Oops, we did it again. After a lot of casual deliberation we have extended our stay in Taipei, moving into a new (to us) and much larger apartment in the process.
Of the 5 apartments we’ve had in this city, this is by far my favorite.
Tour of 3-Bedroom Taipei Apartment
The first thing you’ll notice walking into our front door is the wide open living and entertainment space.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Seating for 8
At our previous apartment things got a little hectic with just a handful of guests. We had Christmas and New Years’ parties with 15+ people and could probably double that comfortably.
The kitchen has a nice bar top and wrap-around windows for good lighting. We made pizza for 12 people (individual mini pizzas for the 6 kids) here last night. The only disappointment is that the countertop is 1.2 cm too low to fit a proper dishwasher (our counter-top dishwasher arrives next week – that thing under the counter is a dish dryer…)
To the right (not shown) is a 1.6 meter x 1.2 meter (5.2 ft x 4 ft) walk-in pantry and a similarly sized outdoor space with an on-demand water heater and full-sized washer and dryer.
The kid’s loved the pizza, of course. But even more than corn and pineapple toppings, they enjoyed the slide on Jr’s new bed.
Our 2nd furniture purchase in as many years
Across the hall is my new office, where strange things happen involving curry and crackers. This was originally a full bedroom, but this apartment has so much storage space that I was able to fit a whole double bed into a spare closet. With a dedicated work area, once again Uncle Sam will help pay our rent.
With this much workspace I probably need to start a podcast or something.
Go Curry Cracker World Headquarters
Continuing on you enter the massive master suite with king-sized bed, his/her thrones, and a corner artist’s studio.
The walk-through closet is sufficiently large to hold all of our clothing. Nice, that. With the remaining space I’m considering listing it on Airbnb. The closet space is to the right and equal in size to this dressing room, but in it’s current condition sharing it publicly would bring shame to the GCC brand.
The master bath to the left has his/her wash basins and a giant home spa / soaking tub.
Community Space
All of the newer (modern?) Taipei buildings I’ve seen include a common / community space and 24-hour staff. Ours is a 2 tower structure with a courtyard / outdoor “lobby” of sorts with trees, a fountain, and a fish pond.
There is a team that works the door and buzzes open the gate and helps with packages. There is another team that works the parking entrance, and a cleaning and garbage/recycling crew that keeps everything spic and span.
On the 19th floor there is a small garden with fruit trees and a decent view, and underground there are 4 floors of parking with dedicated bicycle parking. It is nice to just hop on the bike and go.
Details
The official reported size is 62 ping (2200 sq. ft. or 205 sq. m.) However, this includes our fractional portion of the public space, so the unit itself is probably closer to 2,000 sq. ft. or 185 sq. m.
There are 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, living/dining/kitchen, pantry, 2 bedrooms, and a master suite with walk-through closet. We now need two WiFi access points to get coverage throughout the home, but fortunately we inherited those from the previous tenants. The fiber connection is super fast.
We pay a total of 80,000 TWD / month (~$2,700/month) which covers everything except utilities.
I measure my office at 3.7 m x 3.1 m or about 6% of the core space.
The home is completely furnished except for our massage chair (free with cell phone contract), Winnie’s painting desk, and the new bed/fort/slide thingy.
However, since moving in we’ve also managed to acquire:
- Christmas tree and accessories
- vacuum cleaner
- floor sweeper robot
- countertop dishwasher
- a shelf unit thing for kitchen appliances
- a mile of miscellaneous power strips and adapters
As JL Collins says, houses have gravity.
We are also slowly replacing all of the wall artwork with Winnie’s creations. I suggested we hang up a supersized picture of a spreadsheet but was firmly overruled.
Lifestyle
This apartment is less than a 10 minute walk from our old place. We looked at 60+ different apartments in this neighborhood in the summer and nothing fit, but then friends let us know they were moving back to the UK. We literally moved in the day they moved out. We were able to get a reasonable price thanks to working without an agent and zero turnover time.
Moving was quick and efficient. For <$100 we got a bunch of boxes, a small moving truck, and a burley young man to do all the lifting, driving, and moving.
Walking distance to grocery store, subway, main bus line, Jr’s school, etc… is all in the range of 10-15 minutes. This is an increase of 5 minutes or so, but now that we have super easy access to our bicycles we tend to use those more – Jr and I have been biking to school everyday and it takes just 5 minutes plus or minus. We are also 5 minutes closer to/from my favorite bike trails, and I still have easy access to my favorite coffee shop.
Across the street is a park/playground. The average age is a few years older than the park next door to our old place, which seems to work out – Jr often prefers to roughhouse with the older kids.
We’ve been here a month now and we’ve already had 8 dinners / holiday events with friends. Having a much larger space has worked really well – adults have a big dinner table and kitchen to gather around, and the kids play in Jr’s room which is noticeably isolated sound wise from the core living space.
Plans
We will be in Japan for skiing for the next couple of weeks. My mother is coming to visit for 2 weeks for Winnie’s and Junior’s birthdays in March/April, and we will do a tour of Taiwan’s south and east coasts.
Come summer, it’s all TBD. I think this place would rent nicely on Airbnb. We will probably stay in the region if we do travel a bit.
We think we will be here for a few years – it would be nice if Jr was comfortably reading/writing Chinese before we physically located at some other point on the planet. Immersion seems to be key for long-term reading and writing.
If you are in the neighborhood – hit us up. I’m always up for a coffee.
For reference
Why do we live in Taipei? Cuz it’s great!
The food is also great. No, really.
Other Taipei apartments we have called home:
- Our $1000 a Month Apartment in Taipei, Taiwan
- Our $1,400 1-Bedroom Apartment in Taipei, Taiwan
- Our $2,400 3-Bedroom Apartment in Taipei
Thank you for joining us on our tour today. This has been another exciting episode of Lifestyles of Go Curry Cracker!
Nice joint. Congrats and enjoy!
Will do our best. Thanks!
I really like your new condo. It’s amazing the amount of extra space you can get out in Asia. My family and I are based in Malaysia and now completely used to 2500sqft (not bragging at all lol) for around $1300! Considering we used to live in a house in London and regard 1300sqft as big (it is for London) we really enjoy having the extra let room. What is interesting is having all the space on one floor instead of having stairs. Whilst stairs was good for the exercise, as a friend pointing out the other day, having your living space all on one floor really makes you feel connected to the space.
Would you ever consider a house in Taipei? Or is that not the thing to do?
Enjoy your new home.
Sound perfect.
The all on one floor thing is really nice. From solo play to sleeping in his own bed at night to riding his car around the whole house, having everything flow together has been a clear winner with Junior. It’s a bonus for us too… easy to flow from the office to the coffee maker to the painting studio.
For exercise I just walk up 6 flights of stairs when I take out the garbage and recycling. And bike, naturally.
No houses here – everything is condensed and high rise.
Cool place and maybe you should do a podcast. ;)
Looks like you outdid yourself this time. My wife was talking about a proper kitchen here in Taipei. She was in awe by your place. Great looking place. 60 pings is huge. Love it!
You guys are welcome to stop by.
Ha! Looks like my old building on Xinfeng St. within steps of the park. Loved living there. Enjoy
Mike
Wow. Great place. Looks like you are living it!
Aren’t you afraid your expenses will be greater than your income from posts, investments? Just curious.
If I was afraid of such a thing I would make different choices.
Well said. You have done a much better analysis than I have.
Personally struggling with enjoying the good things and ensuring I don’t run out of money for me and my family. Our unknowns are college education and where would we move to in 6 years – kids out of our home by then. We know we won’t live in the US year round.
Not really analysis… I’m just 7.5 years into living off the portfolio and no matter what we do it continues to grow. That will change, of course, but it has already gotten to be too big to fail, so I’m at peace with it all.
I follow your investment allocation since. Thank you for such a great & simplified investment allocation.
Is it still same ?(70/20/5/4/1 )
Or did you have some/ any modification ??? Please share. Thanks !!!
More or less the same – goosed up the cash at the beginning of covid
Go Curry Cracker Asset Allocation 2021
Congratulations on moving on up to the east side, to a DELUXE apartment in the sky. All the best.
Interesting on the dishwasher not fitting. I’ve never heard of just a dish dryer.
It’s a Taiwan thing I think
First thing that came to mind was you weren’t joking about the high humidity levels in the summer….need a special appliance just to dry the dishes.
Ya in chiayi too no dishwasher but a dryer, I always helped amah with the dishes
would you call this living large :) congrts – love the kids room and the office –
Nice digs!
Very cool! I’m curious, would you mind sharing the general location in Taipei? My in-laws live in New Taipei City and grandmother in-law in Da’An neighborhood.
Zhongshan. We used to live in Daan also.
Wow, looks great! Sounds pretty similar to our taste in apartments too.
I know nothing about Taipei costs other than the little I looked on Airbnb for rentals. How much of the cost is location dependent? In other words – if you had the same place, but a bit of a drive away – how would that impact the price?
If we went 45 minutes away but still on the subway line, prices drop in half-ish. We have friends who rent a 6 bedroom 4,000 sq ft place with 2-story ceilings/windows on the 22nd floor with amazing views for the same price.
Very cool! Not bad for $2700 a month.
Just rented out an 1.380 sqft 2/1 for $4,100/month. Fingers crossed they are good tenants.
Please eat some Din Tai Fung for me.
Sam
Isn’t there a DTF in SF now?
Yes it’s in Valley Fair mall in Santa Clara/San Jose approximately 50 miles south of SF.
No. Santa Clara is way too far away to go to wait in line to eat from SF.
Biggest no brainer business opp is opening up a DTF in SF!
Sam
Thanks for the shout out. Makes me feel like I have gravitas. ;)
Very cool digs, and love that it is furnished. :)
Congratulations on the new place. Looks great. I thought you were considering my hood California? I’m traveling and might be in Taipei end of June. Will keep you posted.
3 years maybe.
Super nice place! Your past articles pushed Ann and me to trade the house for an apartment. Seattle isn’t as cheap as Taipei, but I hope it will work out.
Enjoy the new apartment!
You sold the Queen Anne house?!
Stop by for a visit sometime.
Holy moly, your apartment is huge. Enjoy!
Wow! Jeremy and Winnie, this looks like a GREAT place for you guys! Love how you acquired the massage chair! So glad that life is treating the three of you well. Patricia and I send our love.
Tell Patricia we say hi!
xoxo
Wondered if you’d seen this article on the Taiwanese health system, and what you thoughts were: https://www.vox.com/health-care/2020/1/13/21028702/medicare-for-all-taiwan-health-insurance
I give the Taiwan health system a 100% approval rating based on our own experience, which includes a few health checks, Winnie’s cancer surgery, IVF, childbirth, a couple emergency room visits, and childhood care through age 5.
The 1% administrative costs I believe. Things are super efficient. The article mentions full wait rooms, which is true – but it is a bit like the deli counter… you pick a number and when yours is called you go in to see the Dr. You can see all that online though so we try to just show up 10-15 minutes before our pastrami is ready.
Downsides: we should pay more, Drs should be paid more (to incentivize more actively working Drs – seems to be no shortage of boob and nose job clinics.)
Can you pay for private healthcare / concierge healthcare to get better service?
A friend pays something like $20K a year to have a personal doctor always on call, come to their house.
S
That would be like $20k/hour for how much time I would save based on our normal medical usage.
Looks like a great new place! Is this Daan district?
Zhongshan
Wow nice and congrats.
Quite the upgrade. Congrats!
We might be back around Christmas 2020, and will buy you a coffee, the sister in law is in Taipei. I am 3 yrs from pulling the plug and I’d like to see if I can handle living there.
I’m always up for a coffee
Beautiful! Between that and good health care, why ever leave?
Dish dryer? No dishwasher? What’s up with that?
the no dishwasher thing would be reason enough to leave, but we found a countertop solution…
I occasionally cast an eye over the flat / unit / apartment / townhouse market in case keeping house and garden becomes onerous.
Cursory look this looks similar in functionality and cost: https://www.realestate.com.au/property-apartment-act-city-428315626
The cost of selling, moving and buying / renting means that we will likely stay put and hire help with upkeep.
I would live in that place. Nice outdoor space!
We’re visiting Taiwan for about a week in early July. What would you recommend? So far we’re thinking a couple of days in both Kaohsiung and Taipei, and a day trip to Taroko gorge – which we think is possible. Anything else you think we should do or see?
Between Taroko and Taipei you have enough for a week. July will be hot HOT HAWT!!!
Early morning and post-sunset activities are best, with afternoon naps in the AC.
Seems like Asia has mostly highrises, do some people have their own gardens there or what would you suggest if you’re an avid gardener? Are there community gardens like in Europe? Or can u garden on your top floor?
Yes, all of the above. You could do rooftop or terrace gardening. There are community gardens.
But… this might be a bit of a mischaracterization – kind of like viewing all of the US through a glance at Manhattan.
What a great place! We spent a couple of weeks in Taipei during Thanksgiving at an AirBnB apartment. We spoke about moving to Taipei for a couple of years to be closer to my mom. Hope this is OK to ask… Your 2nd apartment place was also pretty nice –> https://www.gocurrycracker.com/our-1400-1-bedroom-apartment-in-taipei-taiwan/. Would you be able to share the landlord or real estate agent information for the place? Thanks!
I believe they sold that place and it is no longer a rental.
But, imho… I’ve not met an agent that I would work with again… the local real estate websites are pretty good for seeing what is available.
Thanks!! Yeah – I think it just requires me doing some online research :)
If you’re going to podcast, that room is going to need a lot more throw pillows! :)
First episode – throw pillows, necessary or overrated?
https://www.npr.org/2020/01/10/794201416/how-a-pillow-fort-can-make-your-podcast-sound-better
Looks like an awesome space! Certainly bigger than the apartment I visited a number of years ago. :)
Is that price considered high end in Taipei? Or middle of the road?
Yes, we’ve consciously loosened the purse strings a bit.
This is probably upper-end of the midrange.
Swanky. Great find, congrats. The entire place will be perfect for receiving and entertaining guests. :-)
Not sure if I know anybody willing to fly all this way :)
Congrats on the move! I’m fairly familiar with Taipei and would consider moving there for my retirement.
Maybe I missed it in the article, but which neighborhood is your apartment in?
Would love to move into a place like that for the price you’re paying :)
Zhongshan.
The neighborhood I referred to with lower prices is Xindian.
So if you like making pizza’s you should look into getting the Roccbox, its a life changing pizza oven. not even kidding. I travel in a trailer in the usa and make pizzas for everyone. its true neopolitean pizza. And i’m not associated with them.
I’ll check it out, thanks!
Been following your blog for a few years now. Have loved these apartment tours. I have a dream to learn Japanese or Mandarin in my (Early) retirement years. A couple languages that seem really hard to learn and most importantly create a goal that will take many years to achieve fluency. Unfortunately, I don’t think Taiwan is offering long term Visas for language schools. Even during non-covid times. But I could figure something out perhaps with visa runs every 90 days.
Hit my numbers but the current pandemic is a good reason to keep working while I’m stuck in the USA. If I choose Mandarin, it will be Taipei. I visited in 2018 but it was my first time travelling and I was overwhelmed! Your blog convinced me I need to go back and try life as an expat. Will hit you up for coffee next time I’m there ;)
You can get residency (and public health insurance) while studying Mandarin in Taiwan. Any of the big language schools can help with a student visa (post covid.)
We probably won’t be there though as we have recently moved back to the US.