TAIWAN...that's the plan!: Carrefour has arrived!!!

We have a new supermarket here! It's called Carrefour and they sell real food!! It's massive and has a whole aisle dedicated to Western foods. You even get to see brands you've heard of before! :O And they also sell real brands of alcohol. I can't believe how excited I am about a supermarket. But it's those little things that can make such a big difference! I guess because everything in Asian life is soooo different, to be able to have a few little Western things can somehow keep you sane!

And what's even more wonderful about this supermarket, is that I have to go past it on an almost daily basis, it's so close and super convenient. Costco is great but it is a good 30 minutes away. So all of my Western friends are very excited! (We celebrated with cake in fact!)

As I took my puppy out for a walk the other day I realised that the ol' saying of: the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. is true of every nation. In Western countries you usually have affluent areas. You associate with with a certain neighbourhood or village or something. Here, sometimes that is the case, but also you can have wealthy persons house right next to a scummy house. Just the wealthy person has had their house completely torn down and rebuilt with grey stone. (I don't know why for sure, but all wealthy peoples houses are grey. I am wondering if it has something to do with that it looks the same kinda material most of the temples have. Just my surmising though.) The wealthy person just has their home completely surrounded by wall, security gate, cameras and locks. Whilst the humble abode of most Taiwanese is pretty old and at least a few things are patch worked back together. Things break and people make do here, whereas back home most people have probably bought a new whatever before it has chance to break. Or if it breaks we buy a new whatever. I'm very much a make and mend kinda person, so I do find it refreshing being around that kind of mentality.

But I do find it crazy how excessively elaborate a temple is here, to every last detail. Everything is carved, engraved or something else elaborate. But surrounding said temple are people living in houses that are falling apart and clearly just scraping by. It's just so extreme. I find it fascinating looking at the temples, but the justice behind the showy display whilst the neighbouring people are struggling to get by, that bothers me. But for now I guess that is just the way it is. These kind of problems of justice are bigger than us humans.

Tune of the day...The Beatles - Eleanor Rigby. Just an awesome tune. And if you disagree that The Beatles are amazing, then you are wrong! Hehe.

I got on a bit of a picture snapping spree. This was the journey of my walk. Contrasting scenes in the space of a few footsteps...