so not EVERYTHING is closed on Monday?

I did laundry on Monday. They have an actual coin operated washer and dryer here. Last time I tried to get clothes cleaned in a hotel, the place I stayed in Prague wanted $2.50 to wash on pair of underwear, so I had to go to a laundromat. But here I got to wash my clothes myself with little hassle, just so I can profusely sweat into all of them all over again.
I had planned to spend the day quite aimless because many, many museums and other cultural sites are closed on Mondays. I just happened to double check my Lonely Planet to find that the National Palace Museum was open. I had to take a bus to get there. Luckily, the transit pass I bought can be used on the bus.

There were some tour groups so it was quite crowded, especially on the first floor. They had exhibits on old books, calligraphy, jade, ceramics. Here are some cool things I saw:

I thought they were naming a type of jade when they mentioned the Jade Cabbage. They were referring specifically to this piece, which is impressive because of its detail. There is a cricket on it; I'm not sure if you can see it in the picture.

There were a few of these curio boxes with all these little things inside (that's me reflected it glass.) I especially liked these intricate pieces, like hair ornaments and vases.
I spent two hours there. When I left, I was raining. I was not sure where to get the bus back. I went across the street to stand in the rain (again, thankfully the rain here is very vertical), just to go back and stand at the bus shelter by the museum.
I got back to the area by the MRT station which happened to be where that vegetarian restaurant I didn't want to eat in the night before was. At this point, soup sounded a lot better, so I went in. I went in and got some vegetables in broth/gravy. The owner (?) came over when he saw me looking in my Lonely Planet. There was a tea house I wanted to check out. I didn't expect it to be hard to find; its near the other hotel. But he asked, so I showed him. He actually called the tea house and got the address and wrote it down in Chinese so if I got lost, I could show someone.

He sat and talked to me. He asked if I was from the UK (I have been asked this before when traveling in other countries.) He had lived in Charlotte N.C. for two years in 1980, in the restaurant business. We talked about Trump and we wondered about the US's lack of universal healthcare (he regaled me with stories of the tiny hospital bills incurred while getting care in Taiwan.)
Did I mention how nice the people are here? More on this later.
I made it to the tea house.

I wanted to take a picture inside but felt self-conscious given the setting. It's a beautiful space. They have you take your shoes off which was great because mine were wet. I sat on the floor. I could've ordered a tea ceremony but just got some black tea and a tiny piece of pineapple cake (which was included.) The tea here is really good. I get the impression that if I bought the tea, I would not be able to make it as well as they can here, and I'd just be pouting in to my mug thinking, "This isn't how it tasted in Taiwan."
Eating has been a little bit of a challenge, not because the food is not good, but because I'm trying to minimize the rice, and noodles, and meats I don't usually eat, and looking for hard-to-find restaurants when I'm hungry. There are quite a few places near my hotel and I thought I could easily find something. I could've returned to the Chinese place I went to on Saturday, but I wanted to try something else. I ended up at a Japanese place. I got Unagi because it was one of the few things that I ate (and it came with a salad.)
Right now it's Wednesday morning here and I am in the restaurant eating tomatoes and cucumbers as part of my breakfast (really trying to get the vegetables in.) I'm going to return to the buffet table to get the good stuff in a bit. Yesterday was pretty eventful so it gets its own posting. Maybe I'll get that in later.