An "American" experience

After a short hike at dusk--by the way, now that we have hiked in rain and in the dark, I think our boys are on their way to conquer some big mountains later--we went to explore Zhubei, the major "suburb" of Hsinchu. It's kind of like, uhm, Rockville as opposed to DC, Foster City as opposed to San Mateo, Germantown as opposed to Memphis. What I mean is, it's got new money pouring in, mostly from the nearby Science Park, with many big luxury condos, smooth and wide streets, chain stores and restaurants of all kinds (with adjacent parking lots!) Everything looks newer and richer, and as a result less personal and has more of a corporate feel.

This scene should be quite familiar to us, but after being in Hsinchu with its cramped streets and frequenting mom-and-pop shops, this town feels a little foreign.

After a good and way-overpriced Thai meal, we decided to check out the "Taste Humanities Cafe". By the way, the term "ren-wen" ('humanities', 'humane', it doesn't quite translate) is added to restaurants and shops whenever they want to convey an image of nice-ness and sophistication. Some basic elements of such "ren-wen" places: plants, wood floor, bamboo shades, and on the menu, such words as lavender, cappucino, mint, Italy, organic, health.... are bound to be found.

This particular cafe is not very "ren-wen"; rather, it feels completely American to me: large and airy space, corporate atmosphere, eclectic menu, high price, and a great big children's play area in the yard!! It's quite packed with people: young people surfing the internet, families hanging out, friends chatting and reading magazines. Of course, Ben and Noah lost themselves in the play area. Customers have to go up to the counter to place their order. I was going to share a pot of soothing kumquat tea with Paul, but they informed me that only one cup goes with one pot. So I got a pomelo/tangerine tea for Paul, plus a belgian waffle topped with cream and fruits. I was surprised that for the first time, a 10% service charge was added, and for not much service at all. (In other places, I have been treated so well that I wished I could leave a tip, but tipping is just not practiced in Taiwan. So this self-ordering place with a service charge really took me by surprise.) The waiters looked very uninspired and a few even grumpy, unlike our overall experience with Taiwanese restaurant staff. This really feels like corporate culture to me, something we are quite familiar with.

Anyway, there's nothing wrong with the place. Food's decent, place is clean, Xmas decoration is bright and bountiful. I just know that since I am only in Taiwan for a short while, I won't have to come back again. What's interesting to me is how people flock to the place: I think it provides a more insulated environment away from traffic, problems with parking, crowdedness, all the negativities of city life. I can see the appeal from their perspective. Here I can also see why American life may seem so wonderful.