by Jonny | May 11, 2013 | Travel
I usually go to this supermarket called 大買家 or Da Mai Jia (English name: Save and Safe) and its surprising how the supermarkets in this country are very western. I also like the fact that there are many different companies who have supermarkets dotted around Taichung. Although admittedly Carrefour, the massive French company dominates the supermarket scene, but there is definitely competition. While Tesco used to be in Taiwan, and traded all of its stores in Taiwan to Carrefour for all of Carrefour’s stores in Czech Republic, there are still many other independent and other companies operating supermarkets here. Examples range from Costco, the massive American branded store, and the Japanese Matsusei supermarket.
Here are a few pics I took inside Da Mai Jia:
As you can see supermarkets in Taiwan are very similar to that of those in western countries or namely the United Kingdom. It’s probably why Tesco’s couldn’t break into this market as there were already existing supermarkets doing similar things to what Tesco’s does in the UK and Europe. I.e. provide budget supermarkets for large areas.
by Jonny | May 4, 2013 | Travel
Here are a few pictures I took on my trip to Taipei. I went to Taipei 101 and it was quite fun. Although. admittedly, the place is suited towards those with money. It has all the big brand names in there, and I don’t mean Nike, Adidas or Puma. This place is well catered for people who buy expensive things like GUCCI, Rolex, Tommy Hilfiger etc. Anyways, it was great. I didn’t realise that so many Japanese people travel to Taiwan. There were hundreds of them inside!
Some of these pictures are old and have been taken with my FZ-28.
by Jonny | Apr 21, 2013 | Updates
There has been a large earthquake in China. So far, there have been 207 deaths, 11,500 injuries and 960 serious injuries. A 6.6-7.0 magnitude quake struck Ya’an (雅安) on the western side of the Sichuan province (四川). While it’s not the biggest quake China has suffered, it’s definitely a very serious issue and the Chinese government seem to be taking the issue quite seriously. According to a few articles that I’ve read, I’ve come to conclusion that the Chinese government sent 8,000 PLA soldiers, 1,400 provincial rescue workers and 180 emergency response doctors to the affected areas.
I can fill nothing but sorrow for these people as very recently in Taiwan a minor 6.0 quake struck Taichung (The city I live in) and I felt the power of mother nature then. The shaking only lasted 10 seconds or so. However, reports are that the shaking in China in the Sichuan province lasted for a minute straight and the shaking was obviously at far greater magnitude. If I remember correctly, the death toll pales in comparison to the 2008 earthquake that killed 90,000 people in the Sichuan province. – Though I believe that was a 8.0 magnitude earthquake that struck the area in question back in 2008.
Here’s a great video that the BBC produced that explains what went on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3ySVHB4hEA
by Jonny | Mar 18, 2013 | Fitness
I’ve lost weight!
This year I weighed around 86kg after putting on weight when my sister left Taiwan. She visited for like a month and during that period I did not exercise. Before my sister arrived in Taiwan, I exercised every single day and sure enough I was doing well. But, boy, when my sister came here she really increased the amount of food I was eating. We would always be eating something and her eating habits slowly drifted onto me. I was begging not go to any buffet restaurants, as I also wanted my sister to lose weight as well.
So, by the time she left I weighed a cool 86kg. I knew I had put on weight and I got myself into gear and restarted my exercising regime the first day she left.
I’ve now cut myself down to just 84kg. It’s been tough as I feel I’ve hit a plateau, but clearly I’m still losing weight and I recently found that out after going in for a check-up to a local hospital. (I’m healthy, thankfully) I’m 183cm and weigh 84.1kg. I’m quite happy with that as I thought the machine would say I was 85kg or more.
As for pictures, I don’t have any at the moment and I don’t feel like taking any; however, I do have an old body shot (of my stomach) and I may put a comparison picture of my progress so far.
by Jonny | Feb 25, 2013 | Updates
I’ve applied for jobs on the internet from Taiwan, as I’m looking to go back to the UK. Sites like GumTree, Reed and CV Library are essentially where I’ve submitted most of my job applications. Still, no reply yet and here is why:
Jobs on GumTree.
There are 41,000 people posting ads, who are looking for jobs.
So, if we want to know what’s competitive in today’s industry, well, jobs essentially are what run this service based economy.
According to the latest figures (Dec. 2012) there are 2.5 million unemployed people, which is a decrease considering the UK economy had 2.7 million unemployed at the end of 2011, the year before.
Are there enough jobs to go around?
I’ve read that there are in-fact enough jobs to go around and to totally get rid of unemployment. However, when you look into this more you’ll discover that these jobs are either specialized or they are menial jobs that won’t give a person enough income to survive; that’s why going on benefits are so advantageous and beneficial, as you can receive Housing Benefit, cheaper travel & weekly payments, all without cost; rather, a below average life-style.
I’m trying to avoid the idea of going on benefits as I’d rather work, doing cleaning jobs, or jobs which fit my field of work, which is IT.
The analysis
Looking at this Guardian article, it seems there is also the problem that perhaps skilled jobs aren’t in the area that people are living in. Essentially, people literally do not have the money to move around to be able to apply for vacant jobs in other parts of the country. Plus, other parts of the country also have a deficit in jobs available. It’s like this all over the country, no one area has jobs freely available; otherwise, I guess, people would be moving to other parts of the country and applying for those jobs. I sure would be doing that; however, for me to commit to that idea, well, the salary or hourly rate should be high enough to make doing that beneficial. Otherwise, it would be impossible for me to live and I would have to go without eating if that were to be my only option.
Future prospects
While we can say the prospects of the UK economy are improving, jobs on the other hand aren’t increasing and if they are, they are jobs which require certain sets of skills and experience that can only be acquired by years of education and experience. If even graduates of university are unable to find employment in their fields, considering they don’t have the relevant working experience then how can others survive in such an economy.