Costco Day!

Johan and Rebecca took me to the Taipei Costco in the south west area of Taipei.  For those of you who complain about Costco being busy in Canada should never complain again after looking at the pictures below.  The place was crawling with people!  At one point there were just simply too many people at the entrance for the membership checker people to check so they just stopped checking and let the flood in.

First things first: food.  We b-lined to the eatery.  The price of the hot dog an drink was $1.50.  Is that about the same as Canada?  I've forgotten.  The hot dog was of the jumbo variety.  I went to the condiment station to put some sauerkraut and onions onto my dog and as I was next in line I watched as the woman in front of me took her empty hot dog wrapper and then proceeded to pile a huge mound of sauerkraut onto it, then fold it up and put it into her purse. lol.  She was wearing nice clothing and didn't look poor or homeless so I wondered why she felt the need to nick a fist full of hot dog condiment.  I wondered if Costco was able to turn a profit on the hot dogs (despite the apparent frequent condiment theft), or if they were just a lost leader to get people to shop there.

We'd left for Costco around 1pm and arrived home close to 5pm.  My stash of goods included a large and deep frying pan, brita water filter, cumin spice (because it was expensive for a small one at Carrefour), Classico pasta sauce (3 for $9), some glass foot containers, and 4 bags of tostitos.  Costco is one of the few places you can get taco chips in Taiwan so I stocked up.  Their best before date is July so I figured I'd invest while I had the opportunity!

The rest of the evening was fairly uneventful.  I was quite bored and it was only 8pm so I took an hour and a half walk around my apartment district.  Went to a few department stores to see what they have, and walked 1 subway station north to Dapinling station.  Lots of cool little restaurants around that area.  I found my way into a J-Mart which featured freaky life size anime models (pictured below).  This place had a bit of everything: candy, house wares, appliances, beauty products, snacks, shoes, bags, pillows etc.

I could have easily taken the MRT home but I decided to walk home from the J-Mart after collecting a handful of bubble tea business cards.  I figure when Eliza is here we can go for walks to try the different cafe's :)  So I want to be prepared!  See you soon Liza!