Jonathan Biddle – Made in Taiwan

Tag: Taipei

  • 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.

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Rain, Rain Go Away…

    3 weeks of constant rain is getting everyone down at the moment – especially as our office has no heating. It’s funny, I lived in Scotland for four years, but somehow the cold combined with the humidity means nothing ever quite dries properly. Still, it makes a great excuse for excursions to hot springs. In the past week, I have made sure to pay my local spa a visit in XinPeitou and yesterday went down the coast the JhaoSi with Anke and Lars for a decent session, and language exchange with 7 year olds, fascinated by my hairy arms.


    Rain in Ximen


    Warmth in XinPeitou

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Pigs Might Hike

    I had a very pleasant walk today with Anke, Lars and Alex (Aussie dude). We planned for a 6K hike, which was slightly waylaid due to ignoring the wrong things in the hiking book, but the result was a splendid wee series of random events that made us all laugh over the Pizza in the evening.

    The star of the show was certainly Ah Fu – the Chinese pig that thought he was a dog. He was the coolest thing to be walking with and much calmer than most dogs, and had the amusing habit of eating the plants as he went his oinking way. A definite hit with the other walkers, a source of total bemusement to the other dogs (“hey, you are supposed to be dinner!”) and was truly full of character.



    Ah Fu investigates



    A loyal pig, it really liked walking between its owner’s legs



    We stumbled across a few amusing things. The Taiwanese are masterful at turning public spaces into community spaces. You can see what I mean here – at a break in the path we found a small medicine cabinet with some supplies in it, and alongside it were tethered 3 pots of various balms and lotions – one of which was Tiger Balm.



    Alex and Anke dig the whiffs

    As a hilarious post-script to the walk, we came up against an army check point, complete with guns, guards and bunkers. We wondered how to get past or around it when the station commander came storming out claiming we were on army property, and ‘what were we doing there?!’ Somehow, we had breached the defences of the back door to the base so we actually came to the gate from the wrong direction … Taiwan eh! We gave the guards a quick nod, but on second glance we could see them laughing as well, in on the joke.



    Special Agent Anke cracks the security at the maximum security check point … with a stick

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Taiwan Elections

    Taiwanese politics is usually better known internationally for its petty fist fights in parliment, but this week saw the Legislative Yuan voted in (I understand it as the equivalent of the Senate in the US). Michael wrote a much better piece on the subject and spent time taking lots of photos. Therefore, I will point you towards his site instead! Enjoy.

    Michael’s Election Pages

    Images of the Election

    Another week, another fist fight

    Electioneering, Taiwan-style

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Chilin in Shilin

    I had a quiet weekend (relatively speaking) and saw the Bienniel at the Contemporary Art Museum. I was quite impressed, and I plan to go back to catch the permanent exhibits as well. The building is pretty mental, in a modern Taiwanese mentally modern way. I’ll take some shots and you can judge for yourselves.

    On the way home I swung by Shilin night market and took some shots of the food area. It is an amazing place, truly, and at the heart of Taiwanese culture (ie: food) . My favourites tonight inclide this mini shrimp fishing zone. You may have seen my first shrimp fishing effort… if not, go here.



    As before, the general idea is to tempt the shrimps with tasty morsels of liver and shrimp babies, then you whip ’em out, ram a stick up their back-side, and burn them alive until cooked well.

    Doing a quick zoom in on the background you can see the kid fishing for something a little different … turtles. They each have a paper clip attached to their back (held on with some alarmingly-coloured tape) and the guys ‘fish’ for them with magnets … not quite sure if this is in the spirit of things, or if good old dynamite would be fairer. I will have to ask the guys at work on Monday if people eat the things… after going to Longshan market I know they do quite a bit more.



    Ninja Turtles



    And a quick one of a lady cooking oysters in a sort of Omelette – quite tasty.

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • We Reach for the Sky. Neither Does Civilisation.

    One of the most distinctive aspects of life out here is the transport. A day never passes without seeing something head-shaking strange. It could be a fork lift truck on the motorway, glass being transported by bike, food vending machines on the back of motorbikes… I have an ever-growing list of strange observations, but for now this is a wee summary.



    So above, we have 1. heavily modified scooter for disabled access, 2. & 3. ingenious parking methods and 4. SCOOTER ENGLISH which is a great hobby to have in Taipei as the tag lines on the sides of scooters make you stumble for superlatives.

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Taipei Tourist – The Return

    I am at the 6 month point out here, and have reached a transition point somewhat. Work has felt like a drag of late, I am getting a bit tired of not being able to meet people so easily (what with my 4 year old’s Chinese skills) and in general I am at the bit between knowing the place and feeling comfortable, but not having the infrastructure of friends and scenes to be part of.

    This weekend and the last I have lurched from some slightly irresponsible behaviour and have come back down to earth. I have started looking things with curious eyes again, have some of my more typical vim back (and vigour at work I hope too!) and overall am a bit more happy. So that’s nice, for all you folks back home. Anyway, I took some photos this weekend of things that interested and amused me – esp. while looking for art museums with my friend Luisa. The Taipei Artist’s Village was a bit of a let-down (no exhibits) we lost the Chang Foundation of Fine Arts (it must have been really fine) and wandered to the Hua Shan Arts District to see some slightly mediocre environmental art. Next week I will check out the more controversial Bienniel and hopefully walk away more impressed.



    Near to Main Station there was frantic activity where they had recently finished building an attractive small temple. What I did not understand was why they were preparing to wrap this in steel (see the frame). Will it be in glass? Bricks? Concrete (most likely).



    Bored on the job – an enthusiastic policeman near Sogo + laser sword



    Some cool stripes that caught my eye in an underground car park near to the Breeze Centre (another over-priced shopping mall)

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • The Bright Lights of Taipei

    This week I have made a concerted effort to get back into exercise – it is too easy on this island to slip into a routine of staying until ever more impossible hours at the office.

    Tonight, while riding on my way home from the gym at work I spotted an old man selling disco lights by the side of the freeway. I had to stop, and to make it extra-Taiwanese the Lau Ban got on the phone as soon as I turned up.



    Disco Fever

    It also reminds me of a couple of other recent photos, or at least June! These are from near my house where a guy was selling lamps on the street.



    ‘Ave you got a light, boy?

    And finally, a rather nice effect outide on of my local bars along Jhongshan N Road (Bat 75).



    Happy trees

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Oh that was a big one

    Earthquake report at the USGS click for info

    I was just on the phone to Jo in London. I started brushing my teeth when the whole world started spinning and shaking. That felt like a nasty one! Why does the earth insist on moving?!

    (sorry the maps do not fit the window! it is too late at night to sort it out properly)

    I almost shat myself…

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • God is Love

    This is one of the strangest places in Taipei. Christianity has a long history of ‘travelling’ around the world destroying other cultures, and it would seem the Las Vegas sect has rolled into town with this one. I really need to go in and check this out, since it must be pretty cool inside to match the over-blown exterior.

    I have actually spoken to a couple of people about Christianity – people who grew up as Buddhists. It is always fascinating to hear their views, and their perception of it. The thing that people seem to be looking for is answers, and in my opinion Christianity does not give them. Further, they see it as a benign, safe religion – and all I see is torture, war and destruction.

    Still, people are entitled to their views.



    Jesus saves lives …. (props to Lars for the pic)

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…