March 16, 2008

Odd & End.

In the course of being in Taiwan for the week, you can’t help but stumble upon things that just don’t seem the same as in the good ole US of A (both good and bad). An example of this that I’ve already talked about would be the butcher stall in the market - kind of weird, but not really bad, just different. I’d like to talk about a few more examples of this here in Taiwan, and lucky for all of us, it’ll mostly be through pictures. Let’s get started:

Ditches-
I don’t think any of us know what the real word is for these little bad boys, but it’s pretty clear when you walk into an older building’s bathroom, or even here at the brand new tradeshow hall that this is not your normal commode. They are found all over Asia and are used by both men and women. I also believe they are known as being healthier than sit-down toilets.


Signage-
Though I believe it’s not anyone's fault, the limits of the Taiwanese/Mandarin to English translations often leave something to be desired, but add humorous extras in the process. Observe:

Sure.
Maybe not the best global brand name?


Always look out for rouge trousers on the subway, they've been known to steal things.
And finally, one of my favorites:

These are on the fences of construction areas. It does make its point in the end.

Baggage-
The first bit of baggage is a little disconcerting. This is a typical Taiwanese truck. You can see both trash bags and plastic bags of food. I’m not sure how the health dept in America would react to someone doing this back home. And in Taiwan’s defense, I have not (knock on wood) ever had any ill-effects (other than taste) from the food here. I enjoy trying new items and don’t think much even about eating street vendor food.

The second item is one of my favorites of the whole trip. This is innocuous looking enough, but boy does it hold a surpise. It’s blue, about 14” square, and seems to be made out of the material from disposable kitchen sink cloths or kind of like the Swiffer material.

Once something is placed inside, it converts into a bag for carrying. It was used here in the hall for food transport and I couldn’t believe how cool and simple it was. They all lay flat until you use it to carry, very cool.



I’ll be doing one more flight to home post and the results from the poll soon enough.

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