Kindness in Taipei

 10 incidents experiencing kindness and willingness to help by the Taiwanese (and others)

1. Buying a uBike, MRT, bus ticket and registering the load at 7-11 Xinyi Anhe district, the system kept of rejecting the registration. It required a certain format of the Taiwanese sourced cell number

• Lady customer of 7-11 helped us interpret some instructions even with language constraints

• Googling for solution for hours at 7-11, we could not find one. Looked for the uBike kiosk, there was none near the Taipei 101 area

• The ticketing frontliner at the MRT underground station used his cellphone to answer our query, where is the uBike kiosk

• Not able to satisfy us, he called on his fellow frontliner to assist us

• Finding the uBike station but without a kiosk, we spotted a young violinist parking his bike

• With some language constraints understanding our concern, he diagnosed our difficulty

• He gave us the correct format of the cellphone, add a “0” before the number

• It worked

• Thank you, student

2. Following up our order of coffee and meals at a coffee shop in DadaoCheng to a lady barista who singlehandedly was processing all the orders and steps, a lady approached our table and assisted us

• She asked in English our requirements

• She followed up with the barista

• She delivered all orders and explained the story behind the food

• She also offered to teach us some Taiwanese expressions

• Then she served us complimentary desserts

• It turned out she was a fellow customer at “COFFEE” who speaks English and other languages

• Thank you, madam

3.Looking at a leather store at a DadaoCheng alley, an elderly man alone in the shop was busy sewing a leather item

• He stood up and showed the items explaining as best as he can his creations

• After spending some time with us, he showed us a collection of biblical quotations embossed in small tags

• He asked us to select, then he put in a leather tag as a gift

• He asked for a name then showed us the process of embossing names manually and using a laser printer

• He asked us to emboss our names on the leather tag

• It touched us that a man of his age would go out of his way to attend to us random walk ins

• As he was so disciplined with his craft, procedural and charming in dealing with younger people, he reminded us of our father

• That moment alone made our visit to Taipei complete

• Thank you, Taco, for the gifts and your gentle presence

4. Eating at Taiwan Mama at the Huashan Creative Park Zhongzheng District concept restaurant, the staff took our orders and served them

• Curious about the soy based raw bean curd, the attentive staff took time to explain us the process

• She went out of her way to find a link on how the bean curd in produced going through several steps

• Ending he explanation, I casually asked if she could prepare the dish

• Out of character, she flipped her hair and expressed something like “ako pa!” in Taiwanese drawing laughter and appreciation from us

• That cemented our cordial relationship with her

5. Needing Taiwanese Dollars, I entered a bank at DadaoCheng district, I asked for help from a greeter at the entrance

• Understanding my need to purchase local currency, he directed me to the 2/F

• Without waiting, a male bank front liner attended to me

• I asked for options which he provided: Taiwanese Dollars can be purchased using American Dollars but not Philippine Pesos

• He added that I can also withdraw using my Philippine debit card using the ATM

• Choosing ATM, he went out of his counter and accompanied me to the ATM machines at the 1/F

• Not successful at first due to a wrong entry, he patiently waited for me to complete the transaction

• The attention he gave to a walk-in client who surely was not a gold account was exceptional

6. Taking the MRT for the first time, I looked at the posters and guides for instruction

• I then proceeded to the ticket counter to purchase

• I was quoted 25 Taiwanese Dollars from Belmen to Taipei 101 stations using the green and the red lines and was issued a token

• Observing how the commuters enter the turnpike, most of them were tapping cards not token

• I asked the lady at the counter how to use the token

• She stepped out of the counter, went outside and showed me the token tap sensor

• She then reminded me to change from green to the red line at the Chang Kai Shek station

• While I thought this was more than service, she then asked to look for a token slot different from the sensor when I exit at Taipei 101 station

• Truly this was exceptional considering she was speaking in Taiwanese

7. While resting for the next round of shops to inspect at the Huashan Creative Park, I made an effort to reply to a climbing friend who detected I was in Taipei

• Sending a message via messenger, she asked the night before if we can meet up

• Replying 12 hours after, she asked where I was, when I was leaving and how many were we

• She immediately offered; I’ll host dinner at 7 at New Taipei City Banqiao district giving specific instructions on how to reach the place on a busy Friday night by MRT

• Coming from her plant, she reserved a table and ordered food

• Not familiar with the route, we were terribly late by 40 minutes

• Apologizing, she did not make us feel guilty, “you are my friend,” she said in fluent Pilipino

• On short notice, we were treated to a different filling evening hearing stories on how life is in Taiwan, how she deals and helps Filipino workers in her plant giving us a perspective on working in her country

• Thank you for a wonderful and different night

8.  At the Giant bike store in Sogo at the Zhongxiao district, the store officer provided us information critical in the selection and appreciation of bicycle and accessories

• He explained within limited time the differences between Giant, Momentum and Liv brands

• The taxes inputted for the three different brands

• Bikes and models appropriate for daily commuting, long ride and relaxing chill

• Features of pinpointed bikes and packing for out-of-town dispatch

• His personal experience as a biker educating us in our selection of bikes appropriate for our needs

• Thank you, Giant staff

 

9. On a rainy and cold Friday, we advanced the Xinbeitou hot spring visit by a day

• New to the place, my companion spotted a group of young Thailander ladies roaming around

• They offered to take our pictures and eventually led us to the initial phase of the walk

• Returning tourists, they were familiar with the area giving us suggestion on how to go about appreciating Xinbeitou on a wet morning

• After we established our bearings, they left us for their own planned activities

• While dining, we were seated behind a French lady on a solo trip

• She happened to be a pediatrician on a vacation leading to some exchanges on insights in English on France and Taiwan

• Two groups welcomed us with pleasantries that paved the way for nature to show us the splendor of the natural spring

• Thank you, tourists, from Thailand and France

10. Departing at the Taoyuan International Airport, I failed to process online an eTravel declaration card for RP Department of Health for returning travelers

• What I had was an exit from the Philippines eTravel and my original vaccination IDs

• The front liner of China Airlines processed my check in requirements manually but asked to fill in the form online

• She stepped out of her counter, asked for my cell phone, gave me data access, and guided me with the info to fill in

• She declared that she already checked me in but will release the documents upon completion of the process

• She gave me a space where I can conveniently input until the QR code issuance

• I was told not to fall in line when I flash the QR code to her to release the documents

• I felt so important to the desk officer

• While seated on the plane, I found out she placed me in a 3-seater row all for myself

• Thank you, China Airlines desk officer

On night of our arrival, in a company of family, we were invited to their friend for a special dinner at iconic Dian Shui Lou at the Nanjing District

• Without disclosing details, that dinner alone with the family already set the tone for a cherished out of country visit

• It set us up not only gastronomically to be open and accepting to the kind souls extending to guide us during the trip

Taiwan treated me with exceptional customer service orientationAll of them went beyond servicing going the extra mile consistently to address a visitor’s need

Whether required as a professional or a citizen assisting someone in need, the core of their excellent servicing orientation is their value inherent in their DNA

The values of kindness, giving help to someone in need, strong sense of patriotism

What do they say of kindness, it is the fiber of the human spirit

It is an understanding of the reality that we all go through struggles

Kindness when extended unexpectedly heals validating the joy of being human

Thank you to my companions and friends for making the experience memorable

Taiwan’s infrastructure, the citizen’s service orientation and a seasoned company of travelers simply flowing with, and our adventurous spirit all surfaced in this fantastic break

Returning back to Terminal One in Manila, riding in a regular taxi, the registered driver set his conditions: not a metered ride, add a little for the ride back home in his run down but maintained taxi

Welcome back to the Philippines

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Writer is a facilitator of a capability building module Collaboration for Value, a disciplined process of connecting with customers resulting in satisfying their needs