Tag: Taiwan
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Seven and a half years ago, almost to the day, I arrived in Taiwan with a rucksack, a pack of CDs, a job with a little-known computer company and not a clue about what the future might hold. I came for a year of experience in Asia, to see if I could cut it as…
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How to pack your life into boxes, in 12 easy steps: Voila!
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I have had some of the best days of my 20s up in the hills around Taipei – the days spent up there rooted in my memory. That’s why I was so delighted that, after six years of pestering, Ken finally decided to come up to Taipei for a round of mountain biking. Sadly, I managed…
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After seven and a half years, I will be leaving Taiwan. I leave behind some true friends, and a beautiful island I have come to call ‘home’. It has been a wonderful, deeply formative experience; one that will never leave me. Don’t think of this as a goodbye, more a 再見.
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This is the big one: 248km, 5,072m of climbing, peaking at a mighty 3275m. Taichung to Hualien by bike, with my friend and colleague Tony. Bisecting the ridge of mountains that run down the centre of the island, the most direct route leaves Taichung and follows Route 14 up to Puli, through Renai, and switches…
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Cloudgate (雲門舞集) are an institution in Taiwan; and one of its most treasured cultural exports. Combining traditional Asian and Chinese motifs, they combine them in extraordinary ways, mixing digital media, human-scale calligraphy, old folk tales and contemporary dance. It’s always a challenge to get seats for their performances in Taiwan, since they are so often on…
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Nenggao has been the ‘nemesis’ ride for the group for the last two years, attempts thwarted by typhoons and bad weather on two attempts: last year we even made it about a third of the way in before we had to turn around and high-tail it. One of the highest trails in Taiwan, it climbs…
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I have been pretty quiet on here recently, but I have some good excuses; a new road bike, an iPad 2 and a PS3 has meant virtually no time writing or sorting photos. Hopefully, things will return to some semblance of balance (though probably not). First and foremost, is a heart-breakingly beautiful new road bike…
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Our friend Dave, who is an engineer at Microsoft in Seattle, paid us a visit last week. Reports had been circulating that he had assembled his own Sous Vide; a device that enables highly-accurate temperature control for cooking, in the manner of Heston Blumenthal. By first vacuuming the food into sealed bags, then immersing it…
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I had deep reservations with the Taipei Flora Expo, even before getting the tickets. China gets the Olympics; Taiwan gets the Deaflympics and World Games. Shanghai gets the World Expo; Taipei makes a ‘Flora Expo’ for itself. I don’t see anything more than a cynical distraction from real issues, and a vote-grabbing exercise; ‘lipstick on a…