If you’re out and about during Chinese New Year in Taiwan, chances are you’re probably going to notice an unusually greater amount of non-Taiwanese guys out and about trying to keep themselves occupied, but still looking like they’ve got nothing better to do. For hundreds (thousands?) of Taiwanese girls every Chinese New Year heralds the [...]
One of the most difficult decisions I knew I had to make before moving Taiwan was what to do with my pets. With a heavy heart I decided to give my goldfish to the pet store I frequented in the hope they’d find a new home in someone elses aquarium. I don’t know if that [...]
It’s always interested me how certain color schemes invoke different images in the mind. For example, in my mind the color pink was once squarely delegated to imagery of five year old princesses and Barbie doll paraphernalia. Thanks to Taiwan now anytime I see anything in pink I can’t help but think of helium-voiced, duckface [...]
I stopped talking and looked down. Not used to having the attention of the class diverted away from me I turned towards the source of the distraction. Standing just outside the door was my TA and what looked to be a new student. After knocking I let a few moments pass before I opened the [...]
Most people who visit Taoyuan Airport are either rushing to catch a plane or pick someone up. As you pull up to the entrance of Taoyuan Airport wondering if you’ve forgotten anything and then make your way down to the main airport buildings, even the slightest blink means you’re likely to miss these gardening ambassadors [...]
Most of the electric scooters I’ve seen have appeared to be little more than toys. With skinny tires and looking more like fashion accessories than a contender for an alternative to traditional transportation, by and large most people seem to avoid them. Although quite happy on my Long Haul Trucker bicycle, the other day I [...]
On my Kymco G5 scooter I’m lucky enough to have an electronic instrument cluster that provides me a nice big illuminated digital clock. Although I do wear a watch and my mobile phone can usually be found in the little pocket compartment where the ignition is, I do find myself using the scooter clock by [...]
If they’re not patrolling the streets of Ximending looking for underaged schoolgirls who want to buy the latest in Japanese fashion… then it’s probably out the front of this place:
With rain polluted with god knows what trickling down from the storm clouds above, there I was walking along the streets of Taiwan minding my own business when a bicycle stopped me dead in my tracks. As I habitually do with most bicycles I see out and about I’d glanced over at this one as [...]
Although I find them nice to look at, my public enemy #1 during Chinese New Year in Taiwan is always going to be the excessive and constant use of fireworks by the locals. Two years ago in a guide to surviving Chinese New Year in Taiwan I wrote, With the exception of the whistling fireworks [...]