New Taipei City – Wifi / Internet

Unless you have some great flatmates that will share their WiFi with you, best to get your own. Just pop down to your local MyPhone shop and get a pre-pay sim card that comes with data. I found that I couldn’t always hotspot to my flatmates wifi cause certain times of day/night the connections slow down – I’m guessing because the families are home and everyone is using it. Plus I had to be where they were at all times if I needed it.

Haven’t found any internet cafes but I’m guessing that is because it is so easy to get pre-paid data.

And you will need data for bus timetables, map directions and to contact people. They use Line App for most conversations rather than calling or texting.

New Taipei City – Food

The great thing about Taipei is that no matter where you live you have everything you need within about 5-10mins of home. At the bottom of our apartment block* we have two dairy’s and a toddlers english school. Across the road every morning there is the fruit and veg markets and a pharmacy. Up the road is a 7-11 (American convenience store) however they do a lot more than sell dairy items. You can pay your utilities here, withdraw foreign currency from he ATM’s and get cooked food! It really is a one stop shop.

And of course there are restaurants and street food for Africa! Unlike some other Asian countries I find that Taiwan doesn’t assault the senses with strange smells and fragrances. So when you do smell something yummy go with your instinct and try it out. A lot of the food here is fried so be careful how much you eat cause the oil isn’t always changed often.

Some of the great things I have already experienced are their bakery breads, beef noodles and their teas (bubble tea, oolong, mountain red, green tea). They also have really good Korean and Japanese restaurants, which make ordering particularly easy, as there are pictures of every dish so you know what exactly you are getting.

One thing to watch out for is the use of blood in their soups. You can identify if it does because it will look like heavy grey-brown congealed egg-whites. If you want to be on the safe side ask the waiter to make sure it has no blood.

However, all tourist must try the Taiwanese specialty dish “stinky tofu” the smell is foul but if you get it deep fried (hold your nose) its not so bad. Try it once to impress the locals.

*Moved house but pretty much a similar set up below our apartment.

New Taipei City – Getting around

Our apartment is close to the Xingshijiao station (last stop on the orange MRT line) which makes it very easy to get everywhere. Your never more than 20-30 mins from any destination that is accessible to the MRT. I suggest using the MRT as much as possible as it is clean fast and never that crowded (unlike the roads).

I have been given a push bike*(because I didn’t obtain an international drivers licence before leaving NZ), which is quite an experience. On my first week here I saw a scooter accident, so I decided to play pretty cautious about how I ride around on these busy streets. If you obey to rule of “everything bigger than you has right of way”, then you should be ok. To ride a bike from one MRT station to another takes about 10-15 mins (traffic depending) but only 2mins on MRT. Download the Taipei Bus Tracker App as well – very handy for all types of public transport.

Obviously there were some things that I needed to learn pretty quickly, like they dive on the other side of the road. So look three times before crossing. They don’t stop at pedestrian crossings, even when you have the green man, so keep an eye out as you are crossing the road (or just stay in close to the crowds) they will try weave in and around you.

Leave early and go slow. You are less likely to get trampled on if you have more time to avoid thoughtless drivers. If you on a main road and want to turn left into another street, check that it is legal to do so. Some left-hand turns require you to firstly go into a side street on your right, u-turn, then wait for a set of lights to cross over to the other side. I’m starting to get a better understanding as to why we think they do some strange manoeuvres when they are in NZ. I still get off my bike and use the pedestrian crossing if I am unsure. Better safe, than sorry.

*Stopped using this bike and shaped out for a U-Bike which is a community bike that cost you NT$10/hour to hire all around the city, so really cheap and convenient no matter where you are. The first 30mins are free and there are lots of places to pick them up and drop off/park up. They are also well maintained by the council so no need to worry about maintenance.

New Taipei City – Living

I live in Zhonghe District, which is counted as one of the districts that make up outer Taipei or New Taipei City.

There are a few 14-20 storied buildings/apartments in our area but most apartment complexes are usually only four storied and have two apartments on each level.

Our 14 story apartment block is very well situated beside the …. mountains (see picture), so we get quite sheltered from any oncoming inclement weather (so I am told); which will make my Mum and Dad worry less about Typhoons (which one will be hitting tomorrow). You can also see a massive buddhist statue in the background as well.

If you want to find an apartment to rent, I suggest that you take a Taiwanese speaking person as they do not deal with foreigners very well and English isn’t particularly well received/spoken.

Rent is about NT$31,900/month (NZ$1,420/month) for a three bedroom apartment (so about NZ$473/ room/month or NZ$327/week) and you pay one month in advance – so compared to NZ its pretty good value. Utilities are the more expensive living item, so turn everything off when not in use.

Disposing of rubbish. This is a pretty communal event. Every night from Tuesday-Saturday at 8.15pm (on the dot) the rubbish trucks park outside our complex (because we are slightly bigger than other complexes) and you bring your rubbish out to them.