Taipei, Taiwan. No, not Thailand. Taiwan, Republic of China. A smallish island off the southern coast of China. But it’s not part of China. Well, the Chinese might disagree with me on that. We can all agree, however, that this isn’t Europe. Whereas Europe, specifically France, where I have been for the past three months, is made of the old world. Tradition is everything, it’s resistant to speed, or change, and it has beautifully preserved architecture, cultural food norms, and formal social structures. Taiwan is the opposite. Here, everything is about the new. Taiwan never stops moving, the pace is relentless—the trains, the scooters, the cars, the people on the streets, always and forever in perpetual motion. The old Taiwan is being torn down every minute and the new Taiwan goes ever upwards in steel and glass.

At first, it’s overwhelming. From the corner of your eye to the center of vision, it just never stops jiggling. I am not used to paying this much attention. And all of it is interesting, demanding your focus, my western brain trying to figure out what it all means since I can’t read the signs or understand the language.

Here, tradition is trumped by convenience. Efficiency reigns supreme. Impossibly, everything works like it was designed to from the trains to the streets, with their all-direction crosswalks and an army of street cleaners pushing their carts into all corners of the city every morning. The trains are always on time every few minutes, the sidewalks wide and flat, and the streets are spotlessly clean, there is parking for every one of the seven million scooters. It's just remarkable. This many people crammed into one small island, and into one major city, and it just hums like a very well-oiled and massive combustion engine. Although, it’s Taiwan, so that engine will be electric soon, just give it a few minutes. There is excellent coffee on every corner fueling this manic rhythm.

Nobody cooks here, there aren’t any markets or supermarkets as there are in France or the USA. There is no butter here. No cheese. Kitchens here are public and they take the shape of thousands upon thousands of restaurants, where the people eat all their meals, every day. The food here, from the lowliest street stall to the Michelin, is all excellent. Beef noodle soup, pork dumplings (Din Tai Fung originated here and people laugh when they hear you sing that place’s praises because they know there are so many better dumplings), chicken and rice, my gosh, even the toast here is amazing. Although, no butter? Really? Who has time to cook when you’re moving this quickly? Especially when it’s this cheap to eat.

7-11 is an institution, and there are too many to count, selling anything you can think of from prepared foods to home goods, receiving packages, allowing you to pay your utility and cell phone bills, to sit for a spell in their seating area, and to use their, again, spotlessly clean restrooms.

We had Alishan tea, Taiwan’s famous high mountain green light-roasted oolong tea, in a very formal British-style tearoom and it was so delicious, and moreover, so strong, that I was high for the better part of the day. No complaints. There is new business to be had, money to be made, the world needs to be a better place, so let’s go!

I’ve already twice visited one of the best wine bars/shops here (Domaine Wine Cellars) where I can get very high quality wines, join their VIP group if I want to enjoy social activities, store my wine in their state-of-the-art lockers or otherwise lounge in one of their intimate seating areas with my top-of-the-line glassware filled with high-end Burgundy, Aglianico del Vulture from Italy, or a Coonawarra Cabernet from down under. And they speak English.

I have been to Eslite, a 24-hour multi-floor bookstore, that sells everything from books, with a huge English book section, to clothing, to home-furnishings and artwork. Somehow, I even managed to have a Scotch whisky tasting there. Hmmm. I’ve mentioned coffee, tea, wine, and whisky already.

It’s the Lunar New Year and everyone here has just been freed from their workplaces for the next ten days or so. There is a festive atmosphere everywhere we travel, with lots of red decorations and a strange mix of Christmas lighting. But that’s about right for this country that is so influenced by America. Whatever is new, they want it. Last night, which was New Year’s Eve, we heard a lot of firecrackers and drumming, so I guess there is still some tradition left.

We’ve been taking the subway. It’s an amazingly efficient system with clean, quiet trains that go literally everywhere you want to in less than 15 minutes. But I don’t think my system was totally prepared for this entirely new part of the world, and for so many breathing humans in such a small space, so I picked up a cold or something last week. My first since we left back in September. Nothing serious like a flu, but it put me out of commission for about four days where I never left our apartment. It sure helps to have a nurse for a wife and she has been taking care of me. What’s more is her family has been stopping by with all kinds of Chinese medicines, or at least the boxes are written in Chinese. Her brother told me, “A Taiwanese virus needs Taiwanese medicine.” They did the trick as I was well enough to make it to the planned New Year’s dinner we had last night at a very fancy Japanese restaurant. Because, why not, It’s Taiwan.

I posted pics on my Insta, but here I’ll just say that we had a private room for six—Chien’s sister, brother, her 86-year-old father, myself, and her brother’s partner of 28 years, Julian—and a 10-course Kaiseki dinner that was easily one of the best meals of my life. Every course brought to us in artful displays that took our breath away and then overwhelmed our taste buds with incredible textures and flavors. I always laugh when I am overwhelmed with joy and couldn’t stop laughing last night. It’s some kind of disbelief mechanism I have. I also had the best Sake I have ever had that was brought to me in a decanter put into a literal ice box. (That makes five drinks mentioned.)

Now that I am feeling better and the New Year has passed and places will reopen soon, we plan to get back out there to see and do more things. There is a huge camera and electronics store that Chien’s brother and I are going to visit and see what we might find. He’s also going to take me to the Kavalan whisky distillery (six!). If you don’t know about this whisky, it’s considered one of the best in the world and it has won the World Whisky Awards a couple of times in its history. A few years ago, he gave me some as a gift in this silk-lined clam shell case and I nursed that bottle for three years before I drank the last drop. Liquid velvet.

We’ll also be making a trek to Jiufen (pronounced Jo Fin), a small town out on the coast overlooking the East China Sea, famous for its tea houses and small winding alleyways. That should make for some great photography. And we’ll revisit Yingge (Ing Guh), a village famous for ceramics and pottery. We went there 24 years ago when I didn’t know anything about this medium, and even then, I was really impressed, so I am looking forward to what we might find this time around.

And the restaurants. Since nobody cooks, and we haven’t cooked a single meal since we arrived, there will be many, many more meals to write about. Although, I could live on the dumplings alone.

Taipei is amazing. The Taiwanese are very concerned about what people think of their island. They want people to like it, and they go out of their way to make sure you are having a good time. It’s so safe and the people are so friendly, how could one not have a great time? Even Chien’s father asked last night what the rest of the world thinks of Taiwan. We assured him that the island has a great global reputation and that more and more people are discovering Taiwan as a tourist destination. It’s dynamic, energetic, but also amazingly clean and efficient. And obviously, there are a lot of things to drink here. The people, though, are the real reason to come here. I am excited to share the next three week’s adventures with you all.

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