All I do is Lin, Lin, Lin
My friend Maureen is currently living in Taipei, Taiwan but will be moving to good old Singers over the summer. Before she moves, it was absolutely imperative that Rob and I get over there to visit her and check out the scene. Thank goodness we did; it was freaking fantastic.
I spent a year living in Shanghai and I love all things Chinese (the FOOD!, the language, the customs, the markets/bargaining, etc.), so it was sort of odd that I never put much thought into traveling to Taiwan until I sensed the ticking clock on my free place to stay! I also know there’s a serious political division between China and Taiwan (it’s actually fascinatingly complicated) and it’s not reasonable to blindly lump the 2 into one category but there’s also enough cultural similarity that it would be a struggle not to at least compare them.
Knowing how much I LOVE to travel, this could easily become long-winded so I’m going to give you the highlight reel of our adventure, Letterman style:
10. Smells like…I haven’t been back to China in over 5 years and so maybe this has changed but I remember a lot of smog and a general, inexplicable stink being pretty pervasive (no, I’m not talking about the stinky tofu). Taiwan is nowhere near as clean as Singapore, and has a bit of a run-down appearance in many places but the air is pretty clear.
9. Infrastructure – Again, Singapore takes the cake on this but after traveling by bus, MRT, taxi and car, it was very easy, clean and orderly. I was impressed.
8. People! Almost everyone in Taiwan we met was very nice, friendly even, and smiley! Like woah.
7. Price! Compared to China, Taiwan isn’t very cheap. Compared to Singapore, Taiwan is amazingly inexpensive. **Sigh** Also, as an American, I can get a free visa on arrival to Taiwan. China thinks I should pay $200 for a single entry – utter nonsense.
6. Language! I speak very poor Mandarin – the kind that works in taxis, at markets, in restaurants and occasionally for short bouts of small talk. In Singapore, no one even bothers to try to converse with me. Maybe no one understands me with all the local dialects and my angmo accent but either out of necessity or effort, they understand me in Taiwan (mostly) =)
5. Shopping! I love the markets; the hunting, the haggling, the oddities around every bend. We saw an old lady dance troupe in Yi Lan, Giant Snakes in Snake Alley, and I bought lots of things that felt like they were free compared to pricing in Singapore.
4. Nature! Taiwan has some sweet nature. We drove along the cliffs and saw the (cold) beautiful water and very green rolling hills. We hiked in Taroko Gorge and enjoyed some natural hot springs. It was great and only a long-ish drive from Taipei.
3. Din Tai Fung! Everyone knows the chain which does a very good business in Singapore but the ORIGINAL is in Taipei and it puts the others to shame! It’s an experience in itself – crowded at all hours and a stack of floors connected by narrow staircases slinging Xiao Long Bao among other delights. It was DELICIOUS.
2. The Food! Man, I love Chinese food. In Singapore it’s hard to find some of my favorite mainland Chinese dishes – like Grandmother’s Tofu, Egg and Tomatoes, and dumplings – but you can get them. But I’ve NEVER had a Bao zi done right in Singapore. Bao zi are steamed bread-like buns generally with a flavorful pork meatball in the center. Done Right, they are amazing but here they seem to be too sweet – maybe Cantonese styled? They do them MORE than right in Taiwan – we even tried a baked variety and a lamb curry one. I was blown away. I thought about trying to bring 100 back and freezing them but I thought better of it…
1. My friend Maureen! It was great to catch up and see her. Maybe I’ll convince her to Guest Blog one day =)
Holy Bao zi! (This wasn't posed at all)
expatopia 