Trip to Taipei/Danshuei

I went to Taipei today. It was awesome! First we rode a bus from Feng Yuan (where I'm located) for 2.5 hours to Taipei. Then we got on the MRT (Like the BART in San Fransisco or the TRAX in Salt Lake City) to visit different parts of Taipei. Little did I know I was stepping into more than just transportation, but a whole other subculture of the Taiwan experience. The 80s is alive and well in Taiwan. I've experienced it surrounded by 80s fashion on the MRT. The first thing I see is a dog in a bag. Move over Elle Woods, the Taiwanese have it over you. I turn around and see a woman wearing a dog bag. As if to cement the Taiwanese cliche, I saw a woman carrying a bunny in a bag in Danshuei (one of the northern most cities in Taiwan). It was all so unexpected I collapsed into a fit of giggles each time I would see an animal in a bag. But that first dog in the bag. It was just so funny. It was all so unassuming.


This was the infamous first dog in a bag. It just looked like the bag was full of a sweater or something, until I noticed the dog lick its lips. I about died.


Then the dog made into a bag, on an Asian with crimped hair. It was just too much.


The bunny in the bag.

After the MRT ride to Danshuei we walked along the pier and checked out the sites and shops. There just happened to be a concert going on as well, which was pretty cool. We found these fun go-carts turned animal things. However, in order for them to move, you had to feed it some money. Ever the hooligans, we moved them around by sheer force.

I still don't know what kind of animal I was riding...

It was a fun little beach town, complete with a blow-up Winnie the Pooh dressed in a Dracula costume. I just don't know.

While we were waiting for the MRT to go back, it seemed everyone (and their dog, the phrase seemed appropriate here) had these weird blow up Vibo (it's a communications company here) things. Naturally I wanted one and asked aloud how so many people had one. Sergio said they were giving them out near the concert. How in the heck did I miss that?! Usually I hone in to the free giveaway stuff in a matter of seconds (seriously, it's a knack). A group of fun looking Taiwanese chics walked by and I jokingly asked Sergio, the only one in our group who knew Chinese, to ask one of them for their Vibo thing. I had no idea he would, but he did. And then I had no idea they would actually give me one! But the second he posed the question, one of the chics handed her prize over. They were so cute, I just had to take a pic. So here they are:



The cute group that gave up one of their hard earned vibo thingies. The chic who gave hers up is the one next to me in the black and white.