OK, technically, it isn't 101 reasons. But 3 reasons, or 32 reasons, or 57 reasons doesn't sound quite so poetic.
Anyway, after considering that perhaps, in some correspondences with friends, I don't put Taiwan in a favourable light, I've decided to list the reasons I do actually sometimes sit back and go - "Hell, yeah, this place rocks."
1. It does, literally, rock. Earthquakes rock. Some poor soul living in a shack in Indonesia, with the constant threat of mudslides and the complete destruction of their livelihood and family may beg to differ. As well they might. But for me, in my relatively structurally sound flat in Taiwan, the entertainment value of earthquakes is pretty high. The best one was watching Spiderman, sitting on my sofa, and getting shoogled along to a particularly actioney part of the movie. Sound, vision AND motion. Can't get cooler than that.
2. Cheap dental treatment. My home town in the UK currently boasts a grand total of not, one, nor two, not even three.... but ZERO NHS dentists. To clarify this to the non-UK crowd, that means that the only dental treatment available (other than emergency treatment) is through private practices. For US citizens, sure, that's old news... but for us in the UK, it's abhorrent. Just a check-up costs around 20 quid, I think. At least, that was what I paid out for one 3 years ago.
I've since had me annual check-up done for 5 quid in Taiwan, and the ensuing fillings for free, cos the dentist was my landlord. And they were those nice, white ones, too - as standard! I plan on having a dental check and any work done before I leave this isle, as going home to highly inflated dental fees in the UK might make me want to pack-up and leave again.
3. Buses. Imagine the most gloriously comfy lazy-boy chair (albeit in garish upholstery, but it's forgivable) and add a massage function and private TV (sometimes) and computer games (with the more expensive companies). Oh, don't forget a clean (usually) and reasonably fragrant bathroom, in which one is not cramped like a stowaway in a midget-sized cupboard, but is free to rest one's buttocks without fear of wedging one's posterior to the walls.
OK, so imagine that, and visualise the price... how much are you willing to pay? Greyhound buses cost how much? National Express? 20 quid minimum? For short-ish journeys? I remember paying 70 quid one-way to Omagh, including ferry, and thinking that was OK - bearing in mind I was comparing it to the UK train service... which is beyond hope and should be euthanised for it's own good.
Well, it's less than a quid to travel between my work in Sinying and where I live, in Tainan. LESS THAN 1 POUND STERLING! In Edinburgh you'd pay that just to get on one end of Princes Street, and get off at the other. And you'd probably have to stand squeezed into the armpit of some hairy tourist in a tartan Pringle sweater. Traumatic.
I sometimes get on the bus here and will it to be delayed, just so I can sit in comfort for an extra half hour or so. Bliss.
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