Tis the season. The season when because of no insulation, apartments are colder inside than the temperature is outside. Yes because of no central heating, in the winter time Taiwanese apartments can get pretty cold. I was thinking of editing two photos together to show the temperature inside my apartment versus the temperature outside. But you'll just have to take my word for it that it can get into the 50s inside, even on days when it's in the 60s outside.
When the temperature is colder inside it's not too hard to manage. Just make sure there is a blanket in every room, and that you have some thick socks. If all else fails, you can go outside to warm up. Yep it's not uncommon to go out to the balcony for a few minutes to enjoy the free heat, even if it is only a few degrees warmer.
Although now a days many people have space heaters. These off course range in price and size. Pretty cheap are some ones that look like fans and "shoot" the heat in a cone in front of it. The most popular are mid-range electric space heaters which let off heat in an area in front of it. There are top of the line electric radiators, but I haven't seen many people use them. Usually people prefer to just have the heat focused on them, rather than heating the whole area.
While it took some adjustment to it being cold inside, now each year I look forward to it. This is because it's my reading time. For the two months it's winter here, it's cold enough that it feels great to have a soak in a nice hot bath and do some reading. I enjoy it so much that each year I will stock up on books and just save them to read during this time. Then when the weather warms up, whichever books i didn't read get put away for next winter.
Granted it isn't quite cold enough yet. The winter time is usually january and february, but it being the rainy season, I've been able squeeze some hot baths in after coming back wet to a chilly apartment.
In this dark picture is my dog on the couch enjoying the blanket I put out there for her. Usually she will spend half the night sleeping on the couch, so with it being cold I put it out there for her so she can snuggle in it or dig her way under it. The first night she was kind of mad at me that this bulky thing was on the sofa, and slept elsewhere, but since then it's gotten colder inside and she spends most of the day tucking herself in or under this blanket.
