During my study abroad, I noticed many different things in use compared to the UK!
悠游卡 Easycards (youyouka)
In the region I was studying Chinese, they used various IC cards for paying in supermarkets, on transport, and even at vending machines!
I really loved these handy cards / keyrings as not only were there many cute themed ones (like Sanrio, Mofusand), they were just so handy to carry, as well as easy to top-up with funds.
It felt so safe to use them as I never had to pull out a bank card like I would in the UK!
Why do I find Easycards special?
Well in the UK, the only area you could find something similar to this is in London, the Oyster card. I've even heard many Londoners do not even use one as it is hard to get and expensive.
Most in the UK use their bankcards for transport and in the shops - and there is a big lack of cute collaborations with official UK government items and brands.
I found so many collaborations with cute brands and companies!
I saw post offices with collaborations with Sanrio characters! Like in the Chunghwa Post office!
Seeing all these cute collabs really made my day - I can't even recall any type of collabs in the UK
Home was never too far
I say that lightly as the flight was 16 hours - but basically in Asia, they are big fans of things like Sherlock Holmes, British 'London' clothing and I often saw keyrings on rucksacks or bags with Gromit (a dog from a popular animation called Wallace & Gromit in the UK).
I know in my last post I said I would be using my own photos but I found it hard to find any that related to what I wanted to talk about in this post - while abroad learning Chinese, I was often so focused on exploring that I missed the time to take pictures of the small things.