Taoyuan Nights

Someone once said, history never repeats, but it does rhyme.
Here is what happened in Tokyo and Hong Kong when their property prices zoomed in the way that Taipei’s have. I believe that in ‘house-price-relative-to-earnings’ terms, Taipei has recently exceeded the heights of these graphs.
So, dear reader, I show you a possible - indeed, […]

Let’s first take a look at the Taiwanese Government’s website about investing in Taiwan.
“Taiwan’s housing prices will rise 5-10% annually through 2010 at least, according to construction company and real estate brokerage executives speaking at a “real estate summit meeting” sponsored by the Taiwanese real estate magazine Zhu Zhan in early November. Some even […]

The Taipei Times refers to housing troubles in the north of Taiwan…
Finally, it seems like we’re there. The number of house sales is continuing to collapse (minus 15% taipei, minus 30% taichung in just one month) at what should be one of the best times of year for sales in most cultures. In other words, […]

My mum came to Taiwan for 2 weeks recently to visit me and see a little of the island.
She had a great time - all my friends were really nice to her, and helped me to show her some cool places. I saw a few new places myself, too..

Mum, Leila, Ethan, and their children, shopping […]

Presently, the Red House in Ximen district is hosting a digital art exhibition, “Openplay“, which is free for the public to visit. The artwork includes graphical, audio, video, physical and interactive exhibits. The exhibition is open until Sunday, from 2pm in the afternoon till 10pm in the evening (Saturday) or 9pm (Sunday). You can play […]

Do you have an Apple Mac or an iPod? Then this may be useful if you ever need to get it repaired.
Although there are a number of Apple stores in Taiwan, most of them do not offer a repair service themselves. Instead, they will accept your damaged Mac or iPod, and post it off […]

While walking around a buxiban area near Taipei Main Station, I came across what I think was a school, which had a giant map on the wall of the English-speaking countries of the world. As you can see, it’s quite interesting and unusual.

Map of the UK.
Today’s Lesson: The capital cities of the United Kingdom!
London, the […]

From the Taipei Times, July 31 2007:

New report paints mixed picture for housing market
By Jessie Ho and Amber Chung, Tuesday, Jul 31, 2007, Page 12
The housing market continued to boom in the second quarter as both the value and quantity of properties for sale increased, but whether the supply would be absorbed […]

Many of you will have heard of the ‘One Laptop Per Child’ $99 laptop project. I’ve had my eye on the OLPC for some time, but it was never clear that I would ever be able to actually buy one. Unfortunately (for me), the OLPC project is targetting developing countries, and is not selling to […]

Here are some thoughts I’ve been musing over for many months, since I first arrived in this country.
Point 1: Old people are screwed. Can’t get a good return from the bank on their lifelong savings, because of low interest rates. Can’t effectively invest in assets like housing and stocks (prices are sky high, since people […]