Do It True

Big rains all day but it cleared up around 7 so we went out for dinner and then did some shopping in the Sun Yat Sen Memorial-City Hall area, not far from our place. We ate at a Beijing restaurant 北平 都一處 (duyichu), which could have been transliterated as dewey chew but they have endearingly transliterated as Do It True... Fantastic shao bing (sesame buns with layers like a croissant; you eat after stuffing meat into it. I've had this many times with sliced beef in it--such as those at A&J's in the DC suburbs--but this came with big slices of pork with the layer of fat on top). We had two other signature dishes, salad of shredded boy-choy, dried tofu, and cilantro, made with a special vinegar; smoked chicken, and braised tofu. They are also famous for hot-pot but it doesn't seem right to order this on a summer day. Though there were people there having it. I'm told there is a Do It True in Flushing, must check on this when I get back!


After dinner we walked to the City Hall area, which is in shadow of Taipei 101 (top photo). When built it was the world's tallest building but it's lost that status to a new building (in Dubai, I think. Who keeps up with the world's-tallest-building data?) We went first to a shop run by Taiwan's Buddhist charitable organization. Mostly books but we were interested in the travel-size chopsticks and other travel-friendly dining ware (little bowls, travel cups, etc)--no doubt originally intended for the wandering monk but now for backpackers and anyone who doesn't care for the splintery and eco-unfriendly disposables used in restaurants and food stands. The Buddhist goods are all of very high quality design and workmanship.

We were going to get on the bus to go home but... the MUJI sign at the shopping mall across the street caught our eye so we went over. The mall is called New York New York New York (not sure why the extra New York). MUJI, sophisticate Manhattan readers will know, is the Japanese store that sells housewares, clothing, stationery, and furniture, all with simple design, colors (back, white, gray, beige) and good prices. There's one in Soho and in the new NY Times building, and a MUJI corner in the MOMA design store. They are all over Taipei and the ones here are much bigger and with much greater selection than the ones in NYC. The Taipei stores are owned by the same Taiwan conglomerate that owns 7-11. I'm told that the price in Japan is one-third of that in Taiwan (and US). Alas, we are not in Japan right now. But it was still a bargain because we bought t-shirts with 7-11 coupons!

7-11 here is on nearly every block. Their coffee is quite good, they have a hot-food bar, and you can pick up train tickets, pay your utility bills, and even recharge your cell phone. It's said that there are two businesses in Taipei that will never fail: a 7-11 franchise and a shao-bing (see above, though these are typically eaten not with meat but with a fried donut stick)/ dou-jiang (soy milk) stand.