TiT - photographed by Ross

TiT - photographed by Ross
Originally uploaded by BoydJones

My friend Ross took this photo of Taiwan's most exciting residential project -- TiT! No, not "breast" but "Town in Town"! (What does that mean?)

I blogged about this before too.

USI's WiMAX exhibition

Taiwan's Tantilizing TiT Townhouses

I can think of few places in the world besides Taiwan that would market a residential apartment complex entitled "TiT" -- "Town in Town". Are they being coy or just didn't bother to ask any random foreigner what "tit" means? Or to just look it up in the dictionary?

Taiwanese Life Hack - pharmaceuticals

Several American friends who live in Taiwan have related to me that they are able to purchase - purchase OVER THE COUNTER (OTC) that is - drugs that are prescription-only. I am told that the following drugs are indeed also prescription only in Taiwan, but that the pharmacists are rather lax and do indeed sell OTC:

* Nexium - much cheaper in Taiwan than buying apples-to-apples in the USA.

* Lipitor - ditto.

Harold recommends that Westerners visiting Taiwan come with their pharmaceutical bottles or blood tests (showing high choloseterol) and most pharmacists in Taiwan will simply sell to you.

Betel Nut Princesses and the Taiwanese Men Who Love Them

The semi-narcotic betel nut (bin lang) and scantily clad young girls selling it to Taiwanese men. Videos taken in Taipei City.

Taiwan - beetle nut princesses + customers

Taiwanese with their lights off

Just another venting of the spleen in terms of Asians driving with lights off.

hao chr 好吃

I really like local content sites made by real users of said content. Well, er, food in this case. "Hao Chr" is a clever blog that has attractive reviews of eateries in Taipei.

Almost-post-industrial architecture in Taiwan

The almost-post-industrial architecture of Taiwan. This shot taken in Hsinchuang, Taipei County.

Asian Engrish # 1 - Candy Oiler

This guy is a Candy Oiler? Lost in translation?

Heavy Taiwanese rain - no lights on again

Taiwanese rain! With no lights, I really feel the pain! Again...

Illegal vehicles for senior citizen scavengers in Taiwan

Taiwan presents itself - rightly so - as a high-tech powerhouse (such as the Bill Gates-laden ad on CNN now). However, some parts of the economy and society are still quite low-tech. Dare I say poor? It is frequent in Taiwan to see dilapidated, old and illegal (no license plate) motorized or pedal-powered vehicles such as these. Elderly men and women use such vehicles to scavenge Taiwan for recycleables such as cardboard.

Police don't seem to enforce traffic rules against these poor senior citizens - not sure if that is good or bad for society.

Taiwanese food court redux

A food court in Taiwan - still bustling!

Driving with lights off - saving gas or bad drivers?

A rant here. Please don't misconstrue this as racism or as anti-Taiwanese or anti-Chinese. I am just concerned for the road safety of all who drive (including me) in this part of the world.

Why do about 1 in 20 drivers in "Greater China" (Taiwan and China) drive with their lights off at night? Saving on petrol (gas) -- is this scientifically valid? Or the bumper-to-bumper traffic congestion makes it seem that lights are unnecessary? Are are these drivers just bad drivers?

Civic Boulevard temple

A temple on Civic Boulevard (市民大道) in Taipei. Near the intersection of FuXing South Road. Close to the Breeze Center shopping mall.

Scooters galore

For those new to or visiting Taiwan, beware of the scooters:

Dome of CKS Memorial Hall

Interesting dome of the CKS Memorial Hall that shows the Kuomintang (Guomindang or KMT or 國民黨) flag. The KMT flag of course is the canton of the ROC (Republic of China) flag.

Changing of the guard - CKS Memorial Hall

The ceremonial changing of the guard at the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is worth a few minutes. Nice eye candy.

Chiang Kai-shek's crib in Taipei

Former Taiwanese dictator, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) kept a rolling residence in northern Taipei. This residence still takes up a lot of space in crowded Taipei, but is now a nice park within the city. One wonders if some of the rotting structures should be better preserved or not.

Taiwanese food court

A video of a typical Taiwanese food court - always bustling with activity and great tasting, fragrant food.

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