Feeling the need to escape the bullshit of Taipei for at least a few hours, Nick, Grace and I took up the MRT as far north as it goes and hopped over to Bali on the boat. A feast of sights, sounds and smells it was more than worth it (and we caught James Bond in the evening which we all agreed was rather good).
Mesmerised by a calligrapher selling is wares
… but he’s not tracing, honest.
Nick and Grace on the ferry
“Cool Smoke”
Get them young
Just for the record:
On the loose
The Helen & Jonny Show
The bright lights of Taipei
Some pics from the weekend…
A walk in the park – Rich and I have a beer in Sun Yat Sen
A pretty cool street art exhibition in Shilin Night Market – very nice to see, since the guys here have a shop, exhibition space and dance studio over three levels. I have been waiting for an underground movement to begin to claim these places as their own … and it is a theme that continues.
Rich, Nick and I rocking it up at Luxy – our first night out together in ages, since we have all been jet setting off around Asia for the last couple of months.
Campo – this is really developing as a very nice design / art / music conglomeration. I was delighted to see they were using the HuaShan arts district – Taipei’s old cigarettes and alcohol factory. The design style is very Taiwanese and over-cute, but it is developing … but the most pleasing thing to see is the way they are renovating the buildings, but without completely polishing it.
Today, I had the pleasure of a wonderful hike with Ruth & Christophe (designers from Germany) and Markus & Evelyn. The weather was supreme, and it is quite strange to think that the weather back in the UK is probably cold and ‘orrid. We are still in t-shirts, though there is a distinct chill in the air these days. We took a train out down the coast and arrived at DaLi – just past Fulong. After a very pleasant climb over the peak we had a wonderful stroll accross farmland with a light and coolness that made me think I was back in Blighty once again.
Stairway from Heaven
Bike & shoes under palms
Paddy’s Day
Trike
Games with reflective things 1.0
Sun set bank account in the red
Games with reflective things 2.0
Ruth and Christophe have a cheeky laugh on the way home
The kids are asleep in the back
I had a pretty great night out last night – went to VT Art Salon to see live electric geetars twinned with fiendish techno beats. Exceptionally cool, and rather nice to meet several people again that are fast becoming good friends here in Taipei. They took their time!
I took some photos on the way home – a rather sinister looking entranceway to a super gangsterish night club, a street corner, and me in a lift watching the doors close.
Stay on target
Intersection
Sliding Doors
Some assorted photos over the last week or so in Taipei.
Nelson looking pretty in PS Cafe while hanging out pretending to study Chinese
Messing around with the RAW settings on my camera while downtown at night in Taipei
Mister Donuts is a Japanese confectionary chain in Taiwan. The quality is poor poor poor, but every time a new one opens expect a line up around the building and down the block. People like donuts here in Taiwan.
Markus and I out for some quiet (mid-week) beers at Underworld on ShiDa road. The place shut down a few months ago and we were happy to see it humming again (and our heads the next day).
A night time street vendor is either stopping or starting work for the day
Rich and I head north as I make my first trip on scooter in about five weeks. We stop to admire the paddy fields.
Tonight is the night of several large Halloween parties in Taipei. I put some thought and consideration into my costume and I have decided to go as a Mormon missionary – a plague of religious righteousness that has hit Taipei straight out of Salt Lake City. As if lifted from a David Lynch movie, they appear from the middle of nowhere, squeaky clean and cookie cuttered out, passing out leaflets to unsuspecting locals. I find the whole activity sick.
Hence, I am dressing up as a blood-sucking Mormon missionary tonight! – the basis of my little anecdote;
I went shopping today for vampire teeth and blood to have pouring from my mouth. Sadly, none of the costume stores had anything suitable, so I went to the local pharmacy chain, Watsons. I announced to the cosmetics girl that I was looking for ‘blood red lip stick’, at which she relayed my request to the entire shop – “THERE IS A TALL MALE FOREIGNER LOOKING FOR BRIGHT RED LIP STICK.” I walked out with some deep rouge lippy and bright, shiny lip gloss (and even redder cheeks). I’ll see what the results are like soon when I get ready!
This is what I am after tonight – wholesome, blood sucking goodness (image courtesy of Flickr)
Update:
I easily looked scary enough without the blood … and we managed to create less of a costume and more of a disguise.
The God squad
Ludvig the Bible Basher
I had been looking for him all night
I just won the ‘Special’ prize in the Kokuyo design award 2006!
It’s a Japanese design prize … more details when I know them.
Jonny had a crash. Wrist broken. Rather sad, since I am supposed to be diving next week, and my new bike arrives this Thursday.
And sitting in the hospital yesterday, I really felt a long way from home!
🙁
For me, Grafitti is not simply defacement of public property, but an intrisic part of urban culture – a reflection of the city, and a barometer for its political climate, sense of humour, tolerance and a thousand other things that people feel the need to express when paint hits wall.
One of the things that I miss in Taipei is having this barometer. The kids simply do not seem to want to express themselves in the ways I am used to. However, it seems the times they are a-changing, and quality artwork is appearing on the streets. Moreover, it seems to have a style not completely borrowed from New York, London, Berlin or Melbourne – and is developing in a subtly Asian way.
The highest quality work has been, without a doubt, the stencil work. Though not up to the standards of Banksy, it is pleasant, and infinitely preferable to visual pollution in the form of adverts, neon and the further commercial hijacking of our environment.
Tree frogs appearing to brighten up the concrete
Rather nice flowers – definitely asian style.
Also, one of the things I really love, is the municipal stencil work – I just spent a few minutes looking for some photos – but these will have to wait for next time.