Jonathan Biddle – Made in Taiwan

Tag: Holiday

  • Manila

    I arrived yesterday in Manila – capital of the Philippines. It has a pretty shaky reputation as a city, and these fears were well-founded, with endless rows of homeless people scavenging away an existence, laptop dancing bars and smog generating buses.

    However, perhaps as a result of its Spanish colonisation days, and certainly because of my time spent in the Americas with fond memories, it really reminded me Mexico and Guatemala. I was certainly a project for local taxi drivers to rip off, call girls to attract and I spent much of the time dancing from kerb to street – avoiding said girls, their horrifically aged and overweight Western partners or jumping out of the way of the Jeepneys (Asian version of Guatemalan Chicken Buses, based on old G.I. issued Jeeps).

    But through all this, the place has a real robust charm. The colonial heart of the city is attractive(I especially appreciated the golf course outside the city walls, which is probably the only reason it is not shanty town or hotel complex), the people are friendly and inquisitive and the place has the makings of becoming successful, though I assume corruption will keep any real progress at bay for some time to come.

    And now? I am sitting on a beach on Boracay. I have a broken wrist, so I can’t dive, eat properly, or do any other activities of any excitement. But this is perhaps just what I need. I have a pile of books to worm through, and there are plenty of interesting looking people walking by as I nosh on a rather good Greek Salad. 9 days of doing nowt. Could be the first and last time in a while!


    Colonial relics – the rather handsome centre to the city called ‘Intramuros’


    The historic city walls / local golf course – I am not sure the Kind of Spain had this in mind

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • I’m Used to Hong Kong

    It seems strange to say, but I am not used to being used to Hong Kong. It’s supposed to be this amazing world city and here I am again meeting some friends and enjoying a beer.

    I have to say though, taking the train from the airport is a total step up from Taipei. It has some catching up to do.

    One night in Hong Kong! I fear for my health!


    A little local printing shop on Staunton Street – HK Island


    Two of my favourite Buildings – China Bank and HSBC


    … and the evil Tower of Mordor / World Finance Centre. The lighting is just cool.


    Soho backstreet on HK Island


    I still get so many cheap kicks from the escalator ferrying people up the hill. It’s the longest in the world.


    One of my favourite locations in Kowloon – the young designer clothes market. A treasure trove.

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Sydney

    Against several self-imposed raised odds of not making it to Australia, here I am … G’day!

    Sydney is fantastic, and justifiably feels proud of itself, but without being smug. The cityscape is ever changing, giving you chance glances of the Sydney Harbour bridge through vintage Ned Kelley tenaments and crystalline high rises. The Opera House is simply EPIC and takes your breath away in its form and thoughtful detailing. And the food mixes masculline meat pies with white wine and oysters – a theme that defines the city somewhat.

    It’s certainly very ‘Californian’ – everyone looks like they are a personal trainer, or at least running during lunch break. You can understand why they are so blinking good at sport!

    I’m hanging out with Richard and Claerwen – Rich was a colleague from the Web-Imps days of 1999 – and I am feeling pretty blessed again that I was able to meet up with several more friends from Taipei and Canada in the evening.

    I’m impressed with Sydney. Another city has been added to the list of those that I would love to live in or raise a family – which is exactly what Richard and Claerwen chose to do.


    Brunch of Champions – oysters and white wine at the fish market kicked off the day nicely


    Approaching Sydney Harbour Bridge on the ferry – Keep Clear


    Engineering Details


    Approaching the Opera House on foot, and about 500 Mb of photo opportunities


    In the middle of being blown away… I was surprised how fantastic the building was, especially as it is so old


    Exploring…


    Infinity


    Internal details, lifted straight from NASA


    The Max Power ‘Utes’ were just fantastic. Deeply cool, and unforgivably crass at the same time


    Cheers to Sydney!

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • HK -> Sydney

    Here I am in Hong Kong once again after a bit of a scary trip to the airport, with a taxi driver that had clearly never driven on the motorway before.

    A bit more relaxed now…. and ready for the leg to Australia!

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Welsh Rarebits

    One half of my family lives in Wales, but don’t hold that against them. The Biddle unit decamped to the South, primarily focussing on good mountains, food and beer. Here are some wee piccies:

    Trecking in The Brecon Beacons

    Mum & Dad at one of the amazing waterfalls of the day


    ‘Now, the GPS says there is one more left to find today…’ – Lady Mio has the last laugh


    The Welsh contingent in force (with exception to newl-wed cousins Huw and Alex … Congratulations!)

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Edinburgh Hogmanay

    100,000 drunk revellers descended on Princes Street in Edinburgh for the annual Hogmanay bash, and at the last minute Phil and I decided to join them by taking the train up to Scotland. It was really worth it, since I got to see old Glasgow buddies Craig and Ali, plus Masters pals Andrew and Kyle. Plus, of course, I saw Scotland and recharged my Whiskey batteries.

    The street was full of horny Glaswegian girls, drunk Aussies and high numbers of bemuzed looking Chinese visitors. Drunk Chinese conversation of course meant that I lost the group within about 3 minutes – and feverish multiplexed cell phone calls to the guys only made matters worse.

    Phil and I on Princes Street

    After the bells, we retreated to my first proper arty party in over a year and a half – a very nice reminder of life in Glasgow. I also met a nice chap who happened to be sales manager for premium Glenmorangie whiskies and I humored him through an extensive sampling session, well into the morning.

    Kids – part of the installation, it seems

    Craig looking pensive / drunk

    A stonking hangover, healed only by the MacDonalds (the only open food hole in the morning) was partially soothed by the wonderful train ride, passing by Durham, York and Newcastle – all bathed in clear winter sunlight. Something you do not get in Taiwan.

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • 45 Hours in Hong Kong

    Friday Night
    I had been looking forward to meeting Ele in Hong Kong for the last month, ever since she gave me dates for her visit to Beijing and Xiamen. The planning, unusually, was perfect and I landed 5 minutes behind her, probably trailing her plane in on the final appraoch. It was, however, a touch late but we managed to make up for lost time with little difficulty.

    The hotel was amazing. Reasonable price, great location in the Mid Levels, and a jaw-dropping view of Central and accross to Stanley Bay and Kowloon. The 23rd floor bay view premium was worth every penny. Michael joined us on the 14th floor, lining up for a great weekend of meeting friends and family in the South China Sea.

    I felt pretty proud heading out there, with so many different groups of people that I knew. Plus, the fact that I had already visited Hong Kong twice meant that I had no need to do the tourist attractions. The eleation of landing there last year was replaced somewhat with the feeling of visiting a London, or perhaps Frankfurt. No surprises, but a pleasure to be here. What a different perspective a year provides!


    The stunning view from our hotel of Central, Hong Kong

    We met Lorenzo in his new apartment, ironically staying in Sun Yat Sens old hideout on Staunton Street, right in Soho but away from the bustle of Lan Kwai Fong. A nice little pad with balcony / boudoir. We sank a couple of glasses of wine and went off to meet Nick and Rich from the ‘Keep’ boutique store in Taipei, plus Anita and Pamela that I had the pleasure to meet a few weeks ago. Somehow, I seemed to have networked myself into the Hong Kong social scene remotely, since we hardly paid for a drink all night, and we got into three clubs for free. The homework paid off! The highlight was surely Dragon-i – packed with models and apparently celebrities and the jewel in the crown of the HK scenes to see and be seen.


    Party people at Dragon-i

    Saturday
    A rather blurry start to the day, but Ele and I went off to meet Anita + Michael and we pootled off to the equivalent of Wufenpu clothes market in Taipei, except for young clothing designers. Four floors of edge, attitude, and glamour. I picked up a pile of pieces plus shoes and felt pretty pleased with myself.

    In the evening we went off to rather a splendid Shanghai restaurant in the ‘Money’ building called Nan Guo (more or less). Anita had selected the dishes remotely for us so navigating the menu was not too intimidating. The cool thing was allowing the waiters to prepare the food in front of you – stuffing parcels, cutting bits of meat, mixing things – adding to the feeling of a ritual. Similar to the experience I have had with Japanese food. All part of the theatre.

    Of course, we had to go out after. Several bars turned into several clubs – the best of which was Lamaya (or something) which had a German deejay on hand dishing up tight house and techno to a dancing crowd of foreigners and locals. The scene is certainly different here. They seem far more ready to dance to music they have not heard before, unlike Taipei where pop / RnB floor fillers are the safe norm. Equally, fashion here is more developed and western. Less need to flash well-known brand names and more desire to have things that only people in the know will get.


    Michael in Morocco, it seems

    Sunday
    Waking up to the sound of apes howling is a little disarming.

    Cracking open my eyes, I realised that of course our hotel was located 23 floors above the monkey sanctuary of the zoo. The one Ele and I saw last year! It certainly confused me for a good few seconds before the pain of the alcohol hit me as a mosquito would a motorbike helmet – if I am the mosquito. We trundled downstairs to eat breakfast and wait for Lorenzo and the beach!


    One more view of our view – the bulk of my photos had the lens pointed between our curtains! If you close your eyes, you can hear monkeys…

    Repulse Bay – surely the coolest name… there must be good songs written about it – is on the south coast of Hong Kong Island. Rather developed, I realised after an hour there that this was exactly the afternoon I needed – not only for Hong Kong, but for the previous months in Taiwan where I have not left the city except on two wheels. I realised that I have not really been out of Taipei since I was in Thailand – such was the pace of change of my social life.

    I managed to drift off while lying on a floating deck moored 50m out, Lorenzo impressed his German architect girls by writing swear words in the sand, Ele looked pensively off into the distance, and we all watched the sun set while sipping Smirnoff Ice – surely what the stuff was designed for.


    Ele stares into the middle distance, feet in the South China Sea


    Lorenzo on fine form


    Run for the beach!

    Arriving back in Taipei was a wrench, especially to say goodbye to Lorenzo and Anita. I have a feeling I could be back at some point. You never know. I certainly like the place (could you tell?). After some Beijing food, Ele and I rolled to the airport and bid farewell – really, very tough for me. Not seeing her in 10 months and having her snatched away again was a bit rough. Such is the decision of living abroad. And as you can see, the lows come with very good highs. It’s rarely easy, but nearly alwaysrewarding, ultimately.

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Hong Kong Massive

    Flying to meet my sister in Hong Kong … along with some very special other people.

    Should be EXCELLENT

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Same Same … But Different

    A rather nice view from my bungalow overlooking the bay – so pleasant I fell asleep in my chair.

    Here I am on Koh Pangan – home of the Full Moon beach party. Well, it would be but it is not the time of the month so the place is a bit more chill. Though that is relative – techno music pours out of the beachside clubs til dawn and fire spinners and pyrotechnicians provide the special FX.

    Sadly, my time on the island is all too short, but I feel I have a good impresson of the place. The weather has been a bit crappy – resulting in choppy seas and a need to were a decent jumper in the wind, but I don’t really care because it is more pleasant than the stifling heat and humidity I left behind in Taiwan.

    My original plan had been to make it to the diving Mecca of Koh Tao, but that plan was scuppered by the fact that the plane on Koh Samui landed too late for the last boat out. All was well, however, as I got two dives in todayby taking the cat out to the island to join a dive boat for the day. The diving was okay – but buouancy problems as a result of the BCD slowly inflating constantly and a dive master that was less than fully attentive added to problems lowish vis and building confidence. It was okay, but overall a bit mediocre.

    Tomorrow, I have most of the day on the beach, and then I catch the plane back to Bangkok for a last night in the city. It has definitely been worth staying out here. The beach hut clinging to the cliff overlooking the palm tree sandy bay, the fantastic fresh food and fruit drinks and joining a different stream of people with their minds a thousand miles away from work.

    For now, though, I join the fire dancers and full bottles of beer on the beach!

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Mods ‘n’ Rockers

    What started out as a quiet night yesterday turned into an alcohol / petroleum fueled jaunt through Bangkok…

    I had a final walk along Koasan Street and got a wee bite to eat at the food stall at the end of the street. Quite surprised how early all the bars and clubs shut, I was pleased to get chatting to some local guys sprawled over some of the most beautifully preserved original Vespas I have seen. My enthusiasm clearly rubbed off on them and they quickly took me under their wing feeding me beer and banana pancakes before taking me on the most kinetic of Bangkok tours … on the back of a fire breathing, screaming mustard yellow Vespa scooter.

    Somewhat different from Taipei, these machines can wheely and smoke tyres at will. Screaming through the streets, stopping at secret night markets selling ‘borrowed’ items, and whistling at girls, boys and whatever in between gave me quite simply the widest grin that my face could handle. Adrenaline and alcohol stoked an overwhelming feeling of being very fortunate to be living in Asia.

    The guys hang out waiting for the action

    Beautiful machines looked even better at night time

    Today, I did the tourist thing and visited the obligatory Grand Palace (shiny), Temples (glittery), and food markets (tasty). I stay one more night here in Bangkok before jetting off to Koh Samui and then Koh Tao for some diving and hot beach action. I’ll land back in Bangkok on Wednesday ready for my flight back to Taipei on Thursday lunch time. But for now, I think it is time to go and join the music rattling by the window and crack open a beer. Enjoy!

    The Grand Palace in Bangkok

    Guards mark the entrance of the inner Palace

    While others seem more pensive…

    A ‘Wat’ (temple) on the south of the river

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…