Photos from Taipei, Taiwan

[MarkShot]

This afternoon's trip is to Chung Hwa Telecom to discuss:  landline, broadband, mobile, and cable TV.  I've been preparing the notes this morning, since my wife will conduct the meeting, but she knows nothing about technology.

[LongBlade]

Sounds like you'll have an interesting afternoon. Let us know how that goes.

[MarkShot]

Not much to tell.  We spent two hours at the store; mainly to understand all the options as we are new here.

We'll have landline and broadband installed Wednesday morning.  20Mbps service.  They do have 100Mbps, but the apartment is too far from the node.

Cell/Mobile - we are going to wait until the iPhone5 is released here before ordering.

Cable TV - we'll be going with a different provider.  But we don't a TV at the moment, and as long as we broadband we can use US based services as I subscribed to a VPN service which makes it look like we are actually in the USA.  So, we can do Netflix and VUDU initially.

[MarkShot]

Project for today is learning how to write my own name freehand and not using a PC or iPad:

梁馬克

This will be useful in all types of situations.  My wife showed me a very good site the other day that has a JAVA applet that shows the brush stroke sequences to write any character.

[MarkShot]

I just came back to the hotel from shopping; burned out.  My wife and her friend are still at it.  Today's trip was for major appliances like washer/dryer, refrigerator, ...

It brings back memories of what shopping in the USA was like 20 years ago.  If I was in the USA, I would do this all online.  Go to manufacturer sites, get reviews, and search for best retail and online price.  Or you go into a store scan the item's bar code with your phone, and instantly know all the best local and online pricing.

Here in Taipei, you go from one speciality shop to the next.  In some cases, it is somewhat easier than it was in the USA as there is a computer/electronics district, furniture district, ...  Still it is a lot more tiring than the USA.

Also, unlike the USA, in most Chinese societies nothing is a fixed price despite the tags or size of the store.  So, every purchase whether big or small involves haggling.  So, if you buy more than one item, you should get a combined discount.  Or they tell you they will give the employee discount.  Or some other discount.  They emphasize how good it is by asking you not to repeat what they have done for you to anyone else, since they would get in trouble if more customers came in asking for the same pricing.  Of course, this is insane, since it is repeated over and over again, but that's how it is done.

I definitely need more practice at this.  30 years ago part of the problem was that they would let a foreigner walk out rather than drop the price, because they believe you have the money.  So, 30 years ago, I had a local friend buy a motorcycle for me.  These days, they are much more used to foreigners here.  So, you can bargain if you know the dance.

My mother-in-law in Macau (not Taiwan) is a really good bargainer.  I've gone shopping with her numerous times to the local market.  She buys vegetables at the same street stalls everyday for 40+ years.  So, customer and vendor know each other well.  Still she picks up a bundle of some vegetable and comments on how wilted it looks and not being worth the money.  And over a bundle of spinach, she and the merchant will do the dance ... everyday.

[MarkShot]

Another frustration ... I am used to buying stuff in the USA where a manual can have 5 different languages (however, usually not Chinese).  Here I buy stuff and there is just Chinese.

I am pre-charging a set of Panasonic phones we bought.  The manual is only in Chinese.  A product search does not find the same model sold in the USA or HK where English spoken.  Of course, it might be sold under a different model number.

In any case, I know NiCD batteries need 7-8 hour charge before first use.  I tried to play around with the Chinese menu structure to switch to English, but I was having trouble navigating.  I can recognize the words for:

語言 - language

and

英文 - English

but after pressing a lot of buttons, I didn't see either.  Oh, well ...  (We did have the salesman show us in the store that it can be switched to English.)

[MarkShot]

These days I am doing a lot of email with my wife's friends in Chinese (and me also writing English).

I just learned a great slang expression in Cantonese:

雞同鴨講 - literally "chicken with duck talk" ... a chicken talking to a duck

But basically saying "what we have here is a failure to communicate" if any of you remember the movie with Paul Newman, "Cool Hand Luke".

I am definitely going to remember this one as I know it will come in handy down the line!  :)

[Staggerwing]

You should put it in your sig!

[MarkShot]

Well, today, I got to find out how things work in one of Taiwan's largest hospitals when you are own.  I basically had a consultation with my new family doctor.  I was looking for a doctor who is comfortable with English and would follow my situation if I was to be hospitalized (which for me the chances are high).  However, I did find out that unlike the USA, even if your family doctor has admitting priviledges, he/she is often not consulted by whatever specialist checked you in.  Still if I feel there is an issue or communication problem, I can ask my family doctor to intercede.

My wife originally accompanied me, but the doctor was running late.  She, herself, was also there to meet her new retinal specialist.  So, all of a sudden, I am on my own needing perscriptions from the hospital pharmacy, pay my bill, blood work, vacination, a follow up appointment, and a cardiology referal.  All these things happen different places and require first getting a number and following a procedure.  So, I thought I would be pretty much screwed.

But instead, I got my very own personal nurse.  She literally walked me through most of this going to different places in the hospital.  Once again, the level of assistance and help of the Taiwanese to strangers is beyond description.

Even though, I still have a long way to go on my Mandarin, I feel reasonably secure here if left on my own.  Also, I find that like 30 years ago, I pick up much faster when my wife is not around.  I learned to say today, "I suffer from heart disease.  I am on blood thinner.  So, I am an easy bleeder."  Very useful stuff when you are in a hospital.

I, also, found out from the doctor that blood thinner therapy is fairly rare in Taiwan.  Genetically, Chinese are much more prone to strokes from hemorrhage than from clots as compared to those of European ancestry.