it's my first time in taiwan and my only impressions of taiwan were their crazy and super-funny variety shows, old tear-jerking tv soaps, fighting parliament and some of their pop music. i must say that after visiting taipei, i like it very much and one of the reason is its similarity to japan. some parts of taipei feels so japanese, its quaint and small architecture, pop culture and mannerisms... no surprise since taiwan was occupied by the japanese for some 50 long years. they are different of course. the advantage of taipei for me is also the access of the language. my chinese is not fantastic but enough to get by and when i'm not lazy, i can read quite a bit lah. :p