Taiwanese Shabbat

We braved the rain in search of the progressive Jewish community of Taipei. Address in hand, we made our way to the fourth floor of a random building. We picked the door with a mezuzah and were rewarded with a small but eclectic group. They were welcoming but quiet. Eventually the service leader arrived, and began a Conservative Carlebach service. More people trickled in as the service went on, and by Aleinu there was a pretty good crowd. Shabbat dinner followed services, and both the food and the company were equally eclectic. We met people from Israel, Panama, Spain and the U.S. When I asked everyone how they ended up in Taiwan, I was told you get to Taipei three ways: study, love or business. Not surprising at all but we found many connections with Maryland, DC and Tucson, and played a successful game of Jewish Geography with a shared connection to Zach Berger.

We were enjoying the company and novelty of finding community across the world when the jetlag caught up to us and Romi made it crystal clear he needed to head home. We returned to the Miramar Garden hotel and all fell exhausted into bed.

I woke early and not wanting to disturb Rob, I climbed into the bathtub to call Rachel on WhatsApp. This was a far cry from 15 years ago when calling home wasn't even an option. We enjoyed breakfast at the hotel, even with the absence of my beloved steamed milk corn buns. We played a new game called "Is it Kosher?" Players bring food items from the buffet and we used a designated fork and knife to cut them open to see what's inside. We had some surprising results. (Please note "taro" is NOT potato but "croquette" is.)

We explored a bit of the city, fighting jetlag and heat, but managed to check out Xingtian temple and the street of fortune tellers, the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, (where we caught the changing of the guard), and the National Theater and National Concert Hall. 

We booked it over to the Restaurant Bus for our afternoon tea and tour reservation. It was a great way to take a break and still enjoy the city but with air conditioning, views, and fancy food. 

Romi and I got a bit carried away with our dragon dessert. 

All I can say is that it was a good thing Heather wasn't there or we would probably been thrown off the bus (nicely, of course, because the people here are lovely).

We continued to explore and wandered into a Japanese-based store called MUJI. Romi loved it. It had both Ikea and Whole Food vibes, but people also clearly used it as a place to hangout.  Check it out if you ever come across one. 

After Shabbat, we headed to Shulin to the city's largest night market.  They only way to describe it is a shuk on steroids but with more people and color and humidity. We saw so, so many things. I'm still wondering about the avocado milk and frying milk.

23,0000 steps later we headed home to bed.