Bridgestone

In 1967, my dream motorcycle to own was the Bridgestone 350cc. As someone who religiously read the motorcycle magazines, it was the best at the time. Usually all the reviews of motorcycles at that time were just fluff for two benchmark numbers:

                   1. top speed
                   2. 0 to 60 mph

I wonder if my time with the motorcycle magazine was just preparation for being a computer benchmarker for Cray Research, Intel, Cray Computers,

Anyway what brought this up is that Bridgestone motorcycles are still around in Taiwan. When Bridgestone(the tire company) dropped motorcycles, they sold the line line to BS  Tailung in Taiwan about 1971. After a few years, they stopped making them in Taiwan but they are still running on the streets of Taipei.

And still nice looking bikes, at least some of them are.

Motorcycles

Even I am surprised at how many times in the past three years I have written blog entries about motorcycle.

From the first year in Tainan:

http://tainanchineseclass.blogspot.com/2010/02/ubiquitous-motorcycles.html
http://tainanchineseclass.blogspot.com/2010/02/customized-motorcycles.html
http://tainanchineseclass.blogspot.com/2010/02/motorcycles3-wheelers.html

From the second year in Tainan:

http://mikeess-trip.blogspot.com/2011/05/motorcycles-in-tainan-one-more-time.html
http://mikeess-trip.blogspot.com/2011/05/motorcycles-in-tainan-big-bikes.html
http://mikeess-trip.blogspot.com/2011/05/motorcycles-in-tainan-kawasaki.html
http://mikeess-trip.blogspot.com/2011/05/motorcycles-in-tainan-yamaha.html
http://mikeess-trip.blogspot.com/2011/05/motorcycles-in-tainnan-suzuki.html
http://mikeess-trip.blogspot.com/2011/05/motorcycles-in-taiwan-honda.html
http://mikeess-trip.blogspot.com/2011/05/motorcycles-in-tainan-hartford.html
http://mikeess-trip.blogspot.com/2011/05/motorcycles-in-tainan-sym.html
http://mikeess-trip.blogspot.com/2011/05/motorcycles-in-tainan-kymco.html
http://mikeess-trip.blogspot.com/2011/05/motorcycles-in-tainan-motorbikes.html
http://mikeess-trip.blogspot.com/2011/05/motorcycles-in-tainan-san-lun-che.html
http://mikeess-trip.blogspot.com/2011/05/motorcycles-in-tainan-three-wheelers.html
http://mikeess-trip.blogspot.com/2011/05/motorcycles-in-tainan-scooters.html
http://mikeess-trip.blogspot.com/2011/05/motorcycles-in-tainan-hsinchu.html
http://mikeess-trip.blogspot.com/2011/05/motorcycles-in-tainan-uses.html
http://mikeess-trip.blogspot.com/2011/05/motorcycles-in-tainan-old-vespa.html

From this year in Taipei:

http://mikeintaipei.blogspot.com/2012/01/specialty-three-wheelers-handicapped.html
http://mikeintaipei.blogspot.com/2012/01/three-wheelers.html


Don't worry, I'm not done yet. The next few will be maybe? the last. (But I doubt it.)

I was trying to think about when I could use this picture that I saw in Eastern Washington. Now I suppose would be a good time.

Truck Signs

Small trucks are workhorses in Taiwan, delivering, selling, ... They have a large flat sides, a good place for a billboard. Like these:

Movies

Lingerie

Food stuff

Selling ice cream

Weddings

And of course politicians

Protests in Taiwan

One of the big differences between Taiwan and China is that Taiwan has protests, China does not. In Taiwan, the FaLunGong(See the Wikipedia article) sets up at all the tourists sights. So when the tourists from China come to Taiwan they get to see what is banded in China.(China, this year became the largest tourist source to Taiwan, previously it was Japan.)

It is fun to watch these big tour buses arrive at a tourist sight like Tainan ChiKanLou or E101 in Taipei or Yeliu or ... and be greeting by displays of posters documenting the persecution of FaLunGong in Mainland China.

I think most Mainland Chinese are not comfortable hearing in Taiwan what their own government forbids in China. They are like "the frogs at the bottom of the well", they only see the world as their government allows them to see. When they come to Taiwan, they see a different world.


The FaLunGong sets up exercises so as to be seen from the tour buses.

Some times there is actually a chance for dialog between Taiwanese and Chinese.

Maybe tourism is the secret weapon that the Taiwanese government is using to undermind the authorities in Mainland China.

During  the "Occupy Wallstreet" times in NYC there were also occupiers in Taipei, at the E101 building.

They didn't gather too many followers and eventually left on their own. I doubt there were any occupiers in Beijing, ever.

Moon Arch

With the older buildings in Taiwan, it is easy to spot which were built in the Japanese period. The Japanese period buildings usually all make use of the structural arch. Like the domes in this Japanese Governor's Mansion in Taipei.

Most buildings, built with Chinese influence, just use pillars and lentils like this arch.

Or a block design like this small gate in Taipei.

But there is one arch that is famous with Chinese architecture and that is the moon arch. Maybe 2000 years old, it started as a foot bridge over canals or water ways, it has to be high enough for the water traffic to pass.

Now it a decorative device.

Even used in railroad cars.

And in children's playgrounds.

Ely in Taipei

Ely didn't bring her computer to Taiwan, so she used Florence's and mine. She left behind some pictures of Taipei on my computer.

Taipei is a young people's town, with plenty of action all day and night long.

Any thing you can thing of eating, you can find in Taipei. Like Dunkin; doughnuts.

Traditional Chinese like Zhongzi.

And several thousand restaurants where you can order the dishes you like.

Night markets where you can hop from one small specialty stall to the next.

Or if you like to cook for yourself there are the daily markets where everything is fresh.

Ely in Jiufen

Ely was so busy in Taipei that we only made one trip out of the city,  to Jiufen. Which I have written about before:

http://mikeintaipei.blogspot.com/2012/02/trip-to-jiufen.html

http://mikeintaipei.blogspot.com/2012/02/jiufen-old-taiwan-stuff.html

http://mikeintaipei.blogspot.com/2012/02/jiufen-museum-of-clay-masks.html

Ely was excited about going to Jiufen because she learned that Jiufen was the model for the Japanese animated movie "Spirited Away".

The town was bustling maybe turning the time of Japanese occupation but after WWII the gold mining shutdown and there wasn't anything to replace. Until now where tourists go to see how it use to be.

The "old street" of JiuFen is always exiting with tourists and hawkers.

With exotic things to eat, like shark ball soup and seasnails.

Like everywhere in Taiwan, there are the temples.

And in Jiufen you can go to the old things museum and model the old fashion raincoat.

Best Breakfast in Taipei?

One of the nice things about having people visit, is that you go to places you don't normally go to. Many local tourist attractions, we save for when visitors come. So when Ely came to visit for 8 days, we went to a special breakfast place called "Hang Fu".

It is located on the second floor of the southwest corner of Linsen and Zhongxiao roads in Taipei. A lot of good places( bookstores, restaurants, ... ) are located not at the ground level but on the floors above. This is because store frontage is at such a premium. A sign on ground level will direct customers to the correct floor but if the sign is only in Chinese then foreigners miss out.

 This breakfast place is located above the yellow sign. Serves breakfast from maybe 6 to 12 but is closed on Monday.

What I liked about this place was that they were making shoubing and yutiao on site.

Another sign of a good restaurant is that there was a line for service.  Taiwanese are picky eaters, if they are willing to line up, then it must be good. The line moves pretty fast.

Another advantage is a large eating area where you can all sit around on table and share. This is the advantage of being on the second floor.

There are other breakfast places all over Taipei, but usually they work out of one store front with the kitchen(and the delicious smells) being part of their advertising but that means their seating area is in the back and probably too small.

New Words

English is a flexible language and meanings can be fluid, this is one of its great strengths. Meaning trumps syntax, rules, tradition, ... as it should. Here's some new uses.

GAGA Girls, I think are bar girls that dress up extravagantly.

Modish, modern but not too modern.

Chicology, the study of chicks.

I had no idea what "spunlace" was, but by web search it seems to be a flame resistant fabric, who knew?

"Rich English" this is the language spoken by the Bush and Romney families.

O

Pasta holic, a benign addition.

Originality food, new but with connections to origins.