A voice like sandpaper singing songs of painful death (I think)I met this fella singing his heart out on his portable bike-mounted Karaoke system. Karaoke gets everywhere in Taiwan, people are surprisingly good and it is a massively popular way to spend a Friday night. For this guy, though, he is unlikely to find fame in the near future.
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)
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
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!
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
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
I signed today for another year at Asus in Taiwan. One year already? Amazing!
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
Kyle had a house warming party to show off his new apartment. It was easily the most impressive and well designed place I have seen in Taiwan so far, and certainly had a toilet with a fantastic panorama view over the mountains and Taipei. As is standard for a Friday night, however, the party started at 7:00, the locals arrive soon after and eat all the food, then we arrive at 9:30 just as they are leaving as a big group. It’s always the same! Why?!
Still, we stayed and chilled out, and I met Fabian – Marta’s ex from Poland (cool glasses).
Fabian, the telly (which stayed on through the whole party until we arrived), Marta and myself on the phone to July
Who is looking at whom? Oh my God! – Michael has the same haircut!
Blending
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.