Taipei Botanical Garden, taipei

When your backyard tries to outdo your living room in feng shui.

As I wandered deeper into the Taipei Botanical Garden, I found myself standing before a serene Zen garden. The meticulously raked gravel, forming perfect concentric circles, created an almost hypnotic effect. In the midst of this ordered chaos stood a small island of green, crowned by a bonsai-like tree and a few artfully placed rocks. It's amusing how a patch of gravel and a few stones can evoke such a sense of calm, something my cluttered apartment could never achieve.

The stepping stones leading through the garden seemed to invite me to take a moment and reflect, though I couldn't help but wonder if they were also a subtle reminder to watch my step in life. The surrounding trees and shrubs provided a natural frame, while the modern buildings in the background served as a gentle nudge back to reality. It's these contrasts that make Taipei so fascinating – a delicate dance between the old and the new, the natural and the man-made.

As I stood there, absorbing the tranquility of the scene, I couldn't help but feel a bit envious of the bonsai tree. Here it was, living its best life in a perfectly curated garden, while I was still figuring out how to keep a cactus alive. Maybe there's a lesson in that – about finding balance and harmony, or maybe it's just a tree doing its thing. Either way, it's moments like these that make travel so enriching.

Stay tuned as I continue to uncover the hidden gems of Taipei, one Zen garden at a time. Who knows what other stories this city holds? And more importantly, how many involve getting lost in translation?