Thoughts On Taiwan (2005-04-22)
Generally speaking, our trip to Taiwan was enjoyable. Most of the food we tried was delicious and very inexpensive. When you've been living in Tokyo for as long as we have, suddenly the food in other Asian countries just seems to cost so little for so much of it! We looked around three different food courts and the bowls they use to hold noodles are like wash basins, no exaggeration! The people eating noodles from them could stick their whole head in them! I regret not having taken a picture to show you.
Most bakeries also make their bread rolls and sweet bread very
large. There were numerous times KL and I wanted to try a
particularly yummy-looking bread but gave up because they were just too
big as a snack. There's a bakery on the food court floor in Core
Pacific Shopping Center which sells giant size bread. Much of
their bread is four to six times as big as those in Tokyo, only
cheaper! That bakery also makes the best swiss roll in a variety
of flavor. KL tried the black sesame roll which was super soft
and just slightly sweet with barely a paper-thin smear of cream, just
the way he likes it.
Cakes in Taiwan are as beautiful to look at as they are good to
eat. Australians and Americans who are used to eating very sweet
dessert may find them not sweet enough, but Taiwan's cakes are perfect
for us. We also bought a coffee roll with the smallest amount of
cream and sweetness at a bakery in Shuanlian and it was the best coffee
swiss roll we ever ate.
There is a saying in Taiwan: Three steps to a small eat, five steps to a big eat, and it's so true! There are more hawker food and snacks from stalls than you can possibly try. There are tons of restaurants everywhere you look. How do Taiwanese people stay slim I'll never understand.
Besides good food, shopping is also good. There are always
boutiques and fashion shops every corner you turn. The clothes
are half the price of Tokyo's and so very cute. The further away
from tourist areas, the lower the prices of the clothes. Walk
down side alleys and small streets and one can find inexpensive but
very pretty clothes. My sister, who travels to Malaysia and Hong
Kong often to shop for clothes will have a ball in Taipei.
Taiwanese are friendly people. I don't say this from a tourist
stand point, I heard and saw how locals talk to and treat each other
and they are really nice and courteous. Taipei is relatively
clean. We hardly saw any rubbish on the wide roads and streets
but they are dusty and gray from the thick and polluted air. The
large numbers of scooters on the roads do not help the problem
either. Traffic in Taipei is no better or worse than other
densely populated Asian cities such as Bangkok, Hong Kong or
Tokyo. MRT in Taiwan is one of the most modern, cheapest and
cleanest I have seen, not to mention the abundantly available and
inexpensive taxis, both of which make traveling around Taipei very easy.
Taiwanese are very serious about preserving the environment. Plastic bags are not routinely given to shoppers. They charge you for each plastic shopping bag, thus encouraging people to bring their own reusable bag and reducing the number of plastic trash, which I think is a good thing. Too much packaging like that in Japan is a waste of resources and bad for the environment.
Although Taiwan is not as popular an Asian destination as say, Thailand
or Malaysia, it has a lot to offer too. It is
much bigger than Singapore, thus providing tourists with more to
do such as visiting scenic areas, nature trail-hiking, and soaking in
hot springs. Taiwanese are just as friendly and helpful as
Thailand people and Taiwan offers more to see than temples.
The night markets in Taipei have many varieties of food like the hawker
centers we have seen in Malaysia. Shopping choices are comparable to
that of Hong Kong; and hot springs cost less than half of those in Tokyo.
And Taiwan is high and above of China in terms of modernness, cleanliness,
civilized people, and yummy food.
Surely each Asian country has its own charm and attractions, but I think
Taiwan is largely overlooked by first-time travelers heading East,
including us.
Back to top
