Super-Starbucks Me

The phenomenon known as cafe culture

BY PHILL FELTHAM

Travelers, tell me if this sounds familiar. Norah Jones gently singing ‘Don’t Know Why’ in the background while you’re drinking a Frappiccino with your Lonely Planet Guide deciding where to travel next. A park, museum or maybe just some cafe hopping. Decisions, decisions. Thankfully though, Taipei, the capital city on the small island in Taiwan has an excellent selection for cafe enthusiasts.

I, like many of you, have made cafes my home away from home. Besides seeing a Norah Jones video, there’s nothing sexier than ordering a hot chocolate and finding a couch to sit on and maybe read for an hour or two. They don’t have a couch? That’s okay. Just sit on a hard chair in and absorb the cafe’s really unique atmosphere and chitter chatter with the overfriendly waitress or with the very curious locals.

Wikipedia said it best: “An essential part of a coffeehouse from its beginnings has been its social functions, providing a place where people go to congregate, talk, write, read, play games, or while away time individually or in small groups.”

The United States’ liquor laws prevent anyone under 21 from entering a bar, so the coffeehouse has become the ideal choice for the American youth. In France, patrons can buy alcohol and may or may not have a restaurant section. Parisians also have a choice of a brasserie or a bistro. A “brasserie” cafe usually serve single dish meals and a “bistro” is a cafe/restaurant. Food at a bistro has been known to be cheap, however, in recent years, prices have become increasingly expensive.

It’s too bad our cafe culture secret is out. You can thank our favorite American writer or cafe creature Mark Twain or the modern American movie for that. Actor Ben Stiller played a novelist spending days at Starbucks to write a novel. Damn movies! Stereotyping us!

But it’s okay! It gives enjoyment or reflection anytime I flick on the boob tube. But it’s my goal to visit one cafe in every country I visit.

Back in Canada, cafes are my home away from home. Nestled cozely in a Tim
Horton’s Coffee and Donut Shop (not a cafe) sipping French Vanilla Cappicino and reading a Harry Potter book. What is Tim Hortons? It’s the Dunkin’ Donuts of Canada. The fast food joint of the coffee industry. I’m proud to say I was an employee for three years. Tim Horton was a famous hockey player in the 60s who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres. During the same time, he opened ‘Timmys’ and the phenomenon grew from there. Donut shops are busier and lack the comfortable atmosphere that cafes posses, but hey, sometimes compomising is required.

In Taipei, Starbucks reigns. Now mind you, there are plenty of Starbucks in North America, the number of stores in the Isle Formosa capital gives Tim Hortons ratio in Canada a run for its money. The cafe is usually two to three floors and can be a overcrowded with people sometimes. The only drawback is the lights go out at 10:00 PM at many of its locations.

Taipei is over flooded with cafes. Besides Starbucks, big franchises like Barista and the German ice cream giant Häagen-Dazs compete with the individually owned stores. Chocoholic is a small cafe on Yongkang Street overrun by chocolate beverages and deserts. Cha For Tea and the Rose House are elegant, yet peaceful tea houses with locations throughout the city. Even McDonalds, which can be found on almost every street corner in Taipei has a place called McCafe. It’s actually not too bad.

Another popular option in Taiwan especially in Kaohsiung and Taichung are the outdoor cafes or patios at night time. The tables are spread out and about in the front of a stage where a local Taiwanese band sooths the consumer with some soft pop music. To my surprise, soft music is very big in Taiwan.

The cafe can be a great meeting place if you’re on the road. Maybe other travelers, like you, are new to the area or just passing through. They too will matriculate to your cafe or maybe you can meet some of the locals as well.

Whatever your beverage preference, cafes have attracted backpackers and expats alike for years and from this traveler’s point of view, always will. IT!

Phill Feltham is a freelance travel writer currently teaching English in Taiwan. Phill is also the Publisher of The Weekly Wanderer Dot Com.

Similar Posts:

• Permit Problems (PART 4)
• Making IKEA Feel Like Home
• Permit Problems (PART 3)
• Canadian Makes China Permanent Home
• Permit Problems (PART 5)