It’s Game Day. I didn’t want to chance a challenging outing. What if we couldn’t find our way back in time? So we (belatedly) explored the neighborhood around the hotel. We’d seen a street that seemed to be devoted entirely to electronics but when I asked where it was, the concierge pointed us toward a high-rise that turned out to be crammed with stalls selling every kind of equipment. There were shops devoted to cameras and laptops and routers and even diskettes. We couldn’t tell whether discounts were good but we were overwhelmed by the selection.

Back on the street, I decided to keep walking despite the heat and humidity. Eventually, I ended up at a fancy shopping area called Sogo. Outside, there was a sort of tree hung with the Deaflympic frogs. Now that the games are winding down, I’ve seen deaf athletes all over town in stores and restaurants. I decided to leave the wide avenue and cut down a side street. In addition to the ubiquitous food carts, there was a pocket temple. The decoration was as ornate as Longshun but it was just tucked into a little neighborhood. Next door there was a fruit stand as well as a stand selling incense and the pretend money that worshippers burn as offerings.

The side street was narrow but the alleys leading off from either side were even more narrow. Most aren’t big enough for cars, though you can see bicycles. In many cases, I suspect that the little food stands we see are a family business and that the family lives in the space above or behind the stand. I was out in the morning and already there were people preparing food. In addition to Chinese descriptions of the food, many of the vendors have pictures of what they sell. In the better restaurants, these pictures are so sensual that they are almost pornographic. With such an emphasis on food, it’s remarkable that the local people are so trim.

For late lunch, we went back to the Sogo food court for the “best dumplings in Taipei.” The place is so popular that there is usually a wait but we were there in the middle of the afternoon so we were seated almost immediately. The concierge told me what to order--dumplings with pork and shrimp, “buns” with bean paste, hot and sour soup and fried rice. The dumplings came in steamers woven out of thick strips of something that might have been bamboo. Each one was bite-size and that first bite created a squirt of juice followed by tender filling. On the way out, we watched young men earnestly at work making hundreds of dumpling and dim sum.

By then, there was no pretending that this day was like other days. Even a swim couldn’t ease the tension. This is game day. For a medal. What will it be? Silver or gold? When I ran into Jessie at the elevator, she looked pretty determined. Breath in. Breath out. Go USA!