I wrote about the differences shopping in Ireland vs the U.S. a little after arriving in Ireland. Now that I am in a new place once again I thought it would be fun to revisit the topic. There are some big differences shopping in Taiwan vs the U.S. Markets come in all different varieties here. There are small convenience stores, streetside fruit and vegetable shops, local food markets and large supermarkets that sell everything – including food, clothing, appliances and furniture. One of the things I’ve learned to do is to have google translate ready on my phone while I am shopping. Sometimes, I need to translate the cooking instructions on a bag of rice or try to figure out the flavor of the package I am looking at before I buy it.

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Convenience Stores

One interesting place to me here is 7-11. I’ve been to 7-11 plenty of times in the U.S. but it is different here. They don’t sell slushes here which was my primary reason for going as a teen. People go to 7-11 for different reasons. Many 7-11 stores have tables set up and wifi so customers can eat meals sold in the store. It is also where you go to pay your utility bills. Just take your phone bill to 7-11 and pay it there! You can also top up your metro card and use it to pay for items in the store. There are many services available along with interesting snacks to try. Wherever I go there seems to be a 7-11 nearby.

New Flavors

One of the other things I think is interesting here are the types and flavors of foods available. For example, Ritz filled crackers come in so many varieties! Chocolate, spicy chicken, and lemon are a few. Potato chips also come in lots of interesting flavors like roasted duck and seaweed. There is fruit flavored milk, asparagus juice, tea soaked eggs, shrimp chips and coke with added fiber. I’ll admit that the only one of these I have been courageous enough to try so far is the chocolate Ritz. Maybe once I live here longer I’ll be a little more brave. There are just so many different and interesting items to try!

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So Much Variety

Another thing here that is new for me is the sheer amount of different types of rice, ramen and tofu. There are so many bags of rice to choose from that it can be a little overwhelming. Most are vacuum sealed flat and stacked on the shelves. The quality of rice is amazing! There are also aisles and aisles of different flavored ramen. The ramen packets here are fancier too. In the U.S. I’ve seen plenty of the ramen packs with ramen noodles and a small powdered flavor packet. Here, the ramen comes in a package that contains another package of oil and flavors, dried vegetables and sometimes meat packets or rice wine.

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Fresh Herbs

I am learning where I need to go for certain items and also trying to figure out what some of the fruits and vegetables are that I don’t recognize yet. It took a long time before I knew I could go to flower shops to find fresh herbs like basil and parsley. I had been checking the produce aisles of every single supermarket without much luck. I did find cilantro and happily bought some but that was it. The cilantro stalks were packaged with the stems in damp sponges to keep them fresh. I finally mentioned to someone that I couldn’t find fresh herbs and they gave me the much appreciated tip to go to the flower markets.

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Baking

Lastly, I’ve been to many baking supply stores to find specialty type items like confectioners sugar and good vanilla. I also just wanted to see what was available here. Granulated white sugar can also be hard to find but I’ve only seen confectioners sugar at baking supply shops. I’ve learned to look for cocoa powder in the aisles with coffee, tea and hot chocolate. There are some stores that import goods from the U.S. and other places but those goods do come with a more expensive price tag. One very different thing here is the brown sugar. Its texture is fine and it does not pack like U.S. brown sugar. It is dryer and seems to be a deeper molasses flavor. I did find some U.S. imported brown sugar but just couldn’t stomach the roughly $12 USD price tag. I’m sure I will get used to baking with brown sugar here just fine or I can find some molasses and make my own.

I do love to live in new places and check out the local foods. I’m sure I will learn a lot more while I am here!