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Author: Jonathan Biddle
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Wrist – Good News!
Saw the wrist Doctor tonight, had some X-rays … and he says that my wrist is healing very quickly. Basically, it’s 100% but I need to wait for another month before riding properly again … but until then I can at least ride my bike on the street. Yeah!
And in a double twist of good news, Nick – a friend from the US and A – came back from the States today. His Dad was in a pretty horiffic car crash, and he flew home to be with his family. Luckily, he is in the middle of making a full recovery. This struck a little close to home – as I am sure it did with many young guys away from home. It could have been my parents, friend or loved one. This time it wasn’t, and I hope it never will.
The flip side was seeing the way that this disperate group of people here rallied around with a barrage of e-mails accross the Pacific. Rather comforting.
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DaLi
Today, I had the pleasure of a wonderful hike with Ruth & Christophe (designers from Germany) and Markus & Evelyn. The weather was supreme, and it is quite strange to think that the weather back in the UK is probably cold and ‘orrid. We are still in t-shirts, though there is a distinct chill in the air these days. We took a train out down the coast and arrived at DaLi – just past Fulong. After a very pleasant climb over the peak we had a wonderful stroll accross farmland with a light and coolness that made me think I was back in Blighty once again.
Stairway from Heaven
Bike & shoes under palms
Paddy’s Day
Trike
Games with reflective things 1.0
Sun set bank account in the red
Games with reflective things 2.0
Ruth and Christophe have a cheeky laugh on the way home
The kids are asleep in the back -
We’re Night Clubbing
I had a pretty great night out last night – went to VT Art Salon to see live electric geetars twinned with fiendish techno beats. Exceptionally cool, and rather nice to meet several people again that are fast becoming good friends here in Taipei. They took their time!
I took some photos on the way home – a rather sinister looking entranceway to a super gangsterish night club, a street corner, and me in a lift watching the doors close.
Stay on target
Intersection
Sliding Doors -
Assorted Photos
Some assorted photos over the last week or so in Taipei.
Nelson looking pretty in PS Cafe while hanging out pretending to study Chinese
Messing around with the RAW settings on my camera while downtown at night in Taipei
Mister Donuts is a Japanese confectionary chain in Taiwan. The quality is poor poor poor, but every time a new one opens expect a line up around the building and down the block. People like donuts here in Taiwan.
Markus and I out for some quiet (mid-week) beers at Underworld on ShiDa road. The place shut down a few months ago and we were happy to see it humming again (and our heads the next day).
A night time street vendor is either stopping or starting work for the day
Rich and I head north as I make my first trip on scooter in about five weeks. We stop to admire the paddy fields. -
Multiculturalism
What is multiculturalism? I have been thinking about it recently.
Taiwan is perhaps the most tolerant place towards people of different cultures and faiths I have ever been to. The foolish activities of foreigners are shrugged off and with a hearty laugh they will ask you where you are from, what you do and why are you here. A genuine inquisitiveness which is incredibly welcoming. But no matter how long I stay, how good my Chinese gets (unlikely) or how close a friendship I make, I will always be a ‘waiguo’ (ousider). Is acceptance without any chance of assimilation multiculturalism?
Britain – especially London – is one of the most multicoloured, faceted and influenced places I have been to. A country that has opened its doors to the world, and I believe in most ways to be tolerant. If a person arrives from Italy, India or Innsbruck there is every possibility that they, or at least their children, would be regarded as ‘English’. But to become English, you need to leave your cultural luggage at the door and nobody will ever be interested in the slightest about where you come from, or be pleased that you took the time to visit this fine country. So, is assimilation without acceptance multiculturalism?
Is America, the ultimate multicultural society? For as long as they are ‘One Nation Under God’ this is surely an impossibility. Or Canada, where all countries, faiths and origins are welcomed and this right is embedded in the basic rights of the citizens?
Or maybe multicultralism is a myth. A word to describe a multitude of different situations and balances as society self-organises itself into equilibrium with the addition of new ideas and blood. One thing is for sure, it took a trip around the world for me to be able to ask this question.
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Trance Zero
My new bike arrives!
A Giant Trance ‘Zero’ for those that are interested … it has XTR , and I expect it to make me a better rider, as well as a better person.
The cool thing was – it was personally delivered by Owen Chang – R&D; director of Giant.
Boxfresh -
God Squad
Tonight is the night of several large Halloween parties in Taipei. I put some thought and consideration into my costume and I have decided to go as a Mormon missionary – a plague of religious righteousness that has hit Taipei straight out of Salt Lake City. As if lifted from a David Lynch movie, they appear from the middle of nowhere, squeaky clean and cookie cuttered out, passing out leaflets to unsuspecting locals. I find the whole activity sick.
Hence, I am dressing up as a blood-sucking Mormon missionary tonight! – the basis of my little anecdote;
I went shopping today for vampire teeth and blood to have pouring from my mouth. Sadly, none of the costume stores had anything suitable, so I went to the local pharmacy chain, Watsons. I announced to the cosmetics girl that I was looking for ‘blood red lip stick’, at which she relayed my request to the entire shop – “THERE IS A TALL MALE FOREIGNER LOOKING FOR BRIGHT RED LIP STICK.” I walked out with some deep rouge lippy and bright, shiny lip gloss (and even redder cheeks). I’ll see what the results are like soon when I get ready!
This is what I am after tonight – wholesome, blood sucking goodness (image courtesy of Flickr)
Update:
I easily looked scary enough without the blood … and we managed to create less of a costume and more of a disguise.
The God squad
Ludvig the Bible Basher
I had been looking for him all night -
New Camera
Last night I bought a new Camera.
I have been yearning for a camera with more manual control so I can have a bit more fun creatively. My little Canon Ixy is great, and I can take it everywhere but I do miss taking time to compose photographs. I do still have my venerable Olympus OM10 SLR from the 1970s, and I would continue using it, were it not for the hassle and price of film processing. I looked at quite a lot of digital SLRs, but they were both huge and I always had the feeling that the technology was much smarter than me. I wanted something compact and with proper manual controls – so I opted for a second-hand Panasonic Lumix LC1. You can read about it here, should you be so inclined.
Incidentally, the photo below is taken with the web-cam built into my new MacBook. I kind of overlooked this gimmick, but it has been really great. I had a fantastic full screen video chat with Dad last night, and the software Photo Booth is hilarious fun and great for taking ad-hoc photos on the fly.
Anyway, I had a nice walk through Taipei today. The weather is just perfect at the moment. Cool and breezy, lowish humidity and clear skies. The folks back home will hate to hear me writing this but we are still walking around in t-shirts. Indeed, the first time I wore a thin jacket was this week. This will change in the next few weeks as Autumn and Winter catches up with us.
On the way I enjoyed taking plenty of photos and I am looking forward to playing with it more. The manual focus is not all it could be, but it has been lovely to really have full control over aperture and exposure.
In my room last night playing with the exposure
Walking past the Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corporation today … I saw this rather charming sign … not to self: visit the Taiwan Beer Bar …
I love coming across old Japanese colonial buildings. It is an architectural heritage that Taiwan more or less ignores, even as the country scrabbles to find and define its national identity. I have this hope that one day these dwellings will become as desirable as a loft in the Docklands of London, but I think there is some way to go yet.
Sticker near Main Station … the mood has changed in the last few weeks as people seem to have lost their interest in trying to depose Chen.
On my way to Ximen
Sushi Express has turned into a safety net for me … and I love the way I never eat too much. Just pay for each mouth full
Local old lads discussing gambling
And some feet further along the same street -
Kokuyo
I just won the ‘Special’ prize in the Kokuyo design award 2006!
It’s a Japanese design prize … more details when I know them.