Jonathan Biddle – Made in Taiwan

Month: June 2005

  • World Cup Mountain Biking

    Right at the end of the ride on Sunday we encountered a large group of walkers – an increasingly common sight in Taiwan. Unlike the UK, where you are greeted with at best a nod and at worst a dirty look, the walkers in Taipei are astonished to see anything on two wheels attempting their walking trails, no matter if it is flat earth or a hair-raising descent. Climbing is met with a loud “Jia Yo” which means “Add Fuel”, technical sections get a “Li Hai” (“great!”) and they will invariably greet you with a fumbled “Hallo!” and then stand in front of you smiling as you try to ride around them.

    The group on this day, however, were at the bottom of the final section of downhill for ‘Helens’ – named after the coffee bar at the top. 25 birst into sustained applause at the sight of us, and we were not even sure if it was safe to attempt it! On previous weeks it was really touch and go. In my experience, walkers or spectators of any kind mean default crashing but we all got through to cheers and applause! A very nice end to a ride where I could not get a good rhythm going (indeed, I got in a childish bad mood half way through and kicked my wheel, buckling it … frustrations of Taiwan find their way out one way or another!).

    Peter (Ireland), George (Germany), Mark (USA), Moi (UK) – the morning crew!

    I’ll be adding some video and more pics as soon as I get my new server arranged.

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Mattieu’s Barbecue # 2

    Jonny & Marta! (my favourite Polish person)

    Mattieu staged his second barbecue party, hosting much of the French population on his expansive rooftop overlooking the city to one side and the mountains to the other. My new apartment will feature a similar set-up, with even a little garden!

    Last time, Mattieu managed to attract a very large number of attractive girls. This time, the guys clearly got wind of this and turned out in force. If Mattieu were to host another, I am guessing the local girls will learn of the quantity of elligible, single, professional European males and thus the cycle would continue. Sadly, his landlord had other ideas and has banned him from further parties due to the noise – on such a noisy little island this is rather ironic.

    One interesting thing I have realised is that the French seem to stick together. And the Germans too, come to that. And then there seems to be in the middle – the lone plucky Brit. I am not sure if this is me, or the fact that I am British, but it is interesting none the less. You can also see that Europeans (including the Brits) tend to stick to other Europeans rather than hang out with Americans and Canadians. It seems I have more in common with people who do not share my mother tongue than those on the other side of the pond.

    Why won’t anyone listen to me?!” – Gerd and Marta discuss, while Lars screams for attention

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Ximen Operatics Society

    A voice like sandpaper singing songs of painful death (I think)

    I met this fella singing his heart out on his portable bike-mounted Karaoke system. Karaoke gets everywhere in Taiwan, people are surprisingly good and it is a massively popular way to spend a Friday night. For this guy, though, he is unlikely to find fame in the near future.

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Computex 2005

    Visiting Computex – Taiwan’s biggest electronics show, no.2 in the world – was a pretty interesting experience for me, mainly because it was one of the most memorable company events from a year ago when I first arrived. I have a feeling it was a slightly more sombre affair this year, but it may be in part to being more used to the environment here!

    You can check last year’s event here

    One of the most arresting things are the hordes of babes touting electro tat for their companies. There seems to have been an alarming trend over the last year to make it slightly less sexist and rubber clad, but fortunately there were enough companies seeing the light this year to continue with the fine tradition.

    Plenty of booty shaking – these girls clearly believe in their product

    Michael approaches an AMD clown…

    … and gets the desired effect.

    NVidia splashed out on bored students with enormous bags.

    And I am almost positive these ladies had nothing to do with the stand at all, and were simply craving the attention of the legions of happy snapping geek guys (me not included)


    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…