Another excellent week in Taipei! Prof. Shen and his students have been patiently helping me learn the ins-and-outs of the Mass Spec systems in the lab, as well as introducing me to some interesting local fare. I must say, I’ve yet to try Taiwanese food I didn’t enjoy. This week I also hiked the famous “Elephant Mountain”. One of the “four beasts”, 4 small mountains that abut Taipei, Elephant Mountain (象山 Xiangshan in Chinese) is only a couple hundred meters tall, but it offers both a great workout (the trail is entirely stairs) as well as stunning views of Taipei city from atop its sandstone peak.