Taipei, day two

Day two was a big day in Taipei...

Boba - cheap and disturbingly filling

Lunch at a place with neither pictures nor English on the menu (and no entrails in the bowl), courtesy of Eric's amazing language skills.

The ominous and vile durian.

And my first real-life dragonfruit outside of a Vitamin Water - stunning and delicious

Night market

Dinner - an incredible mom-and-pop-type soup dumpling place

Hello to my new friend, the miraculous soup dumpling. Thank you for being so delicious and strange.

True story

One example of amazing night market stall food: the shaved peanut brittle, ice cream, fresh-herd crepe burrito

And this, at last, is not San Miguel

Taipei, day one

At long last, a working Internet connection and pictures of our fist day in Taipei:

Breakfast from 7/11. The beginning of a beloved week-long tradition that began with Kate and I realizing we couldn't eat anywhere that didn't have pictures on the menu (until we met Eric and began shamelessly abusing his linguistic prowess).

Longshan Temple

Anyone care to guess what this might be?

Perfection in the botanical gardens

The wall of our hostel, covered with notes from adoring guests

Any Montanans care to comment on this? Of course, Kate and I had to eat here - though Kate gets the credit for that because I nearly let the conveyor belt intimidate me right out the door.

Good thing she's traveled around Asia before and is the master of such things, because conveyor-belt sushi is basically the best thing ever.