Leaving Taiwan

I am in the Taipei airport en route to Japan, trying to beat the typhoons out of Taipei. It's been raining the past two days, and I spent the majority of my day yesterday indoors; first at home, and then in one of the underground malls connecting two Sogo department stores. Sophia met me for lunch and took me to a restaurant that originated in Tainan. She told me it was famous for its meat sauce. She said the story is that all the sauce is cooked in the same pot that has never been washed, allowing for the flavors to strengthen through the years. Of course in Taipei, they use a different pot.

The night before we ate at a ramen place near her house on a street lined with restaurants. We met up with Patricia and some of Sophia's friends who had just returned with her from hiking. They had spent the afternoon at a massage parlor. We ordered noodles according to thickness and size, the broth according to how viscous we wanted it. Sophia said it was the most Japanese ramen place she had found in Taipei. They had lined us up along the counter, and we took over the elongated space.

After dinner Ed went home to do homework and I joined Sophia and Patricia for a walk through one of Taipei's many night markets. It was raining lightly and somewhat late; the night market was sparsely populated. Sophia was looking for accessories, and kept searching for a particular stall. The woman there had made her her ring. When she found it, she discovered that the woman had far fewer silver pieces. She explained that the price of silver had gone up and she couldn't afford to stock as much. Patricia bought a charm bracelet, but Sophia was left with nothing.

We had warm liquified grass jelly for dessert and sat and chatted. Around us, the shops were closing. Neon lights continued to blink above us, but one by one, the shop lights dimmed.
Posted by eku at November 26, 2007 7:14 PM