Taiwanese mafia infiltrating cement industry?

Sometimes, when I walk around new or old Taipei, I'm noticing some strange things. On the photo above you can see how a Taiwanese construction company fixed a stretch of a sewer. The asphalt was torn up, a big hole was dug up, new concrete sewer pipes were laid in and the complete hole was filled up with concrete. That's definitely something I have seen for the first time. In my country they would fill the hole with the soil they previously dug up and use a roller to compress the surface. And I'm not sure, what is the purpose of those steel pillars sticking out there, but maybe some of you readers can enlighten me.

Btw, my friend told me that he heard about Taiwanese mafia being connected to the cement industry. If that's true, then it's no wonder that so much of Taipei is flooded with cement: Roads, streets, sidewalks. In some parts you won't find a single stretch of grass, which is pretty sad. Taipei needs more parks!

[My TAIWAN LIFE page][TAIPEI page][Photo by MKL, 2011]

Taiwan's electronic megaphone noise pollution

Read the same post in Chinese here>>

One thing that really surprised me in Taiwan (especially in and around Taipei) is how Taiwanese accept noise pollution without ever complaining. Garbage trucks, cars, scooters, fire crackers, religious parades, shouting vendors, all of these noisemakers are seen as normal here, nobody (except me) seems to be bothered by them. But the worst of them all must be the electronic megaphones, which are usually put next to tea shops, sometimes on night markets. If I stand next to one for half a minute, I'm almost going nuts. But you Taiwanese just accept that. How come? In my country, if someone would use these megaphones for "advertising", people would call the police on them.

See the video below of one of these annoying megaphones I took in Xinzhuang:

I wonder how can the tea shop owner listen to this every day over and over again?

This is where Taiwan (the big cities) and I are worlds apart. I grew up in a house surrounded by a forest, where chirping birds woke me up every morning. I think, if I return home one day, my ears will need some time to adapt to the noiselessness and tranquility. I wonder, if they can.

[My UNIQUELY TAIWAN post][Photo and video by MKL, 2011]

"Dream Heaven" AV shop, Banqiao

Imagine this image in USA

This is a photo of a Japanese porn AV shop in Banqiao named "Dream Heaven", located near Nanya Night Market. And nearby is a small playground full of children and parents playing around. The boys in the photo are playing some video games very close to the shop. Imagine something like that in America? Is it possible?

[My UNIQUELY TAIWAN page][Photo by MKL, 2011]

Taiwanese are obsessed with smartphones

This is an image you can see in Taipei every day: People standing still and completely losing themselves in their smartphone universe. Apple's iPhone is so popular here, it looks like everybody's having it. And Nokia, Samsung, BlackBerry and HTC are not lacking behind a lot. I do plan to get me an iPhone, too. It's not yet 100% confirmed though, but I'm very strongly leaning to one. So I guess you'll be seeing me standing like these two beautiful statues girls. In case I become like them, tap me on the back and wake me up, I will be grateful to you.

Do you lose yourself in your smartphone?

[My TAIWAN life][UNIQUELY TAIWANESE][Photos by MKL, 2011]

Getting a custom-made suit at EZ Collezioni in Taipei

If you are looking for a custom-made suit in Taipei, read further...

I was never really a "suit guy" before I came to Taiwan. I would avoid wearing it at all costs. Besides, in my home country there weren't many occasions where wearing a suit would be the norm. If you're not in politics or big business, wearing a suit is pointless. Of course there are some posers and wannabes... But once I came to Taiwan and got the current job, wearing a suit more frequently was inevitable. Taipei is a global city full of important people. If you want to be taken seriously in the business world, you need to have a proper formal wear. So far, I'm not as rich to fly to London and pay £3,000 for a bespoke suit at Savile Row, but I have a great mother-in-law, who followed the Taiwanese tradition and treated her new son-in-law a custom-made suit.

Where did I get my suit made?

I went to Ximending, to the EZ Collezioni shop. They have several branches in Taiwan and they specialize in custom-made suits. I have not known about them before, but now that I do, I have to say that they are really good. I was pleasantly surprised at their professional attitude, friendliness and good service. Let me stress, that they did not pay me or give me discount for writing this post, I am only doing so, because I want to help those like me who need a customized suit at a decent price somewhere in Taipei. This is purely my personal recommendation.

The shop is very small, but was quite full with people every time I passed by. All employees are wearing customized suits (including a female) and you can immediately see, that they offer a very fine product. I had my wife with me, who handled all the details, I am not sure, if they speak English well enough to serve you. I think it's better you bring someone, who speaks Chinese with you.

This is how the shop looks like from outside.

In order to get a perfectly fitting suit, you will need to give them your measurements. But not only that, they will ask you all kinds of questions in regards to the look of your new suit. You choose the materials, patterns, colors and some additional design elements. They will fill out a form first and later ask you to try on a generic jacket and pants and take your measurements.

Samples on display for your reference.

The very skilled female employee taking measurements.

The most interesting and partly awkward part was when a very lovely young lady took my body measurements. She was of course very professional and careful, but I did feel a bit embarrassed, when she put the tailor's meter around my too roundly shaped belly. In a normal situation, where a beautiful woman would be so close to me, I would of course pull my belly inside, but what's the point in doing this here? In the end the suit would be too tight and would need to be altered to my tummy's reality. There was no way to escape her perfect measuring skills and I just had to let her do the things she had to do. The toughest part was, when she went down on her knees in front of me and measured some very private parts. I won't go further into this, but if you're a guy, you probably understand the tricky situation. However, if you want a perfectly fitting suit, that's just part of the bargain. And she's really very fast and accurate. Later I was thinking about how she sees men. Since she has measured so many male bodies, she must see a guy and already know all his sizes. Kinda scary in a way, as if she has some kind of super powers.

On the photo on the left you can see the suit I've chosen. They needed about 1 month to make it (I guess it's because they have a lot of customers) and it cost me 9500 NTD together with the shirt (that's around 225 Euro or 330 USD). If you want only jacket and pants, it will cost you 7700 NTD, the shirt is 1800 NTD. The tie is for free. Their cheapest suit will cost you 3800 NTD (90 Eur or 130 USD).

I have to say the suit fits perfectly, the materials are great, I couldn't be more satisfied with what I got for my money. Adding the good service with a lot of tips, I have to say that EZ Collezioni in Ximending is really a great shop and I will definitely return, when I need another excellent suit. And next time I don't need to be taken measurements again, they saved them in their database. Of course If I get fatter lose weight, they might need to take the yellow tailor's meter out and take few measurements again. But next time I am ready for it.

Show bigger map

You'll find the shop at the northern part of the Kunming Street 昆明街 in Ximending (click here for a detailed map), very close to the intersection with Hankou Street 漢口街. Use the Google Street View above for your reference.

[My LIFE IN TAIWAN page][All photos by MKL, 2011]

How to eat xiaolongbao?

如何吃小籠包?

If you ever find yourself in a fine Chinese styled restaurant in Taiwan (or likewise China), you might want to try some steamed dumplings or steamed baozi, that are prepared in bamboo baskets named long 籠 (小籠 means small basket). One of the most famous dishes prepared this way are xiaolongbao 小籠包, very delicious steamed buns (Chinese baozi 包子) with a unique twirl on top and a very delicate (almost translucent) skin, of which the latter is also typical for Chinese dumplings (or jiaozi 餃子). Because of that similarity xiaolongbao are commonly mistaken for dumplings in the English speaking world. See a steamed dumpling for your reference and notice the typical "half moon" shape they have. But that's not the only thing that makes them distinct, the ingredients are different as well.

There are of course more types of xiaolongbao, but one of the most popular variants is filled with pork and gelatine, which then in the process of steaming turns into a soup. Because a lot of foreigners don't know how to eat that kind of steamed buns, I decided to write a little tutorial, so that you won't find yourself in a tricky situation among your Taiwanese or Chinese friends and eat them the wrong way.

The typical traditional Chinese xiaolong or little basket, made of bamboo.

Steamed xiaolongbao. Do you know, why there are 8 in a basket?

Notice the twirled tops, so typical for this sort of steamed buns.

A very delicious xiaolongbao, prepared in the Golden Chicken Garden in Taipei.

How to eat xiaolongbao?

There are several ways to eat them. I will describe and recommend to you the most common and convenient way, the one that my wife prefers. Please follow these steps and refer to the photos for a better understanding:

1 Hold chopsticks in your right hand and a spoon in your left.
2 Take the bun out of the bamboo basket and dip it in a soy sauce with ginger.
3 Put the bun on the spoon and bring it together with the chopsticks close to your mouth.
4 Bite a small hole in the bun's edge and place it back in the middle of the spoon.
5 While the soup flows out on the spoon, lift up the bun with the chopsticks.
6 Wait few seconds for the soup to cool off and then drink it.
7 After that you can dip the bun in the sauce again, if you like, it's optional.
8 Eat the xiaolongbao in one or two bites and enjoy the delicious flavor.

The most important steps for your convenience.

A common faux-pas can be a too hasty bite and the hot soup will either burn your mouth or even worse surprise you and drip out on your or your friend's clothes. Not sure, how likely that is to happen, but it's not impossible. Just keep in mind that the soup inside the xiaolongbao is hot and needs to be released and cooled off, before it can be drunken. Don't just put the whole bun in your mouth.

With all this said, I think the best way to eat xiaolongbao is to observe your Taiwanese or Chinese friends and copy them or ask them to help you. I'm sure they will be very happy to assist you.

Other variants of eating xiaolongbao are:

1 Put the bun in a soup and eat it like a soup dumpling. Some shops prefer this way.
2 Poke a small hole in the bun's bottom with chopsticks to extract the soup, skill is needed.
3 Some shops offer straws to drink the soup inside. You don't believe it? Look here!

The meat inside a xiaolongbao can vary, but the most popular is pork.

I hope this will help those who go to China or Taiwan for the first time. If you have any questions or additional tips, please submit them in the comments below.

[My TAIPEI FOOD page][My TAIWAN FOOD page][All photos by MKL, 2011]

Yanping North Road Night Market, Taipei

A traditional night market in the old Taipei

Yanping North Road Night Market (延三夜市 a.k.a. Yansan Night Market), officially Yanping North Road Section 3 Tourist Night Market, is a traditional night market in Taipei, located in the Datong district, one of the oldest parts of the city. This is one of the least known tourist night markets in Taipei and features some unique traditional Taiwanese dishes. It's truly worth a visit, especially if you live here. If you're just on a short trip in the city, skip this one and visit the famous ones first.

MY IMPRESSION OF THE YANPING ROAD NIGHT MARKET: This is a night market located on the sidewalks of a busy road. The main part is reserved for cars and scooters, who whiz by in huge numbers, which kinda affects the whole atmosphere of the night market: It just doesn't feel you're at a real one, it feels more like a sidewalk with stalls (and that's what it actually is). However, it has a lot of history and many traditional food places and stalls, which kinda makes it interesting in its own way.

WHAT KIND OF FOOD IS COMMON: The food is like from another century or at least from decades long ago. Maybe the 1950s? 1960s? No idea, but it tastes pretty good. It might not be the best night market food I've ever tried, but it's definitely interesting and worth to try. You may not see the usual traditional Taiwanese food such as oyster omelettes, but at least you'll have something different, something unique. This night market is great for those who are tired of the usual food and the atmosphere and want something else.

MUST-TRY FOOD AT THE YANPING NIGHT MARKET: I would recommend you to try the muachi 麻糬 and the meat dumplings 湯圓, those were my favorite snacks here. Another must try would be the popular "chicken roll" 雞捲 and the cut tomatoes 蕃茄切盤. More about them below.

Let me show you some of my photos of Yanping Road Night Market (Apr 2011):

Scooters rushing by on a busy Yanping North Road.

The housing here is of very low standard.

Stalls on the other side.

POPULAR STALL: SHI FAMILY FRESH MEAT DUMPLINGS 施家鮮肉湯圓

This shop is very famous here, so we decided to visit it.

The interior design is a mix of several decades, but mostly the 1970s.

The menu and the prices look appealing to a price conscious Taipeier like me.

One of popular and standard Taiwanese starters: Cooked yam leaves. Yummy.

Boiled squid, which was previously dried. Quite yummy as well.

On the photo you can find the famous meat dumplings or 湯圓 (tang yüen), literally "soup circles". The special thing about this dumpling is the dough, which is made from glutinous rice. It's very delicate and special in taste, definitely the must try dish, if you come to this night market. The price was 45 NTD.

And then we went out on the street again and tried...

POPULAR STALL: CUT TOMATOES 蕃茄切盤

This traditional stall was also very popular.

I was so amazed, when I saw this dish, called 蕃茄切盤 (lit. "tomatoes cut") in Chinese. I was like: "They sell cut tomatoes and sell them as a dish? Wow..." It was interesting for me, because cut tomatoes are a very basic and cheap food in Slovenia, which people eat at home like a snack. We would never eat this outside, but for Taiwan this is normal. After all, eating out daily here is as normal as not eating out very often in Slovenia. The best thing about these cut tomatoes was the sauce, so I definitely recommend to try this dish. The price was 50 NTD (1.2 Eur), a little hight, if you ask me. It's two cut tomatoes after all.

This is the sidewalk at the night market.

POPULAR STALL: YE FAMILY 5 SPICED CHICKEN ROLL 葉家五香雞捲

This dish is famous for this area, popular with people, who like traditional food.

In fact, the stall had a huge line and they really work hard to fry as many rolls as possible, because this is the only dish they sell. The name 五香雞捲 "five spice chicken roll" is deceiving, my girlfriend said inside is no chicken, but pork. The name 雞捲 comes from Taiwanese "gê gèn" which means "extra roll", actually meaning "extra dish from left-over food". And because "gê" sounds very similar to the word for "chicken" in Taiwanese, the Chinese character for chicken was chosen to name this dish. The outer part of the roll is made of tofu skin, the inside is filled with onions and pork, but can be also with other kinds of meat. We paid 45 NTD (1 Eur). The taste is ok, maybe not my favorite food, but definitely interesting enough to recommend it to you.

POPULAR STALL: MUACHI 麻糬

This is a famous muachi stall, which we had to visit.

Muachi is a Taiwanese word for 餅 mochi, the traditional Japanese snack, eaten a lot during the lunar new year. Muachi is very popular in the southern Chinese kitchen, I've tried it in Malaysia and Singapore as well (see a photo here). But this one here (on photo above) was the best I've ever tried. If you're here, please try this muachi, it's so soft, warm and delicious. Maybe I'm biased, because I love muachi (and peanuts) in general, but the quality is really good. And the stall is very popular.

This is the end of the Yanping Nort Road. It was dark, when we left.

Finding the market is very easy. Take the Red Line train to Minquan West Road MRT station and then transfer to the Orange line in direction to Luzhou and exit at Daqiaotou MRT Station (1 station away). Exit at Exit 1 and wak straight for 1 minute, then turn right and you're there. (Map by Google, click on it for a Google Map).

YANPING NORTH ROAD NIGHT MARKET IN CONCLUSION: This is one of Taipei's most unique night markets. I think most foreign visitors might find it boring, but those of us, who live here, might find it quite interesting. In the end it's up to you and your personal preference. But the muachi is very good and can be the only reason to visit this night market.

[FOOD in TAIWAN][My TAIWAN page][My TAIPEI page][All photos by MKL, 2011]

[My TAIWAN NIGHT MARKETS list][My MAP of Night Markets in Taipei]

Top 5 strangest characters in Taipei Metro

If you're like me, someone who's taking the Taipei Metro almost every day, I'm sure you must have noticed quite a few characters in your daily routine. During the work week, I spend almost 2 hours a day in and around the trains. And what else is there to do than observing people. Now I have to say that Taipei Metro is probably one of the best in the world and people here are just too polite and too normal for me to write a very funny posts about them. I've seen real weirdos in the Seoul Metro and by that I mean people who really crept me out. However, Taipei also has a bunch of strange characters roaming around the subway. But they're not strange in the sense that they are weird people per se, it's rather that they stand out by not behaving according to the subway etiquette or to put it bluntly: They seem to be so caught up in their own world that they forget others around them.

I have made a top 5 of these strange characters, listed from bad to worse and worst:

1. The Sleeper

This type of commuter is sitting on the priority seat and sleeping or pretending to sleep. By that they blend out everything around them such as elders or pregnant women, who are in desperate need of that seat. Sadly I see this type quite often lately. But for every bad seed, there's like 5 people who do the right thing and pass the priority seat to the right person. I need to praise my wife here. She's the type who would sometimes block an empty seat and pet an old person or a pregnant woman on the shoulder and redirect them to the seat. She's really a very kind person.

2. The Blocker

This type of commuter is also quite common. They are either blocking the main door or one of the seats. No idea, why some, who need to travel like 10 stations, have to stand near the door and then always block others, who want to go out. It's really a crazy crowd every morning, especially from the Main Station to the City Hall Station. I think, if you have space to leave the door, go inside. And then there's the type who stands in front of an empty seat, but doesn't want to seat down. I see others are eying the empty seat, but are too polite or shy to ask him to move aside, so that they can seat. If I intend to stand (for some reason), I usually move away from an empty seat. If I can't, I rather sit down. I know many would like to seat, they're tired, so blocking an empty seat is a little rude, if you ask me.

3. The Screamer

This type is not so common, but I heard them few times: For some reason they scream in one of the station and I have no idea what has happened. All I see is people at the station are looking in the same direction and the ones in the train (when the door opens) are trying hard to hear what's going on. Usually it's not enough time for them, the door closes and just like me, they keep wondering. I guess I'm the most clueless one. And I guess sometimes it's not so bad to not know what's going on. But the screaming is definitely not pleasant to hear.

4. The Jumper

This type is sadly also very common. Every morning, when I change the train at the Main Station, it's really crazy. The crowds are unbelievably huge and there are officers (officers?) trying to get people in order by whistling and fumbling, no, just by whistling, but they remind me of Taiwan's famous traffic policemen, where I always wonder, how much effect they really have on the traffic. Anyway, there are always long queues every morning. People sometimes wait 10 minutes for boarding the train and 99% of the people will wait patiently until it's their turn to get in, but there will always be someone, who will appear out of nowhere at the last second before the door closes and place him/herself in the tiniest spot available. That for me is of course understandable human behavior, people are late and use this way as the last resort. However, I don't condone it, it's still wrong, because the rest of us are still waiting.

5. The Pusher

This is for me the strangest Taipei subway character. Just like before, I see this every morning at the Main Station. It's basically "the Jumper", but with the difference, that he (usually it's a she) pushes everybody inside to get the last free spot and then gets in. Luckily I've only observed this from the outside the train, I wasn't jet pushed by the pusher. I hope one day I can make a short clip of that, I think it would definitely be a YouTube hit. Dear Pusher, I know you are late, frustrated and hyperactive, but pushing people so directly is a bit over the top. I've seen the shocked faces on many pushed commuters, it's definitely not a pleasant experience for them.

There are of course many other strange characters, but not occurring as often and not so significant as these 5 and hence don't really add any value to my post's topic. I need to say I really think Taipei Metro is for me personally the best in the world. Not only the service is top, the Taiwanese people are really a pleasant bunch to commute with, I truly have a great experience. But I have to say that taking a subway train every day is really tiring. But for me, I still prefer it over a car and scooter.

How about you? Do you have any interesting stories to share from the Taipei Metro or from any other one? What are the strangest characters in your subway? Please share, I'm curious.

[My LIFE IN TAIWAN page][Photo by MKL, 2011]

Unique Taiwanese traits? My observations

My latest observations about my Taiwanese friends

After getting my recent job and meeting more Taiwanese friends, I noticed some interesting things about Taiwanese people and their patterns of behavior. Some of the things mentioned below were noticed a long while ago, while some of them are fairly new observations. Those of you, who also live here, might have come to similar conclusions, but who knows, maybe not. Keep in mind, that I compare these things with the ones from my home country Slovenia. And keep in mind that I am specifically talking about Taiwanese who live and work in Taipei, as that's where I live and where I notice all these things every day.

1 Taiwanese always plan plan plan

The first thing I noticed about my wife (then girlfriend) is that she likes to plan her daily routine. Now most of the workweek, she would spend at work (she's Taiwanese!), but usually right after knocking off, she would go to the gym. And she has a very strict routine. Missing an appointment would make her feel stressed and disappointed. As for the weekends, she will carefully plan what to do and who to meet and at white time. In Slovenia, our working hours are shorter and we have more free time. We usually have a routine during the workweek, but on weekends we're much more spontaneous. If someone unexpectedly calls us to meet, it's usually no problem for us to do so right away. But I've noticed that for many Taiwanese doing something like that is a little stressful. Many like to know about meetings few days in advance and carefully plan every little thing for that day. I'm not sure why that is and maybe that's typical for Taipei or bigger cities, but it's definitely something I noticed very quickly here. Are Taiwanese insecure people or are they just so busy, that they treasure every minute of their free time?

2 Taiwanese always rush rush rush

Taiwanese always hurry! But let me emphasize again, that I mean those in Taipei (but that still seems to be half of Taiwan's working population). I can completely understand, why they do so during the workweek, because I do the same. There's always a traffic jam making you late, a full bus to catch or a small spot in the MRT to contend for. Every morning, especially on Monday, is a real struggle to come to work (based on my own experience). But then I wonder: Why do Taiwanese rush on weekends? Every time my wife and I go out on Saturday, she would suddenly start to walk fast, but we have no deadline to catch, nobody to meet. I usually let her walk away from me until she realizes that I'm few meters behind her and then she stops. When I catch up, I usually ask her: "Are you going to work? Do you have a train to catch?" Then it makes click and she walks slower... for like 5 minutes, haha. I think I need to find the spot, where she hides her Duracells. My Taiwanese friends, I give you a tip: Slow down on weekends and enjoy yourselves, waste time, indulge. If not, I might need to send you to Southern Dalmatia, Sicily or Greece for training.

3 Taiwanese mostly go Dutch

Taiwanese are very particular when it comes to managing money. The concept we have in Slovenia, where one time one party pays (or treats) the whole bill and then the next time the other party does the same in return, is seen as very strange here. Taiwanese count every single dollar (1 Taiwan dollar is 0.025 Euro btw) and if they had pennies, I'm sure, they would count them, too. Of course we also go Dutch in Slovenia, if we eat out in large groups. If we just drink, we go semi-Dutch, which means we do collect money, but don't go into every penny (some give more, some give less...). In Taiwan, if you go and eat out and your meal costs 99 NTD, but you give the person who collects money 100 NTD and tell them to keep the change, they will still return that 1 dollar to you. I've done that several times, but it's like they don't listen or they don't understand what you mean by that, haha. Now I don't bother anymore and count every penny dollar like they do. I think the reason for this kind of money management is that they don't want to owe anything to anyone, not even a single penny dollar. They don't want someone to badmouth them behind their back in regards to taking or owing money (and lose face). Not sure, if I got that right, but that's my impression.

4 Taiwanese way of saying bye bye is different

I don't know, how people say "bye bye" in your country, but in Taiwan (compared to Slovenia) it's very different. If I meet friends in my home country and we're just about to split up and go home after a drink or meal, we usually say "Keep in touch." or "Talk to you soon." (kinda hard to express the exact Slovenian phrase in English, but you get the point) and that's about it. Young people in Taiwan, when they say bye bye, it's always accompanied with smiles, repeated and extended "bye byeeeeees", waving and small nods. And it always feels like both parties are a bit awkward or embarrassed in that moment. No idea, why that is, but that's how I see the situation. I would be happy, if someone explained that to me better.

Ok, I gotta go, I have to rush out after counting my money again. Bye byeeeee ^_^

Related: [I'm becoming Taiwanese! Help!]
[LIFE IN TAIWAN][Photo by MKL, 2011]

I'm becoming Taiwanese! Help!

If you have read my posts from the past few months about my life in Taiwan (and all the preparations), you're probably just like me completely overwhelmed by the changes I've been through. In the past 6 months I have saved money, acquired documentation, bought air ticket, left my family and home in Slovenia behind and came to Taiwan to be with my then girl friend, whom I married 2 months later. And now I'm working like a mad person every day, usually 10 to 11 hours a day, but today I broke my own record: I worked nearly 13 hours. And the funniest thing is: I really worked. I didn't slack or sleep, I worked.

If someone would've told me to work overtime for no money back in Europe, I would've thought they're crazy. If someone would've told me to work all day 5 days a week back in Europe, I would've thought they are inhumane and a threat to society.

And then I came to Taiwan, got a new job and slowly fell into a Taiwanese work routine. At first I went home "early", which meant I only worked 2 hours overtime, instead of 5 (like most of my colleagues did). Even those 2 hours of unpaid overtime seemed crazy to me, especially because I didn't have much to do in the beginning. Every hour seemed endless and I felt: How the heck will I ever be able to work until 9 pm? (- the time that makes my boss happy). And today I finished at 9.30 pm and still felt I could stay longer.

On the way home I was thinking: WTF is happening to me? Am I slowly turning Taiwanese? I observed people on the bus and subway today, most were so tired. I'm sure most of them worked overtime until very late, until they nearly collapsed. It was a moment where I (for the first time) felt very connected to the Taiwanese people, I felt like I was one of them. But heck, why did it need to happen for the wrong reasons? We all seemed so screwed up. I came home at nearly 11 pm, took a shower, grabbed a bite to eat and decided to write this piece. Now it's midnight and if I don't want to look like a zombie tomorrow, I need to go to bed now, the night will be short anyway. And tomorrow won't be any different: Just like me, millions of Taiwanese will rot in the office with bad air cons trying to get something done. I'm now part of Taiwan's army of workers, who are fighting to keep the GDP high at all costs. Taiwan would not be one of the top economies in the world without our tireless effort to sell our products overseas.

But we're a tired army. Those of you, who enjoy life here, like teachers and journalists, if you see us, tap us on the back and shake our hands, we're also fighting for you. We have no life but work, lunch is our highlight of the day, we drink that coffee from 7/11 so we don't doze off...

My fellow Taiwanese, how long can we do this? How long will we keep saying it's only temporary?

Related: [Taipei Blues from 2010][Photo by MKL, 2011]

Living in a condo in Taipei

What happened to my privacy?

A condominium like many others.

Last year I used to live in this area in a cheap apartment on ground level with a very small window, a bed, a desk, a TV and a bathroom. It was cheap, small and usually very dark. We went to check the apartment out in the evening and signed the contract right away, because we were in desperate need to get something reasonably priced as soon as possible. We had no idea that it will be so dark inside during the day and that was for me very hard to bear in the beginning. I used to live there alone and my wife (girlfriend at that time) used to visit me every evening. And even though the area was noisy, smelly and not very clean, the people were friendly (sometimes the convenience store clerks would chit chat with me) and everything we needed was available nearby for a good price (we even had a night market nearby, within 5 minutes of walk). The only thing that used to be a little troublesome sometimes was waiting for the garbage truck. But I felt free.

This year I'm living in a condo, similar to the one you see on the photo above. I live in one of the upper floors and have a good view of the surrounding area. I can even see the top of the Shin Kong Life Tower on a clear day. The apartment is not that much bigger, it's just one room with a small kitchen and a bathroom, but we pay almost double than for the one I rented last year. We have security guys, a lobby, elevators, a gym, a playground for kids and even a swimming pool (these are of course all common facilities). I like more space and I like the big windows, basically everything's fine so far, my wife chose a great place to live as a couple. But just the other day I was thinking: Where did my privacy go?

As you can imagine, I'm very obvious here. I'm a blonde white man and I'm always very interesting to the local population. The thing is, I can't lose myself in the pool of people like everybody else here. I will always be very easily remembered, people will wonder about me, probably saying things like: "Who's that young white guy every day passing by? What's he doing here?" "I saw him with a local girl, maybe he's married with her." "Oh, I see..." - That's a new situation for me. In Europe I'm "normal" and just one of many, here I'm "different" and one of the few. And not only that, I'm one of those few that are always sparking interest among the majority of people. That's of course very human and I can totally understand the locals, when they see me and become curious about me. I can live with that.

What bothers me more are the security guys. Every day when I leave my apartment, I need to pass through the lobby and greet one or more of them. And when I'm outside, another one will be there managing the traffic in front of our building and I need to say another hello or just throw a nod of recognition, when I pass by. And that basically means they know when I'm going out (to work) and when I'm returning home: I feel so monitored. It's like staying in a hotel with just a reception and no room service (How long could you take something like this?). Sometimes I feel like finding a way to sneak out without anyone seeing me just to get that feeling back, the one where I feel completely free.

Are you willing to trade security for less privacy? It's really hard sometimes, because where I grew up, we had nothing like that. Security personnel would be something you only see at factories, warehouses or government buildings. Growing up in a house surrounded by a forest marked me for life. In my heart I'm not a city person, but I know that living in Taipei is the best thing that ever happened to me. I want to enjoy it to the fullest, but at the same time I should not forget where I came from and where my heart really feels at home.

And the only ones, who monitored me there, were the chirping birds, that woke me up every morning. I hope I will see them again one day.

[My LIFE IN TAIWAN page][Photo by MKL, 2011]

Ximending 西門町, Taipei

Ten things to do in Ximending

Ximending 西門町 (historically Romanized as Hsimenting, Shimending or Shimenting) is a popular neighborhood in Wanhua, Taipei's oldest district. Being the biggest center of youth culture and street fashion in the city (and probably in all of Taiwan), it's often labeled as "Harajuku of Taipei". Although Taipei is not Tokyo and Ximending is not Harajuku, there are some similarities between these two areas, but there are also vast differences. This post is intended to introduce Ximending to you, especially to those of you, who are considering to visit Taipei and heard about it, but want to know more. Please click on the links, they will lead you to my related posts (or to external information) and don't forget to check my map at the bottom of the post.

There's only 1 Ximending.

I will try to answer a very common question everyone asks me, before they come to Taipei: What to do in Ximending? I hope to provide you with a lot of useful information and links in order to help you plan your Taipei trip and your visit of this famous part. Whether you're old or young, if you come to Taipei, you have to see Ximending or you have not seen the real Taipei of today.

Here's my overview of the ten things to do in Ximending:

01 Learn about the history 認識歷史
02 Enjoy the atmosphere 享受氣氛
03 Observe fashionable people 觀察潮人
04 See performances 街頭表演
05 Go on a date 來個約會
06 Visit restaurants and bars 上餐廳逛酒吧
07 Do your hair 弄弄頭髮
08 Go shopping 逛街購物
09 Go to the gym 運動健身
10 Go to the cinema 看場電影

Scroll down to read more.

1 Learn about the history 認識歷史

The name 西門町 "Ximending" comes from the words 西門 "Ximen" (meaning West Gate in Chinese) and 町 "ding" (meaning neighborhood in Japanese). The West gate was built during the Qing dynasty, in 1882. China, who lost the first Sino-Japanese war in 1894, had to cede the sovereignty of Taiwan to Japan in 1895 and 50 years of Japanese rule over Taiwan had begun. The new Japanese government begun to expand Taipei and widen the roads. By 1905 the old defense wall as well as the West gate were destroyed in order to make way for a new boulevard, the today's Zhonghua Road 中華路. The area next to the former gate was named 西門町 (pronounced as Seimonchō) and was established as a business and entertainment district (source). The word behind the character 町 (pronounced tǐng, tīng, dīng) is very uncommon in the Chinese language and hence could be seen as a loan word from Japanese.

The Red House Theater 紅樓劇場 was built in 1908 and is today one of the most remarkable buildings in the area. It used to be a public market until 1945 and was then converted into a theater (read more about the history on their homepage). Ximending was thriving in the 1930s, becoming a center of Taiwan's film industry. At that time most cinemas in Taipei were founded there and they remained popular until the early 1990s (source, today over 20 cinemas remain in the area). There are also many other historic things to see in Ximending: The lovely small temples, that wait to be discovered. The most notable are Ximending Mazu Temple 西門町媽祖廟 (see on Google Maps) and Jinde Temple 晉德宮 (see on Google Maps). If you're interested, how Ximending looked in the 1970s, go and see photos on this website.

Ximending today is a festival of lights.

The famous Hanzhong Street, near the Ximen MRT Exit 6.

The Party World building is famous for it's KTV lounges.

A police station near Ximen MRT: Ximending is very safe, so don't worry.

The famous Red House Theater from 1908.

A view from the Red House to the most famous part of Ximending pedestrian area.

2 Enjoy the atmosphere 享受氣氛

Ximending is very crowded at Friday night. There's a lot of young people, you can observe all kinds of styles and meet new people. Taiwanese are very friendly and easy to befriend.

Entering the pedestrian area.

3 Observe fashionable people 觀察潮人

You'll probably see the craziest hairstyles and the hottest outfits in Ximending.

Ximending will overwhelm you.

Ximending will be like a whole different Taipei.

4 See performances 街頭表演

Ximending has many street artists and performers. Enjoy it for free.

Many famous (and less famous) Taiwanese singers come to Ximending to perform on the street to introduce their new song or album. Below you can see Jolin Tsai 蔡依林, Taiwanese most successful solo singer perform during the day. Ximending is also famous for all kinds of gatherings, even flash mobs (see the video on the right). Wanna join? Why not.

5 Go on a date 來個約會

Find a cute girl/guy here or bring them on a date. It's a great place to start.

6 Visit restaurants and bars 上餐廳逛酒吧

Be it the famous Ah-zong's noodles or Korean tteokbokki, Ximending has a lot to offer.

Ah-zong's noodles are always very popular, it's a must-try food in Taipei.

You can also get all kinds of good bubble tea here.

Or go to one of awesome foreign food restaurants like this Indian place.

Or enjoy some wacky dining in the toilet themed restaurant named Modern Toilet.

7 Do your hair 弄弄頭髮

Ximending is full of hair salons, get your hair style here.

Yes, that's a hair salon, too (on top). Awesome, right?

8 Go shopping 逛街購物

Ximending is a Mecca for every shopper.

You have all kinds of clothes available here. Get styled in Ximending.

How about some creepy SpongeBobs for you?

Ximending, where else?

9 Go to the gym 運動健身

There are also many gyms here. Come and workout in Ximending.

10 Go to the cinema 看場電影

Ximending is the center of Taiwan's cinema, the first ones were founded here.

Ximending is very easy to find and explore. And there is much more to see then just the popular pedestrian area (click my map on the left to enlarge). There are temples and old buildings found all over the place. This used to be the old Taipei and partly it still is. The atmosphere is unique and captivating. If you come to Taipei, you need to visit. If you stay here longer, I'm sure you'll return quite often. I know I will. I hope you enjoyed my tour.

My posts related to Ximending:

1 XIMENDING FOOD

✰ Gayke, Ximending's crazy cake, December 2010
✰ Eating out at Modern Toilet, May 2010
✰ Ah Zong's flour rice noodles, February 2010

2 XIMENDING RANDOM

✰ Getting a custom-made suit, June 2011
✰ Ximen, West Gate of Taipei, July 2010
✰ Ximending at night, February 2010
✰ Ximending at day, March 2010

[My TAIPEI page][All photos by MKL, 2011]
[This post may be updated in the future]