High Five - Taiwan Style

If you're familiar with the High Five guys and their work on Funny or Die then you'll get a kick out of this Taiwan version done by a couple of expats. Well done boys!

High Five Taiwan (台灣擊掌) - watch more funny videos

幹!好熱 It's Freakin' Hot

Ok ok, it doesn't actually say those exact words but you get the idea. Popularized on Green Island, this slogan sure seems appropriate for these last few days with the mercury reaching up as high as 38C (100F) in Taipei City.

Thank god the convenience stores just started their summer beer sales events. Family mart offers 50% off any 3 beers while 7eleven has their regular selection plus several imports available. From now until July 27, buy 3 beers of any kind and get 21% off at 7eleven. They've kindly imported a few new beers 1664 Blanc from France (a fruity white beer), Longboard (lager) and Wailua (wheat with Passion Fruit) from Hawaii and Samuel Adams (bitter) from the Mainland US + a few others.

Stay frosty Taiwan!

A Mascot for all Occasions

Whatever happened to recognizable animals for mascots?

Taiwan really goes all out with mascots. Teams have them. Products have them. Companies have them. The government agencies have them. Just about anything or anyone that wants to be something must have one.

I'm not sure it's always necessary to have mascots for every single thing but it does fit in line with making even the most boring or mundane things seem lively and/or cute be it Company XYZ's wingnut to the ROC's military. Amazingly though, a lot of mascots are very ambiguous looking such as the one in the picture for ShuLin City on a barren road in the middle of nowhere. What exactly is it supposed to be?

Feel free to send in your stories and pictures of the most ridiculous mascots you have seen in Taiwan or elsewhere.

UPDATE: I recently went to a Japanese cartoon culture exhibit that might share some light on why every organization is adopting mascots. See the last paragraph.