I then made my way over to the Annual Taipei Publication Expo. I was amazed at how most of the books were foreign. I found myself at art books. I walked by the Childrens' Book area and an Australian woman was illustrating artwork with pastel live on the spot and she handed me a finished work as a gift. I was really too old but I stood there and waited for one as if I was a child. In fact I had to compete with other children for one. There was one Tarot booth and I flipped through what they had. In the booth a woman was doing computerized Tarot reading for anyone who would pay her to do. I sat there and flipped through the samples of decks but was also multitasking to hear what she was saying and how she was reading. I found myself uninterested in how she read and then I walked away.
I then went to the anime section and entered the world of Manga. The place was packed, full of students all happily grouped around the floor to read the next issue of the particular manga they just bought or gaga over the the overpriced manga trinkets. I thought I'd get into the flow and be a consumer but I walked and walked, I even walked the entire place twice and still made no purchase.
The manga section of the exhibition was in a different building and I had to get directions from people. One of the person I asked told me it was really far and that I should take a shuttle. I walked and it was like 10 minutes away. May be he was most concerned about me getting lost. Walking there was quicker than taking the shuttle because of the lines during the holiday.
Then I came across a Tzu Chi tea house. It was set up for reading and tea. I found it to be peaceful and quiet. I really like it. It's in the midst of busy metropolitan section of the city, how nice to have a tranquil place to be in.
