There are precious few in Taipei (or anywhere else for that matter.) You guys know of any? I’m compiling a list for easy reference for notebook computer users such as myself so I don’t have to hump my freakin’ 10-tonne book bag all over Creation.
If you know of any good coffee shops or tea houses with plenty of outlets, electricity to spare and an accomodating staff by God let me know lest I lose my mind and murder some poor hapless fuzzy-headed bespeckled chap.
[quote=“Mindcrime”]If you know of any good coffee shops or tea houses with plenty of outlets, electricity to spare and an accomodating staff by God let me know lest I lose my mind and murder some poor hapless fuzzy-headed bespeckled chap.
Chris[/quote]
Hi Chris,
Best hit I’ve had so far (I’m also laboring under a weighty notebook and peripherals) was a coffee shop near Shita – I don’t have the address, but I can tell you how to get there (good luck!!):
On Hoping Road, head west from the Shita library (the round building) on that side of the road. There is a small side street on the left with a police substation on the corner – turn left and go in. There are a few coffee shops on the right hand side. The very computer-friendly one (they even pointed out ANOTHER outlet for me when I moved outside to be with a friend after using their electricity for several hours on one pot of tea!) is the farthest one on that first block, on your right. They have a table or two outside in front with crushed stone on the ground and these plants where, when you touch their leaves, they crumple up in protest. Not a very good description I know but I’ll hook by there when I get back to Taipei and get the address if you need it.
Now, I try to just carry my Palm and keyboard instead, which gets me out of the outlet wars, but it is nice to be able to do programming, for example, which I can do only with my notebook. I’ll be awaiting your list with great interest!!
Orange Cafe in Shih Lin at 302 Wen Lin Road just off the Shih Lin MRT stop. Tel: 2888-1220
Plenty of electrical outlets–even on the third floor, roof-top garden.
Good drinks and food and reasonable.
Long hours: 11am until 2am+.
Friendly staff–Joyce is the owner and best person to contact.
It has been a savior for a couple of us writers; especially as deadlines were approaching (read: past).
Cool. Got 2 new places to check out this weekend. I’ll add Terry’s coffee shop as soon I get the address. Gonna have to get out my Indiana Jones hat and whip to find it (and to cut through the miasma of pretense that generally envelopes Shi Da .) I also discovered that the Starbucks on Zhongxiao and Fuxing has an outlet on the second floor and a staff that couldn’t give a rat’s hairy hoo-ha who uses it. Duely noted and added to the list, as well.
chris,
several of the starbucks’ and baristas around taipei actually have signs up promoting some kind of computer friendliness. a few of the baristas even seem to offer internet use.
i’ll check around and note addresses and get back to you.
The coffee shop is called simply “The Shop.” I don’t know the exact address, but it’s the only such place on the relatively short Ln. 139 of Chongqing Rd., very close to Houpu Elementary School.
Unfortunately, the reason it’s very quiet is that it has very few customers, the owners having chosen a terrible location and not bothered with little details like advertising. But the place itself is quite pleasant, and the people running it are nice. At least one of them speaks English, FWIW.
For some reason Ironlady always spells the name of that university by putting an indefinite article on the end a slang word meaning “excrement,” even though it doesn’t conform to any known system of romanization.
Anyway, its seems that what people mean these days when they say “writer” is acutally “typist.” Here’s news folks - You don’t need a power outlet to operated a fountain pen! My girlfriend’s cafe has plenty of sockets. It’s OK if you are the kind of writer who is not disturbed by music. When I teach English there, they turn the volume down if I ask them to.
This spelling comes from the Wade-Giles romanization mistake (oops, system I mean!). More commonly seen as Shi-Ta, but just doesn’t provoke the humorous response that “Shita” does.
It’s been “Shita” among the foreign community for a lot of years now. Deal with it.
Another computer-friendly cafe is the Helen coffee shop on Kuanchien [Guanqian] Rd. just down from the Taipei main station. It’s on the right as you walk away south from the train station. They will even hook your notebook up to the Internet if you want, although that isn’t their main focus. Their Caesar salad is also worth checking into.
Just because people make the same mistake doesn’t mean it’s not a mistake. A large segment of the foreign community also pronounces Heping Road as the gerund form of hope. That doesn’t make it correct. Get with a programme - choose a standard - Wade-Giles, Zhuyinfuhao, Hanyu Pinyin, even the much maligned Tongyong Pinyin (
.) I also discovered that the Starbucks on Zhongxiao and Fuxing has an outlet on the second floor and a staff that couldn’t give a rat’s hairy hoo-ha who uses it. Duely noted and added to the list, as well.
