Do we or don't we? Despite the initial good feelings about Wei-Wei's place we are far more cautious about signing a contract than we were with Martin's which came about through a combination of us running out of time and good old fashioned laziness. There are things we need to check like water pressure, bus times and journey lengths, and we are going to try and haggle a bit. All in all we end up visiting three times before finally signing on the dotted line. Wei-Wei refuses to budge on the rent but does agree to us only putting down [View Full Entry]

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Since we took the decision to move, the apartment has really become a place neither of us enjoy spending a lot of time in. I email Martin and tell him we're not going to stay. He phones up in a panic and starts offering discounts but it's too late for that. Since we moved in, the entire street has turned into one noisy construction site, rudely interrupting our lives for 13 hours each and every day. They are extending the MRT westwards, under the river, to Sanchong. Added to that is the refurbishment taking place next door and if that wasn't [View Full Entry]

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2 month update It's been two months since I arrived in Taiwan and I have to say I'm satisfied with the way things are going. I've got a good job lined up even if I haven't started it yet and we've found a new, much cheaper apartment that we're going to move to in the middle of next month. More on this another time. My visa issues appear to be resolved and I'm just waiting now to pick up my ARC. Frustrating though it is being skint, I really shouldn't complain. This Sunday we're at a bit of a loss. We're [View Full Entry]

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Not that it makes much difference to me be as I have yet to start work but it's the weekend again and we decide to head down to Xindian. Xindian is the southernmost point on the green MRT line. Even further south than Gongguan and its wonderfully crap Musum of Drinking Water. (By the way my crap museum entry has become by far my most popular blog in little over a week.) It is famous for the bitan which is a section of the Xindian river that's been dammed and turned into a recreation area. It's possible to rent pedalos there [View Full Entry]

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Substitute Teaching Sorry about the screwed up grammar in this one. It keeps removing my apostrophes for some reason. Studies have shown that after four months of unemployment the average male is pretty much ready for the scrapheap. At the four month mark self esteem and energy levels are so low that in many cases the professional stagnation is irreversible. The last day I did a stroke of work (discount the two hours at Uncle Jasons) was on June 10th back in Korea. Now even though I've not technically been looking for work for four months I've been aware of the [View Full Entry]

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Ximending Ximending (isn't that a nice word to say, go on say it again)is one of the last areas of the city we have left to explore. It's traditionally been the place to go to watch a film as it has so many cinemas. From what I've read it was hit pretty hard by the opening of the more modern cinemas and shopping malls in the east of the city so the government pedestrianised the main shopping area which has completely revitalised it. It now has over twenty cinemas and is the shopping hub of Western Taipei. It's predominately a young [View Full Entry]

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Melissa is covering Ron's classes today so I'm left to amuse myself. It's been a while since I did any sight-seeing so I pick up the Rough Guide for some inspiration. It tells me that Gongguan has a night market. Even though it's only mid-afternoon I think it might be worth checking out. It's right down in the south of the city, a part i've not been to yet. Now, when I was in Korea I noticed that they seemed to specialise in rather crap museums. I'm thinking of such yawn-inducing venues as the Geoje Fishing museum and the Jeju museum [View Full Entry]

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We get a cat I'm not an enormous fan of cats. I used to really like them, well, English cats at any rate. Then I met Melissa's cat Nica. In Korea I had a smallish flat which did me just fine. Then when Melissa moved in her cat came as part of the package. No problem I thought, cat's appreciate personal space as much as I do. We'll get along fine. Sadly this wasn't the case. Within a couple of weeks Nica's behaviour was ranking me out. She'd lie in wait for me to go for a pee in the [View Full Entry]

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We only have a few more days before we have to move out the flat. I still don't have a job so it's a risky process. I'm reluctant to commit to anywhere too far from the centre as I don't want to be lumbered with a killer commute. Melissa has found a few ads and we set up some viewings. First up is one in Nangang. This is about as far east as you can get so I'm already unenthused. The apartment is in a beautiful modern tower with a gym, pool and 24 hour security. It's got two smallish bedrooms [View Full Entry]

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Knocking on doors I've decided that the only way I'm going to find a job is by knocking on doors. With every job on Tealit receiving dozens of applications from better qualified, better looking people with North American accents I need to up my game a bit. I knock up a three page "brochure" about moi which consists of a cover letter, my cv and a letter of recommendation from my last school in Korea. I debate the merits of including the letter as it looks like a forgery but decide to throw it in anyway. Korea has hagwons, England [View Full Entry]

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