Guanghua Tech Market

This post is dedicated to all the tech nerds out there . . .

After a nice little afternoon nap, I got up, took a shower and called my cousin Wendy, Kunlam's daughter. Wendy has visited my family in Minnesota and she has studied a lot of English in the U.S. We made plans the previous night to meet up and check out the technology and electronics district in Taipei. I planned to meet her at a specific exit at the Taipei Main Station on the MRT.

To get the to subway station from where we are staying, my uncle took me by scooter. In Taiwan, scooters are a major form of transportation. Every street is crowded with people on scooters zig-zagging in between cars and trucks. After strapping on my helmet, I jumped on the back of my uncle's scooter and took a firm grip. We zoomed off, winding through narrow streets, cruising over a long bridge, and arriving at the MRT station. I used my subway skills to get a ticket and catch my train to Taipei Main Station.

I found Wendy's fiance in the location we had specified, but Wendy was nowhere to be found. After some searching and a phone call, we connected and went off to the market. Before shopping, we stopped to get some bubble tea and dinner at a dumpling shop. We sat down and ordered 3 different types of fried dumplings; they were all delicious, but I liked the spicy ones (the red ones) the best.

Walking around the Guanghua district, I was amazed at the number of computer and electronics shops. But this was only the beginning . . .

We walked down an alley to an area with a parking lot and what looked like 3 large storage garages. Inside the garages were tiny boutiques filled with any type of electronics imaginable: hard drives, CPUs, MP3 players, headphones, computer games, blank CD/DVDs, cables, monitors, printer cartidges, digital cameras, video games, etc.

I picked up a 1 GB mini SD card for my cell phone for $800 NT (about $25 US, half of the average price in the US) and 512MB DDR400 RAM for my laptop. I later found out that I got the wrong kind, so if you or someone you know are looking for some RAM, let me know and I'll give you a good price.

We continued looking around and I picked up some kung-fu movies for a pretty good price (The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Game of Death). After walking me to the MRT, Wendy and her fiance said goodbye and I headed home.

Ximen District

After our hot spring visit, my cousin and her eighteen-year-old daughter brought us to the Ximen District, the old center of commerce in Taipei. In the 70's, the major commerce center was moved to the area around where the Taipei 101 building is now located. The Ximen District is very popular among teens in middle and high school, and even elementary students go there to try to be cool. The district offers shopping, arcades, and entertainment catered to this young crowd.

We walked around and shopped for a while, and I found myself people watching more than anything. The youth culture is heavily influenced by Japanese style, as well as American and European trends.

One artifact of the Japanese influence are these photo booths. You can find them in an arcade-style store that is filled with booths. They are kinda like the photo booths that you know and love, but on steroids. The camera adds a sort of "glamour shots" effect that makes you look kinda like a cartoon. After you pose for several pictures, you go to another booth where you use a touchscreen pen to add clipart, frames, and writing to your photos. Once I figured out what each of the buttons was, I went nuts. I even made one picture with tons of cash and bling (upper right). I'm sure whoever brings this to the States is going to make a boatload of money. Anyone interested in going into business?

The girl in the pictures is my cousin's daughter, Annie. She told Dad that she didn't like her English name and wanted a new one. She asked me if I would give her a new English name. I spent some time thinking and decided on Heidi. She is currently debating the change, so if you have another idea for a name, be sure to post it in a comment. You could name a Taiwanese girl!

We did a little more shopping (I found a tight pair of seersucker Air Force Ones) and ended our trip to the Ximen District. Heidi had mentioned that she liked my sunglasses when we were on the subway, so I gave them to her before we parted ways. Sunglasses AND an English name . . . It feels good to give back a little to the city that is giving me so much!