The Stupid Questions Thread

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
1

I would like to devote a thread to asking the kind of question that you should really know the answer to after a certain amount of time in Taiwan, but you have never botherd to ask/find the answers. I would like this not to become a stupid answers thread, if possible.

I’ve been here for almost a year now but I have nticed that there are some things that I should really know how to do by now, and some questions that I really should be able to answer at this point.

I will start with these…

  1. How and how often do you check the till receipt lottery tickets? After a year of being virtually forced to take one every time I buy something, I have decided to keep them instead of throwing them in the bin only to see someone trying to retreive it as i walk away.

  2. Am I an idiot??? or is there no way to do laundry in hot water in a domestic washing machine? In England, we have 2 pipes (1 hot and 1 cold) going from the wall and into the washing machine. My place here has only one…cold! The washing machine doesn’t seem to have any temerature regulation options however, it is a shitty old thing.

  3. I’ve been hearing for some time now that the classic comedy chop socky series ‘Monkey’ is regularly broadcast here. However, no one seems able to tell me on which channel and at what time it is shown. Anyone know?

2

Hi,

To answer your questions:

  1. Don’t worry too much about this. Rarely does anyone ever even win one of the lesser prizes (a few hundred NT$), although I won’t say it doesn’t happen. A person in my company once won the NT$2M grand prize. They go in 2 month cycles. If you look on the back of each receipt, you will see a table. The left most column is the timetable, for example, all receipts from Jan-Feb fall in one cycle. That corresponds to the number you’ll see on the front of the receipt near the top which tells you which cycle that particular receipt is. The middle column tells you when the drawing takes place for that cycle, then the last column tells you the time window in which you have to claim any prizes. To check the numbers after they’ve been drawn, goto:

dot.gov.tw

Unforunately, I can’t give you the exact link, because their site is down right now. Once the site is up, you’ll see a section on there that has 3 or 4 numbers that look like the number at the top of your receipt. Those are the numbers for the most recent draw. If you need the numbers for another draw, you can click there and navigate to that. I’m not sure if there is an English version, but I vaguely remember that there was. The grand prize is for matching all the numbers. There are lesser prizes for matching some of the numbers, and they go from the rightmost number, meaning you win a lesser prize if you match the last X or more numbers. I can’t remember what the minimum # of numbers you have to match to win something, but I believe it was 4 or so. You’ll have to look for the fine details, since I can’t be more detailed right now with the site down. Finally, you should check all receipts for the code and the “draw” months, because not all receipts look like the ones you normally get. Large stores or auto repair places to name a couple, sometimes give receipts printed up in their own formats, but if they have the number and draw cycle, they are eligible.

  1. Most washing machines and water taps for the washing maching in Taiwan are cold water only. If you want hot water, first, you need to install a hot water line from your water heater (if your place doesn’t already have one where the washing machine is supposed to go). Once that is done, 99% of washing machines sold in Taiwan have cold water only. You’ll either have to buy one of the ones that has both hot and cold water inputs (usually one of the imported American brands), or find one of the rare Asian brands that has 2 water inputs, of which I’ve only seen one so far (it was an expensive one with all the bells and whistles.) If you’ve decided not to purchase a machine with 2 water inputs, then you’ll have to buy a tap that has inputs for both hot and cold, and have the output of that tap goto the washing machine. Each time you want to wash, you have to adjust the temperature of the tap by hand. A third alternative, is that some of the European brands have a water heater built into the machine itself, but I’ve heard those take a long time to heat the water, not to mention that they are really expensive compared to the Asian or American brands (2-3x the price)

  2. Sorry, never heard of this show, but then again, I don’t watch much TV.

3

Washing machines here are of the 1950s type that you may have seen at your Granny’s when you were a nipper. Most stores will sell you a no-name Italian brand proper washing machine at a price that would get you a top of the range Meile or Zanussi in the UK. However, I know of someone who has one, and they are a good job. It is worth pointing out that machines in the UK only use the hot water input for the 95 degree cycle, and cannot accept hot water over 60 degrees, and your gas heater will be somewhere around 80.

My experience is that these old style machines are crap, use a lot of water, and ruin your clothes. I don’t know how they wash whites. My only guess is that the powder here is full of bleach. A white shirt which would last 10 years in the UK being washed at 60 will last about 2 years at max here washed in cold water. I have used two of the big cream coloured American machines (GEC Whirlpool) and they take hot water, and I am told do not beat the crap out of your clothes as much as the local/Japanese brands. European style machines I have seen are around NT$30,000.

4

To answer your question #1 (about the “fa1 piao4” receipt lottery): The winning numbers are announced in the Chinese newpapers on the 25th of every odd-numbered month (January, March, May, July, etc.) in the evening newspapers or the 26th of every odd month for the morning papers. For example, the next time the winning numbers will be announced will be the evening of September 25th and the morning of September 26th. But I don’t think they’re in the English newspapers. I think they’re only in the Chinese newspapers. Or you can just go to any convenience store on the evening of the 25th of an odd-numbered month, and they can tell you the winning numbers.

Every time the lucky numbers are announced, you will see four 8-digit numbers announced. The first number is special because all 8 digits must match that number in order to win the “grand prize” of 2 million NT. For the other three numbers, the more numbers that match, the more money you win. But you can only match the right-most digits, and you have to match at least three consecutive digits.

You win 200 NT if you match the last three digits, 1000 NT if you match the last four digits, 4000 NT if you match the last five digits, 10,000 NT if you match the last six digits, 40,000 NT if you match the last seven digits, and 200,000 NT if you match all eight digits of one of the three numbers.

But the chances of winning more than 200 NT are very remote. I’ve been in Taiwan for seven years, and the most I’ve ever won is 200 NT, and I’ve never heard of anyone who has ever won more than 1000 NT. Here’s the chances of winning:

200 NT: 1 in 333
1000 NT: 1 in 3333
4000 NT: 1 in 33,333
10,000 NT: 1 in 333,333
40,000 NT: 1 in 3,333,333
200,000 NT: 1 in 33,333,333

  1. How to do laundry in hot water: As soon as I moved in to the house where I live now, I called a plumber and asked him to install a hot water faucet on our balcony where our wash machine is. Since we also have a hot water heater on the same balcony, it was very easy to install, and he only charged about 500 NT. Then I adjusted the temperature on my hot water heater so that it is about 70 degrees (because if the water is more than 70 degrees, it would burn you). Since Taiwanese wash machines only have one hose (except very expensive imported wash machines), I connected the hose to the new hot water faucet instead of the old cold water faucet. But if I want to wash wool, then I have to switch the hose to the cold water faucet.
5

After having met you last Sunday at the game club I would say not. :smiley:

Seems you are as backdated in England as in Taiwan :wink: : in Germany washing machines, which are usually front loaders, have one (cold) water pipe and the machine heats the water itself (up to 95 degrees). It is true however that one program can take easily 1.5 hours.

Anyway, European type washing machines are rather rare and as such hard to find, though I am sure it’s possible. Might be expensive though.

Alternatively get a hot water supply installed or just fill the machine yourself (using a bucket) - hoping the plastic drum doesn’t melt away …

6
  1. am I an idiot??? or is there no way to do laundry in hot water in a domestic washing machine? In England, we have 2 pipes (1 hot and 1 cold) going from the wall and into the washing machine. My place here has only one…cold! The washing machine doesn’t seem to have any temerature regulation options however, it is a shitty old thing.

Answer:

  1. Put your wasing machine in the kitchen or bathroom where you have hot water.
  2. Connect it directly to the water heater (which may be in the kitchen or bathroom anyway).
  3. Call a plumer as suggested above ($$$$₤₤₤₤)
  4. Heat it up and tote it to the machine.
  5. My way: Throw it in the bathtub, let the sweat soak out, then throw it in the washing machine.

Good luck.
Bill

7

  1. The lottery isn’t as easy as it used to be (less numbers), but I still average about 200Nt a time. Most I made was 1400NT.

  2. Smother your clothes in soap and wear them whilst having a hot shower.

  3. ‘Monkey’ is the classic story ‘Journey to the West’. The oen you’re probably thinking of was the classic and funny Japanese-made (with English dubbing) series that came out in the 80s. The one they usually have on TV (all the time, just flick through the channels and there’s a 50% chance you’ll find it at any time of the day) is only a little bit funny, and all in Chinese.

Brian

8

[quote=“Sir Donald Bradman”]

  1. ‘Monkey’ is the classic story ‘Journey to the West’. The oen you’re probably thinking of was the classic and funny Japanese-made (with English dubbing) series that came out in the 80s. The one they usually have on TV (all the time, just flick through the channels and there’s a 50% chance you’ll find it at any time of the day) is only a little bit funny, and all in Chinese.

Brian[/quote]

the Chinese name is

“She You Ji”

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