one
With only a few days remaining, we made our way to the physical shop after ordering it a few times on uber eats. It is a greek yoghurt bowl, but it has a really dense consistency and a different texture compared to the greek-style yoghurt we are accustomed to. We have had this form of greek yoghurt in seoul before, but were pleasantly surprised to see it in taipei because we haven’t seen it anywhere else including singapore.
We headed there expecting to takeaway, but the shop had dine-in seats in open air. I approached the counter after having issues with payment. A very friendly person came to settle the problem, and asked us where we are from.
“Singapore!” she exclaimed excitedly in mandarin. We were both taken aback, because this is not a typical reaction we have had from travelling. She explained that it is her dream to open a branch in singapore. We said we would love to have the yoghurt in singapore. How nice would it be to enjoy this (hot and sunny) weather every day, she continued.
It is very strange to witness this enthusiasm for my home country especially when I have complicated feelings for it myself. She allowed me to open up a different perspective, and her enthusiasm lingers in my mind even till now.
two
Tired and hungry, we eagerly headed towards this dim sum restaurant in the rain after seeing that it has an alfresco dining area on google maps. To our disappointment upon reaching, the area was not in use. After deliberating and considering our options for a long while, we decided to ask if we could order take out and consume it in that alfresco area. Steeling herself up because we tend to get negative reactions from such requests, my partner went to the door host. 19 out of 20 times we would get rejected understandably, and the 20th time someone would concede albeit very reluctantly. But I’ve been conditioned by my partner that we should try anyway because there have been those few positive instances that were worth it.
Surprisingly, the door host said okay without batting an eyelid. I had to ask my partner several times if it was really okay – like was there some miscommunication or mistranslation?
During the ordering process the door host asked again if we would like to reconsider dining indoors as there was ample availability. I explained to her that we don’t take off our masks indoors, hence we don’t dine indoors. Again I prepared myself for the inevitable quizzical why are you so weird reaction on her face, but nope. She nodded her head and carried on with my order.
We got our food and proceeded to eat outdoors. There were no tables but they had a long bench. I was still preparing myself psychologically for the scenario that they may change their minds or realise what we truly wanted versus what we had communicated.
Minutes later the door hostess came out with a pot of piping hot tea, telling us that it was complimentary in exchange for not being able to provide us with tables outdoors. I dropped my jaw. This is the first time someone was actually nice to us about our unreasonable request even though it was an inconvenience for them. Their outdoor area was not connected to their main door, so she had to walk quite a bit in the unsheltered cold drizzle to serve us that tea in a glass pot. Furthermore I think her boss asked her what was going on. I hoped she did not get into trouble for us.
Is this taiwanese hospitality? I cannot tell you how many times we were told unpleasantly we cannot dine outdoors even when there were actual tables because nobody wants to service that area. This is an exceptional experience that I will always remember.
three
We had decided last minute to take an uber to the airport. It was estimated to be at least a 40-minute ride, so 5 minutes into the silent ride I spontaneously started asking the driver questions. I used to do this often years ago but stopped due to various reasons. I am usually quite awkward and introverted, but somehow I appreciated listening to the different stories the drivers can offer. There is almost never a boring driver. Offensive ones yes, occasionally.
I asked if he liked taking passengers to the airport. The journey is long, and depends on the existing regulations and location of the airport they may not be able to get passengers on the way back to the city. He answered yes, and started explaining to me the different types of commercial driving in Taipei. There are regular taxis, then ubers which are not allowed to pick up passengers from the airport, then there are cars who can offer to and fro airport trips on top of tourist-rental services but they cannot pick up ride-hailing passengers from the street. One can identify the type of vehicle from the license plate. I find it interesting to know the various regulations in different countries, and how different people approach offering ride-hailing as a service. This driver has a full-time job but he does this on the side, and also has a car that can be used to offer tourist services.
I told him about the car prices in singapore – as of writing the cheapest Honda Civic retails at about 160k SGD (123k usd) – and how we can only typically drive it for 10 years. If we want to extend an old car for another 10, we have to pay roughly 100k SGD now for another certificate of entitlement (COE). This almost never fails to boggle someone else’s mind, even when COE prices were 30k.
He said he would really like to visit singapore, because he wants to experience singapore’s reputation as a prosperous city (his words, loosely translated from mandarin’s 繁華). Again, for me it is surreal listening to someone else talk about our country.
We exchanged a few more country and culture specific tidbits – he too was surprised to learn that we had found the people in taipei extremely warm. To him, the people from the south are much warmer. I guess it is all relative.
The long ride felt like breeze because of the conversation, with some laughter peppered along the way. I was glad we were wearing zimi headloop kn100 masks so we felt safe conversing. He was masked too, like at least 50% of taiwanese uber drivers.
It was a fitting end to our trip, the interaction with the driver left us feeling warm and fuzzy. It actually made me glad we took an uber instead of the airport train, because we could have this exchange.
I wrote this because I didn’t want to lose my memories, just like how many years later my written memory of an old taiwanese couple we met 7 years ago still evokes complex feelings. I wonder if any of you would find any of these interesting?