From Island to Island

Change Your Island, Change Your Life

Up to now, I had never met anyone so young, who is so clear about where he wants his life to go. BlackAsiaMagazine is proud to present the inspiring story of Nyhymn Terrance. He hails from an Island in the Caribbean called St. Lucia. 5 years ago, he moved to the island of Taiwan to realize his dream of becoming a chef. It’s going well!

If you grew up on an island, you are very familiar with what is known as ‘island vibes.’ This is the calm, synchronous, ebb and flow that island people develop, related to life on an island. Although life in Taipei can move at a rapid pace, this is not the case island-wide. Overall, the island of Taiwan is a relaxed, laid-back place to live, especially for foreigners who happen to live here.

Getting acquainted with expat communities, anywhere in the world, means meeting a lot of wanderers. We teach English, we travel, we pursue our passions. Very few people can say, with 100% crystal clarity, what they want to do with their lives. Nyhymn is not that kind of person. He came to Taiwan with a vision of where he wants his life to go and he is using that vision to shape the world around him.

For this particular interview, he and I sat down to talk in the beautiful area of Tam Shui, which is in the north of Taiwan. He was visiting from his home city in the south called Kaohsiung. The scenery behind us was astounding there on the pier.

It was in this moment that I was made to understand the uniqueness of Nyhymn’s plan. You see, there has never been a Michelin Star certified chef, anywhere in the Caribbean. Nyhymn is on the road to becoming the first Caribbean-born chef with this distinction.

After living in Taiwan for 5 years, Nyhymn’s determination has not waivered. He has not become distracted from his goal. He came here to study culinary arts and to become a chef. This is just what he has done. Moving abroad has afforded him opportunities that were not there in his native St. Lucia. Even though life has taken him from one island to another, Taiwan has shown him loads more conveniences and amenities.

As we mentioned, Nyhymn is a chef and more recently, he has begun selling tacos in a totally different way from what from anything I’ve seen before. His tacos are pandemic-resistant and very appropriate to the times we live in.

He also sells a Caribbean favorite called Sea Moss. Not many people have the ambition to source such a product, this far away from the West Indies. His business model is brilliant and it could only have been implemented here in Taiwan. This is a fact, for which Nyhymn expresses gratitude.

Being on an island allows for the freedom and the ease of reaching a large number of people, quickly and efficiently. The cities are not far apart and means of transportation are highly reliable. Your customer base is never far away. For now, these novel products are only available in Taiwan. Plans are in the works to make all these things available on an international scale.

The regulations in Taiwan are also more than relaxed compared to the different forms of red tape we see in so many other places. A savvy business person here can eliminate many of the technical headaches that come along with doing business in a foreign country, turn a profit and still stay within the limits of the law.

Nyhymn Terrance is a great resource to learn about life and business in Taiwan.