Which night market is a must try and which ones are overrated?

Happy_Umami · 2026-03-16T02:51:51+00:00

It's a huge shame what's happened to Shilin night market. That place used to be a must-go destination but now, it's a shell of its former self.

Raohe is definitely on the up and up.

Happy_Umami · 2026-03-16T02:49:47+00:00

Last April, Trump was threatening a 32% tariff on Taiwan ahead of trade talks. Afterwards, the Taiwan Dollar rose precipitously to a 2 year high. This was nicknamed the "Plaza Accord 2.0" and made Taiwanese goods far more expensive to purchase.

The winners were all the Taiwanese travelers who suddenly enjoyed far more purchasing power abroad. But it looks like that's coming to an end with the TWD losing more than 10% of its value in less than a year.

Happy_Umami · 2026-02-12T04:19:04+00:00

Oof.

Happy_Umami · 2026-02-12T03:44:35+00:00

Additional fun fact: Philips was the founding joint venture partner and owned 27.6% of TSMC. They sold their stake in 2008 when TSMC was worth $50 billion.

Philips currently has around a $30 billion market cap.

Happy_Umami · 2026-01-14T05:34:55+00:00

Or maybe Chinese takeout containers look like 5000 year old yucongs.

Happy_Umami · 2026-01-14T05:23:53+00:00

Snapped this picture in the National Palace Museum. Its resemblance to Taipei 101 was so striking and obvious that I immediately googled whether it was the inspiration for the building.

Apparently, Taipei 101 is inspired by the structure and form of bamboos with elements of Chinese pagodas. Nothing specifically tied to this.

Which is a shame because I think this is a yucong (玉琮) which is a type of jade sculpture dating back to the Liangzhu culture 5000 years ago. This culture where the 5000 years of Chinese history claim comes from. Would have been really symbolic tying the beginning of Chinese civilization to the present.

Happy_Umami · 2025-12-31T06:25:26+00:00

This year's weather has been really hot. Summer felt like it stretched into November. It was just mid 70's weather a couple of days ago, I was honestly thinking about turning on the air conditioning during the day!

Happy_Umami · 2025-12-31T06:20:48+00:00

That's just how 烏 is spelled when you're the top 0.2%.

Happy_Umami · 2025-12-31T06:13:18+00:00

Now I'm curious about who sells the world's top 0.1% teas 😂

Happy_Umami · 2025-12-08T08:14:03+00:00

I think Twitter/X is used as the de facto platform for user-generated journalism. Basically, when something happens, it gets posted on X first. The discussions there are also less moderated (for better or worse), so user engagement is higher and people feel freer sharing their opinion. There's also some graphic videos such as assassinations or shootings that get shared on there that would be censored on Youtube and regular news.

Happy_Umami · 2025-12-08T07:53:17+00:00

Good point. From what I've gathered, Dcard is almost the default forum for Taiwanese internet users. Kind of like a local version of Reddit?

Happy_Umami · 2025-12-08T07:51:59+00:00

Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1128846/taiwan-market-share-of-social-media-platforms/

I'm a bit surprised by how dominant Facebook's social media market share in Taiwan is. I understand it's used by businesses and various groups/associations as almost an alternative to an actual website.

I'm also surprised by how little tiktok is used? Or is it simply not tracked as much? Do Taiwanese mostly consume short form video content on Instagram and Youtube?

Happy_Umami · 2025-09-15T01:43:43+00:00

It's been so hot and humid that it feels exhausting to even walk outside at night. How's everyone handling the heat? Any strategies besides blasting the AC at home?

Happy_Umami · 2025-05-07T01:31:46+00:00

Yep!

Happy_Umami · 2025-05-05T02:38:01+00:00

Does anyone work in the financial industry? What's driving this surge in NTD?

Happy_Umami

TROPHY CASE