I began riding in Taiwan back in 2008. Well, actually, it was a motorcycle. A sweet ride called a Yamaha RXZ (or RZX) 135cc two-stroke. A few weeks after getting Max, I got myself into an accident. I had never ridden before I came to Taiwan and the principles of centrifugal force were very new […]
Many of us wonder about traffic deaths in Taiwan; statistics are difficult to find (most of what’s reported is in Chinese). One of the only decent raw resources can be found here, and it’s from 1993. So what was Taiwan like twenty years ago? A study was done of 4,329 traffic injury reports and the […]
I hate parallel parking. It’s never been my strong-suit, though usually I can do it OK. My father, on the other hand, is like some freaky Jedi when it comes to doing this. So here’s my father’s Seven Step Guide to Parallel Parking: 1. Turn on your turn signal. 2. Pull your car parallel to […]
As I wrote yesterday, dealing with the government in Taiwan can be a little absurd. Today’s example is their motor vehicle regulations. First of all, unless you have a Resident Visa (ARC), you can not register a vehicle in Taiwan. Nobody can explain why. The funny part is, if you register a vehicle under your […]
I was driving north on WenXin Lu, Monday, August 20, 2012, at 10:45am, on my scooter. Coming off the traffic light at Daye Lu, heading towards Dalong Lu, I attempted to merge right (from the right-hand lane into the scooter lane). I felt something hit the right rear of my scooter and turned my head […]
Taiwan has a pretty significant amount of earthquakes. Most of them are pretty mild, but usually I can feel one or two each month – just enough to notice I’m not dizzy and that the room is, in fact, vibrating. But every now and then, something a little bigger comes along, and you’re faced with the […]
It has always fascinated me that a culture so aware of public perception can also be so completely self-absorbed. In Taiwan, there is a great emphasis on “saving face,” and yet, it only applies to certain facets of life. I have yet to fully grasp the concept, but I have made some observations. Generally-speaking, Taiwanese people prefer […]
Yesterday, I got to drive to-and-from Taichung City and Chungli City. It’s around a 120 kilometer (75 mile) drive, each way, and involves around an hour of highway driving and a half hour of city driving. Before leaving, I made sure to treat my windows with a generic product identical to the very famous Rain-X. […]