[LeightonBlackstock]

Laner that's mental

Sounds like you're having a blast. Making me want to take the plane back over. Keep us updated.

Also, agreed with the 'time of pull' thing (though I haven't been there for a year now).

After 1am nothing is left apart from English teachers running around in packs. Get on the dancefloor as soon as it starts. I really do miss 'dance floor culture'. That is the one really crap thing about Bangkok. You can't roll solo here in my opinion. I used to love walking on that Luxy dancefloor for make-outs etc.

Also, has anyone been to 'Brass Monkey' or 'Carnegies' recently? They're trainwrecks but so loveable. I like those dive places more than the one's in Bangkok as there are no whores about, just total slags.

[UnW]

^ Was at Brass Monkey a few weeks back, the same foreign groupies keep turning up week in, week out.
Also went to Roxy99 last weekend, pretty interesting crowd, I'd rate it a few notches above Carnegie's or Brass Monkey though.

(01-24-2015 05:55 AM)fucksong Wrote:  

Also what is the current style of girls over there? I heard from a friend a few years back that booty shorts were popular. Are they still? Can you see Butt cheeks on a regular basis?

Do they dress sexier than j girls?

It is the midst of winter now so its pretty covered up this time of year. I do notice some girls wear shorts with leggings underneath even in this climate.

I'll be sure to keep an eye out as the weather warms up.

[RIslander]

Just spent two nights in Taipei.

Official rating: meh

I've traveled Asia thoroughly and I really didn't enjoy Taipei. I think if I lived here it may be a different story but for a short trip it wasn't worth it. I did meet up with a few RVFers for Friday night clubbing and had fun... All great guys.

Food: Terrible. I didn't have a good meal the entire time I was here. I found Taiwanese food to be starchy and bland with little protein. A meal costs around 4-6 USD.

Hotels: I stayed at Via Hotel in Zhongshan and it was nice. $70/night. Near the MRT

Transportation: MRT is cheap and efficient (0.60USD/ride). Taxis are cheap (3-7USD around the city). High speed rail costs 5USD from city to airport.

Clubs: Good luck. Girls were hot but not receptive to foreigners. Best looking girls were at tables with Taiwanese men. A few 5s and a land whale were trolling the clubs that were DTF. Take this with a grain of salt though.. This was the situation on just one night out.

Day Game: I felt like if I spoke some Mandarin and lived locally that day game could be successful. Parks and tourist sites had nice looking girls who make eye contact. You rarely see smiles but I expected that with a Chinese culture.

Tinder: Set up a few dates but I ended up flaking myself. Girls on here seemed interested and if I had longer I would of persued.


Overall: Skip Taipei. Short term was a fail and long-term most likely would be good for gaming, however I felt Taipei lacked in culture, cuisine and charm. The RVF guys I met here are a great group and seem happy, but most were using this is an opportunity to learn Mandarin. If language is your goal than Taipei would be a good choice for you.

[Papi Rico]

(01-25-2015 08:10 PM)RIslander Wrote:  

Just spent two nights in Taipei.
...........................................
Overall: Skip Taipei.

[travolta]

(01-25-2015 08:10 PM)RIslander Wrote:  

Just spent two nights in Taipei.

Official rating: meh

I've traveled Asia thoroughly and I really didn't enjoy Taipei. I think if I lived here it may be a different story but for a short trip it wasn't worth it. I did meet up with a few RVFers for Friday night clubbing and had fun... All great guys.

Food: Terrible. I didn't have a good meal the entire time I was here. I found Taiwanese food to be starchy and bland with little protein. A meal costs around 4-6 USD.

Hotels: I stayed at Via Hotel in Zhongshan and it was nice. $70/night. Near the MRT

Transportation: MRT is cheap and efficient (0.60USD/ride). Taxis are cheap (3-7USD around the city). High speed rail costs 5USD from city to airport.

Clubs: Good luck. Girls were hot but not receptive to foreigners. Best looking girls were at tables with Taiwanese men. A few 5s and a land whale were trolling the clubs that were DTF. Take this with a grain of salt though.. This was the situation on just one night out.

Day Game: I felt like if I spoke some Mandarin and lived locally that day game could be successful. Parks and tourist sites had nice looking girls who make eye contact. You rarely see smiles but I expected that with a Chinese culture.

Tinder: Set up a few dates but I ended up flaking myself. Girls on here seemed interested and if I had longer I would of persued.


Overall: Skip Taipei. Short term was a fail and long-term most likely would be good for gaming, however I felt Taipei lacked in culture, cuisine and charm. The RVF guys I met here are a great group and seem happy, but most were using this is an opportunity to learn Mandarin. If language is your goal than Taipei would be a good choice for you.

Not sure if serious or not....

You think Taiwanese food is terrible? Taiwanese food has incredible variety and is delicious. You needed a local person to show you around.

Club game is hard there so you need social connections. Being intro'd to Asian girls = "this guy is safe".

Taiwan lacks culture? lol

[atlant]

To be fair, I would also argue that Taipei is not really ideal for unprepared short term trips unless you're pipelining, know people on the ground or are fluent in Chinese. If I had to evaluate the place after my first 3 days here I would have come to a similar conclusion. It doesn't have the cosmopolitan grandeur of an Asian metropolis where shit is getting done like HK, nor the unhinged wildness of a place like Bangkok. It's gritty and a little boring and the weather is mostly bad.

It is however an excellent and extremely convenient place to live long-term, with first world comforts at less than first world prices. The food is outstanding, but you have to know where to look and be willing to pay a little more. I've had some of the best Japanese and Italian food in my life in Taipei and even local fare can be excellent but I don't go to the next best hole in the wall or feed off dumpling stands every night (even though lots of foreigners do just that and are seemingly very happy with it).

Enough has been said about the girls. It gets tough in clubs sometimes for the really high value girls (but where is that not the case?) yet our last short term RVF visitors did very well for themselves. Unlike their mainland counterparts you can rest assured that the girls here are not out to fuck you over or turn into drama queens.

Only problem is that the expat scene is the pits but if you've ever lived somewhere in SEA then that shouldn't be too much of an issue.

[RIslander]

Above poster explained my exact thoughts in greater detail. I passed through around 30 local restaurants in Taipei thinking I could walk into any eatery for great food like most other Asian countries... But found nothing remotely appetizing. I also sandwiched Taipei between extended stays in Tokyo and HCMC.

The point of my post was to state that Taipei is not a great short term destination. I'm not qualified to give any deets on long-term stays other than girls outside the club seemed receptive to foreigners.

[Laner]

I can agree with both sides of the argument.

I too, was just in Taipei by way of Tokyo so pretty much any Asian city would have to step up the game significantly.

But Taipei has location, Japanese infrastructure and attitude toward cleanliness and efficiency, can be a good value, and so on. So yeah, those things matter more when you are thinking of setting up shop there for a while.

For a short term stay there could be disappointment. If I had just walked in blind I probably would have been put off by the London prices, insane coldness of the high end women, the lack of pure talent during the day, etc, etc.

So is it worth it for a few days? I have to ask myself is any city in this region worth it for a few days. I am China right now just across the straight from Taiwan and the place is a giant shit hole. Even driving around in a Porsche Panamera S cant take away the pure ugliness of the place. Some people like it, and to each their own, but if I was to set up shop it would not be here. Taiwan is a little over an hour away and $100 flight. To keep my eyes on my business I would stay there due to the standard of living.

Personally I cant think of one single city in this whole region that would be worth a short term "holiday" or stopover. There is a reason that Chinese are going abroad at any chance they get.

[worldtraveler3]

where are you at right now laner?

[DVY]

@Laner- whoa bro, talk about a mindfuck.

I had a similar experience recently albeit my Japanese ex- main girl who worked as a hostess girl and possibly is a high end P4P. I only found out about "karaoke" 6-8 months into it. Or maybe she started it after she started dating me. Dunno.

You talking about how she would make an excellent wife and mother scares the sh-t out of me, because everybody loved my girl.

Are we spiritual brothers or something? Or is it more a cultural trend we have more to see?

[Laner]

I was just in Xiamen, Quanzhou and now I am in shenzhen.

I would update but my laptop won't connect to the net and I cant type worth shit on my phone.

@dvy I had written a response to you about hostess girls on another thread before the Chinese firewall ate my computer. I will get to it when I get to Hong Kong the Internet in China is a hassle. DO NOT BRING GOOGLE PRODUCTS TO CHINA!

[atlant]

Luxy will be closing March 21. That is two of the biggest clubs down within 6 months. This town is definitely slowly going to shit in the nightlife department. I cannot think of another city in Asia that is actively combating one of its biggest attractions for regional tourism.

Sure something else will sooner or later spring up but the vibe at Luxy is not easily imitated.

[LeightonBlackstock]

Interesting. Taipei has a SMALL nightlife in my opinion

Not really Taiwanese culture to drink

Like, In Korea, you'll regularly pass groups of people drinking Soju and scoffing food (male or female). Similarly, In Thailand you'll regularly see towers of beer flowing/bottles of Johnny Walker on a table.

I would estimate ~90% of Taiwanese girls 22 and under have only been to a club once or less

A complete BALL PARK figure (Maybe give 10% lee-way or even more). But the main point, Taiwanese people drink bubble tea and go to KTV's with friends. MUCH less of a drinking culture than Thailand or Korea. MUCH less.

No Luxy in Taipei. That's a bigger hit than no RCA in Bangkok. The big one of the nightlife is out. I wouldn't even be able to suss out a comparable replacement for that fucking place.

[wolfpack]

Wells also i dont think roxy99 isnt what it used to be.... (i think its a hit or miss) and how was lava tonight??

[Phoenix]

Wait what? Luxy is gone now?

[UnW]

(03-09-2015 01:41 AM)Phoenix Wrote:  

Wait what? Luxy is gone now?

March 21st it'll be gone.

(03-08-2015 02:33 PM)LeightonBlackstock Wrote:  

No Luxy in Taipei. That's a bigger hit than no RCA in Bangkok. The big one of the nightlife is out. I wouldn't even be able to suss out a comparable replacement for that fucking place.

Completely agree, they had some some big names do shows at Luxy (eg. Snoop Dogg & Dr. Dre in 2011) and just about everyone in Taipei knows of Luxy.

(03-08-2015 02:37 PM)wolfpack Wrote:  

Wells also i dont think roxy99 isnt what it used to be.... (i think its a hit or miss) and how was lava tonight??

No idea what it used to be back in the day, but it is slowly becoming more miss than hit of late.

[Biologist]

(03-09-2015 08:28 AM)UnW Wrote:  

(03-09-2015 01:41 AM)Phoenix Wrote:  

Wait what? Luxy is gone now?

March 21st it'll be gone.

Such a shame. Luxy was a insanely fun club with a great atmosphere. I got my first Taiwanese flag as a ONS from Luxy.

[Phoenix]

(03-09-2015 08:28 AM)UnW Wrote:  

March 21st it'll be gone.

Why?

[atlant]

(03-11-2015 11:03 AM)Phoenix Wrote:  

(03-09-2015 08:28 AM)UnW Wrote:  

March 21st it'll be gone.

Why?

Nobody really knows but the constant police raids since the ATT murder (and they were already pretty frequent at Luxy even before that) may be a factor. Or even the sole reason.

In addition the neighborhood Luxy is in has a lot of real estate owned by wealthy and well connected people who already managed to lobby 2 night markets into oblivion and 2 other venues (among them Roxy) to move location. Those places and especially clubs like Luxy with the drug hotspot reputation it has, devalue their properties.

[LeightonBlackstock]

A lot of these asian countries really comes down to what type of foreigner you are. E.g looks/age. That's all that really matters as a white male travelling through asia trying to slay.

Just because you have the white factor doesn't mean your gonna be slaying like cray. Many guys I've met have this misinterpretation. There's certain levels of white god factor.


And I second the drug problem in Luxy nightclub, many times I've been offered drugs by the locasl and almost every time I go there they have the police raid. But the police don't ask for my ID or anything.

[Dr. Dan Dungus]

So after Luxy's demise, what should we make of nightlife in Taipei?

Let me indulge in a bit of nostalgia. I lived there 5-8 years ago with mostly scrub status: I was a poor English teacher with little knowledge of game, short (5'8 is pushing it) and half-Asian, not especially well-dressed, barely spoke basic Chinese...and STILL managed to slay quality girls from time to time. So I can't help but like Taiwan--that and I think it is a genuinely good place to live, the people are down to earth and friendly, the food isn't bad if you know where to look, and the transportation is as user-friendly as you will ever encounter. It just grew on me in ways that Thailand, Japan, and HK never have.

Back in the day, there was a dive club called Roxy Vibe on the corner or Jinshan and Xinyi where a young foreigner of any status, scrub or otherwise, could roll in and grab a quick-and-dirty SNL from a local 5 about 40% of the time. Higher-end but harder girls were available at Luxy and Room 18 in the Xinyi district, but that required good game and probably the appearance of wealth. Over time, Vibe shut down and the crowd moved down to the old Roxy 99 near National Taiwan U., which still attracted a heavy foreigner crowd but was never quite the same as Vibe. Luxy began to live out its final years as a mainstream meat market while then-new, flashier rivals got the high-roller clientele (I believe Myst, for one, is still around).

The scene of schlubby foreign teachers and local skanks is likely much diminished now, which I think is a good thing. Shida Nightmarket, in that university neighborhood, was shut down by developers, so I doubt young foreigners hang out in the adjacent park anymore. Roxy 99, which was right up the road, was forced to move to new location and from what I hear never really recovered. Taipei quickly developed a huge local hipster subculture, and there are many new places (Chess Club?) that came after my time and may well be superior to whatever was there when I was.

Apart from my nostalgia reverie, I can't offer much in the way of good advice for Taipei's players, except to say this:

--As in Korea and Japan, fashion is a must in Taipei. LeightonBlackstock has covered this well. Taipei is basically the opposite of fratdaddy-land. Being slim and able to wear tight-fitting clothes, questionable as that sounds, pays off.

--Concerning the local girls, be prepared for a higher than usual dose of crazy, especially when you meet the girl online. If she lives at home, she is likely really inexperienced and may become obsessive. If she has a local boyfriend, it's quite possible that either she is abusing him (I think there is a thin line between orbiter and boyfriend in this culture) or he is abusing her (especially if they are working class).

--Foreign girls are a good market to look at in Taipei. They have lower value than they are accustomed to, they are usually bored, and they should be quite plentiful: whatever few teaching jobs there are left, young white women get first pick. They are willing to be opened in ways they might not be in the West. Look in bookstores and bars where foreigners go (wherever those places are these days).

--Speaking of bookstores, the Eslite bookstores, especially the Dunhua and Xinyi branches, are ideal for daygame. Just ask where to find a book about such-and-such. These are clean, upscale, social places attached to popular shopping areas. Not too crowded but never dead-quiet either.

--Like the Japanese, the Taiwanese are somewhat antisocial and always connected to their computers, so I would think online game would work well here. The traditional Western sites like OKC aren't that popular, and when I was there I used a site with lots of locals called "Forumosa Friends" that is now mostly defunct. I don't know what the current advice is here (Wechat?).

--For food, check out a blog called "Hungry Girl in Taiwan." It is a veritable encyclopedia of Taipei food options, all from a well-informed and unbiased point of view. Few other cities have such a good non-commercial resource.

--Don't skip the natural beauty of Taiwan, especially the eastern and southern coastline. Taiwan has to be one of the easiest places to explore by motorcycle, and a trip along the east coast or through the mountains is a truly peaceful experience.

--There is little stigma attached to love hotels (lu guan), but you'll have to fork out as much as US$50+/session for a nice one, and you'll want a nice one. Girls will put up LMR before going to the hotel, if any, but once you're in the room it's on--after all, that's what it's for.

--Food and transport is good, but hotels (of the non-sex variety) are uniformly bad and expensive throughout the country. There are alternatives, but I think this is the strongest argument against a visit when you can pay less and get more almost anywhere in China or southeast Asia outside Singapore.

I have to apologize for the long-windedness and lack of useful current info, but there's the perspective of one former Taiwan long-timer.

[Captain Carnage]

Iam actually going there for the weekend. So if anyone has the lowdown on what's currently hot since Luxys closure then please post.

[SirSpanky]

Can confirm Box is terrible. Don't let $350NT all you can drink Wednesdays fool you into thinking otherwise.

[Dr. Dan Dungus]

Box (I think it used to be called Wax) has always been terrible. Not "meh," but rather "you may witness violence and vomiting, but no attractive women."

I had a short TPE visit in early 2014. At least at that time, Roxy 99 in the new location still drew a small but lively crowd on Saturday nights. Its best nights were traditionally Wednesdays and Saturdays, both after hours.

Carnegies may still be doing their "free champagne for women" thing on Wednesdays. They post their specials on their website. It was a total clown show back in the day with some truly gross people of both sexes, but there were always some girls, and they've always had good beer on tap.

[Carlos100]

I haven't been to Taiwan, but it sounds to me like it might actually be easier to get the Taiwan flag in Tokyo (I did), especially if you pipeline for it. The Taiwanese girls who come to Tokyo to live or study seem to be more openly interested in dating non-Taiwanese men.

I'd still like to go to Taiwan someday to see the scenery. From the videos I've seen on the Internet the country and mountain areas look very beautiful.