Snack Gals

So lately I've noticed a lot of what appear to be prostitutes in my neighborhood.  Like...a lot of them.  I'm a bit confused because I thought they'd be less obvious instead of being so out in the open and coming up to people's cars right on the street.  Obviously I have no particular experience in this realm of knowledge but it just seems like common sense.  Take a look!

OK, I have to be honest and say that the temperature was 88 degrees and the humidity was through the roof and I, myself, wasn't wearing much more than that.

I've been observing this everywhere.  On a bizzare scale.  You might see 5 girls on the same block, all doing the same thing.  Something's up here.  Here's another shot of "Jenny" (I gave her that name).

 

I was confused that the prostitution in my neighborhood was out of control until my friend explained to me that something totally different is happening.  As it turns out, this is indeed a very common thing all across Taiwan.  They're selling snacks.

This is an interesting Taiwanese equivalent of going through a drive thru.  These girls are selling a very traditional snack, which in English, is called a Betel Nut.

Apparently Betel Nuts are super common in Taiwan as well as elsewhere in Southeast Asia.  It grows from a palm tree in clusters and they're about the size of golf balls (give or take). People wrap them in Betel leaves and chew them.  This gives them a buzz similar to drinking coffee and a mild stimulation that has been compared to smoking a cigarette.  I got most of this from our friends at Wikipedia, and you can check them out here.  They apparently cause cancer.

Perhaps the most bizarre thing about this nut is that when some people chew on them, their mouth and saliva turn blood red.  When they spit them out, it looks like they're vomiting blood.  So the lesson here is, the next time you vomit blood (which is hopefully not often), just tell people you were chewing on a Betel nut.  If you're anywhere in Southeast Asia, no one will bat an eye.

For the ultra-curious (who don't know how to use Google), the wiki page on Betel nuts is here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Areca_nut

But what I really want to focus on is the Betel Nut sellers, remember?  Through my friend, I found out that because chewing Betel nuts is so common in Taiwan, the competition has evolved to the point that vendors are scantily-clad girls who wear as little as possible and look as sexy as possible.  Just to sell nuts.  I've also heard its even more crazy in southern Taiwan!

Now, if these girls are going to sex it up in order to sell you Betel nuts, they need to make sure you can see them.  How do they accomplish this?  Two ways.  First, they light up their venue like it's the freaking sun:

You can see the Betel nut girl front and center "servicing" a car.  Next, they sit right in the window so that you can see them very clearly from the street:

NOTE: This is not the same Betel nut store from the other pictures.  This one is 20 feet away.  If you notice the store is nothing more than that small room.  The girls sit on the stools, wait for customers to pull up, and then run into get the amount of nuts the person has ordered. Here's Jenny running inside to fill a customer's order:

 

Don't forget to notice the look on the customer's face.  So if you want some Betel nuts, now you know to just cruise the streets of Taiwan until you see a little glass box with some whore-like girls sitting in it.  Pull up, and they will take real good care of you.

Obviously the Taiwanese have learned an unfortunate fundamental truth about humanity: sex sells.  But one things for sure: shopping for snacks is WAY MORE EXCITING here than it is in the US....