Interesting Things I Found in Taiwan

Hello

If you have been following me on my Instagram ( which you must if you aren't) then you might know that I went on a trip to Taiwan for a week and Dang! What an experience it was. The country truly amazed me. There are so many Interesting things that I noticed in Taiwan that totally amazed me. Being a Travel blogger, I did my research very well but I was still stunned. 

Here are a few interesting things that I noticed in Taiwan

1. Eggs boiled in black Tea- the country loves their eggs with a twist! They like to boil their eggs in black tea. Yes, black tea! Every time I walked in a Seven Eleven, The first thing I saw was these black boiled eggs. I was curious so asked my tour guide Charles about them. Being a vegetarian I did not taste them but my fellow travel buddies told me that they were delicious!

2. Maltese- Well, now there was cuteness overload everywhere I went. Taiwanese are very fond of pets especially Maltese. 2 out of 3 people were carrying dogs and most of the time, multiple dogs. Best parts, dogs were not only cute but were well trained as well. Whether it was a cafe, museum or markets, every place was pet-friendly. I am a dog lover myself so just had to get clicked with a few!

3. Toilet seat- Ok, so you might find it odd to talk about toilets but you gotta believe me, their Toilet seats were on a whole another level! In every single hotel, it was not only automatic flush but also had a computerised panel to control the warmth of the seat, the warmth of the water from the jet, the way water spritz on the but a lot more. In one if the hotel, the seat cover had motion sensors so it opened on its own every time I walked in! 


4. Bubble tea- OMG!! Now, this is their hidden gem! I read about this unusual drink before heading and tried it the first thing after landing. The unusual drink is a cold beverage which one can buy in many flavour ls like strawberry, chocolate but the original milk one is the best. The tapioca balls in it are divine. Eating tapioca while sipping milk tea is oddly satisfying. When in Taiwan, it is a must try!

5. Being served a personal stove- While I was enjoying everything else except food, We went to this restaurant in a museum which served a stove. Yes, we were all given our personal stoves with some warm water with salt and soya with a lot of veggies, paprika and soya on the side. Not sure how I was supposed to cook or eat it, but it was totally an experience of its own! 

6. No cook Maggi- All the Maggi fans, hold your breath because Taiwan is one step ahead of us, they have is no cook Maggi snack that is delicious. While I was starving, it saved me. Not only did I stuff my face with it, I bought a few home. Wish it was available everywhere!


7. Everything has a cute spin to it- Taiwan has its way of projecting everything in a fun, cartoony way. Each and everything is some funny cartoon or bright colourful artwork on it. Even our bus that drove us around was super color and even had party lights installed inside! 

8. Sheet mask obsession- Ok now this was something that I loved! The country is obsessed with sheet masks. You can find sheet masks for literally every part of your body, and believe me when I say that. Also, they have a sheet mask for basically every skin concern. As they are easily available everywhere, they are pretty economical as well! I might have gone a little overboard while shopping! I brought home boxes of face sheet masks, a few of foot sheet masks and a few lip ones as well!  

9. Flowers all around- While I was on the place, I kind of knew that it will be a beautiful country but Taiwan but I was pleasantly surprised to see so many flowers. They were literally everywhere and I loved how everything was bright and colourful. 

10. Night market culture- As we were travelling almost every night from one city to another, I found that their was a night market in every city on specific days of the week. We were lucky enough to go to two of the night markets in two different cities and boy! They were on a whole another level! It was a carnival flooded with food, clothes, bags, basically everything and anything.
I have written a full article on Taiwan Night Markets, please do refer to that for more info.

11. Sweets over savoury - If you are a fan of sweets then Taiwan is your heaven. Country purely snacks on sweets. Their cakes, churros, candied fruit, cream-stuffed patties, sweet bread, waffles, ice creams and shaved ice are not only yummy but also readily available. It was very hard to find anything savoury.  

12. Honest people- This is something I was super impressed with. So, it was a hot summer day and we were walking around a market area and I had my Cannon G7X on my gorilla pod and I was sweating like a pig. I kept my camera on a stair of the beautiful temple where I was posing for a pic. After about 2 hours after when I was boarding my bus again, I realised that camera was missing so ran to back sobbing as I knew I will not get it back (blaming my mentality on the current state of our nation). But to my surprise, two shopkeepers had kept it safe for me and came running as they saw me panicking. 


13. Inexpensive shopping-  I did my research well and knew Taiwan is good for shopping but lord, had I known it was this good, I would have called in sick one day to just go fir shopping. Designer quality clothes are available at dirt cheap prices. Night markets have such good quality faux leather bags and the mist trendiest clothes. Everything is so cost-effective that you will end up buying multiples. 


14. Different types of Tea's- I was so happy to see that country is obsessed with Tea. They love their warm tea and the number of varieties is crazy! Apart from everyone's favourite green tea, there was melon , Olong and much more variety of tea's available in every single hotel we went to. Of course, I brought some home! 


15. Japanese food- I am a hardcore vegetarian and honestly, It was a pain to find vegetarian foods. But I was happily surprised to see a lot of authentic Japanese food in Taiwan. The country has a lot of Japanese influence as it was once a Japanese colony. I picked my veg sushi and called it a day. Also, I had just heard of this dessert called Mochi, got to eat fresh Mochi in various flavours in Taiwan and it was Bomb!


16. Watson- I heard about Watson so fled in as soon I saw it. The shop is heaven for people like me who are basically interested in everything. I got myself a bunch of sheet masks, lip balms, makeup and snacks. There were interesting products like a liquid band-aid, seafood chips, melon tea and Japanese products.

17. Lantern festival- The main reason of visit was to attend this interesting festival! The entire country gathers together and light lanterns from air, water and land. While lanterns flown from air and water are traditional lanterns, the lanterns that I witnessed these huge electric lanterns which are made in various designs like cartoon characters, birds, trees and even the dog as it is the year of Dog as per Chinese-Taiwanese tradition.

18. Up-cycelling- The country knows how to reuse and recycle not only their waste but buildings too. In Chiayi city, they have converted a 100 years old sugar mill into a studio space for their world famous drum band. We watched the show and it was just fantastic. 
Sugar mill also has 2 cafes and a bookstore. The place has a very unique feel, they have not rebuilt it but have used the old structure to it's best.

19. Salt Mountain- Who knew that there could be something called a salt mountain. But Taiwan salt company has a plant that not only explains how salt is made but also has this huge mountain made of sea salt that is manufactured locally.

20. Stawberry picking- Ok, so my trip started with strawberry picking and it was so much fun. Who knew Asia could do strawberry farm so well! 
There was this greenhouse full of stawberries, we were given a box and a pair of scissors and ofcoure I went crazy. 

21. Lovers Point- Taiwan and Taiwanese people are obsessed with love and love stories so they have made a lot of cute little love spots for lovers to leave the love behind and just enjoy themselves.

Being a typical Asian, whenever I plan a holiday, I plan to fly out to Europe or USA, but this trip to Taiwan has opened my eyes to a hidden Asia that I must explore.