News broke last week of a dispute between Aboriginal flag creator Harold Thomas and Google. After holding a competition across Australian schools to design the Australia day ‘doodle’ (a design to replace the Google logo on the Google website), a design was chosen which featured the Aboriginal flag. What should have been a proud day [...]
Although I’m sure road rules exist in Taiwan I’m yet to see any evidence of it. The police just seem to cruise around not doing too much and Taiwanese drivers take full advantage of this. A typical day observing a busy intersection in Taiwan is more potent then an entire season of ‘World’s Worst Drivers’. [...]
Despite being a relatively western country there are a few throwbacks to older times to be found throughout Taiwan. One of them is the squat toilet. Perhaps more at place in Thailand or Vietnam I was surprised to see the squat toilet feature prominently in public toilets as you move out of Taiwan’s main cities. [...]
Some things in Taiwan are stupidly complicated. Try to get a car park, find some bootcut jeans or understand why McDonalds print the Chinese calendar date on their receipts and you’re likely to pull out your hair. Puns aside, gay shopping in Taiwan on the otherhand is a comparatively straight forward affair. I was walking [...]
I’ve been out of the country a while now and while I left for a number of reasons time abroad has given me time to reflect. Sure Australia has it’s problems but there are somethings that no matter how long I’m away for I’m always going to miss. I’d love to say things like mateship, [...]
Whether you agree or disagree (or partially agree) with Geert Wilders, it’s hard not to acknowledge his controversial methodology for making headlines. Operating on the slippery slope between free speech and hate speech whilst I don’t agree with everything Wilders has ever said I do appreciate the man for speaking his mind. These days it’s [...]
Last week an Indian newspaper ran a cartoon suggesting that the Victorian Police were members of the Klu Klux Klan. The motivation behind the cartoon was that the police were taking so long to investigate assaults against Indian students in Melbourne’s west. Because the police hadn’t caught the whiteys responsible thirty seconds after the assaults [...]
When I came to Taiwan I expected hell on the roads. Asian drivers are a nightmare in Australia and moving to a country full of them I knew it would be bad but I still didn’t quite know what to expect. During my time cycling in Taiwan I’ve come to learn that the worst threat [...]
When someone first suggested I try a Taiwanese buffet, horrible memories of overpriced all you can eat Chinese places started to flood back. Why on earth would I have traveled halfway across the world so sample an assortment of substandard dishes that I pay extra for due to the choice available?! Thankfully someone forgot to [...]
I’ve heard lots of stories about the vending machines in Japan. From (genuine?) school girl panties to hamburgers to all sort of crazy stuff on offer. Whilst Taiwan doesn’t seem to have nearly the concentration of vending machines that Japan offers it does have its fair share of crazy offerings. One particular machine I walked [...]
