Taipei: The Convenience Aspect

After being in Taipei for a little over month, I've been able to truly appreciate how convenient the city is. From the Easy Card to stores like Family Mart and 7-11s to the Underground Metro, almost everything here is made as convenient as possible for its residents.

The first and arguably most convenient part of Taipei is the Easy Card, which you can get at the Metro Station or at 7-11s/Family Marts. This prepaid card encompasses most aspects of daily life in Taipei because it allows you access to public transportation, the YouBike system, and other public places like the Taipei Zoo, and also can be used to purchase food and many other goods at different stores throughout the city. The first President of Taiwan, Chiang Kai Shek, wanted to do everything he could to give his people the best living experience possible, and even though the Easy Card came after his death, it was a perfect execution of that lasting vision (read that at a museum).

Last weekend, my friends and I went out to Yilan County, about an hour east of Taipei, for a day at the beach. After leaving the hostel at 11 am, slightly later than the 9 am we had planned on, we finally walked the 5 minutes to Taipei Main Station. But it turns out we didn't extra time to get where we needed to go. We easily found the ticket window for the bus to Yilan, accompanied by a fairly long line. The line subsided quickly and received our $130 NTD (about $4 USD) tickets. We waited for about 15 minutes before boarding our bus to the North East coast of Taiwan. I was stunned when I stepped on the bus and found out exactly what our tickets had gotten us: a luxury bus ride with leather, reclining seats to a city an hour away and, everyone's favorite, free wifi.

More recently, I used Taipei's YouBike system for the first time. In the city alone, they have over 150 stations with an average of 30 bikes per station ready to ride 24/7 with a tap of your Easy Card. The cost is $5 NTD per half hour (about $.15 USD), and once you're done with the bike you can return it to any YouBike station by tapping your Easy Card once more. 

I am #blessed to have the 7-11s and Family Marts and their conveniences here. You can do and find just about everything you need to in their stores. When I was at the hospital filling out all the information for my physical, I realised I had forgotten a copy of my passport. Thankfully, I had my flash drive in my backpack with a few important documents on it. I went into the Family Mart around the corner, got on to the "FamiPort," and printed out a copy of my passport for $3 NTD (About $.10 USD). So cool. They had pictures for each of the things you could do, luckily, because nothing was in English. I clicked on the picture of the printer, and then continued pressing the rest of the buttons that had borders around them. Guess and check, but I got it done. Other things that can be done at stores include: paying bills, picking up packages shipped to you, dry cleaning, and buying tickets for events and transportation.

Last, but not least, you have the Metro System (MRT) which has five different lines that run throughout the city and into most of the suburbs. It's basically a smaller version of BART, if you've been to San Francisco, but I think it's even more efficient and much less expensive. A 30 minute ride costs about $1.50 USD and on BART it would be over $7. The trains are newer in Taipei and don't run the same risk shutting down, as some BART trains have recently. They also arrive at faster intervals it seems, because I haven't had to wait more than three minutes to catch a train. Might be a little luck, too. I haven't made a mistake on any transfers...yet...but I'm sure it will happen sometime.

One convenient part of Taiwan I haven't had to the chance to take advantage of yet is the High Speed Rail (HSR). You can be in Kaohsiung in 1.5 hours, whereas it would take 5 hours by car or standard train. I'm excited to use it this upcoming weekend as I'm headed to the southern most point of Taiwan, Kenting, for a couple days of surfing and snorkeling!

In my opinion, the U.S. could learn a few things from Taiwan in public transportation and convenience in general. It's lagging significantly behind not only here, but in many other countries around the world.

Now, the only thing that's not convenient about Taipei is that there are hardly any trash cans or dumpsters anywhere! There's a large street food culture here, so it's hard to believe that the city can remain so clean. I ran into a little bit of trouble with this the other day, when I thought that I could set my garbage by another trash bag just outside the exit from my apartment. A shop owner (I'm assuming) printed out the still photo of me and taped on the bag. Won't be doing that anymore.

My bad. "Wo shi wai guo ren." (I am a foreigner).

Pull Out A Map: My First Week in Taiwan

In my previous blog post I said to be adventurous, and that’s how I was feeling when I arrived at Taipei Main Station at 12:30 am last Monday! I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to walk around and explore the area, get the lay of the land, while making my way to the hostel.’ I was brimming with confidence and didn’t think I needed to pull out a map. ‘You’ve seen it so many times, it’s only half a mile. It’ll be easy.’ Of course, I go in exactly the wrong direction. I ended up at least a mile from the hostel with my two cases of luggage dripping sweat like I’d been in a steam room for 20 minutes.

I had to flag down a taxi, and get the hostel’s neighborhood. But after the driver dropped me off, I couldn’t find the place. So I look around for 15 minutes, before I ask this guy who’s cleaning up his restaurant, “Qing wen, er shi qi (Please can I ask you, 27).” He knew I was lost, and took me straight to number 27. I was so thankful. “Xie xie ni.” So my inspiring advice on this blog post is: no matter how confident you are, just pull out a map.

Got lost here.

That was the first of a chain of events that set up a disappointing first week here in Taiwan…just kidding! That really couldn’t be further from the truth. What a week it’s been – a wide range of emotions (a little culture shock, missing friends but ecstatic to be here, etc) and unbelievable sightseeing mixed in with some amazing people and celebrations.

The people I have met so far are kind, open-minded, and always down for a good time. On Friday, we went out to Xinyi District, near Taipei 101, and then again on Saturday to a British/American style pub called On Tap to celebrate July 4^th. Our friend Spencer from Taiwan put on his best American impression and finished second in the watermelon eating competition due to some questionable officiating. Amira, a USC junior from Georgia, and I woke up at 7 am to root on the USWNT versus Germany then on Monday to win the Women’s World Cup against Japan.

July 4th at On Tap

I’ve spent a lot of time this week going out and exploring the city, visiting Taipei 101, Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, Taipei Zoo, and learning the metro system (MRT). Taipei 101, from 2004-2010 the tallest building in the world and listed by CNN as one of top 25 greatest engineering achievements by mankind, makes for an incredible sight both looking up at it and down from the 89^th floor. Definitely one of the coolest places I’ve ever been to.

 

I’ve been able to pack a ton into my first week in Taiwan. It’s a weird feeling because this week has gone by slow when I look at it day by day, but overall, it feels like it’s gone by quite fast. Time “slows down” when you’re processing new information, and I’ve been seeing, tasting, smelling, hearing things I never have before. At a couple moments during the week, I wouldn’t be aware of the time, and my guesses were ahead by 2+ hours. If you’ve ever been in a different culture, you know what I’m talking about. I love learning, exploring, and meeting new people, which is more reason why I chose to move to a different country.

I am loving life in Taipei so far, except for the insane humidity, and I’m looking forward to doing much more! At the top of the list: baseball game, Yilan beach, Confucius temple, Danshui District, and Maokong Mountain.