Two weeks here and the sight of Taipei 101 no longer has the same affect on me. Once inside it’s still thrilling but outside I pay attention to more immediate events. For instance, I nearly got run over by a taxi this morning on the way to work. I was in a CROSSWALK with at least 30 seconds on the green light (they have digital counters to let pedestrians the time between light changes) when a taxi made a right turn into my path. I stopped, held up my hand in a “STOP” motion, and the guy stopped! Unfortunately the folks he was ferrying, they got tossed around!
I went with my boss to look at my new apartment (pics to be posted shortly); he helped me figure out the best route there. At the Tong Gua market I bought a fresh juice drink (cucumber, carrots, apple, and lime) and looked for a place to toss the empty cup – nada, zip, zilch – nothing! Apparently no one wants to pay for garbage removal so there are no public trash containers – also surprising: there isn’t a lot of trash on the ground.
Oh, I forgot to tell you something: at the gym yesterday I wanted some water in between sets. What I found was a water dispenser with flat (yes, that’s what I said) cups. Kinda cool, actually. You have to open the “cup” and hope you don’t overfill it. When you’re done, you simply fold the cup back up. I saved mine!
Asia's best kept secret... 