Monday, July 31, 2006
Memories of Taipei Part 1
Taipei. A cosmopolitan yet traditional city. A perfect
fusion of the old and the new.
I
love every single bit of this city. The culture, the food, the shopping... And not forgetting, the
ppl. The ppl here r great! They r
warm, friendly, have high service standards, and most importantly, they r kind and
considerate. They will not hesitate to help u wif directions when u r feeling lost. They give up their seats to the elderly the moment they see them
stepping into the train. And guez wat, they do not need any
sign that says "Please stand towards your right" to remind them to give way to other passengers.
Taipei is oso a veri
environmentally-friendly city. Dustbins everywhere double up as recycle bins, wif compartments for paper, plastic, metal and "general rubbish", as they termed it. If u were shopping in 7 Eleven and u asked for a carrier for ur purchase (regardless of how many things u bought), u'll hafta pay
NT$1 for each carrier! The same applies for all other shops, though most shops will at least give u a small carrier when u buy sth. (Hmmm they shld realli carry this out in Singapore too. Imagine the number of plastic bags that could be saved!)
Now for the
highlights of my trip...
We visited
Xi Men Ding on the first nite (we onli reached Taipei at ard 5.30pm in the evening). I marveled at the vibrant shopping atmosphere, the brightly-lit shops along the streets and alleys... It was, after all, the
shopping paradise for Taiwanese youngsters.
Shopping at Xi Men Ding was an absolutely
sinful experience. There were so many different shops selling all kinds of stuff! Our favourite shop was this nice little candy shop called
Sophisca. There were so many kinds of chocolates and sweets on sale, all packaged creatively and beautifully. We were totally spoilt for choices.
Guess wat is
this?
Sanitary napkins? Wrong! It's actualli a pack of
marshmallows from Sophisca! =)
(to be continued...)
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