Mostly I just wanted @Gain to think I was cool.
I find it easier to make friends with English people than Taiwanese. Let’s swop!
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Jeez anything to stop the moaning for one day.
I’ve lived in Taiwan for over a year a few years ago. I’ve studied Mandarin at a school in Kaohsiung with my gf + worked at Joy School. We had the chance to meet the best people ever (both Taiwanese and foreigners)
Since then I’ve been in Taiwan 8 times and counting. Last year I even went there for the first time with my 2 sons (age 1 and 3) and we had the best time ever. We’ve attended a wedding of a good American friend, done amazing things with the kids and our Taiwanese friends, I’m still in contact with my Taiwanese friends on a daily basis, they’ve even visited me in Belgium on a few occasions.
Anyway for us Taiwan is a great place to be and we can’t wait to be back. I’ve never felt boring in Taiwan but I guess it depends on what you are looking for. Ok we’ve had some problems as well when we lived in Taiwan, things that frustrated us but overall… We loved the time there.
Christoph
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Nice story bro, but you still didn’t move back.
But seriously glad you enjoy the visits, a lot easier to be a tourist sometimes. I’m sure I would miss lots of stuff about Taiwan if I left too!
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There was a ‘mirror’ site set up by JIM (the satellite guy) some years ago! Forgot the name tho.
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Indeed there was. I was most unhappy not to be assigned a mirror username.
I got one. Whacky or whackjob, you decide.
Serious question, when did the decline start? In terms of becoming not as fun as it used to be. Everyone will probably have different answer but there has to be some overall changes in the environment that can be viewed objectively via historical hindsight.
For Taiwanese , 20 years ago when wages started stagnating.
For foreigners, when the internet became a thing and all the losers on it coud attack foreign guys anonymously. You can’t even throw a banana peel out of a car now without some busybody recording it and posting it on the internet for righteous indigination!
Also Taiwanese don’t go to bars or listen to live music or go out and party anything like they used to. The younger generation prefer staying at home or doing other stuff.
Mainly it’s the economy though , no mon, no fun (and the economic problems are largely caused by political dead ends ).
There still fun to be had but the general buzz is long gone.
Helmet law, general elections.
Not that these were, in and of themselves, bad things, but they were major precursors forecasting the end of the Deadwood/Saigon 1968 paradigm…
Is this an actual thing? There was more fun back in “the day”? I go out plenty and have loads of fun. Had one of the best nights of my life in Kaohsiung the other week in fact. Plenty of buzz.
I’m just genuinely curious. More bars back then? Any place now days that can compare? Only been here a year so it’s hard to picture something when you weren’t here
No, I’m totally bullshitting back here.
When Chen Shui-Bian as Taipei City mayor kicked out all the betelnut stands.
The eye candy was gone, and it’s never been the same since.
Picture madness and multiply that 
To be fair all of us reminisicing are into middle age by now so there is that…
I came here at the tail end of the economic boom and when Taiwan still had the rough but energetic edges.
i can totally understand that. when i was in china 10 years ago there was definitely a buzz about it. seems like a pretty different place now.
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Yep closest I felt to it since was when I visited Chengdu in Szechuan about 6 or 7 years ago . Same deal. It was because the Western region of China was the last major region to develop.
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I would much rather be in Taiwan; constantly interesting, good food, gorgeous natural beauty … mind you, I live in Winnipeg, the armpit of Canada- Winnipeg is boring as all hell. If my job weren’t super-interesting ( and lucrative) I would lose my mind. Too bad it is super stressful with ridiculous hours. I just have to make it 5 years until retirement!!! Focus Noel-san, focus.
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The problem with Taiwan is that it is boring. Like really boring. The fact that this island was isolated can be seen with ease in how most people live and deal with you.
please explain
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The ones who told me that were mostly HKers and occasionally Singaporeans.