Hi everybody!
Im from Spain and im moving to Taipei next month…ill be working/living there at least the next 2 years.
I would like to know if there are any special things that i have to bring from spain…i mean…is there anything i CANT find in taiwan???..I would appreciate ur comments!
Thanks.
Hi Wyoming - you’ll save yourself a bunch of time asking about particular items, rather than asking generally what you should bring. Think of the things that you feel you need, and list them.
[quote=“Wyoming”]Hi everybody!
Im from Spain and im moving to Taipei next month…ill be working/living there at least the next 2 years.
I would like to know if there are any special things that I have to bring from spain…I mean…is there anything i CANT find in Taiwan???..I would appreciate your comments!
Thanks.[/quote]
Bienvenido!
Jamon serrano, for starters… (just kidding, but we wouldn’t mind. tell them it’s for personal use)
A good Spanish-Chinese/Chinese-Spanish dictionary (choices are limited here)
Shoes: good quality, confortable, pretty.
Mostly, you can find a lot of products from Spain, from medicine up to food and such, and mail is fast and safe in any case, so, depends on what you may want/need. As Xtrain said, make a list.
Check the forums as to specifics. For instance, large sizes in shoes and clothing.
ps.
Tal vez quiera traer su propia musica, mas actualizada, y en cristiano -lo que hay aca se tocaba en vitrola…
We should get a sticky put together on this ‘what should I bring’ topic.
If you cook a lot with saffron you’ll want to bring your own if you can get a better price on it than NT$138 per gram.
See also
viewtopic.php?f=98&t=81000&start=10
And if you’re large or have large feet, bring plenty of clothing, undies, bras, shoes, and so on.
If you’re female and like to use applicator tampons, its a good idea to bring a couple of large boxes with you. They can be night on impossible to find, although I think they still may have them some places.
Popping a stick of mitchum deodorant in for use in the hot summer months might be a plan too, the antiperspirants over here are okay, but in your first summer here it would be handy to have something a little more hardcore.
If you have blonde hair, then some camomile shampoo/conditioner, doesn’t really exist here.
And it can be a little tricky finding moisturiser without ‘whitening’ agents, so if you use it, then bring a nice big bottle with you, so that you can find your feet a little before you have to replace it.
Safe journey!
Kitkat
First of all…thanks to everybody for ur comments.
Kitkat…thanks for the tampons advice…im not a female so i dont need them, but thats the kind of things i was asking for…things that u had trouble to find there.
Icon: great! ill make sure i bring good shoes with me…what about clothe in general? Should i bring as much as i can from here or they have cheap, cool and quality clothe there?? Is not that im a fashion victim or anything like that but i like to wear ok and i want to make sure im gonna find propper clothe up there.
So…any advice?? Something like…“tshirts are ok but shirts are shitty, or they dont have good clothe for cold weather”…i dont know…any advice will be helpful and very welcome.
Dont worry Icon…traeré jamoncito de bellota y compartiré…voy a parecer Alfredo Landa en esas peliculas antiguas donde se iba a trabajar a alemania, cagado de chorizo, morcilla, etc, jajaja.
Well…thanks again to everyone!
Basic pharmaceuticals are quite costly. Bring bulk packs of generic Imodium, paracetamol and cyclizine.
A thick skin and a whole shit load of patience.
adding a lot to the dialogue there bro!
If you don’t already have one, you might want to apply for a credit card while you are still in Spain and leave some money in your account. This way you can do online shopping etc before (if) you get a card in Taiwan.
Regarding clothing: depends on your body type, I guess. People here are usually smaller and slimmer than Europeans, so if you are rather tall or rather big you might want to bring more clothing from home. Personally (I’m in the XL area) I’m able to find nice shirts at Giordano’s, but when I was trying to buy a Jacket I had a lot of trouble. Also the XL/L/M sizes are usually smaller than their counterparts in Europe or the US, so it’s good to keep that in mind. Similar for women, I think B and C would map to A and B respectively. cough
Regarding shoes: “La New” and “ASO” make comfortable shoes, I think. Size 10 or larger may be hard to find - from Bob Honest’s blog I’ve learned that you can order shoes at ASO outlets, and then pick them up after a few weeks.
Everyone’s idea of ‘proper’ is different. If you’re picky, bring your own. But this is a semi-tropical island, and cheap, cool and (less cheap) quality clothes are all widely available for petite to medium-sized people. Larger sizes can be found but the selection is more limited.
Excellent suggestion there.
Actually generic loperamide (Imodium) is NT$5/capsule at most pharmacies, which doesn’t strike me as particularly costly. 
You have to be able to ask for “yi2li4 yi2li4de, yi4ke1 wu3kuai4qian2de na4zhong3” or they will usually steer you to the pricier, higher profit margin blister pack variety – this is true of most meds. Adult aspirins are cheaper in some other countries, so it doesn’t hurt to bring a supply.
Spanish chorizo is hard to find, but the last time I checked, G&G had some. You won’t find Bomba rice here, and even Arborio is pricey, so if you’re picky about your paella, pack a bunch – but frankly, in the long run, you learn to make do with what you can get locally. It may not be perfect but it will still be good.
I once managed to get singly sold ibuprofen for a couple of nt a hit, but that was just the once, in a small family chemists. Otherwise all painkillers are a complete bloody rip-off here.
[quote=“StefanMuc”]If you don’t already have one, you might want to apply for a credit card while you are still in Spain and leave some money in your account. This way you can do online shopping etc before (if) you get a card in Taiwan.
Regarding clothing: depends on your body type, I guess. People here are usually smaller and slimmer than Europeans, so if you are rather tall or rather big you might want to bring more clothing from home. Personally (I’m in the XL area) I’m able to find nice shirts at Giordano’s, but when I was trying to buy a Jacket I had a lot of trouble. Also the XL/L/M sizes are usually smaller than their counterparts in Europe or the US, so it’s good to keep that in mind. Similar for women, I think B and C would map to A and B respectively. cough
Regarding shoes: “La New” and “ASO” make comfortable shoes, I think. Size 10 or larger may be hard to find - from Bob Honest’s blog I’ve learned that you can order shoes at ASO outlets, and then pick them up after a few weeks.[/quote]
What he said.
Shoes are especially “problematic” here, because feet also tend to be narrower… and since Spanish shoes are so good, well…
Regarding medicine, everything can be found, reasonably. But for instance, I prefer to bring cold medicine from home, as docs here are cheap and all but they tend to give too many pills. i just want something to coast me over till it’s gone. Piankillers, as they said, are not popular here… make sure you get a clear bill of health from your dentist.
bring some coke, some E…and some mull…
Holy shit. Seriously? 138 NTD per gram? Any takers or tips on places to sell saffron? I’m moving to Taiwan in a month or so.
I searched for: Saffron番紅花
I am looking for seeds, stems, flowers
Anybody selling here?