麥當勞

October 27, 2006 - Out the window of McDonald's on Fuxing South Road (復興南路). I dunno, as an American, I'm a little self-conscious about going to McDonald's in foreign countries. Actually, I'm a little wary of going into McDonald's in the U.S, but that's a different issue altogether.

It's as if Americans can't figure out or adjust to local customs so they have to resort to that safe port of cultural familiarity, the global language of the golden arches. That's what happened to me in Switzerland and I have no embarassment about having to go to McDonald's there. In Geneva, I couldn't order squat in French, but I could order a Big Mac with a French accent! That mostly amused me because it worked so well.

In Asia, though, maybe the difference is that it's Asia, and I feel inadequate or incompetent if I go to McDonald's here. I know, silly. Not just Taiwan, I avoided it in Thailand and Japan, too. But maybe it was this trip to the U.S. that made me want to go to McDonald's for breakfast after I got back. The price isn't bad, either at about $2 for a breakfast meal. I also had switched my sleeping hours so that I was up all night and would go running at 5 in the morning, or would otherwise be up and out at that early hour. Maybe the running was the justification for the amount of calories ingested.


Over the shoulder blind shot.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. The Boxer (Simon & Garfunkel)
2. Night Shift Gurus (The Cash Brothers)
3. You Can't Stop the Music (The Kinks)
4. Pussy Cat Dues (Charles Mingus)
5. Mr. Me (They Might Be Giants)
6. Crooked Teeth (Death Cab for Cutie)
7. Late in the Day (Supergrass)
8. Tasogare Naki (Tokyo Jihen)
9. Walk On (U2)
10. Sayonara o Matteru (Dreams Come True)