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The First Unofficial Chinese Kickback - Universal Shady Dealers Association poker night was all good  USDA Choice pretty much cleaned up I think we had 9 people all told, 4 from work, a few friends, and WAGs I don't think anybody lost more than 300 We played at the same place I did my one year thing Next game is scheduled for Wed 6th March
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Feb 6, 2013 09:02
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| # ? May 16, 2024 10:51 |
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If it wasn't the middle of the week, I might actually be able to show up.
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Feb 6, 2013 09:57
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Yeah, I have Chinese classes M-Th evenings, but I might just skip a day next time because I love poker and that's right about payday.
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Feb 7, 2013 09:10
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The mid-week thing is because in my experience (which is obviously universal) there is no way that 10 or so people will show up on a regular basis on a weekend despite it only happening once a month. The excuses will range from: my girlfriend, some nightclub event, my friend is in town, etc etc etc. It's just a chorefest to arrange around the myriad things that happen on weekends so, to avoid those things a school-night is easiest. We finished at 11:15, were out of the building at 11:30, and to the best of my knowledge, everyone was in work on time the next day. And yeah, we specifically picked close to payday to make it easy, and avoid that other batch of excuses.  新年快樂
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Feb 8, 2013 03:29
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Except for those of us who have class until 9PM on Wednesdays and live an hour from Taipei.
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Feb 8, 2013 08:53
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url posted:The mid-week thing is because in my experience (which is obviously universal) there is no way that 10 or so people will show up on a regular basis on a weekend despite it only happening once a month. The excuses will range from: my girlfriend, some nightclub event, my friend is in town, etc etc etc. It's just a chorefest to arrange around the myriad things that happen on weekends so, to avoid those things a school-night is easiest. What day do you get paid? I'm on the 10th and 25th so that's actually as far away as possible from payday for me. Fortunately that's the time of the month I most want to take a bunch of money from people.
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Feb 8, 2013 18:19
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Anyone know what the traffic is like today? I had a 1pm flight (which has since become a 2pm flight), so figuring that today's traffic was going to be nightmarish, I came to the airport at a pretty godawful hour. The airport was a loving zoo, too. But a couple hours later and everything seems to have calmed down. I could probably breeze through security in ten minutes with how things look right now. Still, if the roads are poo poo, I made the right call.
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Feb 9, 2013 04:19
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Spanish Matlock posted:What day do you get paid? I'm on the 10th and 25th so that's actually as far away as possible from payday for me. Fortunately that's the time of the month I most want to take a bunch of money from people. Payday is 5th for us, which afaik is p unusual for Taiwan. Most Megacorps start to process payroll on the 15th to pay out on 31st/1st/last working day of the month. That said payroll is a very specific thing to most firms. I am looking forward to taking your money.
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Feb 9, 2013 08:28
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Haraksha posted:Except for those of us who have class until 9PM on Wednesdays and live an hour from Taipei. I lolled so hard at this - sorry.
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Feb 9, 2013 08:29
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Hess pays on the 7th. If the 7th happens to be on a Saturday, they pay you on the 6th. Flew out of Taipei on Friday, 7:30am flight. Super crowded, as everyone is going back to their respective countries.
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Feb 10, 2013 04:49
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I'm in the Philippines now and holy wow it's like getting into a time machine and traveling back a hundred years. For example, my hotel almost burned down this morning because the generator exploded. Also, it's kind of funny how after living in Taiwan for so long, I get comfort from finding Chinese things. I already know the location of all the Chinese restaurants around here and look forward to trying them out.
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Feb 10, 2013 07:41
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Haraksha posted:I'm in the Philippines now and holy wow it's like getting into a time machine and traveling back a hundred years. For example, my hotel almost burned down this morning because the generator exploded. Also, it's kind of funny how after living in Taiwan for so long, I get comfort from finding Chinese things. I already know the location of all the Chinese restaurants around here and look forward to trying them out. That's funny. It was like that for me in Taiwan with Japanese things.. Or in Brazil too for that matter.
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Feb 10, 2013 15:30
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Haraksha posted:I'm in the Philippines now and holy wow it's like getting into a time machine and traveling back a hundred years. For example, my hotel almost burned down this morning because the generator exploded. Also, it's kind of funny how after living in Taiwan for so long, I get comfort from finding Chinese things. I already know the location of all the Chinese restaurants around here and look forward to trying them out. Hi, I'm posting from a farm in rural north Vietnam. I saw an ox-cart in use earlier.
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Feb 10, 2013 16:16
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I spent all my money going back to the US over the holidays so I'm going to be sitting in my apartment doing nothing for the next seven days. I'll probably have lost my mind completely by Wednesday.
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Feb 10, 2013 16:52
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Ravendas posted:Saw them there! And a few others like it. Those exact ones were 37nt, which is maybe $1.25us. There were a few others from the same company, and some others from a different company which were more like 5-8 bucks us each. Oooh, awesome. I'm not sure how or where to properly ask this, and it doesn't look like you accept PMs, but is it too much trouble to have you open up an SA Mart or maybe an eBay auction? I'll gladly take ten or so of those pens. Also, would you happen to know what those other brands are, as well?
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Feb 10, 2013 18:12
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Hey guys, I looked at the past couple pages for this but I didn't see it so if it's around and I missed it I apologize. I'm going to be visiting a friend in Taipei for about a week in May - what are some of the things that you would recommend I see/do/eat while I'm there? My Mandarin is good if thats a factor at all, but from what I hear there's enough English in Taipei you don't really need to speak Mandarin anyways, is that correct?
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Feb 10, 2013 23:56
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Not really, in my experience. You'll usually find some English speakers in banks and hospitals and stuff, especially in the downtown Taipei City area, but it's not like your average dumpling stand speaks perfect English. Anyway, have fun. I recommend Wulai.
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Feb 11, 2013 02:56
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Within the city... Visit a night market of course, my favorite one to walk around is Shida, basically the whole area of back streets between NTU and Shida is packed with neat things. If you're into art or history the National Palace Museum is pretty much mandatory. Chiang Kai Shek memorial sometimes has interesting events going on in the plaza. Oh, and Eslite bookstores are awesome. The flagship at Dunhua Nan Lu is open 24 hours. (as is the NY Bagels Cafe down the street... oh man I miss grabbing a magazine and having a late-night snack there!) Definitely use your Mandarin, the locals will love you for it!
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Feb 11, 2013 10:07
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quadrophrenic posted:Not really, in my experience. You'll usually find some English speakers in banks and hospitals and stuff, especially in the downtown Taipei City area, but it's not like your average dumpling stand speaks perfect English. Back when I first studied abroad in Taipei over a summer in uni, our teacher took us to some random shopping area, put us in pairs and told us the name of a bookstore we needed to find by asking people for directions. Me and my partner, with a year of 3 Chinese classes a week behind us, set out to complete this task. The first person we came across had no idea what we were saying and in pretty good English asked us where we wanted to go. My partner, wanting to do this thing right, said "I don't speak English" or something in German because he'd studied it for a while. The girl's face lit up and she started speaking incredibly fast and fluent German. Thankfully for the integrity of the assignment, the girl was from Germany, was visiting family in Taipei and had no idea where the place was. That said, if you decide to feign not being an English speaker don't gently caress it up.
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Feb 11, 2013 10:24
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gf lost her purse late on Friday night. Awesome!    (15K + bank cards and ID)
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Feb 11, 2013 11:15
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Ravendas posted:Hi, I'm posting from a farm in rural north Vietnam. Yes, but was the ox cart on fire and spraying sparks everywhere?
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Feb 11, 2013 12:49
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Haraksha posted:Yes, but was the ox cart on fire and spraying sparks everywhere? No, but my dinner was cooked in a pot suspended over a small fire outside.
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Feb 11, 2013 16:00
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Anyone have any experience with Kojen?
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Feb 20, 2013 18:26
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Dr. Eat posted:Anyone have any experience with Kojen? I don't have any personal experience with them, but I have heard they are one of the more hit or miss cram schools. I think they follow a 6 day work week, and have a dress code though. I've never heard of anyone staying with that company for more than a year or two.
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Feb 21, 2013 00:52
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Dr. Eat posted:Anyone have any experience with Kojen? Half my gaming group worked at Kojen, but I never asked them about it. They do have Saturday classes, I know that, and it's a rather large chain, so some schools might be great, others terrible, so take that in mind as you read reviews.
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Feb 21, 2013 04:11
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This thread reminded me that I miss the hell out of Taipei. Absolutely the coolest city in the Sinosphere. One thing I noticed last time I was there that I thought was amusing. If I go out on the town in HK (where I live), people correctly guess that I and my friends do something vaguely finance-related, because in Central that's going to be a safe bet about 95% of the time. In Taipei people guess 'English teacher' virtually without exception. I rather like that. There's probably mid-tier cities in China where the default is railroad engineer or something because some German company has been building the high-speed tracks.
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Feb 21, 2013 17:15
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[Actually never mind, I was being a whiny bitch.]
sub supau fucked around with this message at 22:01 on Feb 21, 2013 |
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Feb 21, 2013 21:57
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Beefeater1980 posted:This thread reminded me that I miss the hell out of Taipei. Absolutely the coolest city in the Sinosphere. Taiwan is full of young and educated people who often end up working at tea shops/gas stations/horrible call centers/whatever out of college that are desperate to get out of their current jobs. Even if that means working insane hours for what most foreigners would consider a pittance of a salary. You would be hard pressed to find a foreigner willing to work under those same conditions so you just don't see any foreigners in those jobs. The exceptions (generally) being: English teachers, translators, and foreign companies that do business in Taiwan and need a few of their people here. There are other exceptions of course, but they are far from the norm.
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Feb 22, 2013 02:38
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HappyHelmet posted:Taiwan is full of young and educated people who often end up working at tea shops/gas stations/horrible call centers/whatever out of college that are desperate to get out of their current jobs. Even if that means working insane hours for what most foreigners would consider a pittance of a salary. You would be hard pressed to find a foreigner willing to work under those same conditions so you just don't see any foreigners in those jobs. Then again, this may only be correct for white-collar jobs vs blue-collar jobs, I dunno.
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Feb 22, 2013 03:05
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Beefeater1980 posted:This thread reminded me that I miss the hell out of Taipei. Absolutely the coolest city in the Sinosphere.
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Feb 22, 2013 04:53
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duckfarts posted:I thought this was more along the lines of labor laws in that 1) employers have to hire from the local job pool first, and hire foreigners only if the local job pool isn't sufficient either by skillset or population, and 2) there's a minimum salary required for foreigners, which prevents foreigners from being a first pick due to cost concerns. I was under the impression the minimum pay only applied to full time teachers, but I have no idea whether that is actually the case or not. I'm not sure on your first point either. The key is that businesses in Taiwan have no need to look for outside work. Your typical job here is low pay, maybe a week and a half of vacation time a year, and a 6 day work week with 8-12 hour work days. There are plenty of Taiwanese who will do that, but I can't think of anyone back home who do anything but laugh at that kind of job.
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Feb 22, 2013 06:04
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Bloodnose posted:At the risk of starting a meaningless argument, who do you consider Taipei the coolest? Especially when you live in Hong Kong which is objectively the best city of anything everywhere so sayeth the Economist Intelligence Unit. Also thanks, you fuckers, for putting the mainlanders off of buying all their baby formula there, because now they're coming here for it. Or at least so the TV news says, which actually means there's a pretty good chance that's bullshit.
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Feb 22, 2013 06:27
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TetsuoTW posted:Also thanks, you fuckers, for putting the mainlanders off of buying all their baby formula there, because now they're coming here for it. Or at least so the TV news says, which actually means there's a pretty good chance that's bullshit. The Curse of Jimmy Lai.
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Feb 22, 2013 06:55
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HappyHelmet posted:I was under the impression the minimum pay only applied to full time teachers, but I have no idea whether that is actually the case or not. I'm not sure on your first point either. First point is that you have to show that the foreign employee has skills otherwise unavailable or in scarcity in the local job pool. This is pretty obvious for white-collar stuff like native English skills for teachers or business/technical knowledge for business, but may apply to caregivers too maybe(I'm extrapolating here). HK's cool I guess, but buncha rude people over there from my experiences whereas Taipei tends to be more laid back and friendly overall, ymmv.
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Feb 22, 2013 06:58
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I think I lodged my one complaint about Taipei before in this thread. Hong Kong is so ridiculously dense (which is apparently what made it so 'livable'), where Taipei is like the opposite. Endless sprawl forever. I think the entire island of Taiwan is actually suburbs of Taipei, right? It felt like it. To be fair I was only there for like 4 days. But it seemed like everywhere I went was at least a half hour by car. Not to mention that your city only has one skyscraper. I mean yeah it's a badass skyscraper and one of the tallest ever, but still. Just one? Get it together.
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Feb 22, 2013 07:05
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Tuntex Sky Tower is way cooler and more ominous-looking than 101 anyway.
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Feb 22, 2013 09:30
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duckfarts posted:HK's cool I guess, but buncha rude people over there from my experiences whereas Taipei tends to be more laid back and friendly overall, ymmv.
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Feb 22, 2013 10:09
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TetsuoTW posted:Hongkies  Thanks Bloodnose, I'm glad someone else agrees with me on how odd the very existence of the 101 is. It was clearly built as part of a dick-waving contest, it's not like Manhattan where the location was actually a contributing factor in making it tall since the only place to expand there is up. (Or bribe the city into creating landfill property.) No, instead it's a 101-story building in the middle of a bunch of 30/40 story buildings and it's just weird. Despite my hometown bias, I feel the skyline of Chicago for example is far superior since even though the Sears and Hancock are no longer the international giants they used to be, there's at least an actual skyline.
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Feb 22, 2013 11:07
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Not even 30-40. When I visited Taipei, I stayed with a family friend who told me "oh man you're gonna live it up here in my penthouse right next to the 101." Sweet! A penthouse! Right by the famous supertall skyscraper, I thought. Such a view I'll have! I get there, it's on the twelfth floor. My apartment in the suburbs of Hong Kong is on 43. And I didn't see any buildings around that were much taller than his. I'd like to see a list of Taipei's buildings taller than 20 floors.
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Feb 22, 2013 11:44
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If you only count occupied floors, even 101 probably wouldn't make that list.
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Feb 22, 2013 12:42
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