Taipei in A Day

We arrived in Taipei early in the morning, a cloudy gloomy morning.  Our first stop was an unexpected place for any tourist - China Telecom 中华电讯, as we wanted to have a local mobile line for easy communication and internet connection.  The deal was not bad, NT600 for 7 days of unlimited mobile data.    However, the process was long.  We waited for more than an hour just to get all the paperwork done.

Next, Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall.  I was here 8 years ago, and the Chinese words on the arch was something else, but now, it is FREEDOM SQUARE.

Luckily Chiang's bronze statue is still in the hall, intact with the change of politics in recent years.

Of course, the point of focus here is always the change of guards, which happens once an hour.

The change of guards ceremony somehow has this magic potion that it catches the fancy of tourists all around the world.  From Bangkok's grand palace, to UK's Buckingham's Palace, to whatever other places you can name, the ceremony guards always draw the attention of tourists from all walks of life.

Anyway, poor guy.  He has to standstill for an entire hour.

The ceiling is decorated with the Nationalist Party's symbol and also a symbol part of the Republic of China's national flag.  The blue represents the blue sky, the white represents the bright and shining sun.  Together, they symbolize the Republic of China to be a country with no corruption, no injustice, all citizens will be equal and government will be clean.  It is a vision we also hope to achieve.

In the memorial hall, there are some artifacts on display from Chiang's era.

Chiang's Limo 

Chiang's Office Replica

There were quite a lot of tourists from mainland China.  It is fascinating for them to see all these, as Chiang has almost always been described as the bad guy on the other side of the Taiwan Strait.  

Coming out from Chiang's Memorial Hall, it is the old city gate of Taipei, JingFu Gate.

Directly after the gate, it is the President's Office.  The building was previously the Governor's building duirng Japanese rule.  

On our way to the President's office, we met a guy with a big lens and camera on his neck.  He was very kind to show us the way, and informed us that on some days, the President's Office is open to the public each week.  He could even tell us that the president now is out for tea!  

50 meters away, it is the Bank of Taiwan, the de fanco central bank.  

After such a long walk, it was time to sit down for a cup of coffee.  Right opposite the Taiwan ChengHuang Temple, there is the Astonia Cafe.  

Taiwan ChengHuang Temple

Astonia means Star?  The Chinese name of the cafe means star.  The cafe is said to be a popular place for the scholars and people in the culture industries, such as writers, movie directors, etc.  Its famous patrons include the late Mrs Chiang Ching-kuo.  That also explains why there is a Russian bias in the cafe.

Russian Coffee

Russian Milk Tea

It so happened that some movie director and related people were sitting next to our table.  They were discussing some movie stuff, and from time to time, some actor(s) would drop by.  It was however strange that the actor spoke English, with a SE Asian look rather than local Taiwanese.  

Christmas was just around the corner, how could I leave out the Christmas lightings in Taipei.  

Merry Christmas to you!

Lao Zhang Beef Noodle

Our first meal in Taiwan is at Lao Zhang Beef Noodle at YongKang Street (永康街).  YongKang Street is  another place for shopping and good food in Taipei these days.

Dishes offered on the menu are mostly Sichuan cuisine, famously for its use of spices and being spicy as a result.

You can pick your side dishes as you wish.

Pig's Ears 

Red in the Snow(Reddish Leaves)  

Beancurb  

Cucumber

The pig's ears are a bit on the fat side, so I don't really like it very much.  The cucumber is not bad.  

And then here comes my main dish, which is the beef tendon noodle.  I have a special liking of beef tendon.  It is chewy and good for your skin.  Haha...I am not a girl, but I still like to have smooth and silky skin.  

Life of Pi

Life of Pi, the movie poster is somehow misleading.  Looking at the movie poster, I thought it was about the adventure of a young boy in the open sea.  Mmmh, indeed it is true, to some extent, but then there is a lot of religion factors in the movie, from Hindu, to Christianity, to Islam.  You can't watch such a movie with a simple mind.  If you do, you will find it really boring, as there is only a little of humour here and there, a little of adenture here and there, and then that's the end.

Just before the end, the director, or the script writer, teased the audiences, came up with an alternative story, and the audiences have to decide which story they have to believe.  The audience can only choose which story to believe, but they will never know which one is the true story.  The young man in the movie, Pi, is the sole survivor of the shipwreck, nobody is alive to dispute his stories.  Only he himself knows the truth while all others can only make a guess.  That leads me to agree that history is written by the winners, as all the losers are dead and they will have a chance to present their side of the story.

As entertainment, Life of Pi, is not really that entertaining; as a philosophy movie, yes it is thought provoking.  You like it or you don't like it, watch it yourself and decide :)

Chup Chup Cakes

Being K's colleague, I enjoy the benefit of having some free cup cakes from time to time, home-made by his wife.

They have a facebook page where you can view their wonderful cupcakes, some of them are really creative and lovely.

I am not a fan of cup cakes, but their cup cakes really makes me mouth-watering, and simply can't stop the craving for more.

Go take a look, you will not regret. 

Cold War

It has been years since I last went to cinema to watch a Chinese movie, especially a Hongkong movie.  Hongkong movie equals nothing but crap in my mind, for a long time.  Cold War breaks that stereo-type.

The story is very well written.  A brutal war is going on, but it is just like the under current in the sea, you can hardly see it from the surface.  Enemy is faceless, every one can be a friend or a foe, that's what the two deputy chiefs of police of Hongkong are facing.

The audiences are like riding a plot roller coaster, when you are pushed to the very top of the plot, there is a sudden twist of the story, the unthinkable happens.

Story aside, the actors' skillful acting adds a lot of points too.  Three time Hongkong film award winner Tony Leung Kah Fai and Heavenly King Aron Kwok both did an excellent job.

If you have not watched this movie, I would recommend you to watch it.

My rating:  8/10

Skyfall

It has been quite a while since last episode of 007 movies.  Skyfall came with high publicity and high expectations.  I was eager to watch it first hand and so I did it on the first weekend since its release.

First impression:  It is big production.  The file was shot at at least four different locations, namely Istanbul, Shanghai, Macau and London, and probably Scotland, which will make it 5 locations.

For people who also watched TAKEN 2 before watching SKYFALL, they may have a bit of disorientation as whether they are watching TAKEN 2 or SKYFALL actually.  The first scene was shot at the rooftops of the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul with the beautiful blue mosque as the background, which is almost identical to TAKEN 2, and people chasing after each other on the same roof top!

The scene of Macau I guess is totally fictitious, as I have never known of such a location in modern Macau, even though I can't say I know Macau in every single detail.  Never mind, it is a movie, it is supposed to bring fantasy to life.

The plot is interesting, but it is not organized or linked organically.  The scene in Shanghai looks like rather irrelevant, other than artificially adding some Chinese element to the taste hopefully to entice its Chinese viewers.

One of the key features of every Bond movie is from the Q section of MI6.  Mr Q will always come up with some new and fancy gadgets that will save Mr Bond's life in a hilarious way.  Mr Q used to be an old and fragile gentleman.  In this episode, Mr Q has a new successor, a modern age young techie, supposed to be a computer genius.  However, the 'new' gadgets are not really new, and their usefulness is very much in doubt.

Another observation is why modern people think a think layer of glass and electronic locks are strong enough to lock up criminals?

There are many surprises in the plot, there are many flaws in the plot.  There are plenty of actions in the movie, although this episode doesn't offer too many beauties to please the viewers' eyes.


Overall rating:  7/10

Shutterstock IPO

On 11 Oct 2012, Shutterstock is officially a public company traded at the New York stock exchange.

Here is its stock price performance on its debut.

Its share price jumped 27% on its debut, comparing with Facebook's dismal debut and the subsequent crash, Shutterstock did much better.

As a contributor to Shutterstock, I am not sure whether having Shutterstock traded at NYSE is a good thing or a bad thing.  Once it became a public company, then it has to show those quarterly financial reports, and must deliver returns to the investors, whoever they are.  They will have to care more for share holders interest, rather than the contributors' interest.  Does it also mean they will be more stingy when it comes to pay out to contributors as well?  I can't tell the future, but everything is possible.

And as a contributor, nobody is getting any benefit from this IPO, we are not getting any shares in return.

Anyway, let's hope Shutterstock can continue to do well in this industry, where we had seen many going down hill.  Hopefully as a contributor, we can gain something too.

JB KSL City Food Fashion Show

There was a very interesting fashion show at KSL City over the causeway at Johor Bahru last Sunday.  What is so interesting?  The costumes are made of food.  Not really all by food, of course, just with food decoration.  From different type of breads, to cup cakes, to tarts.  That's not all.  The audiences could actually pluck the food, those cup cakes, tarts, etc, from the model's costumes and eat them!  This is actually encouraged by the organizer as a form of interaction between the models and the audiences.  If you are having the dirty thought of whether the model was still wearing anything after the food had been eaten, you would be disappointed :P

Anyway, here is a short video of the show.  Enjoy :)