i fell in love with taiwan within minutes of landing in taipei

Sometimes a place calls to you all of your life and you finally get to visit–if you’re lucky it becomes part of your life, a touchstone to revisit for a reality check. other times its so amazing you never leave. yet other times, its okay, great, and checked off your list as a place whose visit has been wonderful, enriched your life and you’re ready to move on.

But other times you know a place is out there–maybe you’ve studied it in school, or noted it here and there for various reasons (usually in my instance to do with food!) yet, as a destination it doesn’t (yet) pull you.
and then somehow you find yourself strapped into a 747, and emerging on the other side, blinking with exhaustion. If you’re lucky you have a great trip; if you’re very lucky, you fall in love.

The moment you fall in love is when just being there zings you right in your heart, and when you feel a part of a place, taste a few nibbles of the language as if it were the tastiest of treats, and in general inhale the culture, visuals, friendliness. And sit down at the table, of course.

Its not a once in a lifetime love that leaves no room for any place else–rather, for me, it is a love that lasts a lifetime and after i’ve left i long to learn more, taste more, cook more of course, bringing it all home with me so that i can take it with me and share.  For example: Greece. the first time i visited was an accident–a sort of turning left instead of right accident when i hit the french town of Nice. what really happened was that amongst my group we voted on which direction to take: i voted for spain and morocco; they voted for italy and greece. you could say that they won the vote, but I won the lifetime love of italy and greece.

similarly there are places i go on assignment, to write a story, work on a book, and within a short time feel as if i’ve been there all of my life. Or i get invited on a food tour, step off the plane, and don’t ever want to leave. at the end, heading home, when i click my seatbelt snugly across my waist  for takeoff,  I carry my new found love with me, plotting ways to return.

And so it was with Taipei.

True, I had been writing little notes to myself as i prepared to go: mostly they read: “CHINESE FOOD!!!!!” so i was geared up in this direction. But i was unprepared for the sheer exhuberance of eating, cuisine, and the culture that is such a large part of eating. this alone was enough to make me LOVE the place. each meal was amazing, so many tastes and traditions, philosophies and histories involved with each dish; and for this certified garlic-lover the appearance of thinly sliced garlic so many places was enough to grab my heart.

But there was more, a very crucial and heart-grabbing more: though each and every guidebook said: “the people are sooooo friendly” to paraphrase, what they didn’t say was this: Marlena, you will feel so at home that within days you will be surprised when you look in the mirror and see that you’re not Chinese!

8 Comments

  • danny bloom says:

    Bubbie and Zadie Come to My House, google that title to see my little kids book from 1985….for Hannukah…..and glad you enjoyed yr trip to that OThER CHINA, the real CHINA, Taiwan……CHINA COMMUNIST CHINA is the fake Commie China with dicatorship written all over it……Taiwan is the real place……come back soon…..must try farm rat stew, fried crickerts, friend honey bees with peanuts and gefilte fish in Taiwanese tofu soup…and my own new recipe called Cafe Latte Dofu,,,which is real cafe latte with small cubes of white tofu added in as part of the drink…served hot or cold…i originaged this this week….EUREKA moment!

    • hi Danny! i’ve got my spam situation and commenting situation up and running on my blog/website and its all new-ish too! i’m going to post a recipe for mushroom matzo brei this being pesach and all. hope you’re well! happy easter, pesach and spring! xoxoxox

  • Melody Elliott Koontz says:

    You write so beautifully…..I can taste the food.

  • Ivy Chen says:

    Great adventure! Missed the opportunity to know you earlier, or while you were in Taipei.
    Preserved turnip or radish accumulates the essence of time, worth a lot to represent Taiwanese cuisine.

    • Marlena says:

      thank you Ivy, preserved turnip/radish speaks to me, i love its savoury strong burst of flavour! When i realized that it was an important part of Taiwanese cuisine, I realized how much I would love Taipei/Taiwan! next time, i see you there? xoxo marlena

    • i’m sorry i didn’t answer you when you posted, Ivy, about the preserved turnip omelet, i had a bad spam situation which finally finally has been fixed! my website is new! but the turnip omelet is still one of the BEST things ever, i hope to meet you next time i’m in Taipei, fingers crossed there will be a next time! xoxoxo

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