Dear Taipei Part I

Dear Taipei,


You are overwhelming and often burdensome; the lifestyle that you demand is a perfect blend of cyclical repetition (e.g. the guaranteed push-and-shove undertaken in each rush-hour MRT carriage) and onerous challenges (actually securing a seat in any of these carriages).

Doubtless, your pace is furious; pushing aside those perhaps more meek of heart, as there is no lack 0f those ready to charge through your city-streets at any given time. Dismayed, I know that few isles of respite exist here - even the soothing effects of coffee and daily news cannot counter the sheer populace seeking to undertake such activities at any given moment. Your density seems to determine just how your peoples interact with one another...

And what of these places? In observational terms, it can be a feast for the eyes - barely a day goes by without an eyebrow-raising moment (both sheer surprise, dismay or otherwise.) None less than the lady sitting opposite me on the MRT this morning, wearing a leopard-print tank top with "shopping makes me feel better" printed across the chest. That said, what of depth and substance? What of narratives which don't factor work into the equation as though it was a prerequisite of all things, animate or otherwise? What of this potentially heartbreaking, life-changing realisation that floats beneath the surface - one which asks, "just why have we set about accomplishing this?"

This scene flashes before me; my Australian eyes too slow to keep up. It's a sorry state of affairs should one consider that a confortable chair in Starbucks provides the closest encounter with respite in a city with so much on offer.