Jonathan Biddle – Made in Taiwan

Tag: UK

  • Christmas in England

    After almost one year away, it is fantastic to be back. As a contrast to last year, which felt more like coming up for air, this year I feel much more confident and relaxed to be home. Much has happened in the last year, so I can only guess what is likely to happen in the next twelve months.

    Mum!

    Wandering back from the pub after a swift jar on Christmas Day

    Grub’s up – home cooked food after a year away tasted so sweet


    Dad gives Mum the lowdown on her present – the new GPS device – on a Boxing Day stroll in the local fields


    I’m dreamin’ of a white Christmas


    Grandpa works it for the camera


    We are family

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • The Great Sausage Experiment

    My Mother sent me a hilarious package of things which arrived this Friday. Key among the items was a pack of 6 Newmarket sausages which we wanted to send via post to see if they survived the journey. Or, at least, if I survived when I ate them.

    They certainly did not smell bad, and there seemed to be a good trick – included in the parcel was a pack of Cadbury’s chocolate. The shape had been maintained, so I can only assume that the temperature during transit never got too high.


    Slap Up

    The final test of course came in the eating. I had all the ingredients for a full English breakfast, which I woke up George for as I bounced around the apartment cooking. Sausages, Bacon (American Style), Mushrooms (Grilled with Olive oil and Thyme), Beans (HP, sadly), HP Sauce (HP, gladly), Tea (Tetley’s), and Orange Juice.

    I am hungry again thinking about it!

    It was all fantastic, but the sausages certainly had a certain special additional … bouquet. Half way between lemon and vinegar in the background, they did taste a tiny little bit strange. However, I have had more than my fair share of dodgy kebabs without (many) problems so I ploughed straight through them and enjoyed every last bite.

    So, if I am still alive tonight and my gizzards have not fallen into the toilet I’ll make a sausage salad or something tomorrow. Yum.

    Full English

    As a post-script to this exercise, I went to Taipei’s newest high class restaurant a few weeks ago – ‘The Frying Scotsman’. Taipei’s first Fish N Chip shop! Not bad, but the owner, a heavy Glasgwegian guy, has managed to make the entire place authentically AVERAGE. It is not even really very great. Which, in a way I was rather pleased about. No Haute Cuisine. Just a nice nosh up. I think I’ll be heading back when I feel the need, but it is not the same as my Histon Fryer.

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Grandad we love you

    I just received am e-mail from my father inviting me out for my Grandpa’s 91st birthday.

    Upon being reminded that he can expect a telegram from the Queen in 9 years time he replied “If she’s still alive” – there is life in the old dog yet!

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Counting Sheep

    I had an absolutely fantastic final weekend with my family away in Wales for a weekend. We stayed in the village of Llanwrtyd for a welcome break – hiking by day… eating at the in-house Michelin Star restaurant in the evening. The food was simply exceptional – the finest possible ‘British Cuisine’.

    Llanwrtyd is home of the World Bog Snorkelling Championships and the Man V Horse V Bike race, plus it is Britain’s smallest town. A bizarre little place in the middle of the mountains … with a world-class restaurant.



    Bog Snorkeller in Action

    Stranger still is the World Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling Championship. I think the name explains the concept, but this is the result:



    The wheels are lined with lead, by the way

    Anyway, onto the hiking. We managed to happily side-step the torrential floods effecting much of the rest of the country and enjoyed 2 days of glorious weather. The navigation was more than a little difficult (I blame the Forrestry Commission for insisting on moving the woods every few years) but the scenery was breathtaking; especially so as a result of the astonishing winter light that drowned the hills with beautiful glowing tones all through the day.



    Casting a shadow on the mountainside – and contemplating which of those trees had moved



    View towards the lowlands, over the sheep / dinner



    Me and my old man

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Life, Oh Life

    Had a sustained day of drinking with Phil n Graham today in town – it felt great to be with all the guys again and was just what I needed. We did the obligatory curry, pub run and of course ended up in life oh life which was sadly much shitter than usual (yes, even more shit).



    Cambridge, near The Eagle pub and impending hangover



    Myself, Phil, Ewan, Mark and Joanne in formation

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • A quick walk

    Took good advantage of being up early and wandered out to take some photos of the local area while it was still cold and frosty. I had a nice little walk through some of the local woods and thought a photo of a Church would be appropriate, seeing as it’s Christmas ‘n’ all. What blue skies.



    St. Andrew’s Church in Histon

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Back Home (in the pub)

    I landed after travelling for what felt like days without sleep and obviously took the wise decision to meet the guys in the pub immediately after saying a quick hi to the fridge and to my family.



    In The Anchor are: Phil, Omar, Ele, Moi, Karen, Ewan, Rich and Gray made me feel really welcome (except for their game of ‘let’s ignore Jonny’ when I arrived which I can tell you was hilarious!)

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Flying home for Christmas

    I am now waiting for my check in gate to open since I am 3 hours early for the flight. Very organised. Typically, I left packing until the last moment and therefore only had a few hours of sleep. This was delayed somewhat by wrapping your presents, which took absolutely ages… and I had my first web conference with my Gran last night!

    I am in quite a reflective mood at the moment. An enjoyable place to be. My last couple of months have been quite hard and stressful, but I fell that I have come through them and learnt rather alot from some of the experiences. Certainly, I am harder, and more sure about what sort of person I want to be. Sometimes it takes a big test to prove these things.

    Work has been good, which is novel. I am now firing on most cylinders for learning my design software / nightmare ProE. Boy has it been difficult to learn but it is a great feeling when people start asking you questions about how to use it!

    So, 6 months. A little more. My Chinese is not as good as I want it to be, my life is a touch unbalanced and there are sure plenty of difficulties, but calmer waters (and a little more moolah) are ahead. Plus, cheap flights have been announced to Singapore, which is super good news.

    At 8:00am I will take off for Hong Kong, then wait around for a few hours, fly to Frankfurt, run for the next plane and land in the UK at 8:00pm tonight! I just hope the HK flight takes off on time. Otherwise, I miss out on valuable drinking time with my mates…

    Dreaming of England.

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • First Day

    Made it! And how.

    So, left Joanne to a few hours of contemplation in Heathrow, drinking tea and reading the paper. I arrived with about 4 hours to kill which was okay but not ideal. I was on my way. Which makes me think of being at home and having that knot in my stomach and diving off into the unknown.

    The trip to Frankfurt was fairly uneventful and met a guy selling ‘adult’ energy drinks on the plane, which was quite amusing – remember the shot of the plane in full reflection though – that was preety cool. The connection was a bit late which meant I got onto the next plane with not much time left. Note to self: Lufthansa airlines are not generous with movies and snacks! 5 Euros for a face mask! Fell asleep through breakfast. Damn.

    Final hop to Taiwan was okay. Clear run, and cannot believe I am in the south China seas. What?! Except I fell asleep on the landing and missed the descent. Oh well. Smooth customs and got picked up by a guy who took me to the hotel – no problems, and the first song was ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ on the radio by Sinead O’Connor. Should have maybe taken a rest, but hell, went out with my colleague Fukan and looked at a couple of apartments. Not bad, a really nice community and an interesting trip, but sounds like the location is a bit out of the way. It is worth taking some more time to look for the one I want. Go to Shilin ish area tomorrow and check out down town.

    So anyway, went to the company and met the team. Wow. Seems like a good operation and a good office to be a member of. Looking forward to move to new custom office, as it could be pretty special. If I am floating around maybe I will get fully involved? Was not long until I had dinner and I have to say it was very good. Appreciating being a member of a german/taiwan team – the first non-german speaking foreigner! Random! Give myself some time and I think I will get into this.

    So this day that is so organised continues and after checking my e-mails we head to a house party to met the folks. Man. Different style eh. House parties in Berlin are exactly the same as the UK. This is not. Some nice chats with the boys and learning mandarin tomorrow will be cool in a cafe somewhere.

    So I am left here – in my hotel room – typing this and am all rather surprised I am winging it in Taipei. Alan Wicker except I am in the show. This place is mad. Mexico on Acid.

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…