20 Things About Taiwan

Well, we’ve left Taiwan.

So how do we feel about it? It’s a bit of a mixed bag I guess. It was certainly wasn’t easy to say goodbye. We made some great friends in Taiwan over the last year, BUT the fact that we have just embarked on a 4 month back-packing trip gives us little time to dwell on it.

Just before we left we made a list of the top 10 things we will miss about Taiwan and the top 10 things we will NOT miss! So without further ado, I’d like to share it with you:


First, let’s start with the bad – things we won’t miss. We certainly won’t miss our job – or should I say, the assholes we worked for - but ASIDE from that…. the top 10 things we will not miss about Taiwan:

1) Pollution
2) Crowds

3) Post-dumpling indigestion
4) Pizza with mayo, squid, and kimchi on it

5) Sweet, soft bread
6) Squat toilets

7) Ice in our beer

8) Our bathroom that smelled like piss – no matter how much we cleaned it
9) Blue advertising trucks – especially the ones that drove past our house at 9am every morning
10) Sales people with mega-phones… or people with megaphones…. Or just megaphones - all by themselves – replaying the same advertisement, over and over and over and over


What will we miss? Well, a lot! I already mentioned the cheap beer place, our amazing friends and Taiwanese food, so BESIDES that… the top 10 things we WILL miss about Taiwan:


1) KTV (Karaoke)

2) Badminton
3) Scooters
4) Night Markets
5) Eating Family Style
6) Studying Chinese
7) Old ladies exercising in the park every morning
8) Pearl Milk Tea
9) Taiwanese people – always friendly and helpful
10) The silence in a public place that comes from not understanding anything people are saying

The list of positives could extend much longer than the list of negatives – we certainly had a challenging and rewarding year in Taiwan, and we will certainly look back fondly on this last year. But for now, it’s off to new adventures!