I was at a loss for something to blog about before the weekend. But a topic emerged as I took some sick time off work to run some errands (I know... I'm Kevin and I'm sick).

Hsinchu's first Mister Donut opened today in Downtown Hsinchu, across from the train station. Mister Donut is a Japanese donut store, whose clever marketing apparently reduced the size of their donuts to better fit the hands of its Asian consumers. F that. I want a big donut. Since coming to Taiwan, Mister Donut has enjoyed the success of a mob effect that is Taiwanese culture. It's a completely unjustified "wow, that's a long line... must be good" reaction. Incidentally, I scootered by the train station after finishing 3 of my 4 errands, and beheld an incredible sight: the line up stemming from the new Mister Donut. My guess was in the range of 300 people, but I didn't stay around to count. People, these are just DONUTS. They are artery-clogging deep-fried dough with holes. Also keep in mind that the current temperature in Hsinchu is 30.5 degrees Celsius. Are you NUTS?! Better get some coffee with that donut, heat stroke, and heart attack. Long line ups are nothing new to grand openings... but considering the weather conditions, and given the ROI (donuts.), it just doesn't make sense. However, long queues in front of Mister Donuts are a common sight in Taipei, and I just don't get it.

[Okay, those of you with elephant memories at home may draw parallelisms to another posting from almost 2.5 years ago (sorry, the photos and video are gone). At least I made it worth my while with 2 dozen donuts... of which I ate between 15 - 18 in the following 3 days. I'm still cleansing my blood vessels to this day.]