Hi!

Here's two days worth of pics for you!

Yesterday we started out with breakfast on the street by the hostel ... random meat in a bun, yum! And dumplings...steamy.






Then we took a cab to the national museum, which was jam-packed with chinese tourists and was a little uncomfortable, honestly. We did see some nice pottery and jade though.
Then we decided to check out a temple, so we picked this one dedicated to Confucius.



After that we walked around a bit, tried to go shopping at a handicrafts market which was a bust, and ended up in a mall food court for supper which was really good actually.. indian food!





This morning we met up with our friend Yatyng from Duke who is visiting her aunt here in Taipei, and went on a gondola ride up to some tea plantations.


It was raining so we were very happy to sit in a tea house and drink amazing oolong tea and eat snacks all afternoon. The process of steeping the tea is very complicated. You must first wash all the cups and pots with hot water. Then put some tea in the pot and add hot water to 'wake it up' - then pour this first pot out. Then refill the pot and steep for 30 sec. Pour through the strainer into the other pot, then pour into the tall skinny cup. Put the shorter cup on top and invert to fill the short cup. Smell the aroma in the tall cup, then drink the tea out of the short one!Watch the tea leaves wake up! Before:



After!


After that we came back to the hostel to rest a bit and then went to a different night market for dinner.

Scallion pancakes:
Dumplings being made:
Dessert bun filled with sweet butter! Woah heart attack
Stand where you pick out ingredients and they cook it for you