I can’t believe I have written this much about Taipei. Usually when we travel someplace I write one post about the entire country. This is much easier and more fun so I might start doing it this when we travel abroad. Don’t worry, our next trip is not until April when we head down under to Australia.
So Taipei is, as my wonderful wife put it, very East Asian. I have been to Vietnam, Myanmar, obviously I live in Malaysia, and recently we went to Hong Kong. I went to China about 10 years ago but I still remember what it was like. All of these places are their own identity. So in Taiwan for sure, but the influence of Korean of Japanese culture is very obvious. I see Korean culture here in Malaysia because of the expat community, but it is not mainstream. There are a few Korean channels that show the wonder that is K-Pop. My neighborhood is swarming with Korean BBQ places to the point that you wonder how it is even possible for all of them to be successful. But the mainstream culture is very Malaysian. Japanese culture has made more in roads but given the history of Japan here I do not think it will be mainstream anytime soon. (Although Isetan, the Japanese department store, kicks butt)
The point is, we saw a lot of things in Taipei that just screamed East Asia to us. Let’s take a look shall we? (See also the mascot post. There will be a few mascot like things on this post and again on the HTLWIM post because mascots are everywhere in Taipei. Maji Meow for life!)
A lot of times the weird thing is Asia is the flavor of something….Swiss cheese blizzard….I especially like the adult tattoo…More Mascots
This must be talked about. This was at the restaurant we ate the soup dumplings at. They took my bag, put it in this little thing and put a towel on top of it. They did a similar thing with Wade who had hung his bag on his seat back: they brought a cover to put over it. Yes we were eating soup dumplings but it’s not like the explosion risk was super high
I forgot to include this picture and the next one in the mascots blog post. Tea Master for life!
Hey that’s my name…but that’s not how you spell tattooOnce again, a weird flavorWe passed this pet store once a day with this leopard cat, which was very expensive. We can’t remember how much but I think it was north of $1,000 USD
I love Asian signs because I have no idea what they are saying, so it becomes like a work of art to meThe alley we took to get to our apartment. The only alley I have ever been in that felt more safe at night then in the day time. Day time it was empty and creepy. Nighttime it was bustling and alive
I don’t think Matt Groening authorized this. Anyone have any idea what the sign says?The amount of dogs with clothing on was shocking. Also, the amount of dogs with clothing on that were pushed around in a stroller was even more shocking.Yeah, don’t remember what this was all about. It was at one of the train stopsLego presentsSanta’s Village, made out of legos, with it’s very own Ent.A random 7-11 in Taipei with the most random beer it could sell
Not frog eggs apparently. I never got close to this food cart because of the big lines, but Iris tells me it was not real frog’s eggsWade and I spent a good 10 minutes watching this guy while we waited for the wives.The most interesting part was the powerful suction of that vent!Some fun store? No, a pharmacy
Well, same to you buddy!Again, more mascots.I mean…I just have so many questionsMore mascots once againWords fail me
Just a random busy intersection and an experiment in time lapse
Let me know if you find out what Homer is saying!!!!!
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