[quote=“tigerman”]I always bring beer back with me and usually about 15 bottles of the stuff. I’ve never been checked… but if ever I was, I’d simply plead ignorance and pay the taxes.
[/quote]
Last time I came through CKS I had two bottles of brandy, two bottles of absinthe, a bottle of whisky and two or three bottles of wine. Even though I was quite prepared to pay the tax and went through the “goods to declare” exit, they just gave my stuff a glance and waved me through.
Chocolate covered Java Beans!!!
I will gladly pay NT$3000 to anyone who brings me back a carton of Newport Light cigarettes. If you want, I will also get you a date with a college cheerleader, or something of similar value.
Tomas.
CAn you explain to a non-smoker? Surely nicotine is nicotine anyway you get it?
[quote=“almas john”]Tomas.
CAn you explain to a non-smoker? Surely nicotine is nicotine anyway you get it?[/quote]
And since alcohol is alcohol, I’ll gladly trade you a case of Taiwan beer for a nice bottle of 20-year-old, single-malt Scotch!
(Seriously not meaning to be an ass, just helping a non-smoker understand. 
)
Different brands definitely have different tastes. Hell, even Marlboro Lights taste different in Taiwan than they do in the US. One of the stretegies to help people quit is to have them switch brands a few days before their quit date.
Jeff,
an ex-former smoker who’s cut way back
Tomas: Buy me a round-trip ticket and I’ll bring you, what the hell, 2 cartons!
[quote=“almas john”]Tomas.
CAn you explain to a non-smoker? Surely nicotine is nicotine anyway you get it?[/quote]
I’m not a heavy smoker. I like five or six cigarettes in a day. But I like a nice, smooth smoke, and Newports provide that. No aftertaste, no throat burning. Just a nice, smooth smoke.
As a beer drinker, surely you can differentiate between an American piss beer like Coors Light and a truly wonderful beer like Erdinger or Negra Modelo. Jeff explained it pretty well, I think.
Geez. You blokes are sophisticated! Almost European. You probably sit in them crowded cafes (you know, where there ain’t no space inside and they put chairs and tables out on the bloody street) and talk about things other than rugby and yer souped up Ford Escorts.
Of course, I rather have a good beer, but I haven’t met one that couldn’t be downed. Yeah, I’m from the “Durin’s Bane School of Drinking.”
Trojans suck. They’re as thick as a bicycle inner tube, and I don’t suggest you use one of those either.
What to bring from the US?
Dynamite, lots of it.
well here’s what i ended up buying
some magazines
a box of powerbars
some honey mustard
socks and t-shirts
sun-dried tomatoes
bottle of mondavi merlot 1999
bottle of Grey goose vodka
pair of good boots
i spent most of my money gorging on good breakfasts, good lunches and expensive, but good dinners: American, Spanish, Mexican, Cantonese (not a single one here that’s remotely good), Japanese, and REAL pizza, and good BEER (Anchor steam)
too bad about the smokes. i did see lots at ralph’s and rite-aid
Knob Creek machine guns. Oooh.
machinegunshoot.com/
machinegunshoot.com/shootinfo.htm
My brother just came back for a short vacation and he brought me some of the BEST cherries… from Costco… yumm…yumm…
oh…and those mexican candies & spicy mangos that i’ve been craving for ages… damn… I miss US already… :?
MiakaW
Maurice Bessinger’s Barbeque Sauce and Blenheim Ginger Ale.
This is some of the best I’ve ever tasted.
If you ever get over to Guam, there’s a great Jamaican restaurant there. But Sandy, South Carolina barbeque is just different!
The difference can be no more than slim. You’re talking about the difference between “excellent” “outstanding” and “beyond compare” after all. I have an Okie friend living in SF who comes over here now and again and always brings me at least a half-dozen hot sauces, BBQ sauce, rubs, and jerks. I’ve yet to taste one I haven’t liked. 
Mostly southern/southwestern US, and Central America but right now I have a bottle of bright yellow Fire Eater, a mustard-based hot sauce from as far north as Maine.
I’d be quite prepared to pay you as much as a dollar for every hot sauce, BBQ sauce or moppin’ sauce you could find that I don’t like.
I’m with you sir! You need to check out the little Vietnamese grocery next to the Chih Shan MRT station. They’ve got all kinds of Vietnamese, Indonesian and Thai hot sauces. And they serve great food too. BTW, most South Carolina bbq sauces are mustard based. 
I know this thread is a bit old, but Knob Creek is easy to find now.
I wonder how many other things in this thread have become available here in the past couple years?