Jonathan Biddle – Made in Taiwan

Tag: Xinyi

  • Johnnie Wa*ker

    We do quite a bit of work for Diageo at DEM – something I rarely complain about. Friday saw a large party in aid of their ‘Centenary Blend’ Johnnie Walker Gold product. The result was a large amount of free Whiskey and a storming hangover which seemed to last the duration of the weekend. I would say I have learnt my lesson, but that is blatantly untrue.

    My crazy new white shoes – one-offs from HK

    The dance floor at the end

    Nelson & Christina give it the attitude … and next weekend will be a bit more healthy 😉


    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Computex 2005

    Visiting Computex – Taiwan’s biggest electronics show, no.2 in the world – was a pretty interesting experience for me, mainly because it was one of the most memorable company events from a year ago when I first arrived. I have a feeling it was a slightly more sombre affair this year, but it may be in part to being more used to the environment here!

    You can check last year’s event here

    One of the most arresting things are the hordes of babes touting electro tat for their companies. There seems to have been an alarming trend over the last year to make it slightly less sexist and rubber clad, but fortunately there were enough companies seeing the light this year to continue with the fine tradition.

    Plenty of booty shaking – these girls clearly believe in their product

    Michael approaches an AMD clown…

    … and gets the desired effect.

    NVidia splashed out on bored students with enormous bags.

    And I am almost positive these ladies had nothing to do with the stand at all, and were simply craving the attention of the legions of happy snapping geek guys (me not included)


    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • 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…

  • Nearing Christmas

    I have not really written much in the last two weeks. I have found Taipei quite hard in the last fortnight because of work, and because of a that life seems to sway too much between that hard graft and rebellion at the weekend. However, several of the big projects I was working on have now drawn to a close and I can concentrate on Christmas, spending time with my family and reflecting on 6 months. I believe that when I come back in January things will be rather more in focus. Judge for yourself.

    Anyway, far be it from me to bring down the festive tone! I have had some very nice nights out recently. On Saturday, I met up with my design friends from several other companies and we enjoyed a boozy sushi session at Jogoya.



    Free wine free wine!

    After, Gerd took us to a local bar called Cream but it seems that it had become a private members club fronted by a bathroom sales showroom. Undeterred, we headed around the corner to find ‘So Nice’… it wasn’t, so we ended up in the Irish Pub! (first trip to Irish Bar in Taipei – it must surely be a record for a European visitor)



    Tanja and I at the Christmas tree near Taipei 101 … from the inside (now you know how it feels)



    View up the middle of the tree



    If this doesn’t make you want to drink Jaegermeister nothing will…

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…