7-Eleven in Taiwan

There are many, many 7-Elevens in Taipei, in fact I would say they are ubiquitous and not feel as if I were exaggerating. There are at least four that I know of within a five minute walk from our apartment. When people give directions it is common to use landmarks to describe turns, e.g. "go east on 35th street and turn right at the Texaco gas station". This is also true here of course but more so because street names can be hard to pronounce and are often spelled several different ways on street signs and maps. Saying "go north on DeXing Street and take a right at the 7-11" really isn't going to help much because there's just about one on every block of DeXing! So there are lots of 'em here--I've made that point. What is more interesting still (if that was at all interesting) is the amazing array of things you can buy/do at any 7-11.

Things One Can Do At The Local 7-Eleven in Taipei:

1. Buy a Tea Egg, Rice Ball, Steamed Bun or Hot Dog.
2. Buy postage stamps
3. Pay your electric bill
4. Pay your water bill
5. Pay your telephone bill
6. Pay you cellular phone service bill
7. Buy government issue garbage bags
8. Get free, collectible, Commemorative Hello Kitty magnets (with a 100NT purchase) I guess she hit the Big 30
9. Buy a Fanta Lactic (I have no idea what's in it)
10. Buy Beef Flavored Cheetos (Or chocolate covered cheese puffs in connection with the release of Wonka)
11. Pay for street parking (there are practically no parking meters in Taipei-a "meter reader" will place a "bill" on your windshield)
12. Pay parking or traffic fines (tickets could have been placed on your windshield or received in the mail after you were photographed committing a traffic offense)

Things One Can Not Do in a 7-Eleven in Taipei:

1. Buy a Big Gulp
2. Buy an Icee or Slurpee
3. Buy Shiner Bock Beer

I did a quick check on the 7-11 website, just to double check that I was not exaggerating. There are about 28,000 7-11s worldwide. There are roughly 5800 operating in the US and Canada; there are 3899 in Taiwan. Two Hundred and Nineteen of those opened in the last six months! In Taiwan there is one 7-11 for every 6440 people, whereas in the US there's one for every 51,000 people. You guys need more 7-11s.

BTW, "Tea Eggs" are eggs boiled in a tea mixture which can include soy sauce, spice, and sugar. They are very aromatic and most 7-11s smell strongly of them.

Gotta go-need to pick something up at the 7-11

-Margaret