By Zhen-Kang — 25 May 2026

A day in the life

And though the costs were rather small, I had to count them all…

Scooter parking was free. Photo: Zhen-Kang.

This afternoon I went to the dentist for my six-monthly check-up. It was a great day in Kaohsiung—sunny and 33 ºC but with low humidity—so I wasn’t in my usual rush to get home and shower. I decided to catch up on some life admin instead.

Reflecting on the cost of my subsidized dental visit, I thought I’d note the expenses I incurred in this very ordinary afternoon. A micro-study in everyday living costs in Taiwan:

Dentist

Exterior of WellBeing Dental Office in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. — **NT$150** (NZ$7.50) for X-rays, check-up, and cleaning. National Health Insurance subsidizes this preventive dental care twice a year. *Image: Apple Maps.*

Mobile phone bill

Exterior of a Taiwan Mobile store. — **NT$499** (NZ$25) per month for unlimited 4G data. I used to pay more for 5G (coverage is excellent), but I found the extra speed wasn’t worth the battery drain. *Image: Apple Maps.*

Massage chair session

A row of 7 pristine massage chairs in front of a glass window with an elevated view across Central Park in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. — **NT$60** (NZ$3) for 21 minutes (usually), but free today using my LINE Points. I earn 1% back in LINE Points when buying stuff with Apple Pay. These chairs are on the 10th floor of Talee Department Store, next to Central Park in Kaohsiung.

Cold barley tea

A bottle of barley tea on a white table. — **NT$29** (NZ$1.50) from 7-Eleven. Barley and wheat teas are caffeine-free and often have buy-one-get-one-free deals in convenience stores—but not today.

Haircut

Exterior of a JIT hairdressers in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. — **NT$130** (NZ$6.50). Only marginally more expensive than my first haircut in Taiwan.

Dinner

A large bowl of vegan curry ramen next to a smaller side dish of stir-fried sweet potato leaves, and a pair of metal chopsticks. — **NT$140** (NZ$7) for vegan curry ramen (NT$100) with a side of garlic-and-ginger stir-fried sweet potato leaves (NT$40).

Self-service scooter wash

Gas

Scooters parked alongside a metal fence in urban Kaohsiung, Taiwan. — **NT$10** (NZ$0.50) for 12 km of travel today (estimated, with auto start-stop enabled). Parking was free.

I don’t think I ever used a massage chair in New Zealand, and I definitely never owned a scooter there. But if I were to think in comparative terms (allowing for using a car instead of a scooter), then with the exception of the mobile plan, every item on this page is at least half the cost of its New Zealand equivalent—and in the case of the dentist, one-fortieth the price.

My total spend today was just under NT$1,000 (NZ$50).

An equivalent day in New Zealand would’ve cost me NT$8,000 (NZ$400).