Taiwan: Rome Away From Rome

Guess what, I just found this post has been sitting in as an unpublished draft in my blog. (Originally edited Mar 19, 2005) It's a little dated, since my trip to Taiwan was back in March, but hey better late than never. Think of it as uncovering an unpublished work of Mark Twain or something. Or not. Without further adue. The Top 8 Comparisons. Forget the usual 10, let's try an even number of 8 for once. Who needs filler entries anyways. Look at Letterman's Top 10's. Normally 4-6 are kind of mediocre to lead you up to the top 3. Alright, I'm through now.


Comparisons to The Eternal City.

1) Traffic lights are a mere suggestion.
An optional thing - however should you choose to proceed on a red light, look both ways before crossing! (which you should actually do as well if you are following the rules)

2) Scooters everywhere like cockroaches
Constantly weaving in and out of traffic, parked in rows by the street. Since gas is expensive and traffic is so dense, this is the best way to get from your Point A to Point B. Just make sure you strap on that helmet and hold on tight as you Evil Knievel your way through the cars like a game of Frogger on steroids.

3) Steep hilly narrow alleyways
Probably more so in the smaller towns than Taipei. The small town 30 min away which I stayed at a couple days, reminded me with their little alleyways, lit orange a la Rome at night. Ah, Bella Italia.

4) Open air restaurants and marketplaces
This is what I'm talking about. Mosy around, and look, eat, buy, or whatever makes you happy.

5) Mass rapid transit system (MRT) efficient, fast, and clean
Awesome way to get around the city. Akin to Rome's Metro, London's tube. Also the buses are handy as well.

6) Hustle and bustle seems to never stop, growing more as night progresses
Hang out at night, go to the night market and shop and eat all nght, or go to a 24 hour dim sum, chill outside with a Caramel Macchiato at a local Starbucks. Ah. OK, so Rome doesn't have dim sum. Go grab un panino con formaggio e pomodori.

7) You follow the LLL (Local Lemming Law) when crossing major streets.
Why risk your life when a handful of locals will do it for you. Follow them when you need to cross the street. They know when the grace period is over between red lights and green lights.

8) Largely a food culture - everything revolves around the stomach.
This is so true. Romans and Twinos alike. Man it's always, what's for dinner, lunch, breakfast, etc. I'd like to take y'all out tonight. I probably gained 10 lbs. that first couple days, as we were treated to like 12 course dinner parties every meal. We were treated out by the county commissioner one time. Not that I minded or anything, but man my stomach was working overtime. Big time.