July 14, 2016

I was sitting in the mall with my mother when I received a snapchat from a friend in Korea. Apparently the streets there were flooded as I watched a car turning onto a road that was already knee-deep under water. I also received news that the streets of Taipei were flooded to a similar degree.

I looked up to see someone being chased towards the escalator, only to sharply turn and go the other way. That seemed to throw off his pursuer.

It was around 10 o’clock and our flight was at noon. We figured that we needed around an hour and a half to eat the cake that was still sitting in the fridge of the bakery across from us. We figured that it was about time to go get it, even though we already had a cake with cream on top on the table in front of us. There just happened to be a little girl eating large scoops of the cake and we thought there wasn’t any harm in letting her do so. There wasn’t a chance we were going to eat that much anyways.

We now sat inside of the bakery as a chocolate cake was put on the table. There were also three plates with desserts consisting of dried and fresh mangoes. Before we started, we were informed that the cream cake was “number one” in “Chinese fast food” and had even won multiple awards. I laughed. I thought about asking the girl’s father which plate of mangoes he thought tasted best. I reasoned that the moment the dessert was served onto separate plates, their composition and therefore taste would have gone through their own trajectories meaning that over time they would become more and more differentiated.

I stabbed my fork into a fresh mango and when I picked it up, I saw that I had also caught a large mosquito with it. This insect was so big that it wouldn’t come off when I pulled on its leg that felt more like a small tree branch.