I think the first meal I ever had in Taiwan was at a Mos Burger--I can remember getting off the plane and in the next instant devouring a rice burger and some takoyaki, with a side of fries and a tall sweet tea. Several years later, Mos Burger has become my comfort food.
I couldn't get a clear shot of the display on this bus headed to Luodong, but if you click on the picture and look closely you'll see that it says "Cheer up, Taiwan." This isn't actually the best translation of the characters, but I still kind of love it.
Walking around campus the other day I noticed this inscription on a crumbling wall. I recognized the text from the song "Shady Lane" by the American band Pavement--it was on the album Brighten the Corners, a college favorite of mine. Pavement was never hugely popular in the states, so it's a bit surprising to have come upon these words here. Funny, the kinds of things that make their way around the world.
I saw this table-top fortune teller at a teahouse. Put a coin in the slot over your zodiac sign and it dispenses a tightly rolled slip of paper that tells you all about the days to come...
These stuffed pigs with pointy teeth are clamoring to get out of the claw vending machine they inhabit.
