Overview thoughts on Taipei

Having wandered around for 3 days now, I must say that I am enjoying Taipei, with its mix of modern and old.
After doing laundry last night, and still not being adjusted to the 12 hour timezone change, here are some thoughts:

Likes:

  • English on many signs (esp in metro (subway)) and a little spoken by many people
  • Great modern metro (opened in 1999) which apparently has improved air quality significantly, as well as making travel around the city and suburbs a breeze
  • Technology
  • Cheap tasty (maybe not so healthy) food
  • Weird food (cola flavored Mentos anyone?)
  • Funny/interesting signs
  • Polite, orderly conduct
  • Scooters taken into consideration on roads (and parking)
  • A surprising amount of greenery – mountains right next to the city (or should I say, the city expanded right to the neighbouring mountains)
  • Few westerners – at big tourist sites, I see maybe a dozen foreigners; otherwise, I see less than a dozen a day around town
  • Taipei 101 – 2nd tallest building in world, designed to look like bamboo

Dislikes:

  • Sudden wafts of sewer smell (I noticed it frequently the first day, but it hasn’t hit me as frequently the past 2 days – maybe it depends on the area)
  • Humidity (as Taipei isn’t on the coast, you don’t get a refreshing breeze nor can you just hop in for a swim)
  • Hard to find cheap healthy food
  • Too many rules (can’t take my coffee on the metro!)
  • Crowded

Many of the points above could use their own post and accompanying photos, more to come…

2 thoughts on “Overview thoughts on Taipei”

  1. How is it hard to find cheap healthy food. Can’t you just order some variation of stir-fried veggies in the little restos?

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