Vitalli
x2 post
Cheap fish.
I wonder how good I’d do business if I opened one of those streetside cafeterias that serve three sides + one meat with rice/soup/tea for free? I’d have to tailor it to American tastes, though. Potato salad, greens, pinto beans, coleslaw, sweet taters, polk salad, mashed taters, ice cold tomato slices, pickles, hushpuppies, corn on the cob… Fried chicken, bacon, chicken fried steak, sausage, hot dog, baloney sandwich, catfish for the meat sides. And instead of rice, a slice of cornbread. Tea and soup I’d keep the same. I’d charge about 3 or 4 bucks, the same amount you’d waste in a fast food joint for a full meal. America seriously needs a real-food alternative to fast food. People have no place to get a homecooked meal with a balanced amount of the four food groups when they’re on lunch hour - grabbing a sandwich from the deli or a burger and then rushing back to work are there only options right now, unless they bring a sack lunch. Well, I could change that. Just set up my little hole in the wall with hot, ready-to-go lunchboxes for folks to snap up at noon. It’s a massive business opportunity in waiting.
Cheap public transport that gets you where you want to go without making you wait for hours.
Bzzzzt, that only exists in Taipei! Get out into the rest of Taiwan sometime.
[quote=“mod lang”]
I wonder how good I’d do business if I opened one of those streetside cafeterias…[/quote]
Yeah, I always wanted to open a baobing joint on a jersey shore boardwalk somewhere.
Agreed. Drains in the floors of kitchens, bathrooms, and balconies are a definite asset. I like concrete buildings, too, as our house in the States has had its share of water and termite damage.
Head massages when you are getting a haircut are pretty good. Ohhh soooo gooood! However, since I got a girlfriend I’ve been a hair-clipper man. A sophisticated haircut for the almas just means using two different settings on the hairclippers.
I think ModLang is on to something with his food idea. I’m wondering whether stinky tofu would catch on in the west - I love it. Chinese have this deeply held belief that we all loath the stuff. Just think how Indian curry has become a favorite (perhaps the national) dish in England! Nobody would have picked that.
Hey, fifteen years ago, people in America thought that sushi was only for trendy yuppies. That’s changed and now Americans are no longer frightened to eat raw fish, if only it weren’t so bloody expensive.
Almas is right on about the tax issue. Can’t fucking live in America anymore as a single man making a high income. 52% percent effective tax rate at my income level 
. I know it is worse in Canada and Europe. As inefficient as Taiwan’s government is, at least it doesn’t tax its citizenry to death.
bubble tea(zhen zhu nai cha) was big in the states in the late 90’s. kind of passe now.
i’d say just import the whole roadside stand idea to the us. they have similar things like stands at country fairs and festivals in little italy or something, but i would love it if there was some place permanent and there were more choices than funnel cakes and corn dogs. i make it a point to go to the county fair whenever i can just to gorge myself on those damn funnel cakes and bbq beef sandwiches. what i need is a place i can hit for dinner once a week(and maybe food that won’t clog my arteries instantly).
electonic fly swatters
The new carrier bag laws.
The anti-fog electric mirrors that are in all the bathrooms here.
Also the escalators that let you take a shopping cart (trolley) on them. But I first saw them at Carrefour, so maybe they were invented by the French. Has anyone seen them in any country other than Taiwan?
Perhaps you’ve been in this part of the world too long. I’m sure I saw those escalator things for trolleys a good 10 years ago in Sydney.
The bathroom mirror is a good call. I went for years thinking they were redundant light switches till I left one on and noticed the heat.
I’d add De-humidifiers. Sydney terraces look nice but they
[quote=“Huang Guang Chen”]Perhaps you’ve been in this part of the world too long. I’m sure I saw those escalator things for trolleys a good 10 years ago in Sydney.
The bathroom mirror is a good call. I went for years thinking they were redundant light switches till I left one on and noticed the heat.
I’d add De-humidifiers. Sydney terraces look nice but they
Shopping carts with calculators…oh wait, we have those in the States, in limited areas.
Delivery of natural gas within five minutes.
Slinky girls
Cheap taxis. And in great quantities. And with all those extras that Taiwan drivers are starting to provide, like flowers up front to keep the vehicle smelling good, magazines, TV screens, etc.