What to Bring/pack for Taiwan?

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
21

Well, I’d suggest some decent waterproof gear, as it rains a fair bit here. Umbrella’s aren’t always enough. Get a pair of Gore-tex shoes, you’ll be happy you did. Not the heavy stuff, the thin ones, I think they call the Gore-tex in them XCR or something like that. I had a pair when I moved here and used them almost every day so they got worn out, but I’m going to get a new pair once it starts raining again, as I hate having wet feet.

I’ve only ever been to Yilan once, but it looks like a nice little coastal town. They seem to have most things there, but it’s not a huge place. Luckily it’s not too far from Taipei and there are buses that goes in-between. I hope you won’t mind the 12km long tunnel though…

Have a look at my blog (link below) for links to the major grocery stores in Taiwan. It’s all in Chinese once you find the sites though, but at least it’ll give you an idea of what’s available. There should at least be a Carrefour and maybe some other of the larger supermarkets there and they all have a small selection of imported food. For other stuff you’ll have to go to Taipei, or even abroad. At least HK isn’t far and you can get most things there.

You might also want to be aware of the fact that most food here contains pork fat, as even the local bakeries use it in their bread and vegetables if quite often fried in it. The locals rather not eat beef over pork, something to do with the oxen being a farm animal that helps the farmer on the field or something and you can’t eat that…
Just a heads up, that’s all.

22

HP Brown sauce.
Your favorite Tea bags.
Decent cheese.
Marmite.
A year’s supply of baked beans.

23

If needed, mega-sized bottles of:

Multivitamins
Painkillers (aspirin, ibuprofen, paracetamol/acetaminophen)
Antacids

24

A decent sweater (because it is cool, if not cool, for month on end, indoors and out).
A roll of cash, because the job market’s not what it was.
An ipod, your dvd collection, favorite books: a refuge when culture shock strikes.

Welcome to the funny farm.

25

germolene/savlon
alka seltzer
salad cream
branston
malt vinegar
bisto gravy
custard creams or what ever your favorite bicky is
bonjela
dvd’s of your favorite soaps ( for when culture shock hits)

Getting depressed now so I am going to stop

26

Well, here DB and I disagree:

[quote]Icon wrote:
anti-diarrhea, …, cold medicine, cough syrup,

You can get those here, no prob.
[/quote]

Yes, you can, but when you need them in a hurry, better have them handy things you know from afar…

And for me, local Panadol is like water, does nothing for my headaches. I found a brand imported from Spain that works OK, but if I could have teh big guns we use back home, no migraine would beat me.

Hence the recommendation for pain killers.

Also, your stomach may need some time to adjust to the water and food, hence antaicids are reccommended. And stomach flu is part of the game… again, handy pills when you need them, realiable stuff you know worked in the past, are golden (hell, they are worth their weight in gold).

27

Malt vinegar? Marmite? You guys need this crap to survive Taiwan?

I lived in Yilan for two years and I didn’t need a single thing from home. The only thing I had to worry about was making sure my finances back home were in order (make sure you have a credit card and an ATM card from home that works internationally.)

If I rack my brains, I think the only thing that I really appreciated from back home were thick fluffy towels.

28

I got fluffy towels here but how am I meant to eat my fish and chips without vinegar. And how are you meant to cover the awful taste of bread here without marmite or ives lemon and lime marmalade? I can only survive on smelly tofu for so long until I have to bake some yorkshire puds and roast beef and then I need bisto gravy although I have run out of horseradish.

Anybody seen any horseradish anywhere? Wasabi just isn’t the same.
Then again I can’t find any decent quilted tissue or toilet paper as my nose is running and those tissues with aloe added are just super duper great.

Sorry getting off track.

29

decent toilet paper ie kleenex is available in Costco

30

Are you a wimmin? The stuff I wanted but couldn’t buy were bras; although you can buy them Taipei (um, OBVIOUSLY), European made ones are hard to find and heavily marked up. Nice tops; although there are lots of ‘fat shops’ which sell clothes above a British size 12, they are really nasty styles and cut differently (Taiwanese women tend to get fat around the arse, not the belly, and generally have wide shoulders and smaller breasts). If you dye your hair, the colours available here are not made to appeal to people with ‘western’ hair colours. And last but not least: John Frieda hair products. If you know what I’m talking about, you’ll bring a suitcaseful!

Anything else I needed, I got in Taiwan.

Oh, and a lot of the guys say that the condoms are too small in Taiwan. I never met one of these mythical beasts in Taiwan, so I got bitter and angry, but a lot of guys tell me it is so.

You’ll be fine; if you can’t find something, just do something else; no point going somewhere and then being all soft about what you can’t buy at home.

31

Well I’m not a wimmins, but aren’t tampons an awful hassle to get in Taiwan, given the local ladies prefer pads?

HG

32

Not sure about Ilan. Taipei’s fine; you can get 'em in the 7-11. If you like applicator tampons, such as Tampax, they only really have those in Tianmu or Jasons in Taipei.

OB (an American brand, good quality) everywhere.

Just a word; Taiwanese women don’t like the word ‘Super’, so in Taiwan, ‘Regular’ are huge and ‘Mini’ are regular. And there aren’t any Mini.

33

Bring a thick skin.

34

Yes. You can buy large bottles of all kinds of multivits and supplements at Costco, but you might find them cheaper back home. Boxes of baby-sized Bayer aspirins are at Costco too.

So she should bring a cow? :laughing:

Savlon is available here, along with equivalents (IBL, etc.).

Ok, sure, but just so she knows, you can write down ‘Immodium’ and hand it to any pharmacist. They’ll sell you branded Immodium at NT$10/pill in boxes, or generic at $5/pill (small grey and green capsules) if you insist on yi2li4 yi2li4de in Chinese.

Yeah, if you need strong painkillers or specific meds just ask us and we’ll tell you what is or isn’t available.

Comforts from home help cushion some from the culture shock of moving to a new place.

Costco has 'em.

There are numerous vinegars here, including white, apple cider, balsamic, balsamic fig, rice and so on.

I’ve purchased horseradish here, yes – not sure where, maybe Jason’s or Wellman’s. You can have mine if you stop by in Neihu; I’m not going to use it up.

If you have special needs of any kind, from custom orthopedic shoes to large illuminated magnifying readers, BYO (bring your own). If dark-skinned, bring makeup/bandages matching your skin tone if desired (and any other products specific to your ethnic group or personal style).

Oh, FYI, voltage is 110, US-style outlets.

The main things I would bring if I were starting over are Mexican food ingredients (annatto seed, achiote, masa harina, corn husks, a tortilla maker, CHORIZO, masa harina for tamales, various dried peppers, seeds for growning my own peppers), a ravioli tray, PeptoBismol, Tums, AlkaSeltzer, styptic pencils (alum nick fixer for shaving), a beard trimmer, saffron, Solarcaine spray, Cortaid, extra undergarments, extra shoes (I have wide feet), mosquito-bite relief applicators (something to stop the itch of a bite (ammonia-based), dispensed from a pen-like applicator), bulk vitamins, bulk aspirin in blister packs (bring all meds in blister packs if available; it’s humid here), a 3XL Arai Signet helmet (helmets run small and round here), hats (same reason), my driver’s license, my diploma, and more money, with at least a little in USD cash and the rest in large TC’s. Be sure to change some into NT at the airport.

35

[quote=“bigal”]I got fluffy towels here but how am I meant to eat my fish and chips without vinegar. And how are you meant to cover the awful taste of bread here without marmite or ives lemon and lime marmalade? I can only survive on smelly tofu for so long until I have to bake some yorkshire puds and roast beef and then I need bisto gravy although I have run out of horseradish.

Anybody seen any horseradish anywhere? Wasabi just isn’t the same.
Then again I can’t find any decent quilted tissue or toilet paper as my nose is running and those tissues with aloe added are just super duper great.

Sorry getting off track.[/quote]

City Super has all you mentioned.

36

I have a core bunch of stuff I take with me everywhere; ( a few books- about 200 - get posted) a small plastic doll, my teddy bear*, jewellery, my computer, my latest journal (back issues go with the books), and a few other sentimental bits and bobs. My clothes and a towel, and that’s me ready to go. I just replace a lot of stuff and give away what I can when I go. It’s good because you don’t get weighed down with ‘stuff’ and you don’t get too attached to owning things, or routines.

Don’t sweat over it too much; it’s natural to be apprehensive, but don’t overplan or you’ll take all the fun out of it.

  • I can’t sleep without it, OK?
37

Where can you get fluffy towels? Does it have his picture on it?

38

[quote=“british_desi”]Hi peeps,

How goes it? I’m moving to Ilan end of this month, currently am in London packing. So far I’ve packed make up, clothes and shoes and I realise I need to start being more practical as I have limited baggage allowance and I’m sure I can buy most of what I’ve packed there. I ask the humble folk of forumosa what must I not forget to pack? This can be a necessity or a want. This will be my first time in the Far East :astonished: I guess I’m taking steps to make sure my first month there is pleasant.
[/quote]

First thing first: It’s winter, and “winter” this year is unusually cold for Taiwan - it got down to 11 celsius this week. Wow.

One way to save money is to send your summer clothes (does England even have a summer? :smiley: ) by third class mail to yourself Ilan.

[quote]Your Name
General Post Office
Ilan, Taiwan[/quote]

It costs less to mail clothes than by taking them in an extra checked bag. And it’s January, so the two months it takes for third class mail to get here won’t leave you without their use.

Second, the only books you should bring are things like novels or other entertainments. Any reference or educational materials can be bought here. Novels, on the other hand, are overpriced, so if you like to read a lot, mail some to yourself with your clothes.

Third, if you don’t already own a laptop, wait to buy one here. Taiwan is a major computer manufacturer, laptops are cheap, and keyboards here have the Latin alphabet along with Chinese, but do bring a copy of your operating system CD because you won’t find one here. If you do own a laptop, carry it on the plane with you - most airlines exempt it from your carry-on baggage or weight.

Fourth, if you plan/want to bring any foodstuffs as “comfort food”, there’s one basic rule: live/active material is banned, dead/inactive material is fine. That means no meats, cheeses, canned goods, plants or seeds at all. Teas, powdered goods, and cured foods should be okay, but check with the Taiwan government and customs first. I’ve brought back dried/powdered goods from holidays and never had a problem with customs.

There’s other stuff I could say, but that’s a start.

39

You can get 2nd-hand English novels here at various outlets, no? Bongos (near Taida, Taipei), Whose (Tianmu, Taipei), etc. So if bags are already full, it might be better to make a trip to Taipei to stock up on novels if they’re not available where she’s going.

[quote]Fourth, if you plan/want to bring any foodstuffs as “comfort food”, there’s one basic rule: live/active material is banned, dead/inactive material is fine. That means no meats, cheeses, canned goods, plants or seeds at all. Teas, powdered goods, and cured foods should be okay, but check with the Taiwan government and customs first. I’ve brought back dried/powdered goods from holidays and never had a problem with customs.
[/quote]

Technically yes, but seeds are pretty easy to hid. :wink: Oh, to the OP, absolutely definitely do not even consider bringing illicit drugs in. The penalty is death. Just so you know.

40

Hmm, I’m sure the OP is now thinking, ‘Hmm, better take that kilo of coke out of my bag now: I might DIE!’.

Also freely available all over Taiwan…