Over the past year, I’ve led quite an aggressive campaign at my place of work to reduce our carbon emissions, cut our bills, and spend the resulting savings on people rather than things. We’ve had quite a success, which was borne out again when we just got the most recent bills for our electricity. In…
Last week, I was tidying up my drawers and junk, when I found one of my cheap silver rings that I bought a few years ago. I can only wear rings in the winter in Taiwan because the heat in the summer makes my fingers swell slightly. The metal then chafes my skin, and gives…
In the midst of the financial crisis, I started watching the TV show House of Cards from CNBC which investigated how the whole thing started, who was involved on either side of the deal, and what happened to the money. This car was rented by one of the guys, Daniel Sadek, who bankrolled the movie…
With Chinese New Year approaching, our NT$3600 coupons in our pocket… lots of people are now getting ready for the New Year. This usually involves buying new cars, houses, furniture, clothes, etc.. It can be a pretty expensive time of year, but this time the economic impact of idle workers, factories closing, and cut bonuses…
We’ve used the HP LaserJet printer (series model 1020) for about 2 years now, and it’s really proved to be a very reliable (if expensive) laserjet. It costs about 88c to print a page and the cartridges don’t seem to last forever. In fact, with the regular pounding we’re giving our machine, we’re averaging one…
If you are considering updating your dvd player, you can really choose between two different routes: buying a cheaper machine at about US$100 ~ 200 per unit or choosing a more expensive playstation 3 which can provide additional features such as playing games, play Blu-Ray discs, and even full OS (under Linux) can be installed…
Prices in the local real estate market are volatile in Taiwan. We just wandered through the East District where property seems to be ‘on sale’ at $1,000,000 per PING… in the South, you can almost buy a house for that! I don’t know who can afford property that is so expensive. I can perhaps figure…
What are you wearing? Why on earth anyone would be buying swimwear in October is beyond me? Except if you live in Taiwan. Temperatures this October are an enviable 28C in the daytime, and it’s sunny and dry. While local people aren’t going swimming right now (they think it’s too cold – winter is coming…
Would that I had money for good luggage like Rimowa! Most of the time when I travel alone, I simply opt for one bag or small rucksack that I can sling over my shoulders or stow in the overheads on the airplane. I absolutely hate checking-in luggage as it means hanging around for at least…