The Night Market in Taipei

On a work trip to Taipei, a colleague named Mei took me to Shilin Night Market after a long day of meetings. I had no idea what I was in for.

It was a maze of lights and steam and sizzling, crowds of people moving slowly under neon signs. She ordered for me: oyster omelets, giant fried chicken cutlets the size of my face, bubble tea, scallion pancakes and something called stinky tofu that smelled terrible and tasted wonderful.

We played a game where you try to catch goldfish with a paper net. I failed every time. A tiny girl next to me caught three and gave me one in a plastic bag. Mei laughed so hard she had to sit down on a stool.

We walked for four hours. I've been to a lot of fancy business dinners. That night was better than every one of them put together.