The Small Taipei Store Owner

Taipei is definitely a modern megalopolis with huge buildings and sprawling shopping malls. But small neighborhoods still predominate, complete with mom and pop stores. Here are a few examples.

The freshest fowl around (yea, chickens in the cages).

A group of stoic store owners. Somehow these incredibly fake-looking meat/ham/fish samples are supposed to tempt customers.
The proud dry goods merchant.

Flower man, staying busy the modern way.

Scooter Invasion! Taipei!

The scooter invasion wave that's swept most of Asia has also claimed Taipei. The good: scooter ownership signifies an emerging middle class, able to afford its own transportation for the first time. The bad: scooters seem to have taken over the city like cicadas.

A typical Taipei street, overrun with scooters. And they keep moving, keep coming, at every intersection.

Why restrict your scooter to the streets when sidewalks are also available? Didn't I used to walk on the sidewalk, what's the difference? And once you start riding on the sidewalk, you also might as well park on it. Is it a sidewalk anymore?

Park 'em, if  you've got 'em (and they have a lot), here down the middle of a closed covered market. Finally, actual two-wheeler parking spaces. Taipei needs to find about a million more of them.