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Tea shops on every corner. I don’t even like tea! Or didn’t until I came here. Now you’ll catch me drinking milk tea (“nai cha”), passion fruit green tea (“bai shang lu cha”), kumquat lemon juice, and many other adventurous combinations several times a week! My favorite tea shop is called Tea and Magic Hand. Interesting name for a great little place. A large cup (at least as big as a venti at Starbucks) of nai cha costs 30 NT, less than a dollar US. It’s great morning, noon, or night.
Mango, mango, everywhere! I think mango is officially my favorite fruit, and you can find it everywhere here! I love manguo bing sha (mango smoothies), but my favorite treat is a dessert with shaved, frozen milk on the bottom, heaps of mango piled next, and sweetened condensed milk drizzled on top. It is worth coming to Taiwan just to experience this refreshingly light dessert.
7-11. In America, 7-11 is just another convenience store. Here, it is an all-in-one shop. I go to 7-11 to get money from the ATM, to buy milk, to purchase a decent sized, decent tasting microwave meal that is heated on-site, and–my favorite of all–to pay all of my bills. That’s right, people, I pay my phone bill, my cable, etc. all at the 7-11. And there’s one on just about every corner. Can’t beat that!
Hair washes. In the States when I need a haircut, I try to schedule the appointment on a Saturday so that I can wash my hair myself and then go right to the salon, thereby saving money because of not getting the 3-minute wash at the salon. Here, we sometimes go to the salon just to get a hair wash. The hair wash costs less than $10, lasts for 45 minutes, and includes a shoulder massage. Mmmm…I think it’s time for one again.
Fun shopping at night markets and open markets. I love to shop at the open morning markets and the night markets. The atmosphere is so fun and lively, and one of my favorite things is the treats to eat. Most everyone knows now how much I love Squid-on-a-Stick, and it’s best when cooked right before my eyes at the night market. Yum.
