My Chinese Mandarin speaking skills are very very basic. I can do the usual greeting/compliments routines but still have no idea how to put sentences together.
I will be travelling alone and staying in Taipei and Taichung (Wu Qui area) with some friends.
Things to do - Im sure the family Im staying with will have lots of stuff planned, but I would love to get out by myself to ‘force’ me to learn more Chinese. I have a phrasebook and electronic translator thing so hopefully that will help me out of trouble…
Keen to try out the high speed rail network and visit Tainan at some stage.
Anyone in Taichung want to meet up and share your experiences with me? My shout
I would love to go out clubbing and hope to meet some local girls too for uh… possible language exchange scenarios
Its two months away but Im already very excited. Cant wait to get back to Taiwan and soak up the atmosphere, food and lifestyle
Cheers and hope to meet some of you loonies in Taichung!
If you fancy checking out Changhua (site of Baguashan - big Buddha, 15 mins south of Taichung), or Lukang let me know and I’ll be happy to show you around. And if you can fit a jar or two of Vegemite/Marmite in your bags, then it’d be great.
10/10 and Dragon Boat Festival (May) are the only holidays between Chinese New Year and the next Chinese New Year, so you’re SOL.
I wouldn’t worry about an electric translator. I’ve survived here for two years without one, and without any Chinese. All I need now is a mime costume.
Yeah, aren’t we all. Are they ever going to finish the damned thing? Maybe you’ll have better luck next trip.
If you’re staying in Wuchi, you’ll definitely need wheels. I’m only a few minutes away. Give me a shout at some point.
[quote=“pubba”]
Also - do they have any live music venues in Taichung? Would love to check out some local bands if possible…[/quote]
My favourite place for live bands is Laonuo, which is in the Donghai Bieshu area, that is just before Donghai Uni if you come from Wuqi, Wuchi, Wuqui. The have live bands every Friday, Saturday and sometimes Sunday. The website is nuno.idv.tw/NUNO.HTM but it is all in Chinese and it is down at the moment.
They start early, normally about 8:30, and stop about 11 (neighbours). If you or anybody else from Taichung wants to go, let me know.
At this stage Im wrangling with my employer (QLD Rail) to try and have 3 weeks instead of 2 off… Wish me luck!
Cant wait to check out some live Taiwanese bands. Do you think I could take a camera into the gig so I can do some stuff for my webpage? 11.30 is an unusual finish time, thats when bands usually start here in Australia heh
I will be in touch with all 3 of you guys, thanks for your offer of help and let me know if you want anything from Australia (Have already bought a jar of vegemite!) mmmm…
You can definitely take a camera to the venue that rice_t posted about and it’s not a problem taking pics or vids at live music venues in Taiwan generally.
grooveyard was okay,it’s on the 1st floor of FROG1.
live musicwise there’s the band in my hotel,and it’s not self promotion,just an idea for you,my knowledge of live bands is limited as it’s not my scene.
post again nearer the time and we’ll sort something out
Arrive in Taipei on the 11th at about 6pm and friends family have kindly agreed to pick me up from the airport! Phew… Thats one big worry taken care of
Hope to stay in Taipei for the first week or so, and will be heading to Tainan on Saturday via train (cant wait! Love my trains!)
Then from Tainan will head to Taichung before heading back to Taipei a few days before my flight heads out on the 28th.
Now - thats the plan if I flip out, get major culture shock and/or cant find a job there…
If I find a good job/girlfriend/etc during my first few weeks there, I will change my return flight plan to include Hong Kong so I can do the paperwork for working visa there (thanks Juba and co for the advice)
My visa will (hopefully) be a 60 day visitor visa, so if nothing works out, I will stay as long as I can and investigate job options or even look into doing some studies there
Wish me luck! Hope to meet some of you weirdos when I get there
Hi team - Im finally in Taiwan. Wow that 44 days went fast after paying for my ticket…
The flight was fairly uneventful, but dammit every time I feel turbulence my mind plays out a detailed, horrifying plummet to death (ala LOST)
Was stuck next to a fat Korean guy with an afro, who insisted on clearing his nasal passages very loudly and deeply. Not just sniffle, but a full on HORRRNKKK… That got old pretty fast… But I think my low level terror didnt let me think about it too much…
Landed in Taipei in what looked like grey fog - turned out to be the famous Taipei pollution. I think last time I flew here, it was a rare clear day…
Went straight from the airport to a huge nightmarket. I have NEVER seen so many people. I guess it was Saturday night though. Have no idea where it was, but half of it was under cover, and they had a whole range of crappy sideshow games of skill - you know the sort, shoot balloons with air guns, throw ping pong balls into glasses…
Saw a beggar that was just kneeling on the ground with a stump for a hand and headbutting the road. Weird
Ate too much shitty night market food. Have to get some exercise in tomorrow, but god help me. The place Im living in (its not Banqiao after all) took ages to get to, and seemed to be in the middle of a huge rabbit warren of one way roads, cluttered streets and high rise buildings…
Feel very disjointed at this stage, and cant see that changing for a long time…
I have a mobile phone now though which is great - pm me if any kind Taipei folks feel like helping out a noob… Would really appreciate it guys…!
So… I have finally done it. Left the comfort zone and dived headfirst into a new life here in Taiwan
The couple Im staying with (my friends sister and her husband and kid) seem to have set me up with one of their lifelong friends… She was hanging around and grabbing me and paying for stuff all night…
Not sure how to deal with this yet… I guess thats the least of my worries at this stage…
Will be sticking around till Friday and then heading down to Taichung to stay with my friends parents there in Wu Qi.
God damn I nearly crapped my pants. The aircon in this room is about 50 years old and randomly kicks into overdrive, which sounds like a car has just crashed through the wall :s
Went to Yulai(?) today and went up the mountain in the 400 year old cable car. Spent most of the day walking around, had a go in a boat and nearly fell off a adventure trail rope bridge thing…
Went to a flower farm up another mountain (not sure where… I fell asleep in the car on the way there. It sounded like Shi Ding?). Had a meal there which was nice with the aroma of flowers in the (fresh!) air
Then went home via Shi Da(?) night market, where I grinned goofily at a few other foreigners, and was met with the usual vacant/annoyed look…
All in all - a great day! Got some fantastic photos
Heading off to 101 tomorrow, and Taichung on Wednesday
Have been learning heaps of Chinese, much faster than I expected too - which is great!
Went to Yulai(?) today and went up the mountain in the 400 year old cable car. Spent most of the day walking around, had a go in a boat and nearly fell off a adventure trail rope bridge thing…
Went to a flower farm up another mountain (not sure where… I fell asleep in the car on the way there. It sounded like Shi Ding?). Had a meal there which was nice with the aroma of flowers in the (fresh!) air
Then went home via Shi-Da(?) night market, where I grinned goofily at a few other foreigners, and was met with the usual vacant/annoyed look…
All in all - a great day! Got some fantastic photos
Heading off to 101 tomorrow, and Taichung on Wednesday
Have been learning heaps of Chinese, much faster than I expected too - which is great! [/quote]
the cable car in WULAI is currently the ONLY one in taiwan accepting passengers i understand. and they are building a coupla more in taipei?
its 400 years old but its a modicum of efficency compared to the one in SEOUL, which is a controlled crash everytime it gets to each end of the rope !!!
Taiwan does kinda grab you by the balls , doesnt it?? :)
and here you are all set up with a chick EVEn before you landed. NOw how do you beat that??
Except to beat THAT !
hey
Never buy anything or give money to those head-butting beggars. Most people selling gum here etc works for an organisation who gives them almost nothing of the money they earn. Some people are obviously without arms or legs, but I used to live in Hsimending and saw many of them stop shaking and headbanging once the streets got emptier.
Tommy this is the girl that they have following me around…
To be fair, she is a fantastic Chinese teacher. If I get the pronunciation right, she hollers the correct way at me until I am beaten into submission
And she doesnt let any of those annoying pretty girls get their mitts on me either - god bless her
I think in the inifinite wisdom of my Taiwanese friends, they thought we would hit it off, because hey! Im a chubby guy so why not? A match made in heaven!
Wulai was beautiful - I love the diversity of the terrain here. One minute we were in choking traffic, negotiating freeways, and the next we were winding up a mountain, looking down on small dams and lush green forests
Still not brave enough to try a scooter yet… Im amazed at the elegant way in which people weave in and out of traffic, millimetres away from certain death… Its like watching a school of fish darting in and out of a coral reef. Incredible!
I didnt realise that the beggars are part of a bigger group, but have been told early on not to give them any money…
Saw a dog get hit by a car yesterday which is still doing my head in. I miss my dogs more than anything else that I left behind in Australia… Nobody else seemed phased at all when it happened, and I think this will take a while to get accustomed to
Havent gone to 101 yet, the people im staying with just went out to a market to buy food for lunch. Hopefully will hit the town this afternoon
Are they ever going to finish the damned thing? Maybe you’ll have better luck next trip.
Have to try and fit in as much as possible in that short visit. Cant wait!
