Taipei: Even More Coffee, Jade and Flower Market, & Shanghai Feast at Sogo

So it was morning, and morning means coffee.  I’m starting to realized that no matter what corner of the earth you’re on, there’s likely to be a Starbucks around waiting for you.  Anyone that knows me knows that I really don’t bother with Starbucks.  I generally don’t care for anything on their menu since it’s either too caffeinated or too sweet or both, and I think their teas are uninteresting and overpriced.  I wasn’t intending on checking out Starbucks on my trip, but seeing as a lot of the coffee places here don’t seem to open until at least 10 or even later we took a chance.  There’s a curiosity about different menu items with familiar chains, so I let it slide and saw what they had to offer that was different than the standard US menu.  Surprisingly, it was easily one of the best Starbucks experiences I’ve had.  There were a lot fewer items and none of that Tazo tea nonsense–I’m sure they wouldn’t stand for that here.