People are generally friendly and nice… at least outwardly. So there’s that. Many strangers are willing to help you pull luggage up on the train, or if you’re lost walk you to where you’re going, and your valuables are always safe if you go to the bathroom at a Starbucks. This wouldn’t be the case in an American city.
haha, funny video
Taiwan rich guys also have sometimes a so called 2nd wife (small 3 ha)
I thought taiwanese always ignored strangers in need… In the states people usually helped if it’s not too out of the way.
I also think Taiwanese also more helpful than in Japan, and many try speak Japanese and/or English to me (ha I want to speak my bad Chinese). After back from Europe last week I say hello to everyone here in KHH and too my surprise get response in various languages, this I think people are friendy here in Southern Taiwan.
Nationalized Health Care comes to mind…including dental!!
IMO most people if not all, who complain about low salary doesnt have the habit of saving money and making adjustments. They feel that if they cant afford the fanciest house, cant go to the fanciest hotel to the fanciest place in vacations, cant go abroad 10 times a year, then the salaries are too low.
My salary is pretty low and yet by saving money and making sure not to spend money on useless stuff, i was able to buy the things that would take me forever to buy in my own country. So, even on low salary, my standard of living is not so bad. There is indeed convinience in Taiwan even if we take it for granted sometimes which is normal if you live in a country for many years and get used to everything.
Yeah. Canada’s healthcare, even when it works well, doesn’t include dental which can get expensive even if you take care of your teeth
And don’t get me started on the cost of glasses
And the wait times!!!
Never an issue for me
For civil servants, extended healthcare provisions in Canada often mean very generous optical and dental coverage. For optical it meant 500CDN every two year for glasses—I have a collection of like 6 designer pairs because of that generous offering. For dental, which Canada does really well, it meant very minor payments for scaling, mouthpieces, bridges, etc. (never did the latter as I have never had a cavity or major probs). It took me 3 years to find Canada-quality dental offerings in Europe. They really do it well in Western Canada.
I am hoping by bringing up Canada contexts, our posts won’t be temped as this thread is mostly about Taiwan. To promote inclusion and diversity, I often like expanding threads with references outside of Taiwan as we have done and the thread title alludes to it, so it should be ok, but obviously some don’t. 
Yeah, they make sure they have great benefits but don’t care much about the citizens they are supposed to be serving. I have zero respect for Canada’s civil service, could possibly make excepetions for individual civil servants on a case by case basis
The fact is, for average citizens (not the priveleged classes), Taiwan is better for eyeglasses. For dental, all I’ve had here was a checkup and no complaints, but for those who don’t have generous taxpayer funded dental coverage, Taiwan is better.
It can be subjective where something goes off topic, but obviously this is ok
I’m a dental snob. In Canada, I had the head of a dental professional association doing my cleaning. They explained everything they were doing and it lasted an hour.
In France–5 minutes–I shit you not. The country founded modern dentistry and it has become totally reactionary. Only will do stuff once it becomes a problem, not preventative. In Saudi, 20 mins for cleaning–that’s it. UK ditto although if you go private, it is Canada quality and you can book for 30 min or 60 min slots.
Zenni optical has cheap glasses. Even a “terrible vision prescription” is only a US$15 up charge for the pair. They ship internationally and you just need to input your prescription — no need for a practically notarized copy like Warby Parker requires.
Being able to see is not a privilege. With my prescription in Taiwan, the lenses alone are over NT$10,000. This means even if I pick out the cheapest frames that don’t look straight up stupid and dont put any coatings on the lenses (hello smudges, glare, scratches, etc!)(not that they can even begin to offer things like blue light blocker), I’m out at least US$400 for a pair of glasses in Taiwan. That’s not because I’m from a “privileged class”. It’s because I need to be able to see. Because my vision isn’t even that bad (I can read size 9 font in a book at a normal distance from my face and I can read a menu at a fast food counter without my glasses), I can’t even imagine how much people are paying for their glasses here, cuz so many of them are literally unable to see anything without corrective lenses.
Yeah, I know you’re not a Canadian civil servant, go back and read it again, with your glasses on this time 
Yeah, my prescription, which requires special processing because one eye is so bad, plus extras, plus frames, about half that. And not even the cheapest frames.
I can’t imagine how you’ve found such an expensive place, I didn’t even shop around for these
Those are Canadian prices. Really, I’m not sure how you managed to find that here. Maybe you just rubbed the clerk the wrong way?
I like to try them on. Having been looking around at frames lately, but quite like the ones I have now. Costco had designer frames for 3000 to 4000 (edit: that was meant to be a 5), have you asked them about lens prices?
Ill just answer this last question as a response to everything you said: my prescription has always shocked optical store clerks, even in the US, though they’re polite enough to express their shock in terms of cost to make the lenses and not just say “wow your eyes are really screwed up!” Somehow, my eyes are just “different” enough that the normal stuff they use doesn’t accommodate my vision needs. Hence the prices. When I tried contacts, I had to get them custom made and one single contact (it could be used for just under a month) for the one eye was over US$100 (somehow insurance was paying for it or something. I was in high school but I know my parents weren’t throwing well over a thousand bucks at my vision accommodations per year). In Taiwan, I’ve had many optical store clerks assure me they would give me “a great price” and that the prices I was seeing for the frames was “far more than” I’d be paying…and then they’d see my prescription and become very embarrassed. It’d be one thing if it was a one-off, but this even happened when a friend took me to their aunt’s shop, so even guanxi wasn’t getting me a better price. I haven’t tried Costco, but I will consider them the next time I need new glasses.
What kind of prescription do you need that’s so expensive? Does it require fluoride lenses like those canon L series lenses? Or does it require special grinds or something?
I work online for a foreign company. Low tax, low living expenses and a non-local salary. Taiwanese food is not great but food selection here is pretty great. For the most part (except during COVID’s mask ‘red guard’ period), I have been left alone. I understand others’ desire to want to be left alone. That’s really where I’m at…then I look at the Taiwan Strait. I guess there’s no escaping being harassed, is there?
Taiwan is an inventor’s paradise. If you want to make new things fast and competitively priced there’s no better place on earth. it’s also very business friendly.
I bought glasses for myself from shoppee. I think they were shipped from china and cost 300ntd. With lenses. They look similar to expensive ones. Didn’t cause me any discomfort. Yeah they are low quality but they never break and I been using them for two years and I have dropped them, sat on them
I had the same glasses for years. I just buff them on a buffing wheel when they get scratched.