[quote=“Bao_Lisha”](Yes, I’ve done a quick search…)
I’d like to know where in Taipei (I’ll be in the central area, studying at Shi-Da for a year from late August this year) I can get hold of the following:
A [color=#BF00FF]viola[/color] - a cheap-ish model, a 2nd-hand one or a rental instrument would be fine. I can’t bring mine with me so I’ll also want to sell it back at the end of the year. (A viola is a stringed instrument that looks like a large violin, btw )
[color=#BF00FF]Tinned/canned tomatoes[/color]. When I was living over there back in 1997/8 they were like gold dust, very hard to find and pricey. Has availability improved at all?
Decent [color=#BF00FF]wholemeal bread[/color] that isn’t sweet! I can make my own, but when most places don’t have ovens…
[color=#BF00FF]Wholemeal pasta[/color]
[color=#BF00FF]Peppermint tea[/color] and the Chinese for it. Is it ‘bohe cha’?
[color=#BF00FF]Embroidery supplies[/color]. I know where the fabric markets are as I visited those last spring when we came over, but threads and so on were more elusive. I’m going to badly miss my workbox.
The only other thing is that my [color=#80BF00]laptop[/color] has just died and we’re considering waiting to get a new one until we get to TW. I know where to get them from, but what are the prices like at the mo in TW and what’s the chance of getting English Windows included? I can get a decent HP one here in the UK for under US$500 including Windows, that’s about NT$15700 at today’s exchange rate. I can manage with Chinese, but would rather not have to and I have all the other software I need already.
Thanks in advance guys! [/quote]
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Lots of second hand instruments on the net -Yahoo Kimo - and especializwed stores -like the one on the Zhongshan-Zhongshiao Intersection, stone’s throw from Taipei Main Station. Anyway, new ones are dirt cheap.
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Organic canned, spiced canned, diced or whole canned, all kinds of canned tomatoes come and go from COSTCO -best deal pricewise, and as Dragonbones says, not bulky.
From Shida, it’s a 5 minute MRt ride and then bus maybe 10 minutes. Or direct bus like 30 minutes -does a lot of crisscrossing. Bus top is right in front. Easy as pie. Taxi should be 150 to 200 nts.
Otherwise, now in Taipei there are lots of “foreign” supermarkets -City Super, Jason’s, etc…- or good quality localized like Careefour and Takashimaya and Matsusei. Plus plenty of organic stores, to browse and compare prices to your heart’s content.
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Embroidery supplies: there are several especialized stores. I know of a biggie one in my neighborhood in Xindian, but also on Zhongshan Road and Chang An East Road intersection there is a small one that’s an institution. They have patterns and stuff. I’ve seen a few behind Taipei Main station, no biggie a worry, either.
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Whole meal bread/meal: seach for the organic stores, I gave the address of a place in Beiping east Road, for example. No biggie, not hard to find either, just find one that fits your taste.
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Mint tea is quite popular mixed with green tea. Herbal stores also carry it in bulk. High end supermarkets have the expenisve British and German brands, too.
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As to the laptop, depends on what you want. 500 nts seems a bit low, though, unless it is a netbook. Might be more expensive here, though, but we have teh latest models.
Certain brands -like Toshiba and Acer or Asus- give you a choice of Windows in English or Chinese. Getting XP instead of Vista might be more challenging.