Slurpees in Taiwan
When I came to Taiwan there was two things I was deathly afraid of that the country wouldn’t be able to provide me with.
It wasn’t the quality of life I was used to, reliable internet, cheap food, language barriers or
No, what I feared most of all was the lack of slurpees and Milo.
Thankfully since arriving in Taiwan I’ve found both. Whilst I can’t enjoy Milo regularly due to the outrageous price of milk here I have been able to enjoy my regular slurpee.
7-11′s are abundant here. Imagine the 7-11 penetration of Melbourne’s CBD but on country wide scale.
That pretty much sums up the 7-11 situation in Taiwan.
Tucked away in every 7-11 here is the familiar sight of a slurpee machine. Whilst the city stores tend to have four flavours on offer, in most country towns you have to settle for two flavours.
I’ve only had Coke and grape thus far. One time I went to my local and the Coke flavour was broken so I forced to compromise. Let’s just say Grape (and any other flavour) pales in comparison to Cola.
Having said that the Coke flavour here is definitely different to what we get back home. Coke slurpees in Australia are a lot more gassy then the Taiwanese offering. The flavour here is a lot more syrupy and seems to melt awfully quick. I’d say it’s more on par with cordial then soft drink.
The slurpee cups themselves in Taiwan are similar if not identical to the sizes we get back home, right up to the ‘super’ size.
The only difference of course is the price. The smaller sizes start off at around $15 TWD (around 50c AUD) and the super size comes in at $32 TWD (around $1.10).
Oh and as an aside, if you’re like me and refuse to drink anything but the super size, be aware that the slurpee machines here are not big enough to take a super sized cup with dome.
I don’t know how this design feature was overlooked but to fill a super size cup with a dome you need to do the awkward tilt thing and rotate until the entire cup is full.
Be careful as it’s really easy to overfill this way and then you get to watch your slurpee ‘volcano’ all over the service desk as it expands while you fumble about for change.
It’s winter in Taiwan now and in the regular 20-25 degrees C weather we’ve been having I’ve been struggling to avoid having a slurpee every other day (I feel slightly less guilty having a milk tea daily).
At just over $1 AUD for the super size, come summer and the regular onslaught of 30 degree plus days I have no idea how I’m going to avoid chugging ten slurpees a day.
Western excess and Taiwan’s cheap food prices are outright dangerous.
February 2nd, 2010 at 1:19 am Yi(Quote)
Melbourne has ‘Super’ slurpees now too, it’s a new promo. the cup is 1.2 lt
February 2nd, 2010 at 2:03 am Ryan(Quote)
I was in Melbourne for Christmas and gained five kilos on Super Slurpees. Have never been able to find a suitable replica in Perth… com’on 7/11 EXPAND!!!
February 2nd, 2010 at 3:21 pm Phil(Quote)
True about the 7-11 and Family marts, basically a convenience store at every corner.
Have you discovered that they also sell alcohol 24 hours a day? That is if you are the drinking type.
February 2nd, 2010 at 3:29 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
I remember seeing the stickers for these on the machines. Some 7-11′s even had a ‘stick’ holder for the super size but I never saw a super cup the whole time I was there. It’s like the rolled out the promotion material months before they actually started selling the cups!
The large size went for $3.20 from memory, what do the super sizes go for?
You’re kidding, there’s no 7-11′s in Perth?! What the hell?
In Taiwan even if I’m in a small dinghy village I can’t scratch my balls without bumping into a 7-11, lol none in Perth.
Yes, I uh… discovered this very um…quickly upon arriving here. In Taipei I think it’s not uncommon to see people chugging down some beers outside a 7-11 before a night out.
I’ve yet to see it and I’m not game enough to stand outside by myself looking like an alco so for now I just inconspiciously head back to the apartment.
I’m not sure what’s more dangerous, cheap slurpees during the warm days or 24/7 cheap alcohol during the warm nights.
February 2nd, 2010 at 10:37 pm Yi(Quote)
surprisingly, the new mega ultra slurpee was only 60 cents more then the regular super size.
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:55 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
That’s still $3.80 though. $4 for a slurpee is pushing it, especially now that I know I can get em here for $1.10 or so.