The Friday letter · No. 02
The license you brought with you
Friday, September 11, 2026 · From the Taipei desk
Good evening from Taipei. The card in your wallet is not a Taiwanese license, and thirty days is shorter than it sounds. This letter is the boring version of that, plus YouBike, a cheap night of baseball, silvergrass instead of the Arena, a bank account once you have an ARC, and a walk to Chikan Tower for the week Guo Huaiyi came at the Dutch.
Continue reading01 · Living
YouBike or an e-moped: the first-year transport argument
The honest answer depends on the hill, the rain, and whether you will actually take the test.
02 · Culture
Where to watch baseball this month
CPBL nights are one of the cheapest good evenings in the country. Pick a park, learn the last MRT, and stay for the losing innings.
03 · Travel
Silvergrass, not the Arena
IVE has Taipei Arena through Sunday. If you do not have a ticket, Qingtiangang just came into season, and Yingge is doing the other kind of weekend.
04 · Business
A bank account once you have an ARC
Passport, ARC, and a morning. Some branches still want a chop. The post office is not glamorous, and it works.
This week in Taiwan History
September 7–11, 1652 — Guo Huaiyi’s week
This Friday, 374 years ago, Chinese farmers with bamboo spears met Dutch muskets outside present-day Tainan. Fort Provintia is an afternoon walk now. It was a bamboo palisade then.
Continue readingUntil Friday.