(One of) the most handsome guy(s) in my mind

My favourite female star is Madonna, and male star Kimura Takuya (from Japan.) That day Andy and I were walking on the street, and in front of a video shop I saw Kimura’s poster on the wall! I was so surprised that I screamed. The owner of the shop- a middle-aged man- showed up: “Do you like it? Let me see if there are any left.”

He went back to the shop but showed up again 5 minutes later with empty hands: “Too bad there is none left. This movie was released last year and we got a lot of posters as gifts for people who bought the DVD. This is the last one we have, and please take picture if you like.”

So I got the Kimura’s poster in my own version. I kept looking at his beautiful face, and found his profile is as seductively charming as a woman. Andy "denounced": “You shouldn’t be so obsessed.” But who can deny such a face? Kimura has been the top idol in Japan for more than 15 years!

My night snack

I eat a lot while staying in Taiwan, probably because I haven’t seen the “paradise of food” for a long time. At the same time, Taiwanese restaurants are so hard-working that they open until midnight, so I can always find a restaurant around the corner serving inexpensive but delicious food. So although taking too much night snack is not good for the health I’ve done it quite a lot. Just within a walking distance there is a restaurant serving Chinese-style light food: soya milk, rice milk, omelet and rice burger. It looks like too much for night snack, but I’ve never been too full while enjoying them.

The night snack wrapped with a piece of white paper.


Revealed!
My night snack is a rice burger covered with an omelet.


Sweet rice milk.

Looking for Ramen

I love Ramen, but too bad in Montreal although we got a lot of great European food, there are not many restaurants making delicious soup and noodle. I guess this situation results from the small number – 60,000 - of East Asian immigrants. My coach at the driving class is from Shanghai, and he said: “Ramen here is like a joke.”

So on the first day of my arrival in Taiwan when Amanda asked me what kind of food I’d like to have for lunch I answered right away: “Ramen!” She kindly drove me to the Xinyi district--a rapidly developing commercial area of Taipei city--and introduced me a new Ramen place. The owner had learned how to make Ramen in Japan for more than 10 years. I enjoyed my seafood Ramen and felt so satisfied. The noodle is so chewy, the soup is so creamy, and the smell is so nostalgic!

I’ve been in Taiwan for 2 months and have tried a lot of good food here; meanwhile, I stopped myself from taking European/western food and decided to wait until getting back to Montreal. Taiwan and Montreal both got unique and nice taste in food, and I should cherish its local specialty!

Roxy 99

I haven’t seen one of my best friends, Thomas, in Taiwan for years. Last weekend he called me “do you want to go to a ‘night shop (Ye Dian)’?” Of course! A night shop doesn’t mean a shop open until very late, since all shops open until very late in Taiwan; instead, it means a club or a pub. I guess this is a new term which was invented recently.

So Thomas and I had dinner together, but we kept talking and forgot the time. When we realized it’s already 12:00 I said since I stay in my friend’s place it’s not very nice to go back late, can we go to a cheaper place and I’ll leave before 2:00? He answered :“Ok, then let’s go to a ‘secondary mortgage’.” Roxy 99 is called “secondary” by him because in addition to the cheaper admission (approximately 11 CDN), people go there are not as fancy as those who go to a “primary mortgage (charging 20 CDN or more)”.

We had a good time in the secondary mortgage! Roxy 99 has been actually in the market for decades, and I still remember I often visited it when I was in Taiwan. Now its space has changed into a club style and better for dancing. There were a lot of people, and everyone was dancing and drinking. The DJ is good. He divided the music into several sections including techno, rock n’ roll, hip-hop and Latino. We heard Madonna's "4 Minutes" and got excited. I looked at Thomas dancing and said “I look like a man when dancing with you!”

Roxy 99

Everybody was dancing, including the dressed-up old gentleman.

The most relaxing moment of a day

In Taipei I stay in my friend’s place. This is a comfortable and quiet room; however, I can’t work while staying here because there are a big bed and a big TV, and I can’t stop myself from being lazy. Hence I force myself to go to the library or my friend’s office to work when I need to transcribe the result of the interviews.

After a productive day, I went to the market near to the dorm to have a nice dinner, and then I came back to the room. I first of all take a shower to wash away all the sweats and dust. After that I sit on the bed watching TV and drinking tasty plum wine. After all I found American, Japanese and Korean shows more interesting than local ones. Local Taiwanese TV shows seem not to care about the time and allow all the talents say whatever they want. This is the most relaxing moment of a day. The harder I try to work during the day, the better I feel when I stay in the room.

HBO in Taiwan got Chinese subtitles

The plum wine I bought in the supermarket of SOGO department store.
Plum wine is sweet but strong, and it’s my favourite type of wine.

Kitty is everywhere

I love cats, and I love pink, so no wonder I love Hello Kitty. Long time ago I walked my beloved cat Akan in NDG, Montreal, with a Hello Kitty leash, and the guy I ran into on the pavement said: “Is he a boy? Then he will get problems of gender identity!” Indeed, most of the time Hello Kitty’s fans are girls/women. Taipei, of course, got a lot of Hello Kitty stores. I have enough Kitty stuff, and whenever going to the stores I feel like having more!

Hello Kitty coffee shop (authorized by Sanrio)
in the Eastern district of Taipei.

You can change your car into a Hello Kitty car!

Cheese in the shape of Hello Kitty!

To the sea: facing the Taiwan Strait

After my interviews with a couple of informants, my friend Zeng drove me to Qijin –a small island outside of the harbor-. Disappointingly, the island is not as lively as when I visited long time ago. Zeng was curious, too: where did people go? The main street of Qijin is so quiet; only a few shops are open, and we drove back and forth and finally found one restaurant. Qijin is a famous tourist spot in Taiwan, and there are two possible reasons which make this island so quiet. First, the day we went there is not a holiday so there weren’t many people, but everywhere in Taiwan is always crowded so that’s not a good reason. It inevitably brings me to the second possibility: the island doesn’t work hard enough to improve itself and can’t attract tourists anymore. I’m still investigating the reasons, but if the assumption is true, it’s kind of sad, but a lot of cities and spots in the world are sharing this kind of experiences. A city is to some extent like a person: only working hard gives us rice to eat!

The tunnel cross the sea to Qijin

The harbor

The Kaohsiung Seaport

Looking at Kaohsiung from Qijin

The seafood we had (from the top):
miso fish soup, fried oysters, sashimi, fish head and squid

Trip to the South: Kaohsiung

I visited Kaohsiung last week for my fieldwork. Kaohsiung is the second largest city in Taiwan, and as a harbour city it got very different personality from Taipei. For example, it got a lot of beautiful boulevards and huge buildings, but at the same time people don’t seem to care about the rules and drive super fast, and pedestrians J walk everywhere. However, this city is energetic, which means a lot of cultural festivals have been launched, and new shopping malls and office buildings have been built up recently. It’s been 6 years since I visited the city last time, and I was very excited.

Boulevards in Kaohsiung

The new shopping mall: its advertisement can be seen recently on TV

Banners hung on the wall of the Taipower (the power-provider monopoly in Taiwan): local residents argue against the pollution

Way down to Xinzhu

For my fieldwork I went to Xinzhu last week. Transportation system in Taiwan is convenient. In addition to buses and airplanes, I can choose trains or the High-Speed Rail. When I arrived in the Taipei train station, the clerk asked me “do you want to take ‘Local Express’?” I don’t know what “Local Express” is, but it sounds interesting so I got the ticket and took the train right away.

“Local Express” means the train goes through different regions in certain area; for example, the train I took goes south until central Taiwan and stops at every city on the way. After the train took off, I was like having a regional tour, and saw different cities and towns passing by outside the window. The trip took 1 and half hours, and I stopped at the Xinzhu train station, which is an architecture built during the Japanese Occupation period (1895-1945.) Nowadays many cities in Taiwan still maintain the old train stations as cultural heritage. However, some cities, such as Taipei, admits that the old train station is not big enough and thus built a new one.

Xinzhu is an “IT city”, which means a lot of IT companies are located here, and I heard that the income of its residents is one of the highest in Taiwan. However, for my fieldwork I went to its old downtown and visited some temples, and thus didn’t see anything high-tech. The city guard temple in Xinzhu is beautiful. There is a square in front of the temple, and so many vendors sell delicious food. Small streets, small shops, and street vendors remind me of my early days in Taiwan.

The Xinzhu train station

The platform at Xinzhu station

Local Express

Inside the Local Express

Joy in the Taipei Metro

I keep asking myself to enjoy good things about Taiwan and make it a nice stay. A lot of people might agree that these could include food, shopping and transportation.


I like the Taipei Metro a lot, and indeed, a lot of people call it “the most civilized place in Taipei.” First, it’s clean since there is always someone doing cleaning in the train. Second, it’s organized since people queue to get in the train. Third, it’s considerate since now with the new automatic sensors at the entrance of each station we don’t need to “dig in” our bags to find the pass anymore. Fourth, it’s punctual and comes very often, and there is always a timer telling when the next train will come. Fifth, it’s convenient since the train goes to everywhere in Taipei including suburbs.


Yesterday while changing trains at the station Zhongxiao Fuxing I saw a huge photo of my sister Joy, and thus got super surprised: “She is here because I miss everybody so much?” No, I was kidding. That girl is Namie Amuro, a famous Japanese star who has been popular for more than 15 years. Some people said Joy looks like her, and since then she has taken it for granted. Namie came to Taiwan a couple of times but too bad Joy always missed it. Hahahahah, do you like the photo of yourself?

I’ll remember to get some nice dresses for my sister before going back to Montreal. Just like the Metro, shopping is another wonderful thing about Taipei!

Temples in Taiwan

My fieldwork is to observe a certain type of ritual which has been growing in Taiwan during the past decades. This issue could be complicated, and I sometimes get confused when realizing that the society seems to be more and more religious these days, which makes a ritual a routine in religious form, and thus it’s not easy to divide the secular and the sacred anymore. I sometimes watch TV at night and, oh, there are so many shows talking about spirits and ghosts! People even send photos or videos to the show and ask what the “strange figure” in the image means. Another popular type of show is to invite mediums to talk about politics, economics and gossips, and I feel kind of bad for the celebrity whom is analyzed there: he/she is absent but his/her personal information (including the parents’ and spouse’ detailed horoscope) is totally exposed!

There is a vague boundary between religions in Taiwan. The English term “to convert” doesn’t seem to exist in the society, since very often the Taiwanese say he/she believes in the Buddha, the Jade Emperor (and last month the journalists found someone who has been worshipping the statue of a politician for 20 years) at the same time. Last week for my fieldwork I visited a temple in Taipei, and got to see two young pop singers companied by their representatives asking the priest about their new album. I think the two singers are probably lay people and not disciples in strict sense; nonetheless it’s not surprising to see people go to the temple to ask about the future because temples have been one of the information sources in Taiwanese life.

To exclude any gods/ghosts is offensive to the supernatural world, and in addition to making someone feel guilty, the possible punishment brings anxiety. It is understandable why Christianity has difficulties being popular in Taiwan. People could have hard time to understand “why can’t I bow and send greetings to my ancestors while being a Christian?” Some Christians indeed upset the society, because they go to their hometown trying to destroy the ancestral tablets and claim that their families are heterodox by worshiping the idols.

Two weeks ago I went to Tainan- the historical city which might have the biggest number of temples in Taiwan- and on my way down to the south I saw a lot of temples and graveyards along the highway, or located in the center of the rice field. While taking photos, I can’t stop wondering how I should answer the question to my fieldwork: what is the meaning of the ritual for people in Taiwan?

Along the highway one can see the decorative roofs of the temples

The most beautiful temple I’ve ever visited in Taiwan: the Dragon Mountain Temple (Longshan Si) in Taipei

The Osmonds

I’ve been watching ET news in Montreal almost every day so got to know that the Osmonds are currently having their world tour. However I was not that impressed by their songs on TV, probably because I’m not familiar with them at all. Surprisingly on the day of my arrival in Taiwan my friend Amanda invited me to go to the Osmond’s show since she got a couple of tickets. I didn’t know they’d been in Taiwan! So, that’s what I did on the first night in Taipei: going to a show I’ve heard a lot in Canada!

The Taipei Arena

The show took place in the Taipei Arena, which is called Xiao Judan (small big egg, which means it is a smaller version of the Big Egg in Tokyo.) This is a new building in Taipei and I’ve never seen it while living here. A lot of people were waiting for getting into it when we got there, but most of them are men and women more than 60 years old! The waiting was a lot of fun though, because we saw many “elder” celebrities coming in to the arena, including the wealthiest CEO in Taiwan- Guo Taiming of Foxconn, a manufacturer of EMS/ODM- and his fiancée, and the paparazzi was running after them. Their romance has been hot news in the society, including the 24-year age difference and the fact that the girl is going to be a “princess”. In addition, Zhang Zhongmou –CEO of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company- and some “elder” pop stars showed up, too. I can’t stop wondering if Amanda and I could enjoy the songs as these “elder” people do?

Looking at the other side of the street from the Arena

The answer is no. Although the Osmonds really sang well, and their great sense of humour entertained everyone, we just didn’t love the songs. At the same time I was trying to take some photos but apparently it was banned. It seems that the rules are much stricter than Madonna’s shows; I still remember how “bold” people were by consistently taking photos of the queen in MSG!

Paparrazi running after the couple

Amanda and I decided to leave during the break. Then we went to a restaurant enjoying delicious rice soup and side dishes. I was actually very glad to experience the show, because it brought me back to my old crowded and exciting days in Taipei. And the Osmonds seem to be still with us in spite of the fact that they already left. Today it was exposed that the younger sister Marie lost her jewellery worth approximately 400,000 NT ($13,000) (suspected) in the Hyatt Hotel. But she is not sure if it had been already lost in Australia before Taiwan since she got a lot of luggage and didn’t check it frequently.

Back to Taipei

I’m originally from Taichung, the city in the central Taiwan. But this city has been a “cultural desert” for me and I’ve seldom enjoyed it. So I was super excited when getting the opportunity going to Taipei for work and studies at my 22.

I was very shy and timid when I just got to Taipei. I was like a country girl and people in Taipei seemed so aggressive but at the same time full of attractiveness. Luckily I got one good friend who is from the South and as curious about Taipei as I was. Therefore we explored the city together and had a lot of fun. I stayed in Taipei for 6 years and gradually became a “Taipei-centered” snob and always complained about other cities.

As the capital of Taiwan, Taipei gathers the most exciting things- political, economical, cultural, and of course consumerist- of Taiwan. The population is approximately 3 million and the weather is awful with too much humidity in both summer and winter. This city has been like a lot of big cities in the world, which means it often votes the politician against the will of other regions of the country (the bourgeoisie traitors!). Taipei has been the domain of KMT (the Nationalist Party), in spite of the fact that Taiwanese localism is currently prominent across the island.

Now I’m back to the city from Canada, and certainly not a “Taipei-centered” snob anymore. I’m looking at the city with different feelings; for example, why are there so many scooters on the road and make the environment noisy and polluted? Or, oh shop attendants are much more polite here! I’m like a tourist and found that the city has changed a lot, and am like going back to my 22 and start another exploration.

The Taipei Metro

Liberty Square

Formerly and better known as The Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall.
The name change was one of the results of democratization in Taiwan. Chiang Kai-Shek was the dictator of Taiwan from 1950 to the 1970's.

Pink! Pink! Pink!

Again, as some of my friends know, my favourite color is pink, and thus I’ve been collecting Hello Kitty stuff for many years. In Montreal I have to restrain myself as people in North America seem to be fond of neutral colors and styles, and a women in pink Hello Kitty dress walking on Ste. Catherine might look stupid. I still remember once a woman on “What Not To Wear” was totally in pink and then became the laugh stock of the two fashion experts. So although I was trying to use the Hello Kitty pen box and wear pink sandals at school I rarely show off pink stuff of mine.


Of course I wouldn’t wear everything in pink in Taiwan, but this island is so supportive to girlie style and I’m like swimming in the pink sea! Pink cosmetics, pink bath gel and body lotion, pink “facial oil removing” paper in heart shape, and even pink cigarettes! I finally liberated my desire for pink and enjoy the overwhelming power of pink in all kinds of stores.

Some psychologists claim that the color someone prefers could reveal his/her personality. If this is true, could we say that the distinct popularity of pink shows the difference of two cultures?

Rice burger

A video of me having a rice burger at Mos Burger in Taipei. Sorry about the background noises.