Jonathan Biddle – Made in Taiwan

Author: Jonathan Biddle

  • Singapore Slung

    I am now moderately drunk sitting and writing. I have had a very enjoyable day doing nothing too much. I had the most fantastic sleep and woke up to a rather louder Singapore than the one I left the previous night – specifically the Mosque at the end of the street with its morning call, the Hindu tailors in the street outside my hostel and the Chinese market traders hawking everything from cell phones to dried mushrooms. A very different Singapore to the early AM of yesterday.

    I had a very slow start to the day due to my Malaria tablets and their doping effect. This fitted in perfectly into my innactive holiday mode of sitting drinking coffees in the sun and watching the world go by. Singapore is strangely familiar, and yet unlike anything I have seen before. Laid back, organised and hygienic, and yet busy, cosmopolitan and humid to distraction. Places it reminds me of include Brighton, Victoria BC, Hamburg… a strange mix. But an attractive and very accessible one.


    China town in Singapore – I had to wait for a minute until no foreigners were in view (!)

    They have managed, unlike Taipei, to preserve at least some of the old colonial areas. I am realising I am perhaps hyper-sensitive to this because I complain about Taipei destroying its heritage, and yet here I am along a beautifully preserved street of colonial houses… and it is all rather Disney. Where is the perfect balance? Europe, I suppose – where I grew up! Hard to please, eh.


    Bussorah Street – where I stayed and centre of the Arab district

    Singapore is certainly reminiscent of Hong Kong, but is more… colonial. A cricket clun in the centre. More low level luxury hotels. More influence from Arab and Indian quarters. And at the same time I am noticing ridicuous details, perhaps because I am already tuned into ‘Radio Asia’ amd Singapore is quite western compared to Taipei. So, there are pidgeons here (do we have them in Taipei?), people ride Honda more, there are less scooters, people speak kind of a mix between Chinese and English, I think, and well…. it is very comfortable. Just some impressions.


    Raffles Hotel – the quintessential British establishment in Singapore and home of the Singapore Sling, bless ’em

    I spent the night along the waterfront of the south china sea drinking massively over priced beers. I had a great time, but realised that most Brits out here are public school boys and absolute bigoted arseholes. Man, I hate that friday night white collar trash thing in London and I hate it even more here where the pay is relatively higher and the targets of their scorn (the local girls on the whole) are not able to defend themselves.

    Still, I like the place – but I feel more connection with Hong Kong. More edge. More…. Just more.


    Cricket club in the very heart of Singapore. You can see their priorities when they landed! Government, then Library, followed by Cricket pitch, and then plenty of drinking establishments – the Brits certainly colonized in style!


    BJ Massage – I had to take a photo!

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Singapore Sling

    So, here I am sitting in the colonial district of old Singapore. The fan is whirring away above me and I am necking a Tiger beer. I am on holiday!

    I had almost forgotten I had the rights to vacation – especially since the locals in the office do not really get much. I am ready to have a massively decadent 2 and a half weeks here and plan to jungle trek, then up to the perinthians to dive. I am sure that will change, but this is the contract for now.

    The trip from Taipei was smooth. I flew with Jet Star Asia – more or less the first budget airline to operate out of Taiwan, and my ticket to paradise… for about fifty quid. All of a sudden, Singapore, Malaysia, and all of south-east Asia is laid out in front of me.

    The four and a half hour flight was punctuated with children puking and coughing and crying in my immediate viscinity, which was exactly what I did not want. However, the little critters redeamed themselves when one turned around when alighting the aircraft and said ‘goodbye mister airplane’ in the cutest possible English. I almost puked.

    Singapore itself, apart from the astonishing humidity, seems nice. Very tame and quiet after Hong Kong and Taipei, but nice. Strangely, at night my local area (the Indian quarter) takes on the feeling of a northern town at night. Old houses and a moaque juxtaposed. All is very clean and controlled, which is fine by me on the first night when arriving at midnight – but it does have a reputation as a ‘Switzerland’ of Asia, with many rules and disinfectants.

    And, mes parents will be mid air right now. So hello to them. And a special hello to July – the new sunshine of my life.

    Just realised… it’s April Fool’s day… let’s see what happens to me…

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Flickr Words

    I really like this. Spell with Flickr

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Yoofs

    I had a pleasant walk through Taipei today. I am finally realising that there are in fact old buildings in Taipei and that they are not all concrete monstrocities. In fact, many of the 1-storey concrete buildings, upon closer inspection, are indeed original Japanese-era constructions clad with concrete and roofed with steel. You can see the original building poking through occasionally, or where the concrete has fallen away, revealing the old brick-work.


    Another brick in the wall

    I ended up in Chang Kai Shek Memorial Hall area (see my previous visit here), where I joined most of the young people of Taipei for their weekly music and dance sessions. It’s funny, and very different from home. The square is dominated on two sides by large halls that house the national theatre. In front of these halls are large windows, and in front of them are areas covered by the awnings of the roof.

    In the reflections of these windows you will find team upon team of dancers, using the area to practice. Next to where I was there was a large acrobatic squad chucking girls high into the air, break dancers and RnB kids busting their grooves. It was an amazing sight. The sounds, however, were what made it memorable. In the square at the same time was a large brass band competition and the tiny Getto Blasters could certainly not compete. As a result, the scene I remember is of hip hop kids spinning out to the beats of … brass.


    In the red corner … brass band


    Gravitational Effects


    In the blue corner – hip hoppers


    Kids enjoying the scene

    One of the most interesting things is the way that the kids are doing the youth culture thing. It seems to be subtley different. Here you get one ‘alpha’ kid doing the dance moves and teaching it to the others, right down to the small shoulder flicks and attitude. In Europe I think it would be more like freestyle and people competing. I have heard many time the ‘confucian’ attitude to doing things (master and student) is what explains some of the cultural differences. I have maybe even seen it in their attitude to copying electronics goods – you learn from the master, copy him, and when you master it you can express your own ideas. Perhaps.

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Lost in Translation

    I was asked to appear in an advert by a friend last week. I could not turn it down as it sounded pertty hilarious and worth the extra money. In the end it turns out it was for Philips Home Theatre systems. Being ordered around in Chinese was massively confusing and I kept on trying not to say ‘Suntory Time’ – just like Bill Murray. For reference, I was supposd to be a jazzy dude listening to a band in his living room…. I think I was more ‘twat in a hat.’


    Work it baby

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Saying Goodbye

    It had been a fantastic, fantastic week with my parents here – I really appreciated their visit.

    We had a very relaxing train ride back to Taipei and followed it up with a rather splendid curry at my local joint – surprisingly good. I walked them up to their hotel along the river and we said a rather wrenching goodbye. I had just got used to having them around and all of a sudden they were going again, which was simply not fair.


    Goodbye from HsinSiang Station and Taiwan!

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Taroko Trails – Day 2

    We had initially planned an easy Friday, taking in the more touristy trails while it was quiet, and then a harder Saturday when the trail we wanted to do was still likely to be quiet. It worked out to be the same, since the whole place was deserted and the weather reports were poor, falsely.

    The trail we did went up to Bamboo Village via several trails hanging to cliffs and across more suspension bridges. The weather was okay, managing a light, cooling drizzle for much of the day. It gave the hills an atmospheric hue though, which added to the kung fu movie fantasy.

    The early section of the trail gave us the jitters, somewhat. All the railings dividing the walkers from touching the void were bent into bizarre shapes by the intense rock fall from above. Bearing in mind they were made of steel, and the fact that we saw a live land slide the previous day, we kept our heads down and passed the section and reached relative safety (or at least the end of the railings – we just had a big cliff, but less reminders of the rock fall).


    Rock Fall

    Dad and I played monster poo sticks on the way back, but were soundly beaten by Mum when she arrived with a 30 ft bamboo monster. I was asked to remind everyone that it was her poo stick, and not anyone else’s.


    Mum’s Poo Stick

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Taroko Trails – Day 1

    We got up and started the day with an easy but really good fun trail out to the Water Curtain on the Baiyang Trail. It weaves its way through an old route through the gorge – one of many attempts that are now abandoned. Starting with several long tunnels and proceeding to some great suspension bridges it makes its way to a tunnel that allows water to drain through its roof in a fantastic display. Officially closed, you can still enter and experience it for yourself.


    Chasing Waterfalls (Mum, valiantly defeating another bridge!)


    The whole place looked like a Chinese watercolour the whole time (spot us on the bridge)

    After stopping for a bite to eat we ventured for the short Huaran Pavilion Trail in the afternoon, warming up for a larger one the day after. What I did not really realise (lacking a decent map) was that the trail ascended at a constant 45 degrees from the valley floor until reaching the high road pass 1500 vertical feet later.

    It was an amazing ride and the views were astonishing, but boy did we ache after so many steps up! Interestingly, it was built by the Japanese during the First World War to attack the local tribes. And even more interestingly, we saw a landslide occur on the other side of the valley as we made our way back down – the sound was horrific and seeing a whole hillside of trees on the move was quit surreal.


    View at the top! The Huaran Pavilion after a punishing climb

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Taroko Gorge

    Taroko Gorge is the crown jewel in Taiwan’s national park system. I took the folks there for a few days of relaxation and hiking and I have to say it comfortably exceeded expectations. The bus ride from the train station was truly breathtaking, winding our way down a marble canyon inches from the edge. Japanese and Taiwanese engineers have made many attempts to drive a road through with varying levels of success, and it it veers through tunnels over bridges and hangs to the rocks as it makes its way to TienShang – out stop.

    We rocked up to a charming place – the Catholic Hostel. We got the best room for my parents (room 12 has the balcony view over the valley) and I kipped next door. The whole place was deserted, being mid week, and it stayed like that for our whole stay – very un-Taiwanese!


    God bless us

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • YangMing Mountain & Mother’s Day

    On Sunday, we met up with Larsandanke, plus Alex and headed off for the mountains and hot springs. My parents had clearly brought fantastic weather with them from Blighty and we took the bus up to the highest point of the pass. At the top are several acres of grass, and this seems to be very rare in Taiwan, since bus loads of locals went up to look at it. I have to say, as an Englishman and someone who appreciates good grass that this particular turf was not bad, and all the better for being naturally cropped by a fleet of water buffalo.


    The green, green grass of home


    Three grinning Brits abroad

    Over the ridge is the large crater formed by the sulphurous outpourings of my local volcano. Clearly, it smells of eggs, but it was quite an impressive sight. The fumuroles were a deeply acidic green colour and the gas gushing into the atmosphere – an arresting sight in the sun.


    A real stinker

    After that, we descended the few remaining kilometres to the open hot springs. Most in Taiwan have been tapped by viscous, evil hotel chains but this one has been left natural. From the left is fresh spring water from the hills. From the right, hot volcanic water. You select your temperature by moving from pool to pool and apply mud to areas that need mudding. Every quarter of an hour or so stand under the waterfall to cool off. Repeat until sleepy. Apply Thai food liberally. Sleep.


    Hot Springs

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…