Extra-Saudi Special: Budapest Hungary VS. Taipei, Taiwan

At the request of my good friend David, fellow ESL teacher and Hungarian resident, the following is a comparison of two fantastic, but very different cities: Budapest and Hungary. I had the pleasure of visiting Budapest for the first time last April, and fell in love with the city. This last vacation, I went to Taiwan, and fell in love all over again with Taipei. It's difficult to say which is the objectively better city, so I'll compare based on different aspects and then declare a winner!

Architecture 

Budapest is resplendent with gorgeous architecture spanning centuries back in time to the present. It has been called The Paris of the East, and not without good reason. Although, not much has been added to it's splendor from the communist era, the university, the parliament building and the castle, the bath house, churches and a plethora of Parisian-style apartment buildings enrich the city with their anachronistic and distinctly European charm.

As late as the nineteen-seventies, the Taiwanese still imagined they would make conquest of mainland China, so much of Taipei is still dominated by dull, blocky, and frankly ugly buildings. There are some notable exceptions, like the Grand Hotel, Chaing Kai Shek memorial, and the theaters that flank it. And in addition, the old, drab structures are rapidly giving way to modern buildings, Taipei 101 being the superlative example.

Taipei is looking better all the time, but even in ten or twenty years when most of the old buildings have been replaced, it won't have any of the richness of character than Budapest has now. For that reason, if nothing else Budapest gets the prize for best architecture.
   

Green Space 

Sadly, I while I was in Hungary, I didn't get a chance to get out of the city. Although I do understand that the country is very nice indeed, especially around the massive lake Balaton. Never mind. There is plenty of trees and greenery on the city itself, particularly around the citadel...or pretty much anywhere. Budapest is of a temperate climate, but it's a warm temperate, and the city is symbiotically intertwined with nature, making it a very nice city to be in all year 'round.

Taiwan is a beautiful island from top to bottom, and in particular in Toroko gorge on the east coast. But again, we're not comparing the countries as a whole--were comparing the capitals. Unfortunately, much of Taipei is crowded with the aforementioned ghastly architecture, crammed around narrow streets bereft of anything green save the vegetables aged Tawianese are want to flog on the sidewalks. However, Taipei is a big city and there is a lot to love in the way of nature, which is all accessible from the excellent metro. From lush the Maokong area, accessible by Gondola, and Yangminshan, with it's hot springs to the north, to the many riverside paths and swimming holes, to the very central, and superbly laid-out Daan Park, to Fulong beach (yes, I know it's outside the city, but come on, it's only a shorty train ride away), Taipei offers exceptional variety for lovers of the outdoors...although you may have to go a bit out of your way to get there.

The verdict: a tie! Although Budapest has perfectly integrated green space into it's urban environment, Taipei offers more variety.

Amenities

Although Budapest is not the largest, nor the most modern of cities (both advantages to my mind), it does have all of the amenities one could hope for: shopping malls, casinos, theaters, nice hotels. It has Thai massage places. It has at least one chiropractor. You can get whatever you want in terms of recreational pharmaceuticals (if you know who to ask). There are all sorts of restaurants, and the beer selection is exquisite. The public bath is the best I've ever seen. There are museums, and parks galore. There are bars in spades. And nice cafes. The only thing I'm not sure of is the music scene, although I've got a hunch there's a pretty decent one.  

Taiwan: it doesn't have the amazing outdoor bath, but it has some pretty fantastic indoor ones. It has massage parlors galore, which are significantly more affordable than the ones in Budapest. There are chiropractors. Plus there are a gajillion acupuncture/Chinese medicine clinics. There are even places with good beers selections. Plus it's hella-bigger, so naturally, there is all sorts of other neat stuff, like the zoo, gondolas, tea houses, etc. 

Taiwan.

People

Hungarians are fantastic. They are polite, warm-hearted, generous, kind, amorous, down-to-earth, and intelligent. And their women are gorgeous...aw heck, they're all pretty good looking. 

Taiwanese are very pleasant people as well. They have the same work ethic, wherewithal,  and community spirit that Koreans have...but unlike Koreans, they are open-minded, creative, forward-thinking, and not terribly racist against foreigners.* Also, Taiwanese girls are to die for.

Tie!

 

Cost of Living

Hungary, by European standards is very cheap indeed. You'll pay about seven dollars, Canadian for a movie ticket. Even a very good meal will seldom cost more than ten dollars. A pint of draft beer will run you about three dollars in a pub. But here's the big thing: the cost of real-estate is low. How low you ask? So low, young couples can still afford to get a mortgage. Wow!

Actually, the prices in Taipei for a lot of things are pretty much on par with those in Budapest. The main differences are that there are a lot of (night) markets with cheap stuff from China, you can get a quick and dirt meal for three dollars, home baked electronics (ex. Asus) are a bit cheaper, and buying real estate is super expensive--although renting is curiously cheap.

Taipei is cheaper...as long as you're renting.

Food

Hungary is world famous for its meats and it's produce. A tour of the fruits and vegetable stalls, and hole in the wall butcher shops will not let you leave without a full grocery bag in each hand, and a lustful dream of the night's dinner.  If you don't feel like cooking, you can be sure to find a restaurant to suit your  tastes, whatever they might be!

Taiwanese food, frankly is nothing to write home about. Mostly bland Chinese food and dumplings. The hot-pots are good though !Oh, and the night markets have some interesting (if not delicious) foods, like blood pudding on a stick, covered with spicy peanut powder. Try the bubble tea though!

Overall Livability 

Budapest is a really beautiful city. It's steeped in culture. The architecture is amazing. The food is fantastic. The people: warm-hearted. It's affordable. There are all the amenities. There are wide open spaces. There is a charming tram. Gypsies fill the streets with music. Couples kiss openly in public. Young artists sketch along the river. Pretty much anywhere is the perfect place for a jog. It's Shangri-La under a different name. The only problem is that everyone speaks Hungarian...oh well, you can sort of get by on English?

Taiwan is a prince of a city. Located on the norther tip of a tropical island paradise. Ideologically, and geographically positioned between China and the United States. A bustling metropolis, with open spaces, and a thousand and one things to do. Affordable on any budget. Full of adorable Taiwanese girls. And you can definitely get by just speaking English...you can also land a job teaching ESL quite easily!

I love you Taiwan, but Budapest is just so damn pleasant. The winner is Budapest.


The Grand Champion: Budapest.

Although, I must end by saying that Taiwan is an amazing city and I would be happier than a pig in mud to live there.






*Don't get me wrong--Koreans will welcome you into their homes, or they will take you out for a night of drinking and foot the bill, but they will not be happy to know you're dating their daughters. 

Summer Vacation Part Two: The Northern City

In keeping with tradition, let me introduce the topic of this entry, which will (in theory) prevent it from degenerating into a ramble about my personal life: Taipei is a fantastic city. I would love to live here, and if I could go back in time, I would have done a year teaching here rather than in Korea. 

I've been in Taiwan a couple of weeks now, and I've spend all of that time in Taipei. I didn't imagine I would be in the city for much more than as week, but here I still am after nearly three. It's been a real adventure. I've really gotten everything I needed and under different circumstances, I would say that it was the time of my life. Given the actual circumstances, it's been the perfect place to lick my wounds, reflect on life, and begin to move on. (Refer to the previous entry for context).

                                 

I came here on short notice on the advice of my friend Cathy, who I met doing tutoring last year in Vancouver. As per her recommendation, I checked in at a hostel called The Meeting Place. It's just far enough out of the way to feel comfortable without being feeling disconnected. People there are, as a rule very social, and there is a large common area in which people are often watching a movie from a projector. The atmosphere was chill and so were the people. Shortly after I arrived, the weather started to turn sour. It was perfect. While writing in the computer room, someone suggested I download an app called "Skout" and that if I did, I would  be hanging out with a Taiwanese girl that very evening. But, I was warned that Taiwanese are, for the most part, nice girls, so I shouldn't be expecting too much. I decided it was worth a shot, and as luck would have it, I met Taiwanese girl named Jenny Chang, and she showed me around the Shilin Night Market. Turns out Jenny had just gone through a breakup as well. We hit it off right away. We ate Chinese medicinal soup, bubble tea and pork's blood pudding on a stick. It was a nice first night--it was pleasant just to share space with someone in the same situation and wander around a while. 

                                 

I spent the next couple days bumming around, not really leaving the hostel much. I wrote Kyungmin, trying to get some kind of closure, or maybe just to have contact. Because I put her picture in this blog (now removed), she told me I should stop trying to contact her, and that she was going to forget her memories of us together. I wandered along the riverside feeling sorry for my self, wondering what the hell happened to the sweet girl I used to know. I went drinking with a British guy who spoke fluent Chinese named Neil and a Cambodian-American named Ken. We got drink and instead of hitting on girls, we talked about Buddhism. The next day, there was a big typhoon that swept across Taiwan...but left Taipei relatively unmolested. 

Cathy flew in on the night of the typhoon. I stood around waiting for her at a subway stop for an hour before returning to the hostel. I then saw on the news that a plane crash-landed after missing the runway at the Taipei airport. Luckily, though it wasn't Cathy's plane and she showed up at the hostel a few hours later, chipper as ever. We had a couple beers by the river and she was graceful enough to listen to me wail about my situation. Cathy came back to Taipei to teach for another year, and has been busy with training ever since. Even though I would take a 50% pay cut to live in Taiwan, instead of KSA, I have been considering it. A lot of people, like Cathy, love it here, and I think it's for good reason. 

Cathy introduced me to her friend Aiden (also an ESL teacher) who speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese and has lived in Taipei for eight years. Aiden is seriously considering leaving--his leaving status has downgraded from definitely leaving, in the past couple of days, due to meeting a girl. Aiden, despite being a Aussie, is a really good guy. He let Cathy and I crash at his place for a few days, and we had a lot of fun. Here's a list of things we did:

- Had a rooftop cook-out. 

- Went to a party in Daan Park. 

- Went to a pool party (full of smoking-hot Taiwanese girls in bikinis).

- Went for a bike ride with Aiden's buddy, then swam in the river. 

- Went to the chiropractor, then the masseuse.  

- Went to the gym.

- Went to the bar, then the spa, (with said buddy). 

- Went to the top of Taipei 101. 

Aiden talked about his iron-hard resolve to leave Taiwan. I whined about my situation. I learned some Australian, had a good time and came out of that week significantly less mopey. 

Allow me to break the narrative for a moment to say this: Taipei is a wonderful city that has a unique flavor. Having not spent enough time in China to really get a feel for it, I can't use it as a point of reference. So instead, I think of it as sort of half-way between Thailand and Korea. Like Korea, it's clean (they are big on recycling here), the culture is influenced largely by Chinese and Japanese, and it is firmly capitalistic. On the other hand, like Thailand, it's tropical, the people are super chill, and there are scooters everywhere. It's a good balance. Thailand can at times seem too chaotic, and Korea can definitely feel too uptight. Taiwan has a good balance. 

It was great hanging out with Aiden and getting a taste of what it's like to live like a local, but all good things must come to an end. So, I returned to The Meeting Place in time to hang out with some of the long-term occupants before they continued on in their journeys to The Philippines, Thailand and Australia. Although I didn't expect to be back, I was glad to return. I had a lot of fun staying there on both occasions. Somehow, something interesting to do always happened. 

It would take too long to go into detail about all the things I did, so here's a list of I got up to while staying at the hostel (on both occasions):

-Hiking with Neil from the hostel, followed by hot springs. 

-Hiking with assorted hostelers. 

-Jogging along the river.

-Eating Dim sum ("Hong-Kong food") with Jenny. 

-Hot Springs and dinner with Jenny. 

-Bike riding along the river with Cathy.

-Soccer with hostel members. 

-Assorted massages (sans the "special").

-Exploring the night market near the hostel. 

-Going to the sports center to work out, and go swimming with hostelers. 

-Seeing live cheesy magic acts and live music with a beautiful Taiwanese girl. 

-Exploring Shi Men Di with Cathy.

-Going out on my own to check out Chain Kai Shek memorial and the national museum. 

-Went to a computer/games expo with hostelers. 

-River tracing with Adien and his buddies. 

Perhaps it's redundant to point out that Taipei is a very fun and interesting city with lots to do. It's not redundant, however to point out that the people are super cool and really friendly. Although Taiwanese people are very hardworking, they also manage to be very nice, polite and easy-going. I really don't know much about what it actually teaching English in Taipei is like, but I know that the living in Taipei part is excellent. I came here to try to get over my Korean girlfriend, and my time here has served that purpose very well. I'm sure it has dulled some experiences which otherwise might have been even more fun. To vacation here under normal circumstances must be very satisfying indeed, and I expect living here must be the same.