The Funny Travel Stories Podcast · Yi Ping Bao

Why She Always Visits Local Asian Supermarkets Wherever She Travels Abroad | Monica Hsueh

January 6, 2026·20 min

Yiping Bao opens the chat by welcoming Monica Shea. Monica says she is a London-based comedian and writer, born in Taiwan, and that she has lived in London for a long time after moving there to study at 13. She jokes that she is an international citizen. Monica says she started stand-up about three years ago, and that her London show grew from a three-month residency into a six-month residency. Yiping then asks for a funny travel story. Monica turns to a six-day trip to Japan, where she was visiting a friend. When her friend gets tied up with errands, Monica takes a taxi on her own. She says she can speak Japanese well enough to get by and not go hungry. Traffic gives her and the driver time to talk, and he learns she is from Taiwan and says he loves Taiwan and xiao long bao. As they reach her friend's place, the friend comes down to pay the fare. The driver asks Monica whether she likes chocolate, then hands over a box of chocolate biscuits with the receipt and says it is for her friend. Monica and her friend are shocked, amused, and a little unsure at first about what is happening. It lands as a cute, funny example of the politeness Monica connects with Japan, and the ending points listeners to more of her stand-up journey and travel stories from Japan, Paris, and Wales in part two next Tuesday.

As heard by us

A polite taxi ride and a box of chocolate biscuits turn a Japan story into the episode's sharpest beat.

Monica's travel chat with Yiping Bao turns on a small, sticky surprise: a polite taxi driver in Japan, a box of chocolate biscuits, and the uneasy feeling that kindness might also be a sales pitch.

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Why you'd press play

A taxi ride in Japan ends with chocolate biscuits and a very polite surprise.

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