It was a very dissatisfying food day. The jelly in my ice coffee at the Japanese cafe was not coffee jelly but some fruity blend akin to mango. The kimchi in my meal was dried fish with peanuts and steamed vegetables. The fish bibimbap was overly sweet.

Spent the afternoon in Tienmu - the district where Americans and other foreigners live. En route, spotted the "Big Nose Italian Restaurant."

I met Chin's Filipina maid who helps to take care of her elderly grandmother and also looks after her cousin. The stories were not as shocking as I thought they would be, but had a different quality of tragedy. They call her No-no, because it is easy to pronounce. Not her actual name. She spent 8 years in Hong Kong as a nanny to some children and after that came to Taiwan where she worked initially in Keelung and later here in Tienmu. No-no was married when she left Luzon. Her husband could not find a job - according to No-no, the working situation is not so great and it can be difficult to find a job, even if you have a college degree. So because it is easier for Filipina woman to find work outside of the country, No-no arranged a job through a broker/employment agency to work in HK. During that period of time, her husband cheated on her and spent most of the money she sent home, while he remained unemployed. Eventually, No-no made the decision to separate from him, though they are not legally divorced, because the paperwork and processing fees for divorce are quite cumbersome. Last year, No-no's mother passed away. No-no used her savings to pay for her mother's funeral and all the arrangements. Her current contract in Taiwan ends in June, but she will try to find a way to stay for another three years and build up some savings.

In the park today, there were few maids, but we spotted a few of No-no's friends. A young, tough looking girl helped an elderly man with a cane walk back and forth, getting his exercise, while she held in one hand his hand and in the other, an umbrella to protect him from the heat of the sun. Back and forth they strolled across the plaza. She looked unhappy and I wanted to approach her when I first arrived in the park and was waiting for No-no, but thought better of it. After No-no arrived and we chatted, she waved down her friend who was pushing a wheelchair towards her aging employer. No-no ran across the plaza and pushed some questionnaires that I had prepared into the young girl's hands. The employer started yelling in Chinese while the two women talked quietly. It occurred to me that I should go up and say hello to this young woman, so I ran across the plaza too, but at that point, she had already broken with No-no and started wheeling the chair towards her boss who was still yelling and scolding. No-no said to me that the boss doesn't like the girl to talk to other Filipinos and when she does so, she gets beaten. At that moment, I felt very terrible to be causing someone's suffering. This young girl is just 26 years old. Has two children in the Phillipines and for the timebeing, a husband.

The other maid I met was responsible for taking care of a young boy. They call her Tenny which is nothing like her given name which is much more poetic. Like No-no she comes from Luzon. But unlike No-no, she has a child. A 19-year-old son who she is putting thru college. And a husband? She made an awkward face - a situation like No-no's.