T for Taiwan
Drivers Licenses for Foreigners now last 6 years, like locals →
focustaiwan.tw
So you don’t need to renew your drivers licence every time you get a new ARC. That sounds like splendid news!
December 2011
15 posts
Kooks Restaurant in Danshui
They make some killer hamburgers! The burgers are juicy and the restaurant has a great atmosphere. Just remember to bring cash, no cards allowed :P
KOOKS restaurant/cafe
ADDRESS: 新北市淡水區仁愛街18巷12號 (500 meters from Danshui MRT)
HOURS: Everyday 12:00-22:00
TEL: 02-2625 6161
Watch this video that tells you more about the story of Kooks and the people behind it.
Discover Taipei (Free Magazine) →
english.tpedoit.taipei.gov.tw
Informative bimonthly magazine put out by the Taipei city government to keep English speakers informed about Taipei’s history, culture, customs, artistic events, and other events.
You can subscribe for NT$180 a year, pick it up around town or download it from the website.
This is the most well organized, up-to-date and complete source of interesting things to do in Taipei that I have found thus far. I am a subscriber! :D
November 2011
7 posts
Need a Sub Teacher or Want to Sub Teacher in Taiwan? (Facebook Group) →
facebook.com
Great place for English teachers in Taiwan who are looking to substitute teach or looking to find someone to sub for their class.
This group has two simple rules: no recruiters and you must post the rate of pay!
Taipei Events →
taipeievents.tumblr.com
Taipei Events is here to help. It lets you know about concerts, hiking, art exhibitions and other wonderful things happening in and around Taipei, all in English.
NOTE: I am one of the creators and writers for Taipei Events
Recommended Vegetarian Restaurants in Taipei →
veg.thejamies.com
A bilingual list of vegetarian and vegan restaurants in the Taipei area including review and website links.
NOTE: at the top of the page you can click a link to show or hide the English descriptions.
Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel: top 10 countries for 2012 →
lonelyplanet.com
Taiwan has always had a jaw-dropping landscape – oversized sea cliffs and densely forested mountains barely start to describe its majesty. And then there’s the museums,which are simply bursting with treasures (including the best of imperial China, spirited across the strait after WWII), plus a thriving folk culture that includes some wild displays of Taoist and Buddhist worship. In terms of cuisine, Taiwan is a fusion and slow-food showcase. So why is 2012 the time to visit? Because Taiwan is best seen on two wheels and in recent years the authorities have embraced the biking market with surprising enthusiasm, vision and (most importantly) funding. This year sees the linking of thousands of kilometres of paths, including two round-the-island routes, and a host of other cycling friendly infrastructure projects.
Biking is truly really amazing here. I love the beautiful paths all up and down the riverside.
Come check out Taiwan!
October 2011
29 posts
MLC: To the Point -- Evening Chinese Classes
I know you keep telling yourself you’ll study Chinese but something always comes up. Well this is a great class for those busy people who have to work in Taiwan.
These classes are focused on a specific topic every week like ‘eating at a restaurant’ or ‘talking on the telephone’. Since there’s a new topic every week it never really gets boring and if you miss a class you won’t fall behind.
These classes are quite flexible too because of the way payment works. You buy a card that’s good for 8 classes for NT$4000 (NT$500 a class). This card is good for up to 6 months from the date you purchase it. That means if you have to miss a class or two due to work commitments you aren’t wasting your money. We all know it’s sometimes just not possible to be there every week so this flexibility is really awesome for us working people.
There is no textbook to buy either! Every week the teacher gives you a photocopy of the lesson. So really all you have to do is show up and be ready to learn. There isn’t an excuse NOT to learn Chinese now is there?
I’ve really been enjoying these classes. The teacher really forces us all to speak by making us individually say vocabulary words and to say sentences out loud. This is helpful for me because I get bored if I don’t get to do anything.
Where do you study Chinese? Let me know in the comments.
What?
MLC: To the Point, Chinese classes in the evening
How much?
NT$500 per 2 hour class
You have to buy a card with 8 classes at a time
When?
Every Tuesday from 7pm - 9pm
Where?
10659台北市大安區建國南路2段231號4樓406室
Room 406, 4F, 231 Chien-Kuo South Road, Section 2, Taipei 106, Taiwan R.O.C.
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Taipei Metro (MRT) (iPhone app review) →
itunes.apple.com
Taipei Metro (MRT) app
http://rguide.info/zht/
Free app (small ads at the bottom of the screen)
This is the best Taiwan MRT application on the iPhone by far. It can find the closest MRT station to you using GPS. It is the easiest to use because it has the cleanest interface and is bilingual. Did I mention it’s free too? If you wish to pay for an upgrade, you can get offline station maps and get rid of the in-app advertisements.
Let’s go over some of the key features of this application for you.
Closest MRT station (crosshair icon)
The crosshair icon (top left) finds the closest MRT station to you by using GPS. You must have the Location Services turned on for this feature to work. It comes in really handy when you know the general area you are in but forget the name of the subway station nearby.
Search for a Station (magnifying glass icon)
Clicking the magnifying glass icon (top right) will bring up the Search screen. From here you can type either English or Chinese MRT station names to select them for your trip.
Station information (marker icon)
This feature isn’t too useful unless you can read Chinese but click the marker icon (bottom left) to see a map of the selected station. It will bring up a map of the subway station. It shows the exits and area surrounding the MRT station.
You will often find yourself using the same MRT stations over and over again so there is a feature to save your favorite stations. Double click the star quickly and it will save the currently selected station to your Favorites. If you wish to select one of your Favorite Stations as a destination, click the star once and a selection menu will be brought up. To remove a subway station from your Favorites, simply double click the star icon making sure the favorite station you wish to remove is currently selected. I recommend making the stations near your home and workplace favorite stations.
Time & Fare screen (click the Go! button)
Once you have selected your destination, click the Go! button. You are taken to the Time & Fare screen which shows you: estimated travel time, how many transfers you will need to make. My favorite part of this screen is the Show All Stations function. You can see which side of the subway the door will open. This seems like a small feature but we all know how crowded the subway gets during rush hour in Taipei. This information can save you the stress and embarrassment of trying to get to the other side of the subway car before the doors close at your destination.
I don’t often find myself using this function but for some people the Journey Planner could be very useful to some. Clicking this icon brings up a selection screen where you can choose the route algorithm the app uses to create the routes. The options are: optimal route (default), minimum transfer, last departure, earliest arrival and in operation. I won’t go over the details of all the options as they are mostly self explanatory. Play around with it if you want to find a little bit different route.
Try it out!
More information from the developers website (Chinese only).
List of Chinese Language Centers in Taiwan →
english.moe.gov.tw
The Republic of China(ROC) on Taiwan has for many years been home to numerous institutions devoted to the study of the Chinese Language. Perhaps this is one reason why the number of foreign students coming to the ROC for all levels of language study has been increasing for so long.
Studying Mandarin Chinese is a good option in Taiwan because the cost of living is cheap (apartments & food) and you can learn traditional Chinese.
Students find that in addition to being able to enjoy the benifits of language training facilities, there is a much to be learned from experiencing the blend of tradition and modernity found in Taiwan. Students can simultaneously observe traditional Chinese culture as well as enjoy the advantages of a modern, developed society. This, combined with ease of association with native speakers, is enough to make the ROC a fine Chinese language learning environment.
Check out the Chinese Language centers and try a few lessons. Your understanding of Taiwan will be on a whole different level once you learn some of the language. I currently study at one of these language centers.
These language centers are ones that are part of different universities. You can also study at a private institution or even get a Chinese tutor.
Green Apple Guava 芭樂 - my favorite fruit in Taiwan
My favorite of all these amazing fruits is the green apple guava. The Taiwanese call it by it’s name in Taiwanese, ba1la4, but write it with its Mandarin name, 芭樂 (Bā lè). It’s very confusing I know.
It’s not a very sweet fruit but it is very fragrant. It is inexpensive to buy from the market and makes a great snack. I often eat them instead of potato chips while watching movies.
Cutting Guava
- I saw the Taiwanese fruit vendors cutting it up and started copying them.
- Cut out the top stem and bottom thing
- Cut the guava in half
- Use an ice cream scooper or spoon to scoop out the seeds (some Taiwanese say they are healthy for you but I prefer the taste without the seeds).
- Put half the guava flat on the cutting board and cut it in thin slices (5 mm wide slices)
- Enjoy!
Where To Buy It
Look for a traditional market near your area. You can find them for about NT$50-100 for 5 guavas. If they are too expensive, try finding my 2nd favorite fruit, dragon fruit.
How about you, what is your favorite fruit in Taiwan?
Let me know in the comments.
Say "hi" to Taiwan! →
activity.taiwan.gov.tw
Non-Taiwanese can enter a photo in a contest. The photo must have at least one of the following elelements in it: Taiwan, hello or love. The winner gets up to NT$100,000 to visit Taiwan. That sounds like a sweet deal, eh?
I entered! Go upload your photo right now.
Good luck to all participants :D
Taipei Baboons Rugby Club - Taiwan →
facebook.com
Taipei Baboons Rugby Club is a rugby club based in Taipei, Taiwan. They regularly practice & play rugby and also watch rugby matches at The Brass Monkey.
Group description:
For past and present members of the Taipei Baboons Rugby Club. It will be also used to keep you posted on games and events planned for the season.
For more info or to join, check out their Facebook group.
Taipei Int'l Design Expo 2011, Part 2
I went to the Taipei Design Expo again today at Songshan Cultural & Creative Park. I sure seem to have bad luck though, every time I go it seems it is overrun with students.
I started by going through the Exhibition 1, ‘In Bliss’. It was the second time going through it but still interesting. There are lots of interesting exhibits in here. They range from model houses to an electric bike system to even a futuristic flying rain blocking system to divert water to where it’s needed.
Exhibition 1: ‘In Bliss’ objective:
to present design approaches that are based on people and are with good intentions (safety, usability, green, humanity).
The second exhibit I saw was Exhibition 2, ‘Trans-evolving’. This exhibition is the industrial design exhibition so it showed the evolution of the everyday objects we use everyday. I really liked this exhibition because it brought back a lot of memories from my childhood about the technology I used to use. They had iconic things like the Volkswagen bug, the iMac, the Gameboy and the Sony Walkmen. I actually felt really old walking around this exhibit. When I try to explain a Gameboy to my children they will think I am from outer space.
We skipped by the 4th Exhibition because I found it rather boring last time. It is just a bunch of photos of fancy architecture. I love architecture, don’t get me wrong, but I found this Exhibit hall was rather dull. It was amusing to see everybody crowd around the the pictures, to take pictures of it. How ‘meta’ is that, right?
Instead of the 4th Exhibition we went to the 5th Exhibition, ‘International Craft Design’. It had objects from Taiwan, USA, Japan, Korea, Denmark and France. It is beautiful inside this area but no pictures are allowed unfortunately.
We ate lunch near the lake. There are plenty of benches and picnic tables to enjoy your meal there. The cafeteria there is pretty good too.
After our meal we browsed through the ‘Design Players Exhibition’ (number 10 in your guide book). I found this area even more exciting than some of the real exhibits. This is where the 50 design studios and artists setup their own booths and showcased their designs. Most of the booths had many things for sale and allowed you to actually touch their wares. I find it more amazing to hold something in your hand and then buy it if you love it. This is the part of the Exhibition where you can buy something really neat and take it to your home to enjoy it.
I had a great time at the design expo. It was a 4 hours well spent. Hope you all have the chance to see it before it’s gone. It runs until October 30th.
For more information on the Taipei Int’l Design Expo 2011, visit their website.
