A TASTE OF 7TH AND MONTANA ... IN TAIPEI

What does the corner of Zhongxiao Xinsheng and Gungyuan Road in Taipei have in common with 7th and Montana? Quite a lot if my experience this morning was any indication. You see, there's a Starbucks at that corner -- just seven blocks from the Danshui River -- and it seems to have become a magnet for Local Loons. Take the woman pictured above. She spent all morning standing on the sidewalk wearing what looked like a White Ninja Costume and a Sandwich Board which read, in Chinese, "There's no Justice." She clanged away incessantly on a pair of Portable Cymbals and chanted over and over, in Chinese, "There's no Justice." I found out what she meant shortly after walking into Starbucks.

"That will be $95," said the Taiwanese Barista, handing me my coffee with a straight face. "What?!?," I cried, "$95 for a small cup of coffee?!? Are you insane?!?" He laughed. "That's 95 Taiwanese Dollars," he explained, "which is only about 3 American Dollars." "What?!?," I exclaimed, again. "$3 for a medium drip coffee?!? ... There's no Justice!!!" The Barista laughed. "Would you like anything else?" That's when I looked down at the Pastry Case and came face-to-face with the local equivalent of an Apple Fritter.

It's called a "Dragon Festive Sweet" and is essentially two scoops of technicolor bean paste atop a banana leaf. In the Dragon Boat tradition, I'm told, such sweets were thrown into Hong Kong harbor centuries ago in an effort to prevent fish from eating the corpse of a well-known official. I wouldn't try that these days. Not only would the fish prefer the corpse, but local authorities would probably slap you with a fine for Toxic Dumping, to boot. Now that's what I call Justice ...!