A Thing or Two About Taiwan

Jalan2 saya di Taiwan sudah hampir berakhir. Setelah hampir dua minggu memutari negara yg sebutan dahulunya Formosa. Ada bbrp hal2 baru yg saya pelajari dari travel kali ini:

Beautiful Taroko Gorge in Hualien

1. MRT stations di Taiwan itu bersih pake banget. The cleanest I have seen thus far, and much cleaner than the European and North American standard, atopun standar kota2 besar Asia lainnya. Makan dan minum di dalam station, apalagi di dalam kereta itu dilarang. Saya yg sedang mengunyah permen karet ditegur oleh petugas MRT, yg memerintah saya untuk stop chewing the gum. Stasiun di Taiwan ga ada bau2 pipis ky subway station di New York, ato Tube station di London. Udah gitu, lantai kinclong dan bebas dr sampah. More interestingly, akan jarang sekali kamu temui kegiatan perdagangan di stasiun MRT. Ini kontras sekali lho kebanyakan subway stations in other countries, yg mana banyak coffee shops, toko souvenirs, toko baju, jajanan, dll bertebaran di setiap sudut station. Stasiun yang lokasinya Central seperti Taipei station, akan sedikit berbeda, satu atau dua convenience store atau lunchbox shop akan kamu temui, but that's about it.

Chishingtan Beach, Hualien

Typical Taiwanese lunch box, only 2 USD.

Kung Fu Bubble Tea shop menu in Taichung

Breakfast at La Vida Hotel, Taichung

Sun Moon Lake

Liuhe Night Market, Kaohsiung

2. Complimentary hotel minibar items are commonplace in Taiwan.

Dari semua hotel yg kt singgahi di Taiwan, mereka menawarkan fasilitas snacks dan minuman di minibar dlm kamar secara cuma-cuma. Dari yg isinya hanya cola, orange juice, dan dua buah snacks, sampe minibar yg isinya 5 macam minuman (cola, sparkling water, air minum Evian, fruit juice, beer) dan 4 macam snacks (Korean instant noodle cup, Pocky, biskuit, dan Pringles). These items, by the way, are replenished on a daily basis. So.. kalo kamu menghabiskan ini semua dalam sehari mereka akan memberikan the same items the next day.

3. Complimentary self-service launderette in hotels is commonplace too.

Martial Arts MRT station, Kaohsiung

3 out of the 5 hotels we have stayed at have this facility, which is aweeeesome. We love clean clothes and the fact that we didn't have to intentionally look for launderette elsewhere saved us time and effort. Yayy for free launderette!

4. You won't find 4th floor in Taiwanese hotels.
It is the belief that number 4 (shi) resembles the word for death. Kepercayaan ini jg dipunyai oleh budaya2 lain yg dekat dgn Chinese, seperti budaya Jepang dan Korea.

5. Birkenstock populer abis di Taiwan.
Yeah, it's the German footwear yang sempat ngetrend di Indonesia di tahun 90-an. Birkenstock stores are found in big shopping malls, atau bahkan as a stand-alone store. Style dari produk mereka juga banyak diimitasi oleh perusahaan footwear lokal, yg mana produknya bertebaran di setiap sudut night market.

6. Niu rou mien, atau beef noodle soupnya Taiwan itu adalah national dish mereka.  It's tasty, refreshing, and hearty. Kuah gelapnya yg ringan, dan aroma herbal yang khas membuat saya jatuh cinta dengan mi sapi kuah Taiwan. Makan niu rou mien tanpa potongan daging sapinya saja sudah cukup enak lho! It's how good the dish is.

Niu rou mien. Delish!

7. Mereka tertib masalah recyling waste. Di tempat2 umum, disediakan trash bins depending on the types of trash.

8. People eat all the time, food stalls are everywhere. Yet, you hardly see overweight people.

Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum in Kaohsiung

9. Public facilities accommodate disabled people, elderly, and also pregnant women, seperti dengan ditemuinya toilet khusus dan juga special seats for them on public transportation. Yeah, we see these in other countries too, but Taiwanese people reserve these facilities for the aforementioned people.

Almost 10 pm waktu Taipei, Taiwan. Oyasumi nasai!