Bus Drivers and Greens

So here's another example of why I love Taipei. The other day I hopped on a bus to go to the MRT station. Just before we arrived at the stop I thought I needed to get off at, I stood up to check the map to see if there was a stop closer to the station so I wouldn't have to walk so far. There were just a few people on the bus and the driver noticed me standing there. "Siao jieh" he called out and asked me in Chinese where I wanted to go. "Jiantan jehyuhn jan" I told him. "I don't stop there" he said. "You have to take the next stop and walk a bit." "Ok" I said. "Thank you." Then a few minutes later I asked, "What about the next MRT station? Do you stop there?" 

"We pass by but you still have to walk. Which one do you want to go to?" "Either one is fine," I replied." "The next one is closer then, just about 3 minutes walk." "Ok," I smiled and trusted him. We drove on and soon he pointed out a street as we drove past. "There-you see? You just walk down that street. When you get off the bus go back and go down that street and you'll find the station." He said some other things I didn't catch but I recognised where I was and I knew where to go even if I hadn't understood exactly what he had just finished saying. I turned and said appreciatively "Sieh sieh" or "thank you," then hopped off the bus as he nodded, smiled, and waved as he zoomed off. I set off happily for the MRT station thinking that I never feel very lost or alone here. Someone is always looking out to make sure I'm ok.

 
After I found my way to the station, I took a seat and looked out the window. I was on my way to Danshui, one of my favourite places. I still couldn't believe I was really back in Taipei. It still seems a bit weird and sudden even after just over 2 weeks. I've acclimatised much faster than the first two times I came, but I still can't believe that I am really back...


There are still things that surprise me. For example, just recently I realised I needed to buy a couple things I might need for the weekend. So I made a mad dash to the small grocery store across the street where I picked up some cute pink packets of tissues, a tin of fried gluten, and a bag of short grain rice. Then I went next door to the Family Mart for the cupcakes that I really like and a cold drink. I happened to see this small drink container that said "Sri Lanka Milk Tea." I figured I had nothing to lose by trying it, so I picked that up too. The only thing was, it wasn't cold, so I wondered how long it would have to sit in the fridge before I could finally drink it. Then my eye spotted the yams sitting in a small half-covered grill and I decided to try one of them too. When I went up to pay, fumbling with my four things, the cashier started ringing my items up, then to my surprise, rang up a small bag of ice. As I watched, startled, she pulled out a plastic cup, poured the ice into it and proceeded to open my carton of room temperature Sri Lankan tea. Before I knew it, she had poured all the tea over the ice and set a plastic lid neatly on top and slid a straw into the hole. And there you had it - iced tea. I had no idea that this tea came with cup, ice, and a straw. But in Taiwan they think of everything you need or want. If you buy a little carton of custard pudding, they include a little spoon. If you buy a drink, they include a straw. If you buy noodles they include chopsticks. If you buy something frozen they microwave it for you (if you want to eat it then). There are so many things that still surprise me even though I've lived here for a year and a half. Like the price of vegetables. 

The other day as I was coming back from 'afternoon tea' at a cute cafe in the Shilin nightmarket, I saw a vegetable truck outside the apartments where I'm staying, so I hesitantly went up to inspect the vegetables lying on the covered flat bed of the truck. The young man selling them watched me as I eyed the infamous bok choy look alike (I still don't know if it really is bok choy or not). 

I was waiting to see what the older auntie in front of me was going to do; I was hoping she would buy something so I would know how to buy something too. If she picked up the veggies herself then I would do that too, but if she just pointed to what she wanted, then I knew I needed to let the guy pick it up for me and weigh it. Unfortunately she walked off before buying anything, so I was left there by myself. So I finally pointed to some leafy greens that look like maple leaf shaped tree leaves, and said I wanted those, so he picked up a handful and weighed them out, then I pointed to the bok choy things and he asked if I wanted all or just half and I quickly said half (half was already enough to feed me for several days). Then he put them all together in a bag and told me "san shir wooh kwhy" or 35 NT. I thought I hadn't heard right, but as I received my changed, I realised it really was 35 NT. I now have enough greens to last me over a week and I only paid 1 dollar and a few cents .... wow....I need to buy greens here every week! 

It's funny, the other day in the supermarket across the street, I heard two ladies arguing with the clerk about what price they thought some vegetable was, and the clerk was explaining it to them, then one lady walked over and held up the 3 long skinny eggplants in a bag and looked at the price and threw it back down exclaiming loudly in a slightly disgusted tone, "too expensive."

I guess now I know why. The eggplant was probably twice the price in the store as it would have been from the young guy with the truck. 

So there you have it, two more reasons to like Taipei: friendly bus drivers and amazingly cheap vegetables.

Until Next time :D

Photo Credits for the bus (not the bus I was on but a similar one) and the potato greens:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Taipei_bus_022-FR.jpg
http://sydney.foodconnect.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/sweet-potato-leaves-low-res.gif