Day 421: being a regular

one of the things i’ll miss about living in taiwan is being a regular.

since (1) i’m vegan which limits my choice of eateries and (2) i don’t mind eating the same things, i became a familiar face at a few establishments.

before i left taiwan, i got gifts for the three places i frequented the most and told them that i was going back to the states. (by “told”, i basically pointed at myself, said “meiguo” (chinese for “america”), and made a little flying motion with my hands. it worked.) despite me not understanding a word they said to me and vice versa, i felt a lovely sense of warmth and connection that we shared simply from me seeing them so often and them feeding me

the places:

\1. 趙記山東饅頭 - a bakery right outside my apartment which serves piping hot scallion pancakes and an amazing red bean pancake pastry. once she learned that i was vegan, she told me which things i could have whenever i stopped by.

when i eventually convinced her to take the small box of treats i’d gotten for her, she responded by gifting me enough steamed buns to turn me into a pillsbury doughboy (picture was taken after i’d already eaten a bunch of the brown buns which were super yummy)

\2. 鑫鑫一元堂素餅之家 - a hole in the wall restaurant / bakery run by a team of grandmas. they served the best radish cake i had during my entire stay in taiwan.

\3. Three To Vegetarian Restaurant - a vegetarian buffet that has an incredibly large selection. the first time i came here, i arrived near closing hours and picked up some veggie wraps to-go. one of the ladies offered some more wraps at an even cheaper price, and i agreed because i’m a sucker for deals. then she tried to sell me even more stuff, and i realized that she was trying to dump her whole inventory on me. i laughed and somehow communicated that i was onto her, and she cracked up, too. i told her i’d be back, and after that, she gave me a discount every time i ate there.

taiwan has such lovely people ❤️