First of all - the good. Taipei people are really nice, especially the girls. Everyone is so polite, you hear "please", "excuse me", "thank you" ALL the time. This made quite an impression on me. As soon as you step into a shop, ANY shop, someone will smile at you, and say "welcome". Even if you don't buy anything, no one would show any impatience or annoyance. In this kind of surrounding, I felt much calmer, and became much more lady-like myself.
In Taipei, you can expect to walk around quite a bit, but you never have to worry about a wet umbrella. All the shops and restaurants have umbrella stands by the door. Department stores or touristy places such as the National Palace Museum have plastic umbrella covers at your disposal. These might seem like silly little things to some, but I find them intriuging because it shows that someone put thoughts into how to make customers at ease. Yes, Taipei is a city where customers always come first.
Taipei is also very convenient. I'm sure the fact that I speak and read Chinese contributed a lot, but it's super easy to get around. Taxis are everywhere. The metro system is great! You can either get a metro card, or buy a single trip chip from the vending machines. There are waiting lines drawn at an angle at every door, so that people getting off a train could just walk straight off without running into people waiting in line. I LOVE a great public transportation system.
Now, the "bad". If you travel to Taiwan, unless you are absolutely sure of the weather, try to be flexible. Statistically, October is a very good month to go - not too hot, not too cold, not much rain. However, I was unlucky. It rained almost every day I was there. I experienced my first typhoon the night I arrived. (Truth be told, it wasn't that bad. It just rained.) With all the rain, I didn't get to go to many outdoor places, including the night markets. I didn't go to Taroko either. I'm a little disappointed, but it's OK. I certainly don't want to risk getting drenched, or worse yet, getting lost like the Chinese tour bus. I'll definitely go back to Taiwan, so there are other opportunities.
I don't know about the prices at other cities in Taiwan, but Taipei is not cheap. Unless you are eating at food stands, or small Mom and Pop places, established restaurants would run at least US$10-$15 a person. You can find many American or European brands in Taipei at prices higher than the US. In department stores, the local brands are more expensive than things in the US as well.
Well, it's getting late. More to come...
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