One of the challenges in Taipei is the unrelenting greyness of the place, in many parts.
I remember coming back from Hu-Alien in 2022. It felt like I was getting jammed back into the Matrix.
They also have no English Corners, like in China.
If there was a clearly signposted place outdoors where people could go to practice their English, that might help more introverted types make friends.
I guess someone could just make a portable sign, and take it with them.
Ever hear of these things called sunglasses?
I live in New Taipei City so we have a car. Especially when we first moved to Xizhi, it was essential. We couldn’t afford to buy an apartment in Taipei so started moving out and settled on Xizhi. At that time, having a car was really necessary. If I was living in the center of Taipei, I would be very tempted to do without a car.
Having a small place in Hualien now complicates things, though. As you definitely need a car in Hualien.
So I didn’t vote in your poll because it doesn’t really fit my (weird) situation.
I say stick with the Mexican farmer hat. And maybe a T-shirt with some English cuss words.
Peoples homes are lit like that too. My living room has 2 lights. I never use the super bright one, it makes everything look like shit. Thats th3 one my gf uses every time.
I almost never use the legacy lighting in my apartment. Horrendous neon tubes.
Guy
When walking, if I move and then they move, I use size and dirty look to move them back.
But more often these days, I just put myself on the right hand side of the path and then make a point of not looking at them. Check put the scenery, pull out the phone. They always notice and dodge.
Similarly, when I see that someone is about to enter a narrow space at the same time as me, I have learned that not only are they likely not looking/thinking ahead, but they are as likely as not to stop and block the narrow space. So i get there first and make them wait. Not a very Canadian thing to do, but here the style of politeness is more Chinese so I adapt
Riding is a different story. I yield for pretty much everyone
Cant vote, don’t live in Taipei.
But you’re still posting in a thread on “everyday challenges in Taipei.”
Guy
Driving in Taipei is quite confusing. Even with GPS it’s often easy to get into the wrong lane, especially at night. However, I don’t think that’s unique to Taipei.
I guess the locals navigate this challenge by being local.
There are two challenges here, the first one is “where to park”, what I do is check if there are 2 or 3 possible places where I can park before go by car. The second challenge is the price of parking lot. But comparing living in Taipei with and without a car, with a car is a game change, you can go to places where with public transportation would be a bit more difficult, specially if you have kids. But we also have GogoShare and iRent for those that don’t want to buy a car.
I think you just figure it out from doing the routes multiple times, its not based on any logic its based on memory.
The one way streets are really annoying. I went down the wrong street a few days ago and it took me so long to get back to where i wanted to be.
Not quite Taipei related, but my worst cock-up was driving from Taoyuan airport slightly tired at night aiming for freeway 1 and getting onto the overhead by mistake. You can’t get off that bugger.
Don’t mean I can’t visit.
shades on the Mitty is a poseur move, bub…
Those neons emit mercury. I found out they burn cold. I covered one up with a shirt, and it worked great as a dimmer.
What Mitty? Who is this Mitty? Walter Mitty?
I closed the poll on owning and driving a car in Taipei based on one’s specific circumstances.
Results: 72% of voters on this site think (based on their specific situations) that driving a car in Taipei is either utterly pointless or simply a bad idea.
One voter thinks driving a car in Taipei is a good idea, while three others think that doing so in the capital is utterly essential, again based on their specific situations.
@gracewang02 I hope these results are useful or of interest to you.
Guy
Why does it HAVE to be a car? I doubt majority of Taiwanese use cars if they can’t rely on public transportation, they use scooters. Parking is a million times easier with a scooter, especially if you do it illegally. Personally I’d go with those small portable electric scooters, because most distance you travel beyond MRT is often about 3 or 4km, and these electric scooters can do these distance quite easily. They fold up so you can take them onto trains.
As for dining cars, you do realize that eating and drinking is prohibited on the system right? They’d have to make exceptions for those rules first. Some stations have shops where you can transact while inside the system though, like Songjiang Nanjing. Furthermore rush hour gets extremely packed and a dining car would be a huge waste of space.
They would be more appropriate on TRA/HSR trains.
It’s getting better, but easier to have a car/scooter.