It is my second month living in Taipei, and there are some things about Taiwan that I really wish existed in the U.S., from the awesome street food to the public transportation here. Of course, there are some things in the U.S. that I like that I can't find in Taiwan, like English books in bookstores and libraries, but there are some things about Taiwan that I will truly miss when I head back to campus.
Convenience Stores
Convenience stores in Taiwan are one of the greatest inventions of mankind. In a small store, a lot of essential items are packed in one place, whether it is your favorite snack or a raincoat you need last minute. They don't waste extra space selling things people don't need, as too many choices can lead to decision paralysis. I really appreciate how well-organized the convenience stores are, as no signage is needed.
Besides the standard food and drinks, convenience stores also sell some personal health goods like sunscreen and basic office supplies like pens. If the convenience store has extra space, they have a couple of tables for you to sit and relax, which is very nice if you are waiting somewhere for a while or the weather is bad outside and you have nowhere to go, or you just want to eat some soft serve ice cream with your friend while waiting for the bus. The convenience store is a safe haven during the hot summers because you can walk in, linger around for five minutes to cool down, then go outside again.
An interesting thing about the convenience stores here is that they are open 24/7, even during typhoons. So if you want to pull an all-nighter outside for some reason, consider staying in a convenience store. If you are sad after a breakup and it's midnight and you have nowhere to go, go to Family Mart (this is based on J.J. Lin's music video for She Says, not real life). There is literally a convenience store every 250 meters or so, the most common ones being 7-11 and Family Mart. I don't really have a strong preference for either two, but I do have fond memories of this big Family Mart near my bilingual school as there was some nice seating and a patio.
While there are 7-11s in the U.S., it's a different vibe from the ones in Taiwan. There are pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens that sell snacks and drinks, but there's something about the small, compact, and warm nature of convenience stores in Taiwan that I like more.
This Insider article does a good job explaining why Taiwan 7-11s are much better than American ones.
Food Courts
If I had to rank the food courts in the U.S., I would give them a 5/10. And I am already being fairly generous with my ratings. Some of the factors behind this rating are biased, of course, as I like eating Chinese food or Asian food more than Western food. But some of it is also objective.
You see, if you go to a food court in a suburban mall in America or in an airport or train station, the options feel somewhat limited. These places may have good dining options, but they tend to be expensive and sit-in restaurants. There's the standard fast food like Mcdonald's or KFC that sell unhealthy, low-quality food. On the other hand, some chains are healthier, like Chipotle and Sweetgreen. From my experience, the food is ok, but I wouldn't say delicious. And the prices are nowadays at least $10 for a meal. For instance, when I went to the Moynihan Train Hall in New York's Penn Station, the only food vendors I was ok with were Chopt and a falafel shop. Part of it is my problem because I am kind of picky. The other options were burgers, pizza, sushi, or ramen, but I wasn't very into those options.
In the Taiwan food courts, there is an abundance of options. My experience here has been pretty positive, whether it was at Taipei Main Station or Taipei 101. The malls also do a wonderful job. Each food stall specializes in one thing, such as noodles or vegetarian food. If you don't like the first twenty options you see, you at least might like one of the last five you walk by. Another huge plus is that the food tastes better and is priced quite well. A nice thing is that a lot of the shops sell a set meal that includes a starch (white rice or noodles), vegetables on the side, a meat or veg protein, and soup. Therefore, you aren't going to worry where's your daily source of fiber or veggies.
If you take a look at the links and compare the American ones with the Taiwanese ones, then I think you get the idea.
Another cool thing about the food courts in Taipei is that some are right next to the MRT station exits. For example, one exit of Taipei City Hall leads you to the basement of Uni-Style Mall, and if you walk an extra minute, you reach the basement of the Eslite Mall. The underground tunnel system here is amazing and I don't think I have encountered this in the U.S. as much, probably because the Taipei MRT system is younger than the NYC Subway. If you are hungry on your commute and want to take a break, just exit the station and walk for two minutes. There are also lots of souvenir/gift stores and a diverse range of drink options like coffee and tea.
Boba Shops
I already covered a lot about food above under food courts, but I will just say it is amazing to get your standard pearl milk tea with boba for under $60 NT ($2 USD). The fruit teas here are also amazing, with prices as low as $45 NT ($1.50 USD). The low price is honestly the only reason I am much more willing to drink boba once a week instead of say once a month, which isn't probably the best for my health but oh well I only have 80 days in Taiwan. The density of boba shops is so high here that it's insane, unlike us MIT students that only have a lonely Tea-Do in a 1-mile radius.
Transportation
I kind of touched upon how the metro here does a good job connecting exits to underground malls, but I haven't quite described the experience of commuting here. For context, I live on the border of the city, which means that the closest MRT station for me is the Nangang Exhibition Center, which is the last station on the blue line (eastern most). Fortunately, my lab is a ten-minute walk, so I only commute if I plan to explore the city or eat a meal with some MIT friends in the center of the city.
Where I am for reference
The walk to the MRT station is 15 minutes for me, but if I am in a rush, there's Youbike, which is much easier to dock and lighter compared to Bluebikes. Each ride is $5 NT, which rounds to 17 cents (1 USD is around 30 NT). If the weather's bad, there are like 6 buses I can take, which means an average wait time of five minutes. Each bus route is different, but for a decent chunk of the route, it's the same thing as they follow some major roads. Therefore, it doesn't really matter which bus I take if I am going from my lab to the MRT station, as the path is following a road from south to north. What I like about the buses here is that each station has a live indicator of the wait time, which sadly doesn't exist in Boston.
My experience riding the MRT here has also been very positive. The floors are spotless, partly because people actually follow the rule of no eating or drinking in the subway cars. The stations are also pretty clean because of the janitors and each station has bathrooms. The wait time is on average 1-2 minutes on weekdays, and on weekends 2-3 minutes. Delays are pretty rare here, which is another plus.
Night Markets and Food Stalls
There are so many food stalls here that it's great, usually located near exits of MRT stations or near some major intersection. Some sell local desserts, while others sell quick meals or drinks like juice or tea. I wish this was more of a thing in the U.S., especially food stalls that are still active at night cause sometimes I get hungry after dinner.
The night market culture here is a unique aspect of Taiwan's nightlife. Even on weekdays at 9 PM, there are tons of people lining up for food and the night markets can feel pretty crowded. While it is true that food safety and quality aren't going to be the same as what you would find in restaurants, the experience is quite fun. The whole stretch of the night market is around 400-500 meters, so it takes a while to walk through the whole thing because of the slow pace. Like the food courts I described, there are so many options in the night markets that if you were to eat everything you wanted in a single meal, you probably wouldn't need to eat for another day.
Some night market food in Taiwan can be found in Chinatowns in the U.S. like beef noodles or xiaolongbao, but there are some things I don't see that often in the U.S. or are almost nonexistent, especially oyster omelettes and peanut ice cream wraps. I can go on and on about how eating a peanut ice cream wrap in the Shilin night market was one of the most mind-blowing experiences in my life. I am not exaggerating when I say that. Essentially, there's a crepe-like wrap with two scoops of Taiwanese ice cream (more like sorbet versus dairy), with shavings of peanut on top of the ice cream. Sometimes, people add cilantro to the wrap. If I talked about each food I ate here (aiyu jelly, taro balls, wheel cakes, etc.) that I enjoyed, then this blog post would be too long, so I will stop here.
And can I just add one last thing about how awesome it is that the Michelin guide here reviews street food and restaurants under a $10 budget? I wonder when Boston will have its own Michelin guide...
Top: taro and sweet potato balls. Bottom: Fu Hang Soy Milk (Michelin bib gourmand!)
Conclusion
I didn't expect this blog post to be so long, but basically, a lot of things that I will miss about Taiwan is the food. Besides the food, I will also miss how nice the public transportation system is here. I just can't have the best of both places, unfortunately.
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