Cheapest flights from/to Taiwan to/from Central Europe

By Central Europe I mean: Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Austria. I found out the cheapest tickets from to Taiwan to Central Europe are from:

• Taipei to Budapest (Hungary) 
• Taipei to Prague (Czech Republic).

These are usually with 1 or 2 stops (usually in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Moscow or other Asian city with 2^nd stop in Europe- Amsterdam, Frankfurt).

I’m slowly becoming a frequent flyer on this route, so I think I have quite good overview regarding cheaper flight tickets from/to Taiwan. At first I usually check the prices on http://www.skyscanner.net/.

Then I go to website of that particular airline, for example China Airlines and book the flight there. 

Sometimes you can get a good deal in Taiwan by purchasing a ticket through travel agent. In travel agency you can pay cash and a good thing is that you can almost always persuade them to give you cheaper ticket. 

When buying through travel agent in Taiwan, it is important to have good knowledge of ticket prices before you approach one.

I actually prefer to buy ticket through Czech-Slovak travel agent- Student agency. .(http://www.studentagency.sk/). They have got English website as well (http://www.studentagency.eu/), but I'm really not sure about the payment by foreign debit cards, should be possible of course, so just ask. They should be able to speak English. This agency's got the cheapest tickets from Europe to Taiwan you can possibly find.

When to buy a ticket to (Central) Europe?

It depends on the reason why you want to travel. Many people travel to Europe for holiday and the best time is either summer time (July-August) or winter time (December – January) to experience a winter beauty. At this time the tickets are much more expensive then out of season. Price depends on how well in advance you  are buying a ticket, but generally during the season it will cost from 700- 1200€* return ticket, and from 500- 850€* one-way ticket on the above mentioned destinations.   

Sleeping In airports

I have some experience with sleeping in airport and I can say it is usually save when using common sense and follow basic rules:

• o   Have a continuous look at your handbag, luggage;
• o   Sleep nearby other sleeping people- yes, you can sleep, but take care of your belongings; I usually put them as close to me as possible or cover them by light blanket.
• o   If you have to go away and leave your luggage, you can ask policeman or service personnel to look at it.
• o   Take small pillow, it’s bothering but I always regret when I don't take it.

Very nice and useful source of info about sleeping in airports is this website:  http://www.sleepinginairports.net/.  You can find info on particular airport of your interest.

HAVE A NICE TRIP~~ :) 

* 100€=3760€ (http://www.xe.com)

Couchsurfing in Taiwan

Couchsurfing, for those who still don’t know about it, is a global travel community. By creating profile on this website http://www.couchsurfing.org/, you can join community for free. (I suggest you fill in the profile as much as you can).

The main activity is not only about hosting (provide place or couch to stay) or surfing (stay in someone’s place), but about getting to know the people when traveling, be introduced to new cultures, experience hospitability, feel safer while traveling around new places.

At the beginning I did not believe this can work and said I wouldn’t trust people so easily, but after over 40 times I have experienced couchsurfing, I generally trust couchsurfers and like to meet them.

Especially in Taiwan where people are mostly polite, friendly and hospitable, couchsurfing is amazing experience. Sometimes when we travel and don’t surf (don’t stay in someone’s house), after the trip we often realize we miss something. Me and my boyfriend we surfed in Taipei, Kaohsiung, Tainan, Hualien, Chiayi, Nantou County, etc. Majority of Taiwanese couchsurfers we met, became our friends and we still keep in touch with them. So that it is a great way how to get to know new people, people in new places, locals, how to get to know local culture, ways how the people think, traditions. Many couchsurfers shared amazing stories from traveling or even everyday life with us and that was very interesting.\

I recommend you, absolutely don’t hesitate to become a member. It might be your life experience. :D J

Snorkeling in Liou Qiou island

What I like about snorkeling is that you can do it even when you’re “beginner” and the equipment is not expensive. If you think this is not for you or it might be boring, promise yourself to try it at least once. There are few great spots in Taiwan that are worth to discover. I like Xiao Liou Qiou. It is tiny island not that far from Kaohsiung in Southern Taiwan. You can find more info here: http://liuqiu.pthg.gov.tw/liuqiu/web_en.php?prog=intro

Xiao Liou Qiou

I love convenience and I’m also pretty lazy, so that I always take scooter with me everywhere. Good thing is that you can take it to this small island with you, just for 100NT one way.

Anyway, you can go by small ferry to Liou Qiou from Donggang harbor – return adult ticket 380NT or 410NT, depends on which company you take. Schedule of ferries both directions are full and trips are frequent (every hour) with last one around 5pm both directions. 

The ferry company that charge you 410NT will arrive and dock in Baisha tourist port, Liou Qiou. This port is built for tourists mainly and it's convenient as it is surrounded by shops and you can access beach just by walking from there. The company that charge 380NT for ferry will go to Dafu fishing port which is a bit away of the "center". This port is used mostly by local people, however if you've got a scooter, it's just 5 min. drive from Baisha port.

We love to do snorkeling just on the beach shown above on the picture. It is a beach where the Vase rock is located. You can borrow snorkeling goggles in a shop nearby. I would suggest at first you can try to "snorkel" with your "swimming goggles" and then borrow or buy after you got motivated..:D Have fun! :)

Around Taiwan by scooter

Is it possible to go around Taiwan by scooter? Well, let’s just say you have to prepare yourself well- proper “equipment” and psychical readiness.

Average time required for various distances- scooter:

Tainan -> Kenting (2 short stops):  5hours

Tainan-> Kaohsiung, city center (1 short stop): 1,5 hour

Tainan -> Taitung (road #1 & 9): 8 hours

Tainan -> Taroko National park J (through Nantou county): from 2 days- to…..depends on your resistance to ass pain.

Traveling by scooter has its advantages and disadvantages. Sitting on the scooter for long time is not that fun and you would have do breaks often in order to avoid back pain, but definitely will make you feel more convenient in final destination without worries about public transportation or scooter rentals. You’re the Lord of your schedule. 

Our scooter often looks like this, coz we (me and my boyfriend) also like to camp to save money and have more fun. 

How to get a decent job in Taiwan?

This page is about the opportunities and main concerns for getting a decent job in Taiwan. I recommend the first thing you do is to get familiar with 104.com.tw- upload your CV in Chinese, cover letter, fill in as much information as possible. It might seem tough at the beginning since everything is in Chinese, but this is really almost the gateway and absolutely necessary skill for getting a job. Many employers won’t advertise jobs anywhere else. 

When searching for job other than teaching, you have several options:

•   Engineering
•   Sales/Business development
•  English translator/interpreter
•  Modeling (I’m serious)
•  Research position in university

It also depends on your Chinese level. Speaking Chinese will of course make you more desirable. However, there are some jobs that do not require you to speak Chinese well, such as engineering positions, researcher in university, and English teacher.

Majority of those jobs employer expects you to speak a bit Chinese are sales representative position (business development abroad)- full time, part time or as agent. When you work as sales for full time, your employer will provide you work permit and ARC.

From visa-exempt stay to resident working visa

Let’s just say you’re staying in Taiwan for 60 or 90 days (visa exempt entry), it mean you don’t have any visa just permission to stay for 60/90 days. When applying for job, you should tell the company  about this at the beginning. You should also make them clear what is your level of spoken Chinese and I can guarantee it will save you a lot of money, time and disappointment (It happened to me several times that after I had travelled long distance and appeared in the company, they realized I really cannot speak Chinese fluently and sent me back home). If the company still wants you to come for interview, then.. that’s great! J

After the company decides to hire you, make sure about the salary, work contract, etc.  Let them know that you need them to apply for work permit for you. You cannot apply by yourself, company has to do it and it takes about 7-14 days. You can start working legally after you obtained resident visa with work status.

For work permit you will need to give the company:

• Passport (copy)
• Photos
• Health certificate form B (you can download it from Taipei representative office of almost any country, bring it to hospital. They will examine your health and if everything is OK, they will give you certificate in 7 days. It is useful to bring any vaccination certificate you have with you to hospital)
• Bank account – you can issue one only when you've got ARC already. You may probably submit this later on.
• Diploma of highest degree – copy (not sure whether certified one) or any work contract or anything that shows what have you done for past one year or anything that shows you've got a qualification to work as sales/engineer/etc.
• Other documents that might be relevant.

After obtaining a work permit

After they applied and got a work permit, they will issue visa for you through agent (either company or you have to pay for agent service) or you can do it by yourself. When issuing visa by yourself, call to Immigration office and ask whether you have to leave the country or you can get resident visa while staying in Taiwan. Usually, if you already have resident visa and ARC, you just need to change the status. If you have visitor visa, you must change it to resident visa- in these cases you don’t have to leave the country.

However, if you have visa-exempt entry, you just have to make sure by calling to Immigration or Labor office about leaving the country for visa.

Basically when you’ve got a work permit, you just need to apply for resident visa and get ARC. Work permit is a permission to work, nothing else. It is not permission to stay. ARC is the official permission for staying in Taiwan. Work permit is just one of the documents you need to get in order to get visa and ARC.

Visa run or leaving the country to apply for visa

The best representative office to apply for resident visa is probably Hong Kong. I have heard they have a lot of experience and are friendly. You can check  Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (Hong Kong)  (http://www.taiwaninfo.org/apply.htm) for required documents, payment and procedure. Just make sure you have got all what you need for application so that you don’t have to trouble yourself in Hong Kong when you realize you forgot one paper.

I heard the service in Manila is quite chaotic. I’m not familiar with offices in other cities or countries.

Salary for foreigner

Today I've finally got the information what is a minimum salary company is required to pay to foreigner. The company is required to pay foreigner minimum 48 000NT/month. From this amount the government will deduct 20% (in this case=9600NT), what’s left is: 38 400NT. Then the company will reduce this amount of insurance pay (the company I was applying for job told me it’s about 6% of 48000NT monthly, so around 3000NT). What left is 35 400NT- this is the minimum net salary foreigner should get in Taiwan by law. Just make sure about everything what the company is going to deduct from your salary.

For sales and foreign market development positions, average salary for foreigner is:

-         

•       Tainan: 35 400 – 38 000 (depends on the size of the company and industry; usually family-owned        small manufacturer will pay less)
•           Kaohsiung and Taichung (similar to Tainan, but could be a bit higher;  surprised?)
•         Taipei- 37 000-50 000 (depends also on your specialization, years of experience and whether company has foreign capital)
•            Hsinchu (similar to Taipei, perhaps a bit lower- really depends)

Which company is the best for me?

This is very individual, but I would suggest if you don’t have much working experience, bigger company is better for you. Bigger company usually already has some marketing department or some basics of marketing. From my experience, small family-owned business’ owner doesn’t have many resources and time to teach you and expects you to bring the real value to company in a short time. Sometimes their expectations are a bit unrealistic, but it really depends on the particular company.

The best is to work for international company (in most cases)- these positions are very competitive and almost exclusively in Taipei.

When deciding which city to go for working, each does have pros and cons. Tainan is small and easy to go around if you've got a scooter.  The weather is hot, people warm and friendly. It’s not that far to Kenting either. On the other hand, vast majority of the companies there are small businesses. These companies do not have much of a budget for marketing and other activities. In this type of business, traditionally, owner is the head and center of everything, it’s his business and he doesn’t like to hear any suggestions, improvements or complaints about the way they do business.

Kaohsiung is similar to Tainan I would say, perhaps more opportunities to find something decent.

Many foreigners say Taichung is the best city to work and live. It has the best weather, people are friendly, but it doesn't have access to sea. 
Taipei is the capital and biggest city, it has everything, but weather. People are also busier and less relaxed compare to people in South.

As for me, at the end I would choose a place where I already know few people who live there and know the place itself, so I wouldn't be completely unfamiliar and without help in a new place. For example, I don't know almost anyone in Taichung and don't know the city that well as Tainan or Kaohsiung, but that's another opportunity and later on I would surely make some friends.
You just have to realize you're going for work, so you won't have that much time to do as many stuff as you do while studying.