Jonathan Biddle – Made in Taiwan

Tag: Taiwan

  • Ups & Downs

    Certainly, one of the disadvantages of living an ‘international lifestyle’ is that the very freedoms that you arrived to seek are the ones that bite you in the ass. I have been here for getting on for two and half years – which is scary, just to write – and have made some incredible friends from all over the world. This is quite an achievement, I think, and something I am quite proud of.

    However, the aloofness we grant ourselves does mean that at regular intervals, friends do leave. Sadly for me, a series of good friends have left in quick succession, leaving me sitting here in PS rather at a loss on this Saturday night. It’s a pooey feeling.

    The flip side, of course, can be found in my blog posts from Australia, Hong Kong and Japan, where I find myself eating and drinking with people that I can really count as friends (or sisters!) in these amazing locations. And I can’t be too sad – here I am sitting drinking a beer, I recognise all the staff and know them by name, and one of the girls just put on a CD she likes – a compilation of songs I burnt for the Cafe.

    And hell. Next week I am in the Philippines. Blah!

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Campo

    Taipei is fast discovering a hot grass roots design scene, and it is great to be involved in it. One of the things that I have been looking for of late is ‘Campo’ – a fashion and accessories market run by the young things, with live music and a party atmosphere. I went today – and discovered some rather nice gems.

    Link to Campo


    Hot Dog!


    The area – before the rain arrived


    I found some shoe repair people here – each ‘booth’ is seperated by a wall of laces, which is rather nice I think.

    Later on, I helped Rich n Nick at Keep move their store from the Breeze II centre back to their place. They are both in NZ at the moment, and really I should be there with them!


    The aftermath


    Keep Moving

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Andres

    I have finally got round to posting an entry about Andres – possibly the loudest person I have ever met, but somebody who became a great friend in his time here. He has now gone back to the US to continue study and prepare for stardom.

    A native of Columbia, he was never short of the most fascinating stories. His family owns the world’s second largest balloon factory and it was a source of constant amusement for Michael and I to tease ever more ridiculous stories. The most amazing one revolved around the eagles that frequented his grand father’s office – the population convinced they were the spirit of his grand mother.

    Anyway – some photos for y’all:


    Well dressed as ever


    Always the centre of attention – a night out with Marta and the Asus interns


    Andre and I visited a coffee shop themed around the humble Thomas Crapper – sadly, the concept was not very well implemented (so much more possibility!)… and the food, served in potties, was indeed, shit.

    Here’s to you Andres!

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Duck : Be Pure

    I haven’t put a post up in a little while, so i think it is worth getting it running again with a classic ‘Scooter English’ post. I should also point out that there is a large collection of other ones at the link here.


    Duck – Be Pure – 125 SP – To resist drugs and violence


    And while I am at it – it is essential to show this image from a recent trip to a waterfall in Wulai with Rich. In(s)ane.

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • The Legend of La La Shan

    This was the big one. The ride we had all been talking about, and finally we were doing it. Peter provided the prod, the good weather reports the motivation, and two local dingbats with buses the transportation.


    We are an international bunch – Peter from Ireland, Lee from Taiwan, Mike from Oz, Ludvig from Sweden, Mark from the USA, Martin from Switzerland, Me from Ingerland, and George from Germany. Sounds like the Eurovision. Peter would win.

    La La Shan by bike sounded like heaven. 2 hours by bus into the mountains south of Taipei followed by 16km of pristine singletrack, hot springs in Wulai and home in time for dinner.

    Mmmmm… singletrack in the sunshine. 16 Km of it! Sort of.

    It almost ended up like that. But then it also nearly ended up with several of us walking home. I have never been on a ride beset by so much catastrphic mechanical failure – in the space of about 200m we had 3 flat tyres (all on Peter’s bike, I would like to add…) a wobbly bottom bracket, 2 shredded tyres (Peter’s again), a rather worrying wobble from one of the rear suspension units, and then there was me.


    Nik will not be pleased!

    The record for flats goes to Peter Grogan of Ireland

    My chain is in there somewhere…

    The only warning I had that I would riding the remainder of the ride with one gear was a mild tinking sound from the rear of the bike. Stoping to inspect, I discovered that the derailleur had caught up in the spokes of my wheel, snapping the chain, taking out a spoke (and buckling the wheel) and both breaking the gear hanger and bending the derailleur itself. Hmmm. Houston, we have a problem.

    Spot the deliberate mistake

    Lee’s turn

    “WHEN WILL THIS END?”

    Luckily, one of the middling gears on the rear gave me reasonable chain tension, so I was able to make it along just fine – especially because the gradient meant that pedalling was rarely needed. It did, however, mean that the 19 K back to Wulai had me spinning my pedals like crazy, and no explanations that Lance Armstrong demonstrates a similar ‘supplesse’ escaped the fact that my feet were twirling away as fast as my rear wheel was bouncing around.

    Mark is pleased to be motoring again – home for lunch? hmmm

    Bike at rest – wheels, chain and rear sprocket less than 18 hours old!

    Sadly, much of the riding… was more like clinging on for dear life

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    Why does that always happen to me?! Don’t tell Mum

    George and I made the wise choice of staying in Wulai and sampling the hot springs. Marvellous. Tremendous. Just what I needed. Switching between natural hot spring, chatting with locals while sipping tea and jumping in the river, was really special – especially holding on to a rope and allowing the cool waters of the river to drift past me, with only my mouth and nose above the water. It really brought me home … or maybe that was just the endorphines kicking in.

    Wrong way, Mark!

    PS. I would like to state that the formatting on this blog is all over the place because Blogger decreed that this should be the final layout. Note to self – do not use the automatic image upload system again.

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Yuanshan Festival of Rock

    Posted rather late – so some photos of an awesome weekend of music, in one of the finest gig locations I have ever seen – at the old Taipei zoo location near the Grand Hotel.

    Very special – doubly so since Andres, Nelson, Marta, Dean, Christina and others joined us. It was the second time I saw The Super Furry Animals live, and was blown away by the sure footed swagger of Dirty Pretty Things – half of the Libertines.

    So, finally, some music!


    Magical mystery cones – Peter rugby tackled one later on, much to the ire of the management. A case of not quite knowing how to handle foreigners in a rock festival mood.


    Shoes


    The star of the show


    Blurry


    Beer from a tea pot. No, it made sense. Apparently.


    Quite the most fantastic location for a concert. The best location since seeing Mogwai in Wulai

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Spotted

    I need to kick start my blogging again so the best way to do this is to simply upload some photos. So, here are some amusing things that I have seen on my travels of late.


    A labrador seen near Danshui – shaved clean of any dignity


    Dad bought this in Hong Kong … amazing


    On the way home, I snatched this photo of a guy who could hardly turn he had so much foam loaded onto his scooter


    One of the local tradesmen specialises in brooms and hats and taps and bowls. As you begin to tune into Chinese you begin to hear the sounds of ‘buo li’ (glass) and other household items blairing (is that a new verb?) out of pre-recorded loud-hailers


    Taiwanese people like food. Taiwanese people like weapons. Taiwanese people like food shaped like weapons. (stretching the truth for the benefit of the blog)

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Taipei with Mum & Dad

    The remainder of the time in Taipei was thankfully met with good, if rather humid weather. We stepped out to climb the highest peak in the YangMing Mountain area – 7 Star Mountain. Hiking in the UK is rather different to Taiwan. Here, two hours of climbing steps is rewarded by a similar amount of time trudging down. Again, I can really begin to see why nobody likes the outside here. My legs hurt! It’s hot! I want to go home!


    Qi Xing Shan


    Rather a painful descent was a prelude to aching legs the next day


    Delicious food at Din Tai Feng in the evening – one of Taipei’s most famous restaurants


    And back to the hotel – spot the 4th floor

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • YingGe

    Erin and I had a day trip to the pottery town of YingGe to the south of Taipei. The town was pleasant and worthy of a day trip, but much better were these two photos that made me smile!


    It’s a GOLD scooter! – a 35th Anniversary model, apparently


    Waiting at the platform for the train back to Taipei, it was tempting to try transcending. Luckily, this sign warned me not to!

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Taiwanese Ex-Pats

    I already wrote a little about the different behaviour of the Taiwanese in the office, but I was lucky enough last night to be invited out for dinner once again by some of the China operation’s directors last night for a meal. The restaurant was in the west of the city where there are extensive communities of HongKongese, Japanese, Korean and Japanese. The whole thing was shiny and neon’d, interspersed with Japanese titty bars, Karaoke and stores full of overpriced food. And all the time, there were ramshackle houses built next to the fountains, full of tiny rooms. Who for? The maids? Workers?

    Once into conversation, It felt like I was looking at myself amongst my foreigner friends in Taiwan bitching about the taxis, social protocol, level of professionality, work environment, food and a million other things. This is what we do too, semingly as some sort of natural reaction to a new environment. I hate doing it – it feels like I am talking behind my friends’ backs – but somehow this is the release valve that we need to vent steam.

    So there I was last night, listening to the Taiwanese Ex-Pats talk about life in China – their body language once again more confident as they watched the girls bring in food and leaned back on their chairs. Half of me felt horribly superior, as I imagined all the locations that the British have settlements. The other felt some kind of minor pride for Taiwan – this is their little empire right inside China. Of course, there are other major Taiwanese communities, and I guess most of them are in the USA. I wonder if they talk about the US in the same way. Probably.
    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…