Who knew? 
Thursday, April 06, 2006
And what do people do in Starbucks in Taiwan? (when not waiting for the bathroom)
A typical scene in Starbucks in Taiwan, young people with laptops, books and MP3 players galore. I do admire their coffee shop culture sometimes. :)
For the love of God let me in!
A common sight at Starbucks throughout Taiwan, people lining up for access to their tiny unisex washrooms. People seem to use Starbucks as a generic place to stop for a bathroom break despite the perpetual lineups. Kind've like McDonalds in Canada, but at least there the washrooms are big enough to handle the traffic.
A view from the Starbucks Balcony
This is a cluster of shoreline cafes and restaurants next to the Starbucks.
A Golden Opportunity!
We spotted this Golden Retriver as we were leaving the Starbucks, Goldens are status dogs here in Taiwan. It's not a country which is good for them in any sense, but the people here adore them and treat them like...gold.
What Mountain?
Across from DanShui is Ba-Li, which is a shoreline city dwarfed by a mountain. You can generally judge the weather by how much you can see of the mountain on the other side, and as you can see in this picture, the weather this day was just so-so.
Poor Dog!
This little Scottish Terrier has been shaved except for that dyed Mohawk of hair across his back. I think it was his owner's idea of trying to look cool, but it seems more like animal cruelty to me. He did a few rounds around the boardwalk with a miniature husky before this picture was taken, and this is him being led away.
I'll call him rocky!
The miniature husky pauses on the rock to rest after chasing the Scottie around for a while.
My Sunny Girl
Connie pauses to pose next to the glimmer of sun that came down from the clouds to touch her skin. Actually, we tried to take my picture here a few times, but it never worked, only this near-perfect shot of Connie turned out! Jealous!
To the sea!
Beyond this pier lies the mouth of the DanShui river where it meets the sea and empties into the Pacific. Ironically enough, since I've been in Taiwan over a year now, this place is the closest I've actually gotten to the ocean. I have yet to actually touch real seawater even though I'm on an island!
A DanShui Street
What does a typical street in DanShui look like? You're looking at it! However no cars were allowed in here this day, so you can only see a long line of scooters at the side of the road, not bumper to bumper traffic.
Famous Canadian
Here's a statue of Doctor MacKay which sits in the middle of DanShui where he lived and did a lot of his good works. There's also a hospital named after this guy in the middle of Taipei. No wonder they people here love us Canadians. ^_^
The Plaque under the Statue
The plaque reads: "Dr. MacKay. 1844-1901. In 1872, Doctor George Leslie MacKay, a Presbyterian Missionary, was assigned to DanShui, Taiwan. Dr. MacKay established numerous churches, introduced "Western Medicine" here, and practiced medicine free of charge for the poor. Further, Dr. MacKay set up the Oxford College in DanShui and the DanShui Girls School to broaden the horizon of knowledge about the occidental civilization for Taiwanese. The introduction of the Western educational system had a great impact on the modernization in Taiwan. Dr. MacKay had a passion on (for?) Formosa, Taiwan and married a Taiwanese girl from Wuu-Guu (Wugu), Taipei County, and lived in DanShui until his death in June, 1901."
What's this? A DanShui shoe store!
Next to the statue of Dr. McKay there is very European style building with a shoe store in it that Connie was naturally drawn to. I just took the picture to show the different style of buildings you can find in DanShui.
A typical food stall.
As you wander the streets of Taiwan you will often see these refrigerated display cases filled with various kinds of meat in front of restaurant stalls. They're showing the fresh meat they will make into various dishes, often in soup with noodle form, but you have a variety of options. I confess I haven't tried one of them yet, they tend to use MSG...:( I really am unsuited to Taiwan in some ways.
Dinner Time!
Connie and I wandered down the tourist strip until we found a nice looking BBQ place to eat dinner. The two things you can see in front of Connie are the grill and the burner for boiling meat and veggies to make soup while you eat the meat.
All you can eat meat!
You are looking at plates of different cuts of frozen pork, beef, lamb and chicken, all just for Connie and I. These were cooked on the grill since I'm not a big soup fan due to the MSN they tend to put into the soup base if you use it. The square disk next to the meat is a sauce dish which I took to the sauce bar to fill up with my own dipping sauce.
The BBQ
Built into the table was this grill to use hot coals combined with a fan system to grill the food. Very efficient, it's not hot at all for the people around the table, but the food is in a bubble of superheated air. No smoke either!
Fish and Veggies!
In addition to the wonderful selection of meats, we were also given these veggies and fish (on the far plate) to barbecue as well! It seems the whole Taiwanese eating style is based around leisurely stuffing yourself. Another wonderful part of Taiwanese life I have discovered!
Snacks Snacks and more Snacks!
The tourist strip was filled with shops that had tables overflowing with bagged snacks of all kinds, mostly dried fish, vegetables, fruits and meats. I didn't buy any, but I did buy some really tastely plum drink. :)
Snoopy Land!
On the way to the MRT station we passed this Snoopy Land tourist-trap store that sells only...as you might guess...Snoopy Merchandise!
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