When we first moved to Taipei we had a hard time remembering how to get home from the subway. There were so many little alleys and turns. All the noodle shops and parks and neon signs in Chinese looked the same. What should have been a 10 minute walk usually turned into 15 or 20 as we got lost and took wrong turns.

My route

Of course my husband and I found different directions home, each of us knowing that we had the fastest route. We debated it, timed it, and never really came to a good consensus. It eventually started coming down to the details - my walk had more food options so if we were hungry it would be a good way to go, but if we used his route it was much less likely that we would be hit by a maniacal scooter.

His much more peaceful route

I like my way even if my husband's is safer because there's so much to see. Walking home in late afternoon there are always people shopping at the fruit stall or at the butcher where raw cow hearts sometimes hang from hooks over a bucket to catch the blood.


Some days old men gather in the park to sit on the wooden benches and gossip or play mahjongg, the tinkle of tiles hitting together and their low Chinese conversation filling the hot air.  There's always the same guard dog watching the junk shop.  He's scrawny but looks infinitely loyal.


In the beginning I had a list of little landmarks to watch out for so I could get home. There was the first turn at the Family Mart (a local 7-11 type store) and then the Boba tea shop and the husband and wife making rice triangle packets wrapped in banana leaf.


Once I got closer to our place things changed. There were high-rise apartment buildings that all looked the same. Every one of these buildings had guards in uniforms - more for show than anything else (Taipei is the safest city I've ever been to - I don't think these guards see any real action). As far as I can tell, their main duties are to open doors and say hello to people, and to help cars turn out of the underground car parks (totally unnecessary in my opinion - our street is pretty quiet).


I started remembering which way to go by getting to know these guards. There was the young guy who sat in his booth and watched Chinese tv. There was the tall thin man who always smiled and bowed and said good morning or good afternoon to me. And the one who obsessively pruned the small plants in front, walking back and forth along the planters, watering and bending over to pick out minuscule weeds.


Finally I would see the huge park by our place - the old ladies walking their tiny dogs, the teenagers in school uniforms lighting up cigarettes and holding hands - and I would know I was almost home. I'd only have to pass by the 7-11 on the corner and two other apartment complexes before I reached ours (by the way - going my way I pass 3 convenience stores.  See my post about Taiwan Convenience to learn more).

I know my way home now without even thinking about it. Sometimes I change things up to see what's going on down the other streets in the neighborhood, but I usually stick to my noisier crazier way. You never know what you might see around here.

1 Comment

1. Robin on September 11, 2010 at 1:30 PM

   Great new look to the site Nova,
   I know what you mean about finding one's way around. Tarifa is one of thos maze-like old towns. But just a fortnight in it's difficult to remember what was so confusing it's small, not on the scale of your home city at all - I wander around now on auto-pilot...