Hi, Are there any westerners older than college age (no offense, kids) in Hsinchu or should I just spend the next two years commuting from Taipei City? Have been living in Danshui for two years already but am starting to miss some English-first conversation.
Thanks!!
Hey, it’s cool you posted this on here. I’ll be heading down to Hsinchu on April 22nd to visit and was hoping for someone to show me around. Maybe we could make it a group thing.
Now, can we find someone in Hsinchu to show us around. Calling anyone in Hsinchu… Please send me a PM or reply to this. I’ll make a deal with you. show me around and I’ll bring you some goodies from the E-Store.
Check Pig & Whistle or Flying Pig when in Hsinchu, surely you’ll find pale faces there.
I’m not good at social stuff, but if you need advice on practical matters, pm me.
Hello,
Once a month the Windy City Club of Hsinchu meets above the burger king close to train station. It’s a group of foreigners and Taiwanese who get together on the last Saturday of every month and talk about whatever. It’s very casual and it’s a place to meet other people who aren’t really into the “bar” scene. There are NO dues, NO commitments, and NO hassels. Here’s the website:
groups.msn.com/WindyCityClubofHsinchu
Check it out!
Have Fun,
Carlos
www.cdnmagic.zoomshare.com
Taipei Summer 2006
As an alternative, there’s a Hsinchu hash house run on the last Saturday of every month. It’s an event to meet other people who are really into the “bar” scene - just look at them 
hsinchuhash.com/
[quote=“cdnmagic”]Hello,
Once a month the Windy City Club of Hsinchu (Xinzhu) meets above the burger king close to train station. It’s a group of foreigners and Taiwanese who get together on the last Saturday of every month and talk about whatever. It’s very casual and it’s a place to meet other people who aren’t really into the “bar” scene. There are NO dues, NO commitments, and NO hassels. Here’s the website:
groups.msn.com/WindyCityClubofHsinchu
Check it out!
Have Fun,
Carlos
www.cdnmagic.zoomshare.com
Taipei Summer 2006[/quote]
Awesome, thanks Carlos. I think I’ll have to change my time to the end of the month to go down there.
Thanks a lot. The drinking I can handle, not sure about the running unless my dogs are pulling me along…lol… I checked out the website but couldn’t find anything about where and when for the next meet. Any Idea?
Ahem… Back to Westerners in Hsinchu,what’s Holland Village? Thanks
Hey Donna,
Holland Village is just an Apartment block where alot of foreigners live. I do believe there’s a school there (i think subbed once). IMO it’s not that special.
Carlos
The Hsinchu Hash? 
Unless you’re into drinking as much as possible in as short a time as possible, and giving one another really obnoxious, stupid-sounding knicknames, you should avoid the “hash” like the plague.
Mostly a bunch of drunk, loud, strange-looking, obnoxious foreign wankers. IMHO, of course.
I gave it a try, couldn’t bear the sight of a group of pathetic, middle-aged, fat, bald men (like myself) acting cool in front of the pertified locals.
Such a shame.
Stan, this thread goes to show Hsinchu has wide variety of choices for westerners. 
True mate!
I just read my post again and maybe I should clarify: What I said about the “Hash” is a personal opinion based on contact with many of the founder members and current committee member.
It was not aimed at you Tyio Ma. My sincere apologies if it came across as a criticism of your suggestion.
Cheers - Stanley
The Hash meets outside the Thai restaurant opposite the Hsinchu Royal Hotel on Guangfu Road at 2pm on the last Saturday of every month. It’s lots of fun and the people are always great to be with. It’s also the only group of foreigners I’ve met so far who get together in order to venture into the countryside. When I came here I didn’t like Taiwan at all because it’s a difficult country to discover by yourself. But with the Hash, I’ve walked through national parks, bamboo forests, and botanical gardens that I never would have found by myself. So far, I’ve yet to meet other foreigner groups who do more than sit around and talk within the cities. The drinking and quaffing is optional.
Two other places to meet foreigners in Hsinchu not mentioned so far are:
4Q2, near the Flying Pig. Loud, dark, and friendly.
The Mix, a new place behind FE21. Quiet, bright, cheery, and features comfortable sofas in the upstairs area.
Thanks Fiona. Hope to see you there this coming Saturday.
I just heard about The Mix today - I hear the breakfast is good but takes awhile 
. Their is a book exchange as well. I’ll be checking it out.
I hope you all know that Justco is closing down soon. What a pitty. It was our best supermarket.
Apparently the rent was too high - or so I was told.
Justco and the once touted “the largest mall is Asia” Windance were two of the reasons we stayed in this neighbourhood. We could walk to buy groceries everyday as we needed it.
Windance has got to be one of the biggest failures of any project I have seen around here. A huge mall, it opened at less than half full and what stores they had were a hodgepodge of crap that could be found anywhere. The large hotel that came with the place is still empty and now whatever good they did have, Piin and Justco, have closed (along with quite a few others). They have already resorted to shoe sellers in the hallways and bubblegum machines.
They obviously did little or no research and planning at all prior to starting to build - who would open a mall without ensuring you had at least some tenants and that they had a chance to succeed? I can’t imagine how they got away with it.
Usually whenever I walk by Windance I just chuckle at the ineptness of the whole thing but it’s amazing how losing a good supermarket changes everything. I’ll miss the great ham and arguably the best french bread around (it’s rare to find these “luxuries” in Hsinchu). My daughter used to like that old guy who worked in the fruit section going around yelling about the specials they had on spoilt fruit.
I predict that Windance will soon be touted as the worlds largest Pachinko parlour.
Well Rasputin and Kelake,
Just remember E-Store Taiwan and make your suggestions on products. That way you won’t be missing out on some great western food delivered to your door.
Shame about the windance, I actually enjoyed that amusement park they had on the top there. Maybe they can revive it. It worked for the TaiMall in Nankan. That place was dying fast until they opened up that sports center in B2, now it keeps a pretty good crowd.
Maybe I’ll run into you guys Saturday. If you see someone passing out E-Store cards then that’s me. Be sure to say hey.
Bye Bye Windance. I have fond memories of shopping at Jusco and roaming around the mall on rainy days. Going up to the 4F to play the big drum game and catching a flick. I knew it was only a matter of time that that place would close. Does anyone know if Jusco will move to another location?..not that it matters to me…i’ll be living in Taipei soon.
Carlos