Monday, May 28, 2007
I'm back in Singapore. I really really want to write about the trip with some pictures. However, I'm really tired with a headache now. So here's a list of very interesting thing I've learnt/see/observed/asked in Taipei.
Oh yeah, first, Happy Birthday to Me!
1. People in Taipei keep right on the escalators and they do it really rigidly
2. People wear masks to protect themselves from pollution and diseases; they have rewashable alot of pattern types; they even have a (propoganda) campaign called "健康一口照" loosely translated to "Health Comes from Masking Up"
3. You can eat on trains, which Singaporeans probably find it hard to accept
4. There's a unified receipt system, for god knows what freaking reason. But anyway, there's a serial number on EACH receipt, and there's a lucky draw every 2 months. The interesting part comes here, there are ALOT of volunteers and charity boxes around asking to collect such receipts. Interesting huh?
5. Taiwan is a freaking mountainous country. The roads are like hell to travel on. And the bus drivers can smoke any Singaporean Ah Beng racer on a downhill race, yes, using the bus fight the ah beng's Honda Civic or (poser) Tofu car.
6. Most hotsprings in Taiwan are NOT natural
7. There are REALLY free concerts at Danshui Yu Ren Ma Tou. I watched Elva's concert there and there was Lui Shi Xiang, Xiaozhu as the guest. My goodness, it was damn nice a performance.
8. There are 115 channels on Taipei's TV.
9. Here's a dumb thing, you can tap your "Easicard", similar to the Singaporean EZ-Link, to take rides on buses, but for some rides, you tap your card and then top up the difference with cash. So a NT$40 fare, you can tap NT$15 with your card and pay NT$25 by cash. I'm like huh? But it's the way of life for the people.
10. I guess ad space is very expensive in Taipei, esp, Xi Men Ding. And that's why, they have people to carry sign posts. And stand at one spot with an arrow pointing in the direction of the shop and some more indicating the distance from the sign to the shop. So when the police come, they just walk away. Obviously, the advertising space is so much more ex than to hire a young chap to do the mobile sign.
11. The illegal roadside stalls really run away from inspectors and they'll stay put with no worries when a blinking police car drives pass.
12. Taiwan's 7-11 mascot is called Xiao Jiang (小将) and I REALLY love the mascot! check him out at http://www.7-11.com.tw/event/05open-chan/open-chan_top.html
Posted by NuhC at 1:41 AM
