It seems that customs loves to search the big nose’s packages, not to take away anything that shouldn’t be allowed in like cigarettes(they let me keep those) nor my Tylenol 8’s(650mg of Acetaminophen happy pain relief per dose) but to just see what I’m getting. They’ve searched about half my packages now 3 out of 6. My Taipei PO box had only 1 out of about a 100 hundred packages searched. The best part is that the package they are holding up is the one to help with my daughter’s colic. I was also reminded today why I don’t eat at KFC, but this place lacks decent places to eat and I’m too tired to cook.
After 8.5 years I finally own a Taiwanese driver’s license. I only had to yell at the guy for 5 minutes in order to get his boss to accept both pictures, but where I was wearing a different shirt in both. Same haircut, no facial hair, same pose, same size, but a no go because of different shirts.
So much Changhua hate! :neutral: I find this particularly worrisome as I’ll be moving there in about a month. It’s not SO bad there, is it? This is my first time in Taiwan, so I won’t know any better . . . maybe ignorance is bliss?
[quote=“nmueller”]Does anyone know about ChangHua, Taiwan? I may be teaching English there at a SHANE school. I’ve looked it up on the worldwide inter-web, but I haven’t found a lot of useful information.
Thanks![/quote]
Changhua does not yet have a HSR station, nor will it for a while. Taichung, does, and their is regular rail to Taipei.
From Hsinchu down to Changhua, it is (more or less) the industrial and manufacturing area of Taiwan.
If you have the time and money, spend a day or a weekend in the city to see it you like it. Investing a few dollars and hours of time can help you decide as much as the job interview will. I turned down a job in a different city because I didn’t like the place. (No name, because my tastes aren’t other people’s and there’s nothing wrong with the city.)
My personal favorite anecdote from my time here. We live next to a store that does good business. The clerks come over to our side and have a smoke. I don’t mind, I just told them that I don’t want to see any cigarette butts on our side and I’m cool with them smoking on our side. I told them this in Chinese. They were pretty good about the cig butts so no more was said. Then about a month later MiL, who has hated them according to my wife for using our side when no one had lived there and sometimes stored their trash and parked their cars on our “porch”, decides to lay down the law. Now when those clerks see me they run like I’m some sort of gangster looking to collect on a debt. I was really shocked, before where we would at least acknowledge and nod at each other, now they literally turn around and scram when I show up. If I thought I could get an honest answer, I would love to know what she had said to them.
The weather is way better here than in Taipei. The food still sucks. I have no friends here and I’m stuck at home with a temperamental infant.
I dare say the only thing good about Changhua was that Taichung was not far away. And the inbreds there believe that the area in front of their house belongs to them and get pissed if you park there. That land is public property my friends, but not to the inbreds in that town.
Iv thought about what is one thing good about Changhua for a long time, and honestly I still think that the only thing good is that Taichung is not far away. Well there is one other thing good, its not as bad as may liaow (or how you say it) or some other dump.
I used to pick up my GF in Changhua. Met up with her and whisk her back to TAichung (to civilization). I must admit later on there were a few nice restaurants and all.
So I’m still looking for a f/t job but everything is through an agent. My in-laws are much nicer now that I see them every other week, btw I live 100M from them, so it is quite intentional. We finally found a baby swing by ordering the damn thing online, because Dingding refuses to stock them and stores that should have them, haven’t restocked or cleaned since the 90’s. The food still sucks, I plan on trying out some Vietnamese restaurants soon, will let you know if I like it or get food poisoning.
The baby is calming down from colic, but I want a stroller to walk her around, but the question is where is a safe place that won’t drive me homicidal getting there? Changhua would be a pretty nice place if they had decent sidewalks like Hualian. I need to find the heated pool soon so I can take the baby swimming in 3.5 months.
The food is way better in changhua because they put care into preparing it. Taipei is pretty slapdash by comparison- and overpriced.
Walk around min zhu road between the YMCA franchise and the yong le jie intersection- There’s a great Kong ro stall (get the fried goose egg and mix it in with the rice), a mala chou doufu restaurant next to a little internet cafe, and by the bank down the road from mcdonalds there’s a middle-aged couple who sell really good fried blood and chicken skin. Oh yeah, and look for a hot pot place on the corner near yong le jie. I would kill my own mother for some of that right now.
It’s too bad that australian place closed down, though, because the one thing changhua can’t provide is a decent steak.
Oh yeah, there is actually a pretty good tobacconist in town- not the guy who sells whiskey across from the da da bookstore but the other one near the municipal building. Ask around and you’ll find it : )
Edit: I forgot the fried corn! If you see an old guy selling fried corn in that area you should try it. Damn it’s good.
Ohhh! I love a bit of arrogance and duplicity.[/quote]
Whatever. I just got dicked around a lot more in taipei than I did in changhua. Yeah the pay’s lower and it’s dirty, but at least in changhua they didn’t make last minute changes to my contract, advertise fake job openings to fill their backup personnel files, or send me to hong kong on a visa run without the proper paperwork.
Also, keep in mind that I was just a recent college grad having some fun. I rented one floor of a big house for 150 USD per month, kitchen and utilities included- I wasn’t trying to raise a family there or start a career, so how you feel may depend on your personal circumstances.
Life in Changhua has gotten better. I have a few jobs in Taichung and Changhua, and have picked up a few hobbies.
Thai and Filipino stores- Found one on 139甲 in Homei that is a decent Thai place has almost everything including fresh green papayas. The other is on 135 in Lugang and it sells Filipino and Thai goods and will order. I’ve ordered and gotten Mountain Dew and durian cake. I’m trying to get Mug root beer right now. I would recommend either over the one I’ve found in Dacun.
Food- Everyone that I talk to normally just cooks at home unless they are Taiwanese.
Other foreigners- pretty friendly and helpful crowd here for the most part.
Pollution- Bad, but made up by a lot of fields, which they plant flowers on in the winter.
Jobs-Few and far between, basically friends(great), agents(horrible so far), Tealit(very rarely listed and normally the same jobs)or as I found out 104.com.tw (excellent) for those who can read Chinese.
In-laws: Bearable due to me never seeing them, when I do see them I’m reminded why I don’t see them. Nice people, just culture clash.
Heated Swimming pool: Nice, hardly used, lots of old people. My baby has a bikini and I hope to take her there soon. The heated swimming pool isn’t all that heated.
Grocery stores- Avoid the foreign chains on the weekend unless you need something. The local ones smell like used kitty litter. Carrefour carries a nice selection of foreign foods and I recommend the canned spaghetti sauce. I’m going to start searching for a beef vendor in a wet market soon. Costco in Taichung is wonderful if you have a freezer and are not living hand to mouth.
I’ve had to use a lot more Chinese here and that has been a plus.
I may be offered a job in changhua county, lugang area, on the industrial park on the seaside near the hospital (west of lugang).
I would like to know what are the sport amenities in the area. I’m especially looking forward to an outdoor swimming pool.
Is there also any windsurfers in the area ? It looks like a nice spot for windsurf.
Anything else interesting to do around there, or do you always have to go to taichung or further?
The area is quite open farmland once you leave the city with a good scattering of factories everywhere. It’s great for biking and there should be an indoor swimming pool somewhere. I haven’t seen an outdoor swimming pool down here.
Which industrial park? There are 3 along the coast there all sort of interconnected. You want to stay away from the north one, been there never going back, unless wifey buys me a RC plane.
It looks great for windsurfing, but it’s nasty. We’re about 10-20 years from anywhere on the west coast be suitable for swimming, much less windsurfing. Short of Taipei, the rest of the island just dumps the sewage in the ocean.
One thing I can say about Changhua county is that birds fly upside down because there’s nothing worth shitting on.
As for other things to do:
Lugang-Visit the old town
Changhua-See a big statue of Buddha
Taichung-High speed rail, Western food, shopping
Nantou- Hiking, picturesque farms, nasty farms, mountains
[quote=“Okami”]The area is quite open farmland once you leave the city with a good scattering of factories everywhere. It’s great for biking and there should be an indoor swimming pool somewhere. I haven’t seen an outdoor swimming pool down here.
[/quote]
There’s an excellent outdoor pool at Changhua stadium - they used it for the university games last year.
Should be the southern one. With a big hospital and windmills. What’s wrong with the northern one ?
Well, Hsinchu, a bit north is famous for windsurf, so I thought it would be good too. I know the water is brownish ugly there, but it’s not that toxic (I windsurfed in Hsinchu and am still alive, as you can see). Are you really sure about the sewage being dumped in the ocean ? It’s really gross.
That’s good news.
Thanks for info. Is there also some kind of gym, with real free weights, no treadmill&machines only place ?
Thanks for info. Is there also some kind of gym, with real free weights, no treadmill&machines only place ?[/quote]
There’s supposed to be one in the same area, but I never found it. It could be hidden away upstairs or something - I’m not a gym person, so didn’t really look too hard.
There’s another gym over near Carrefour on Jinma Rd. Can’t be any clearer on directions than that, sorry.
Last quote from Frenchguy should be attributed to Cfimages.
[quote]What’s wrong with the northern one ?[/quote]The smell from all the chemical factories there. There’s also 2 power plants I believe but they are relatively clean in comparison. If you ever wanted to set up a clandestine meth lab, then the North one is the place to do it. No one would ever know the difference.
[quote]Well, Hsinchu (Xinzhu), a bit north is famous for windsurf, so I thought it would be good too. I know the water is brownish ugly there, but it’s not that toxic (I windsurfed in Hsinchu (Xinzhu) and am still alive, as you can see). Are you really sure about the sewage being dumped in the ocean ? It’s really gross.[/quote]Yes, rest of the island gets short changed on sewage treatment. It’ll be awhile before they get with the program.
Cfimages, isn’t their a Carrefour in Lugang too? For a gym with free weights get the yellow pages and ask a coworker to locate it for you. If I knew the Chinese for it, I’d do it for you, but I’m too lazy and busy to learn right now.
