When In Taipei......

So, last week; I was in Taipei..... OK, that's not the norm, but as it happened, I went to Taiwan earlier this month to see family. Not counting travel time, I was "on the ground" about a week. Minus the 2 days spent traveling around, I was in Taipei itself about 5 days. Of course, when a geek is in arguably the epicenter of geek-dom, you obviously do some "geek" things! During my last visit there about 4 years ago, I went over to the Guang Hua Digital Market...... with family in tow. In case I really need to tell you; this is NOT how one should do this!!!

 

This image doesn't fully give you an idea of what this place is like, but let me help with a description. Think of a miniature Galleria without the skating rink. There are about 6 levels each of which is laid out racetrack style with shops on each side of the walkway. 

Then imagine that the vast majority of shops looks something like this.....

 ...... or like this!!! Oh yeah; that's pretty much alike, but there are something in the order of 30-50 on each upper 5 levels. The ground level has some open areas with a food court. It's pretty much sensory overload, and that's without the intense crowds of people there! There are actually other smaller shop areas in the surrounding area around Guang Hua, but that's the main area. Plus; next door, they've recently built a similar sized building which the major tech manufacturers have their "show-case" area! I could have probably spent all 5 days there and not seen everything! And guess what I bought?

 Some braided lightning cables......

...... and a kinda generic wireless gaming mouse for my son...... really. BUT WHY!?! you ask? Well.... because at the end of the day, when you've done the $ vs. NT (Taiwan money) calculations, the majority of bigger ticket items or cheaper when bought in the U.S......really. It's actually the little items like these cables and mice that are cheaper there in Taipei! I think that mouse was like $6-7 and those cables were around $5 apiece, vs. twice that for the mouse and 3 times that for the cable at home. Everything else from memory to tablets can be found cheaper on Newegg or Amazon, and you don't have to worry about having to try and over-write the Chinese language firmware!

Was I disappointed with my excursion? Absolutely not! I like to look around. This was like shopping on the Internet, but having everything right there in front of me! And for a time, I enjoyed the hustle and bustle of Taipei as well. But I sure am glad to be back at home to the land of full-size vehicles and air conditioning everywhere!