Jonathan Biddle – Made in Taiwan

Author: Jonathan Biddle

  • 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…

  • Scooter English

    It is high time that I posted an entry, since I have been quiet for a few weeks. I now have enough photos of scooters to warrant a full homage to Taiwanese ‘Scooter English’. I am sure this post will grow, since I am sometimes howling with laughter at the genius of some of the prose. Sit back, and absorb…


    My scooter: “Duke … ECOLOGY NEW STAND & NEW LIFE”


    “We reach for the sky. Neither does civilization … SNIPER”


    “GENERATION POLLUTION ON THE EARTH LOW 50 FREINDL LIGHT NO. 01 POLLUTION FRIENDLY SCOOTER NEW”


    “TACT … MET-IN … JUST FOR YOU THE NEW GENERATION … FAST FIRST AND BEST”


    “Going … MOVE YOUR CREATIVE HEART”


    “Your future depends on … MOVIE 125”


    “JOG IS FASCINATING TO YOU”


    “Going … KYMCO BRINGS OUT THE GENIUS IN YOUR CHOICE”


    “Jockey are riding with us”


    “THE BEST FUNCTION AND GOOD SENSATION“


    “CHACHA … KEEP CLEAN, KEEP PLEASANT, KEEP HEALTHY … GIVING YOU THE BEST SENSATION ALL I HAVE”

    “Dio … SHUTTLE IN THE CITY JUNGLE. THE NEW SPEEDY SNAIL CLAN CHARACTERISTIC. DIGNIFIED. AGGRESSIVE”


    “CAOW … WITH FASHIONABLE FEELING”


    “MAN … enjoy yourself … boy”


    “YOU GOT TO FEEL … FEVER … THE HAPPINESS OF RIDING”


    “Junior … THE GLARING HEADLIGHTS OF A MOTORCAR”


    “SHEN YANG … THE NEW GENERATIONAL SCOOTER FRON EARTH”


    “J\O\G … IS FASCINATING TO YOU”


    “GOING … THE MORE YOU LOOK THE MORE YOU LIKE”


    “125 … FOR NEW CENTURY”


    “Spanking … The Dreaming Touring Motor With Spanking Kwang Yang Scooter 100E”

    After a whole year of being surrounded by this, it does begin to become invisible to you – a shame. However, occasionally I will walk along a row of scooters with camera blazing, chuckling away to myself. I do feel jealous a little of newcomers who point every strange thing out – things I cannot see any more.

    Although it seems very funny, this is the relationship with English that most local designers seem to have. And I have to work with them, using Roman characters to ‘decorate’ their designs. Frankly, we are often the same in Europe – exotic Chinese symbols seem trés chic tatooed onto our arms, eh.

    Update:

    Lars had some extra photos lying around of scooters. Some new, some when I had no camera – if only you could take photos at traffic lights you could get so much more lyrical goodness … I can see this taking a life of its own!


    “FOVEP … YOU GET TO FOOL THE HARRINESS OF RIOING”


    “Freeway … specializing in boble model street bike for noble life”


    “TACT … MET-IN … JUST FOR YOU, THE NEW GENERATION”


    “RR … RIDDING ON THE WING.”


    “SNIPER … AEROTYPE … Just for wind cutting”


    “THE EPOCHAL SCOOTER”


    “SANYANG … THE BEST FUNCTION AND SENSATION … KING OF THE RIDER”


    “FOR TOUR NICE SCENE”


    “FANGIER … NEW EDITION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE … GET AWAY WITH IT ALL”

    A new wave…


    Duck – Be Pure – 125 SP – To resist drugs and violence – amazing


    Dock – THE DUKE TEAM SO SPEEDING & DOMINANT


    6 – THE FRIENDLE SCOOTER ON EARON – ER


    To Feel Exuberan Tly Happy


    LAEIH (?) – HAHAH
    A SUPER SPEED – WE OFFER TOU SAFETY AND QUALITY


    And so it continues…

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Wedding Bells

    Diego, from the team, got married on Sunday and we were invited to the post-wedding dinner to celebrate. This was my first Taiwanese wedding and had heard mixed reports about them in the past. However, it was a great evening and very enjoyable.

    One of the first things to consider with a Chinese wedding is the Red Envelope. Into this, you stuff money for the newly-weds. The system is rather good, I think, as it avoids the usual palava with wedding lists and racing to the cheapest on the list (don’t tell me I am the only one that does that!).


    Rockin’ the dollars – it is typical to write “one hundred years together”, which is close enough to eternity not to matter any more

    There are, however, one or two rules to remember when deciding how much to give. First, there must not be a number 4 in the amount (ie: 1400NT$ is not good) since the character for 4 has the same sound as death – rather an oversight if you ask me. I have described before how hotels and hospitals will often not have a fourth floor, and buses might be labelled 3+1.

    The amount should also be even, and contain even numbers to signify the ‘pair’ being together. As a result of this, I gave Diego 1600NT$ which is about 20 quid. It all depends on how good friends you are with the couple of course, and I suspect that our bosses gave the couple a nice whack of cash.


    Michael & Tanja are mesmerised by the lobster – this time with no LEDs

    The food was pretty good. You get ten courses of various types – some soups, some fish dishes, some other meats. A less affluent family might have less courses, and I am sure that richer families may have more. We were also lucky enough to have reasonable quality wine – a rarity out here, unless you are prepared to pay.


    Me and m’lady

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Bike

    I had another great ride today – this time with Mark (USA), George (Germany), Mattieu (France), Ludvig (Sweden) and Peter (Ireland)… what an international team! This time riding in the south of the city, the weather was swealtering… and sadly after hours (maybe days) of climbing, pushing and hoiking we realised they had levelled a mountain and filled in a valley. Flat. Damn! Back to Yang Ming next week I think.

    The death toll of parts on my bike continues. I have broken more things in three months than in years on my trusty Orange back home. The list so far stands at:

    1 x suspension fork – presently back to the factory to fix the rebound damping
    1 x bent seat post
    1 x wheel
    1 x shoe … newest to the list – I managed to pull the sole plate that mounts to the pedal through the rubber lower. Totally screwed

    Still, it means I can sit and dream some more about buying components. They are pretty good value here. My new snazzyThomson seat post is about 90 quid back home and I got it for £35. I have been a bit surprised accasionally about the servicing. Back home, you can easily get new cables, patches, fork servicing… Here, getting a puncture repair is hard (just buy a new tube), bike shops have to think about if they have brake pads and, as you can see, forks get sent to the factory rather than have local servicing. All very interesting.

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Culture Shock

    I have display rather strange behaviour once every few months. I think other people go through the same things, but it is useful to be aware of it. I seem to work on a cycle of once every few months going into a deep spot lasting a few days, where I am terribly anxious, a touch paranoid about things, unable to plan and very sensitive about my friends out here. I also become withdrawn and tend not to communicate these feelings back home to HQ. The result of lots of tensions building up, concerns about work, feeling a long way away from home, friends and family, and generally a little out of control – it is rather unpleasant. But it does pass. And for reference, I wanted to put this down so I can see it next time!

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Singapore & Malaysia pics

    I put the last of the photos online from Singapore and Malaysia – plus a few others from other things in April. Check them out!

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Murder on the Dancefloor

    My happy set of stereotypes for Chinese people has been challenged severely this year – but mainly because I have not seen any people ballroom dancing in the street or doing tai-chi (though admitedly I am rarely up early enough to appreciate that).

    However, I was delighted to see (though not hear – it was horrible) a pair of dancers in the Jhongshao Fuxing area kicking up their heels. Though perhaps that is rather an overstatement – the male lead looked more like he was delivering the post, such was the energy and passion.


    He ain’t Patrick

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • July

    I had a fun night out with July, bumping into several friends on the way. Slowly but surely, I am fashioning a wee scene for myself. It’s slow, but it is happening! July and I continued on out and I thought it would be a good opportunity to show off a photo of the lady!

    She is rather amazing – able to speak German, Japanese, English and several dialects of Chinese. She is beginning French, and I have no doubt that she will also do well in that. “What does she do?”, I hear you say – she co-owns and runs the city culture website UrbanPeople and edits the events magazine Mini 14. She also works in a rather classy hotel full of Japanese businessmen in the centre of the city. So visit the site, sign up, and get involved!


    July & I

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Another Year

    I signed today for another year at Asus in Taiwan. One year already? Amazing!

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Meeting the folks

    I had already met some of July’s family the previous weekend, but this was a regular large group reunion for some of the cousins and extended family. So, quite a high stakes affair and a chance to meet July’s father. Yikes!

    All was smooth, however, and I had a great time. The food was good and I did language exchange with July’s improbably cute cousins. I became their new play station, and was asked at the end if I could possibly move into their apartment because they wanted to see more of me … so I passed an important test!


    Nosh – a hot soup where you add ingredients as you like. I had done a similar thing with Michael some time ago, but this was much better with the guidance of some people who knew what they were doing (ie: we did not set fire to anything this time).


    Nio Nio – a delight


    … and plus Ge Ge

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…