Taiwan

Illiterate. And lost. That's our first impression of Taiwan as we struggle (and fail) to read the signs. We keep relying on people to write down our destination and show it to the bus drivers. Think this is the tricky part? Nope. That one comes when you try to do what you are supposed to in Taipei: eat, but eat at various night food markets. Without people speaking English and not being able to read anything we resort to pointing our finger(s) to what we think we want to eat. Great thing is that locals are used to it – a lot of nodding and smiling really does the trick in the end. Food, on the other hand, is a mixed success. Some things we like, some we don’t. Some are not what we thought they were. And we are very general here: is it sweet or savoury, meat or vegetables… In general, is Taipei the foodie capital of Asia? Not really… not for the two of us anyway. Although we did like few dishes in the end, we still think that more fragrant, spicy and nutty cuisines of India, Malaysia or Thailand are more our cup of tea.

One more thing is becoming a theme as we move further east from Europe. To our disappointment, beer and wine are getting more and more expensive (and containers smaller) while petrol is getting cheaper. Beginning to appreciate government taxation policies back home…

Few things will always stay with us about Taiwan thou:

• Public transport. Didn’t even realize it can be that good. Trains go every few minutes and the whole city is totally covered. Absolutely amazing. We kept using and admiring it.
• Internet. Everywhere it maxed out our speed-o-meter. And, last but not least, no stupid passwords all over the place. Respect!
• Cleanliness. Who ever said Singapore was clean? Taipei beats it in a hart-beat. Not as clean as Austrian Alps thou, still stealing the premium spot in our opinion. 

After five days in Taipei, we were on the move again. Next stop – Hong Kong to visit our friends Lesley and Bob and spend Chinese New Year there.

If you fancy looking at more foody pictures or trying to read  Chinese click here.