Sichuan noodles 
Ahh. The motherland is strong with you. Any special recipe that you can share ?
This is a cuisine i am not that good at. i can only manage a decent hot pot from that region.
My trick tonight. Lots of chili and alcohol, cant go wrong.
I will say, using a floral chili is the truck. None of those âjust hotâ type chilis. Habanero are great.
I sat at my computer for 10 minutes trying to think how to sum up my views on Taiwan. Honestly I am at a loss to summarize here. I guess my key feeling is that Taiwanâs love/hate relationship with foreigners is not ever going to change. For the last 20 years the government has talked about opening up to foreigners and obtaining that ever elusive English proficiency. Not going to happen. The opening up Taiwan society to more foreigners has become PR talk which sounds good. I believe many locals with kids support this direction up to a point. But if you are hoping for more in-depth actions for the many items mentioned in this discussionâŠI just do not see the impetus to support any foreigners except the âhigh-earnersâ the government will need to attract to strengthen some industries. I lived in Singapore beforeâŠtalk about night and day when compared to Taiwan. But there the government could just challenge the locals to keep pace with the foreigners working there. Pissed off the locals but they realized that most of what the government said was true. If you want to be âworld-classâ you canât be scared of foreigners bringing their talents to your countryâŠeven if pushes you out of your comfort zone.
6 Likes
I make a mean gong bao ji ding.
Does TW want to be âworld classâ though, whatever that means? My impression is that many Taiwanese think TW is good enough. And itâs their country, so if they think that, then whoâs to argue that theyâre not right?
1 Like
Taiwan is and will remain forever ć·źäžć€!
And thatâs truly sad because it really doesnât have to be this way.
Taiwan has so much potential and just enjoys shooting itself in the foot.
5 Likes
Well thatâs still better than many countries.
But, I live here and I donât give a flying ratâs ass about other countries.
8 Likes
Everythingâs subjective.
A lot of people in places widely hailed as being âworld classâ will tell you theyâre not. My favorite example: SF. Itâs a total shithole.
3 Likes
I think simple logic dictates that if a person lives somewhere, they want that somewhere to be better. Based on that principle i dont understand why people would vote otherwise unless they are vengeful, or petty.
The worse i am treated, the harder i want to fight to make things better. If we dont care and let taiwan spin downwards as per the opinion of being treated bad, we are in fact shooting ourselves in foot.
1 Like
Well, 50/50 is actually already quite worrying. But even more so is that not so long ago the results of this poll would probably have been a little different
1 Like
Problem is that your âbetterâ might not be the average Taiwanese personâs âbetterâ. Or that the things you are most frustrated and disappointed by are big problems for locals.
Sounds Stockholm Syndrome-ish. Life is short and again, Taiwanese might not agree that your version of âbetterâ is actually better for them.
There are many things I love about TW and many I find absurd or even frustrating. But I think itâs presumptuous to say that if you donât feel treated well, itâs objective fact that TW is âspinning downwardsâ.
Some humility is always good.
I think the part to which @OliviaLinToo referred to as buried is the part in which it is alleged that the employer declined to provide fully protective clothing and failed to provide appropriate treatment chemicals.
It appears that that allegation was reported by Taiwan News after it surfaced on social media; this looks like the pertinent part of the Taiwan News article:
Iâm not saying that allegations of the lack of fully protective clothing and the lack of adequate treatment chemicals were buried by the media. Iâm just saying that I donât see these allegations in the original Taiwan News article cited by @OliviaLinToo (the Focus Taiwan article is apparently no longer available without a subscription, so I donât know whether it reported on allegations of the lack of fully protective clothing and of the lack of adequate treatment chemicals).*
In other words, I donât think @OliviaLinToo made the glaring mistake of which you appear to be accusing her.
*Edited to add: In the absence of the Focus Taiwan article, Iâm posting a link to the original Chinese-language CNA article:
1 Like
Iâm glad you mentioned this, probably several times now.
> âThe greatness of a nation can be judged by how it treats its weakest memberâ
1 Like
Ah, a new addition to my collection.
December 2001:
How do you long timers deal with living here?
January 2005
July 2005:
Is Racism Here the Same as Racism at Home?
September 2007:
Ok Taiwan sucks⊠so what are we gonna do about it?
January 2010:
Vindictive students - normal part of system?
December 2010:
http://tw.forumosa.com/t/tired-of-living-in-this-s***hole/62261/7
March 2012:
Will I ever manage to leave Taiwan?
July 2013:
Taiwan CANâT be that corrupt, gov complains
August 2013:
Taiwanâs Rail website is god awful
May 2017:
And in closing, a signature on the old phpbb board:
9 Likes
Good one Charlie. 
3 Likes
Maybe so many people have made comments in this vein over the years because itâs just common sense?
Life is short. Whatâs the point of continuing to go to a restaurant if you think every meal youâre served is shit?
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
You said youâve been in TW for decades. If by your standards TW falls short of being a âdevelopedâ country and thatâs what youâre looking for, why stay?
What sort of meaningful support is the average expat in TW providing that he can pull at any time while remaining in country?
If you live in TW and pay taxes, go shopping, rent or buy a home, youâre directly supporting TW. You can complain all you want but unless you have a huge amount of guanxi, what incentive do TPTB have to listen to your complaints?
Leaving if youâre unhappy is the strongest signal of disapproval that you can send to the TW government.
1 Like
Iâve had to forbid myself from responding directly to the content of the post quoted above, because I donât want to be seen as complaining about your complaining about the complainers about Taiwan. That might trigger a Complaining Singularity, or something. So Iâve fictionally removed your earlier statement from my fictional collection, with apologies. Please carry on.
As for me personally, Iâve had my ups and downs, but so far I think Iâm more or less okay here. In any case, I donât think Iâve ever reached a point where I felt my situation resembled life in the PRC:
4 Likes