens of school children dancing hip hop, line dances, and clapping combinations of the two. Apparently the area around the buildings is a great public place to practice. Instead of going inside the performance hall, you could just wander around outside it instead!
The memorial hall was in honor of the first president; the changing of the guard is a tourist attraction during the day, but sitting and watching the world on one of the 89 steps is a great date location. No date meant I was instead back on the metro headed to Tamsui.
Nana and I found each other, then proceeded to eat our way through yet another area of Taipei. Fried mushrooms, fried squid balls, and a final sit down meal at to get 'ah gei' (阿给), tofu skin with glass noodles.
We wandered a bit farther along the water, wandering into the final open shop and munching on our pineapple rolls. They reminded me of melon pan, the most amazing food on earth, but we a slight hint of fruit.
My final day in the Taipei office ended with a happy hour at a Japanese bistro - French wine and Japanese food go surprisingly well together! Rare steak, crab soup, and fried oysters while we regaled the new hire with APT lore; he did a good job of keeping us entertained with his own stories from school in the Middle East.
Tintin was insistent that I try some mango ice, so we stopped by Ice Monster. Who was out of mango. We tried strawberry and bubble tea instead - for future notice, fruit is definitely the way to go.
A "hop" to San Francisco and then a jump to DC, and I'm going to have the longest April Fool's Day, with no opportunities for jokes! But, it's just a goodbye for now - with the diving and the mountains and the food, I'll be back, Taiwan!
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