Which is the best Asian country to work/live/play?
- Taiwan
- Japan
- Korea
- Thailand
- Philippines
- Singapore
- Vietnam
- Malaysia
- China
0 voters
There is one thing I want & need to know before I commit to Taiwan 100% for the next year
I’ve been to Honk Kong, Thailand, and Malaysia. Of all of those places (and Taiwan) I would say that I would most prefer to live in Malaysia by far. The people I met there were really cool…and I absolutely love the cultural diversity, food, just about everything there. What’s keeping me in Taiwan for the time being? My $$$ saving potential.
I can save far more here than I could in probably every country that you mentioned in your poll. That’s the only reason I have stayed here for 5 years and going on one more year, to be honest. I don’t particularly like Taiwan…but I enjoy my job for the most part, I love my apartment and my friends…so, it has been easy to stay on for longer than I had origionally anticipated/planned! :s
However, my expiry date is coming up fast and I think one more year will be about all I can handle without going insane. 
Japan… sure the cost of living is higher but heck… it’s a much much nicer place to live/work/play than Taiwan
edit- having said this… i wouldnt want to live in Japan in the long run though 
2 years and I’m outta here
[quote]For every 1 good story on here about Taiwan being a great place there are 10 stories of the complete opposite.
[/quote]
Some people have more money, better jobs, cooler friends, or easier temperments.
[quote=“derek1978”]The consensus seems to be that Taiwan is:
Dirty, corrupt, unfair, & full of crazy people fixated on money with no regard for morals, etc.
For every 1 good story on here about Taiwan being a great place there are 10 stories of the complete opposite.[/quote]
Dissatisfied people tend to rant more than satisfied people. Reading those rants is hardly a scientific survey. I’ve been here 11.5 years and have no plans to leave. I disagree with most of the negative characterizations, although there is sometimes a little truth in some of them in some places at some times. Most of the people who are fixated on money are harmless – just shallow and materialistic people IMO. I feel safer walking on the streets here at night than I would in some Western cities. You can earn quite a bit here, and if you’re careful, can spend much less than in Japan, so the money you can take away with you at the end isn’t bad. I say give it a try, and if you don’t really like it, try another country next, until you feel at home somewhere. It will all be a really cool adventure. Cheers!
Have a look at International Living’s 2006 Quality of Life Index. Only Japan has a higher score than Taiwan (of the countries you mentioned, of course 
).
Hard to say. Different strokes for different folks.
I can only comment on Korea and Taiwan.
Taiwan is warm and there’s a more of a feeling of freedom there. I’d say Taiwan has better food which is quite accessible depending on where you live and the time of day. Good breakfast shops, dumplings, wonton soup, etc.
Korea seems to be friendlier in some respects like when you go to the supremarket and things like that, but the people are maybe more xenophobic in the sense that certain people are a bit offish like at work. That exists in Taiwan too though.
Korean women are a lot more approachable.
Money’s not as good as it once was in Taiwan. The money is better in Korea. Japan’s salaries have gone down too. If you want to make and save money, Korea is the place. Taiwan’s system is less forgiving as far as teaching elementary and junior high students. You get a lot of the full day shifts only teaching elementary or higher. If you want the same amount of hours in Taiwan, you better be ready to teach kindergarten. 25 hours a week without kindergarten would be good in Taiwan. Getting paid by the hour. Working evenings Other jobs want you to be there pretty much all day and the pay is small.
I’d try Taiwan out if I were you, but get a contract.
I don’t know about this. Maybe the EASY money days of yore are gone, yet some folks still make quite the living here.
I agree with Dragonbones point of view. This is my 21st year and I have no plans to leave .
I personally have found the Taiwanese to be extremely friendly and helpful throughout my stay here.
You’d have a more interesting and possibly more accurate result if you posted this poll on a general Asia message board rather than one that is based in Taiwan. I’d expect the poll result to be skewed towards the “country” most of us are presently in.
Other than that, what Dragonbones said (minus the 11.5 years and no plans to leave bit).
Mr 1978, my two penneth…
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You should let your girlfriend see what you have written on this website. My guess is she’d have serious doubts about your love for her. And maybe she might think you are just a little bit on the ‘needy’ side too.
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Just come here or don’t. Stop reading what we have said and come and live here for yourself. The difference between us and you is that we are here living our lives. You are sitting in the good ole US of A vicariously living through us.
Honestly, I’d feel for you, but what is there for me to empathize with?
Why Taiwan? Just friggin cos. Now stop yer flipflopping, strap yourself in, and feel the G’s. 
I may moan like a banshee but at the very least I am here, working and lovin’ my woman.
TomHill:
This thread had been buried for a short while. Now it has been resurrected. I posted it before a lot of new information was available to me.
I have zipped my lips for now
[quote=“derek1978”]TomHill:
This thread had been buried for a short while. Now it has been resurrected. I posted it before a lot of new information was available to me.
I have zipped my lips for now
[quote=“TomHill”][quote=“derek1978”]TomHill:
This thread had been buried for a short while. Now it has been resurrected. I posted it before a lot of new information was available to me.
I have zipped my lips for now
Great avatar! 
And best of luck to you here! 
Japan - too expensive
Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, China - salaries too low
Singapore - too restrictive & sterile
Dunno about Malaysia or Korea
No place in asia is livable really. Fun for awhile but then you come to realize how large the gap between cultures really is and how you will always be an outsider, heck how you will always want to be an outsider. And after awhile you can’t go back home without feeling like an outsider there as well.
Wanna feel what it’s like to have no roots? Come here, and stay too long.
Just my 2 cents on a shitty day like today.
Every place in Asia is liveable. At first, the exotic appeal exceeds any sense of culture shock or lack of belonging. Then the challenge and delight of learning the local language and culture take over. If you’re lucky, you fall in love with a lovely local. In the end, you settle into a comfortable niche, having successfully adapted to a new culture which you would miss entirely too much if you left. :happybiker:
That is certainly another way of looking at it. The ying to my yang as it were, or is it the other way around…? Anyway, what dragonbones said.
Bob wrote: [/quote]No place in Asia is livable really. Fun for awhile but then you come to realize how large the gap between cultures really is and how you will always be an outsider, heck how you will always want to be an outsider. And after awhile you can’t go back home without feeling like an outsider there as well.
Wanna feel what it’s like to have no roots? Come here, and stay too long.
Just my 2 cents on a shitty day like today.