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[trukesehammer]

Greetings, fellow Word Warriors!

Y'know, the excellent questions asked by Big Wally and others about coming to Taiwan got me thinking. There are just so many nit-picky variables that I wish I would have considered before setting off. Soooooo, based upon my own personal experience, the following is a list of suggestions of things you might want to bring (or buy once you get here) --stuff very few people think about... until it's too late.

1) ASPIRIN. Before your flight, go directly to WAL-MART or its cool Canadian equivalent (whose name escapes me at the moment) and grab about four bottles. You know the giant bottles of generic stuff you can get for, like, 99 cents? Believe me, you'll be glad you did. Here in Taiwan, over-the-counter painkillers are outrageously expensive and all they seem to have is PANADOL. There are about 20 in a box and the damned things cost more than 100NT (about 3 bucks US).

2) AVON SKIN-SO-SOFT. If your skin is senstive to smog and other irritants and you are worried about mosquitoes, this is the time to stock up. Taiwan's mosquitoes are just like everywhere else in the world, but there are a couple of species that will make your life especially miserable, the Xiao Heiwen (little black flies) and the Day-Biters (small black mosquitoes with white stripes --they raise HUGE welts on your skin).

3) COLORFUL CANDY. If you have a sweet tooth like I do, you'll do well to run over to the bulk candies section of your local Cost-4-Less and fill up about 9 giant plastic bags full of as much as you can afford. The stuff is almost impossible to find here and when you do encounter it, you will pay through the nose!


And now for some other weird gripes and observations...

1)What in the world do the Taiwanese have against YELLOW PEACHES? Does anybody know where I can get yellow peaches in Taiwan? I am soooooo sick of eating the damned bitter white ones!

2) Luckily, Taiwan has plenty of MOIST TOWELETTES available at most convenience stores or my favorite, WATSON'S (you can recognize the Watson's chain of drugstores by their LOUD turquoise blue coloring). Grab a giant economy size pack of these --about 10 in each pack. Then about every 30 minutes to an hour, take one out and wipe your face. Try not to get disgusted by the black soot.

3) Every once in a while, especially in notorious teen hangouts such as Xinmen Ding and the Taipei Railway Station, you're going to run across people handing out little bags of pocket tissue with advertising on them. Take as many as they'll give you because you're gonna need 'em. Most public restrooms in Taiwan are not equipped with toilet paper. Worse still, the damned toilets are those confounded squat-and-drop kind that I still haven't mastered using (without falling into or having my valuables fall into).



I HATE 'EM I HATE 'EM I HATE 'EM I HATE 'EM I HATE 'EM!

[*_*]

this is very very useful, just the kind of info we need! thanks.

regarding the toilet paper...why exactly aren't there any??

[Girl Scout]

When you buy the asprin, get at least one bottle of the PM variety. You will need it.

[Pop Fly]

I believe Canadians call Wal-Mart erm....Wal-Mart.

But great advice. also, bring bath towels. Very expensive here.

And privacy. Bring privacy. Privacy and clean water.

[DirtGuy]

A couple of packets of cold/flu medicine for day and night use would be helpful. The Taiwanese stuff is less than worthless IMHO. I only found one brand in every place I looked and even at triple the recommended dosage it did nothing for my cold symptoms.

Has anyone else experienced this?

As for the candy, I bring LOTS of leftover Halloween or Christmas or Easter chocolates depending on when I go. If you buy after the holidays, the stuff only costs a buck a pound or less. Makes great gifts and nothing like chocolate to make one feel good all over.

DirtGuy

[dangerousapple]

Who said candy is cheaper back home? There are candy markets here where you can buy bags and bags of the stuff for next to nothing (as long as it isn't Chinese New Year). Only a sucker buys candy at a supermarket here.

[Cathy OB]

trukesehammer
love your legs!
but seriously, if you're sick of bitter peaches, try the huge white ones they import from Korea; they're expensive, about NT$80, but really sweet and taste great (Hint: make sure the peaches are ripe before you eat them)

Another hint: familiarize yourself with the locations of all Mitsukoshis, Sogos, other large department stores, McDonalds, Mos Burgers and anywhere else that has western toilets and plan your routes accordingly.
When you have to use squats, don't be in a hurry. Think carefully about anything you may be carrying first; if you're wearing long pants, roll the bottoms up first; squat down and stand up slowly - works for me.
I've also noticed that there is rarely any toilet paper in public hospitals - very confusing if they ask you for a sample.

popfly
I can buy bath towels at the local supermarket for less than NT$100. Not designer labels, but they do the job. Considering you're only going to leave them behind when you leave, I wouldn't use up a lot of space in your suitcase to bring them here.

dirtguy
I've caught several rounds of colds/flu from the kids - it's hard to avoid. The first few times I went to the local clinic, and the doctor gave me some packets of different pills - they did the trick. After a while I decided taking all these pills wasn't good for my health anyway. If you can, just try plenty of rest, water, green tea, good diet, etc. (unless symptoms are serious, of course)