Tag: Taipei 101

  • Rooftop Live

    With Markus leaving Taiwan there are a few activities that we need to clear out of the way before he is granted access to the United States, we have not been the bessst at meeting up, but in the last few days we have made some pretty serious effort to meet up and redress the balance.

    I am still a bit groggy from the weekend and lack of sleep, but we had an absolute stormer of a night watching 1976 on the roof of Eslite bookstore. Fighting the elements, we enjoyed a good show, and capped it with one of the funniest moments of Taiwan in months. More to tell later on that one, in case it ruins any surprises in the near future.


    Markus and I, with about 250 people behind us not able to see past us


    Taiwan does pull of some good locations when it wants to!


    Peeking through


    My baby’s on fire


    1976 in the house

    More pics on my web gallery here:

  • Yes. I do!

    Looks like we got an answer to our big question!


    Yes. I do!

    There has been more than a little controversy over this proposal… which surprise surprise turned out to be a fake, and an attempt to drum up business for the world’s (maybe) tallest building.

    The cost for proposing in this way? About 300,000 US$, so you better be sure he/she says yes! (I wonder, is the reply included in the price?).

  • Marry Me – Diana

    Taipei 101 – now available for rent … I wonder if she said yes?


    … Quite a trend of using the world’s tallest buildings to propose, eh Ele?! 🙂

  • Raw Thursdays

    Thursdays has become a regular eating session amongst my friends and I. In tribute to Nick’s very particular stomaxh problem, where he cannot eat cooked food, we have labelled these weekly feasts ‘Raw Thursdays’. Just a bunch of guys eating raw food, basically.

    It’s quite interesting and a challenge to find food that Nick can partake in. Sashimi figures highly in our menu, and this week we headed to one of my favourite little laneside eateries near 101. Excellent ambience at night time, topped off as it is by 101 poking up at the end of the street.

    Sadly, the raw food extended into a raw head the next morning, the result of rather too much sake. But that’s just a demonstration of the lengths we go to to appease Nick’s belly.


    Toby dishes out the goods


    Nick sheds some light on the subject


    Okay, stop now


    Lane 101

  • DEM inc : The New Office

    I haven’t really said too much about the new office location. Over Chinese New Year we shifted from the sticks of Shilin to the bright lights of Keelung and Jhongxiao. Downtown baby!

    The investment in the new place is impressive, easily putting it on par with many European offices. The office is small (we seem to have instantly filled the place), but has impressive detailing and intelligent use of space. Energetic, and a professional step up in the world.

    The down side is certainly that I had to cancel Chinese study with Michael in Tienmu. We had a good six month run of continued study together with the school near my old work, and more or less on his way home. It was a very pleasant way to stay in touch. The shift to the new downtown school on An He Road (and now six hours a week, up from four) is good, but I do miss a language study partner.

    The shift in geographic focus is having some interesting side effects. I am cooking far less at home, now I am in such easy proximity of my friends, and all the bars. And in general I am spending less time at the apartment – not that I was ever at home much anyway. So, I need to be more careful about my sleep patterns, which remain pretty eratic.

    I’ll put a bunch more photos up when the professional shots come back from the developers, but for now here is a shot from the recent grey days of Taipei early spring… now replaced with glorious sunshine and outdoor beers!


    101 at lunch

  • Valentines 101

    I have a love/hate relationship with Taipei 101 – the world’s tallest and most over-decorated building. On the one hand I like the fact that it is unashamedly Asian and Chinese in style, but frankly I think that is no excuse for the heavy handed detailing and curious lack of height perspective as a result of the inverted ‘bamboo’ sections – which somebody pointed out look rather like a pile of Chinese food take-out boxes with some chop sticks stuck in the top. Perceptive.

    The one thing I do quite like about it, however, is the way the authorities use the faces of the building to communicate with the world beyond. Major events like New Year’s Eve or Valentines Day become decorated in lighting down the side. It rather opens a conversation, I suppose, with the city.


    In Love with 101

    As a post-script to this entry, I heard an interesting story about Taipei 101. The French free-climber that scales all the major buildings in the world without the aid of satefy equipment, arrived in Taipei to attempt 101. He, very reasonably, asked that if the building could be cleaned before the event – grease and dirt build up is obviously a hazard. The response was nagative. He then asked if it was possible to clean a small strip up the side, and was met with the same answer. It turns out that the building is simply not cleaned! Sadly, I think this sums up the attitude towards the built environment in Taiwan.

  • The Top of the World

    After pushing my parents through jet lag hell and tempting them with (bad) coffee and (good) bread at Wendel’s we headed off to see some sights.

    I had not been to Taipei 101 yet, which holds several of the records for the tallest building in the world. It is not quite as simple as you might imagine, judging the tallest building in the world., but 101 gets the highest occupied floor, highest roof and – oh i don’t know – crappest coffee. But it also has the fastest lift in the world, and certainly the one with the most LEDs – the whole lift plunges into darkness with the roof picked out in constellations of stars. Still, the view was sensational and we stayed up there chatting until the sun set, which was an amazing sight.


    View past one of the crazy ornamental cornices to the city beyond


    The obligatory slow exposure night shot

    After that, we headed past the trade centre where Mum narrowly stopped us heading into the annual bike industry’s exhibition. It would have ended in tears / debt anyway, so it was probably for the best. For a joke, I took them to the local English pub, where they served our local beer and where Dad got fascinated in the hand dryers. Nothing changes!

    Jet lag was catching up with them, so I sent them to bed.

  • Taipei 101

    Since I was still under the impression on Monday that I had an apartment at this point I decided to do some tourist things and go off and see Taipei 101 – the tallest building in the world. Sadly it was not open yet. However the mall next to it is and is more like a cathederal of shopping. EVERY brand you can think of, from UK highstreet to Italian catwalk is represented. People are crawling over themselves to get a slice of the increasingly affluent Taiwanese pie.

    Taipei 101, as you can see is pretty.. tall. Very ornate. Not my taste – give me the Gherkin any day.

    At this point I got the call that my flat was not available, so I went to the tech district and checked out the products on show. My word, it is like Tottenham Court Road on steroids and speed. I saw the smallest cameras, biggest TVs and more hifi’s than I have ever seen combined in my life. A very different shopping experience to the restrained european model.