Yesterday Merry and I went to the National Palace Museum with 1000's of our closest friends.... it was crowded. We were intrigued to see many of the treasures that were saved (stolen?) from mainland China. I was expecting paintings and statuary and maybe some historical artifacts and what we got was a bit of Buddhist statuary, a lot of calligraphy, more decorative arts (pottery, etc.) and even more jade. If I had heard about what we were going to see I probably would have skipped it but, I'm glad we went. The decorative arts and jade exhibitions were exhaustive and exhausting. It was also interesting to be in a confined space with many people who I assume were from mainland China. I assume this because, in Taiwan, there has not been an issue with personal space, people are polite and respectful of others' "bubble" - the space around you that, when encroached upon, makes you uncomfortable. In the museum everyone was on top of you, you couldn't turn around without someone being right on you, (mostly) not in an aggressive way but not thinking anything was wrong or weird about sharing your body heat. If you were looking at a piece and there was an inch between you and the glass, that was considered an invitation to step in front of you and have a look, too.
If we hadn't gone to the NPM we never would have gotten the opportunity to stand in line to see the "Jade Cabbage" and the "Meat Rock"! To be fair, carving the cabbage out of jade took incredible skill so it was actually worth a look.
Later we meet Luci's friend from her summer program, Paul, and went dinner at Din Tai Fung for xiolongbau (soup dumplings - dumplings filled with soup). The wait was insane but the restaurant was in a 10 level department store so we did get to walk around. after over an hour, we were finally seated. Fortunately we were given a card with directions on how to eat the dumplings - first you pick one up with chopsticks, dip it in the sauce (1 part soy sauce 3 parts rice wine and some shredded ginger), and place it in your spoon. You puncture the dumpling to release the broth and then you eat it. They were ...... okay. Not worth over an hour's wait, my life didn't change, I am not a better person having eaten them, but they were good. (I am sure Anthony Bourdain ate them somewhere else - or, at least, never waited in line.)
We closed out the day at the Shilin Night Market. We had octopus balls and stinky tofu! And I have to say I actually enjoyed the stinky tofu, it was light and crispy with just a hint of sourness. The smell... not great, but it ended up being pretty tasty.
Well, on to today's adventure..... Thanks for reading!!