2 notes &
-17: On the dense urban streets of Taiwan, mosts blocks house at least one of each of these types of stores, listed from most to least occurrences per capita:
1. Convenience stores: 7-11, Family Mart, OK Mart, Hi-Mart are the top dogs among other mom-n-pop joints.
2. Food and Beverage stalls: Fried chicken, steamed stuffed buns, sushi and milk & bubble teas are most high in demand.
3. Glasses stores: Wear cool frames and you are cool. These stores blast the latest American rap and pop songs and usually appear to be far over-staffed to ensure quality service.
4. Shoes! Shoes! Shoes!: Oh, to be a Taiwanese woman would be stellar! Alas, my size is not offered.
5. “10 NT Stores”: ($10 NT=$0.35 USD) Here, you can find a conglomerate of cheap toys, baby products, stationary, kitchen supplies and other random, but often necessary goods.
6. Scooter repair shops: Maintenance is in high demand, of course, because—except for rainy days—there are double the amount of scooters than cars on the roads.
7. Bakeries: Giant windows filled with goodies are easy to spot. These skinny tiny people love them some carb-filled snacks! So lucky!
8. “3C” Stores: Consumer electronics vendors, called “3C”, sell everything form dryers and washers to cameras and cell phones.
9. Stationary stores: Hello Kitty notebooks, gel pens, Sponge Bob pencil cases—you can never have enough cute things to use at school!
10. 24-hour KTV joints: America has rows upon rows of bars, Taiwan has towers upon towers of KTV (Karaoke TV) spots. You rent a room with a wrap-around couch, two microphones, a flat screen TV, and a computer touch-screen system to select songs and belt at all hours of the day.
