Local Practices

Practical Living

Ayi Mee is practical and wise and considered many aspects before choosing a place to reside for the family's stint in Taipei. The practical considerations included distance to the MRT, marketing and convenience stores. It is good to be assisted by convenience in everyday living and bearing in mind that this was just a temporary posting, there was no need to go for aesthetic living ; maybe leaving it for old age in Switzerland? Hahaha...you are not gonna like it in very cold places after the colours in Asia and...Malaysia is truly Asia !

This semi prestigious condominium right in the heart of Kang Qia0 street inthe district of Neihu is home to many expatriates and depending on unit size the rental could be in the region of NT120000.00 per month... a whopping figure; much higher than in Kuala Lumpur.

The security is tight here. The security officers have these in their lips as they see you ' "Ni hao and sieh sieh" . As a matter of fact, the common greeting among the locals is just that...now in Malaysia we say " Selamat Sejatera and Salam 1 Malaysia".

Like Singapore, space is a scarce commodity ; what more in the heart of the city. So parking for each tenant (entitled to 2 each) in the condominium comes in this form - a double decker. I thought it was unique and as the saying goes, if there is a will, there is a way. Neat and smart.




Less than 5 minutes walk away from the condominium is the MRT station which is super efficient same like the one in Singapore. It takes you to anywhere you want in the city at very affordable rates. Mee Sing kept ranting should my girls visit her, they will have a convenient time around the city with this mode of transport. Grace will definitely be at home here after Singapore. This led me to ponder again about the Malaysian Government's latest thrust on development with the NKRA (New Key Result Areas) of which one of it is on transportation transformation. We long for this efficient MRT mode of movement. Malaysia produces some of the best brains in this whole wide universe...I am sure we can make it...it will come to pass ; soon I hope. Also, in the NKRA we were told that greater concerted effort will be put on reducing crime rates. In Taipei, Mee Sing told me they hardly hear of snatch theft. But in Malaysia , some innocent people die as a result of it. In Taipei too, the locals are involved in construction and menial tasks from restaurants to the farms and the service sector. In Malaysia we are dependent on the immigrant force...is is because we are too arrogant ? Or are we the brainy ones...too high and mighty for menial tasks? I am not excluded from it.


A couple of minutes walk away from her unit is the morning market like the one in Pulau Tikus, Penang where one can get almost any supply of grains, vegetables, meat and household products and not excluding clothes. It was quite chilly and many shopped in warmer attire.

Taiwan boasts of some of the best agricultural practices in Asia and her products are fresh, huge and green.

The seas around her allows her to harvest large supplies of fish and Mee Sing is not want of ready supply each morning. There is no need to use the car...just a pair of legs.

The shell fish family comes in fresh and edible ... no complaint of stale stock.

We bought some deep-fried tiny soft shell crabs and anchovies for taste. Good.

A commendable supply of all forms of noodles and toufu products in all shapes and sizes.

Yummy...if you are lazy to cook for dinner ; just buy off the peg. Living in Taipei is so very convenient for the Chinese people from Singapore, Malaysia, Canada, America, Australia. Everything made to fit wear and taste. After Germany, Mee Sing savours in the conveniences of living here in Taipei. She simply loves the easier way.

This did not escape my eyes and it marked the coming of the "tung chieh" ; the winter solstice festival celebrated by the Chinese community to indicate the end of the old year and the coming of the "Spring Season" - the new year of the Chinese calendar where new hopes and dreams are aspired for. Here they pack it neatly for sale.

Ginger is an old herb loved for its herbal and medicinal remedies and the local people drink them like you would drink soya bean drinks. Oh, the heat from it...how they can bear them.

Taipei is home to all sorts of markets , wet, dry, morning and night and we were brought to Shi Li Night Market where we saw loads of tourist buses lined up for the 'cruising'.

At a particular stall, we saw a local vendor completing the cooking process with a hair dryer. Have you ever seen this form of cooking?

This is how they prepared oysters cooked in eggs. It reminded us of the ones we have in Malaysia in particular the one from Muar. It looked so palatable that we could not resist getting it but to our disappointment, it did not turn out the way we wanted because they added tomato and thousand island sauce in generous amount; not our cup of tea ! So food may look yummy but sometimes it takes a lot to get used to local mix ups.




Sweet potatoes baked over charcoal is out of the world. A primitive way of preparation but the aroma of the sweet vegetable is memorable. They are charged by the weight and I bought one which cost NT450.00.

This lady vendor is most enterprising. She is model cum sales person. The best practice in the streets of the market.

This dodo club offers all products in the shop at NT95 equivalent to RM9.50. Guess what? We saw a Malaysian made shirt at that price. Dad could not stop himself from buying ... so very patriotic...all the way to Taipei to purchase a Malaysian production.

Sweetcorn immersed in salt water and the species is very palatable.

Cherries coated with sugar...for the sweet tooth.

Have you seen the white version of the bitter gourd? When squeezed and prepared as juice, it is meant for veterans ... acquired taste. Definitely not for ordinary taste buds.

I witness them consuming curry-flavoured toufu together with deep-fried crabs ... did not attract me.

This is Celine's favourite...the milky pearl drink. She kept on asking for it but the next time in town, I will bring her to Low Yat where a 'Hong Kong' labelled outlet sells all sorts of sweet drinks like the one served above.

Besides side stalls, Mee brought us to a Hakka outlet to taste the various forms of dumplings. We had to queue for a table outside Din Tai Fung and later to climb some flights of steps to savour their servings.

Simple but a little pricey. The dumplings are finely prepared and tasted good.

Another outlet just along the street of Kang Qiao is Don Don. They are famous for their beef noodles and local preservatives.

Beef noodles

Doesn't that look like roti canai? Vegetable - filled roti canai - different from our mamak stalls but nevertheless worth eating.

In food courts of the malls, they serve food in this form... huge portions for one but meant for 2.

My sister collect all bills and keeps them safely in her drawer for a final draw at the end of each season. The whole nation is involved in this exercise. As consumers of local products they are entitled to winnings in cash. How interesting.

People in Taipei loves pets - in particular, dogs. At the night market, we saw dwarf dogs for sale.

This is how a dog owner and lover takes care of his love. Winter clothes for the season and spaghetti straps for Summer?

Another dog lover treating her dog as a well-loved child and a well-equipped pram for her too.

They pushed their love around in prams...a luxury that some third world countries don't enjoy. If you are a dog, it is good to be born in Taipei.

Along one of the streeets near Taipei's tallest 101 building, bicycles are for rent. The locals love to cycle around.

The Statue of Liberty at New York , New York.

Of course in Taipei as tourists, we found our way to the tallest builidng. The architecture is so different from out Twin Towers. Is it supposed to denote the bamboo shoot with nodes?... a portrait of strength and unity?

The lift that brought us up went at a speed of 101km per min? So fast and soon we were up there and we had a bird's eye view of the capital city. Awesome.

Last evening on the way to Low Yat to get Esther her camera lenses, dad and I gazed at our very own Twin Towers and could not but allow pride to overwhelm us. They are so beautiful. Not the tallest anymore, but definitely a story of aesthetics and engineering feats...and it belongs to our homeland , Malaysia.

Taipei has dad's name etched in one of her local banks... "Yung Fung" in Mandarin and "Eng Hong" in hokkien. A good name as I have always commented. So, a shot for keeps.

So that ends my mini tour of Taipei that I can part with you.

At the end of our stay on the last evening, the insistent Por Por managed to contact her neighbour's daughter studying in Taipei's University of Education in Art and graphics. Ah Fong's parents are Por's neighbours in Muar and Por related that she has seen her grow from a mere few months old to her present age, 22. Ah Fong has a special place in her heart as she reminded Por of her own grand girls whom she did not really have a chance to see them grow into their teens ; they being apart from her. Ah Fong sends her Christmas greetings every year. Grace, Esther and Sara ...please do your part too ; a reminder from Ayi Mee.

At the instant of meeting her, I enquired why she had to travel so far for a course of this nature and she said that another neighbour friend had introduced her to the course here in Taipei. She had a preparatory course in Tao Yuan for 6 months before qualifying herself. She related that the standard of English here is quite deplorable because everyone speaks in Mandarin and Hokkien. So she is queen of the language in her class ; all thanks to the Malaysian SPM system. Fees are affordable ; a mere RM3 k for the whole year and a place in the student's hostel meant large savings. She is a good girl and able to stand hardship. Before Air Asia extended her wings to Taiwan, she would take Jet Star to Singapore to come home. From Changi Airport, she would take a cab to the bus terminal at Bukit Timah. At Bukit Timah she would board a bus to Larkin Bus Terminal in JB and from there she would take a bus to Muar and to home. How many are able to take that challenge? I knew immediately this is one trustworthy child and a parent's dream child. So sensible and able to understand financial standings in the home. How we pamper our own children. And oh yes, they do not like to be compared. Forgot.

Ah Fong shared that after graduation next year, she would probably stay put in Taipei because they are well-paid. Another brain drain but she must get her parents' approval first. Ah Fong fits into the society perfectly because the culture and language are so similar to those back home and needed very little adjustment.

So, ends my last episode about Taipei ; a most enjoyable trip and one for keeps.

Thank you Lou, Mee and Celine for great hospitality.