Blood on the streets

From Blogger

Imagine seeing this on your city street back home. This was one of the things I noticed about Taiwan when I first arrived. It's not a pretty picture is it?

At first, I thought street corners just had an inordinate amount of accidents. Bloody accidents.

I know better now as do most people after living in Taiwan for some time. 'Tis the mark of the cursed betelnut spittle.

Ignorance (of the Law) is Bliss

I went out for hotpot the other night with some friends and was planning to have a few beers. The trouble is, you see, I wanted to have a few beers with the meal and then ride the scooter home. I know, I know, drinking and driving don't mix, blah, blah, blah. But I could drink under the legal limit and still drive, right? That is, of course, still legal.

However, what exactly is the legal limit in Taiwan? Most Taiwanese I asked just spouted off what the commercials against drunk driving say, "Jiou hou bu kai che," "After alcohol, don't drive." They basically were saying to me that there is a zero tolerance towards any driving after drinking (some countries do have zero tolerance laws). One local guy at work even went as far as saying if they stopped me and detected alcohol on the breath, one small wiff and you'd be busted.

[BTW, the drunk driving checks in Taipei amount to police road blocks, usually at night, in very typical spots around bridges or very heavily traveled roads. They are very predictable and often the police cars leave their lights on, warning vehicles in advance of the road blocks. The scientific drunk test amounts to an officer stopping a vehicle and asking for the driver to blow in his face so he can take a wiff. That's it! Hope he likes the smell of the stinky tofu I just ate! Some officers have also started to use flashlights to check pupil dilation. So much for robust checking....]

This brings me to a side point: Taiwanese are mostly pretty ignorant of their laws. In fact, Taiwanese just have impressions of their laws or know hear-say about the laws but do not know the fine letter of their laws. If you want to test this, ask someone about a law that you know a lot about back home and see if there is a Taiwanese equivalent. You'll understand what I mean.

So, Taiwanese, for the most part, live in ignorance of their laws. They go about their lives with a feeling for what is right or wrong for society but largely are unaware at the legal structures in place to settle legal matters. When I think about how people back home take no time to spout off their God-given rights and threaten to sue at the drop of a hat, you can immediately notice a difference in Taiwan which is much less of a litigation society. This is a kind of bliss.

Perhaps Taiwan is headed in the litigation society direction, though, with all the legal wrangling in the courts these days. It is important to note that previous presidents were technocrats with degrees in things like Agriculture Economics (Lee Deng-Hui). But now, we have had a lawyer by profession (President Chen who has landed himself in some legal troubles recently) and someone who studied Law (current President Ma). As in the West, lawyers and law-types seem to be rising here in Taiwan politics.

I digress. Back to the drunk driving law. Here is something more concrete and fairly up to date from the Taipei Times:

"Under the former regulations, the legal limit for a driver's blood-alcohol level was 0.25mg per liter. If a driver's blood-alcohol level exceeded 0.25mg per liter, he or she faced a fine of between NT$15,000 (US$460) and NT$60,000 -- depending on the type of vehicle driven and the blood alcohol content measured.

If a driver's blood alcohol content exceeded 0.55mg per liter, he or she would be charged with the inability to drive safely, which carried either a maximum one-year jail sentence or a maximum fine of NT$30,000.

The new regulations punish serious drunk drivers with both imprisonment and a fine, stipulating that if a driver's blood alcohol level exceeds 0.55mg per liter, he or she could face up to one-year in prison as well as a fine of up to NT$150,000.

As a result, should an offender receive a six-month sentence (the maximum length of sentence that can be commuted to a fine), and commutes the term to a fine, the offender would face paying a fine of up to NT$690,000."

Taipei Times

There are, in fact, 2 different standards for testing: BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) and mg/liter.

The definitive source is the TBAF or Taiwan Beverage Alcohol Forum a group sponsored by the major alcohol companies in Taiwan:

The current penalty listing below:

Alcohol Strength	Automobile	Payment
Alcohol breathalyzer test over 0.25mg/litre to 0.4mg/litre or BAC at 0.05% to 0.08%	Motorbike	15000
	Sedan	19500
	Long & heavy vehicle	22500
	The driver convicted with DUI twice in one year and one dose not have a driver license.	60000
Alcohol breathalyzer test over 0.4mg/litre to 0.55mg/litre or BAC at 0.08% to 0.11%	Motorbike	30000
	Sedan	34500
	Long & heavy vehicle	37500
	The driver convicted with DUI twice in one year and one dose not have a driver license.	60000
Alcohol breathalyzer test over 0.55mg/litre and above or BAC 0.11% and above
	Motorbike Sedan	45000 49500
	Long & heavy vehicle	52500
	The driver convicted with DUI twice in one year and one dose not have a driver license. The drunk driver would be prosecuted if caused any car accident	60000
Information source: Taipei City Police Department Traffic Division.

There you have it but if you blinked or fell asleep you may have missed an important distinction about Taiwan's drunk driving law. Countries like the US and some parts of Canada have BAC legal tolerance up to 0.08 but Taiwan's is 0.05 which is quite a bit lower.

According to the Wikipedia, that means for a 82kg man, anything more that 2 cans of beer would put you over 0.05 (subtract approximately .01% for every 40 minutes after drinking), theoretically speaking. [I am not responsible for any faulty math or reading of the charts]

So, scooter and car drivers beware! Only 1 can of beer for me before I hit the road... just to be sure. Ignorance of Taiwan's drunk driving law is not bliss. It could be quite costly.

TBAF faq page

TBAF drunk driving statistics Seems like mid-Taiwan has, by far, the most incidents. That is, if all police forces are equally diligent in enforcing and reporting.

Stimulate This!

Well not exactly this kind of stimulation package but it enticed you to read this entry, did it not?

As you may well be aware, early next year every Taiwan citizen will be receiving a $3600 voucher from the government to stimulate spending. This is really in line with what a lot of nations are doing in order to keep their economies afloat through this financial crisis.

And I guess I am happy that something is being done instead of only hand wringing and hesitation. The medicine is bad any way you approach the issue but in many ways this crisis is aggravated by psychological factors. Even if this package is merely a placebo for the ills (I concede that it may just be), the psychological good it does will inevitably be positive. Believe me, people in Taiwan need more placebos like this in their dark economic hour to stay thinking positive even though it might be illusory.

Once again, it's psychology. Even if the package is just a drip in the bucket, it gives the perception that something is being done and this is important to people. I think the general consensus is that eventually the situation will improve but that it will take time. That's why it's a positive thing to relieve a little of the people's worries so that things (hopefully) don't sink so deep. Of course, the government has to nurture things in these dark times.

It's interesting to know that, even though many people are making the case that the package will do little or nothing, the voucher system instead of a tax break or cash back is more of a sound decision than it may seem. An economist makes this point...

"The standard stimulus package doesn't change incentives. It's a check from the government. The hope is that the receiver will spend it. But when you just send out checks from the government, whoever gets stimulated is likely to be offset by someone who gets unstimulated.

[....]

And even the people who get the money often save more of it than they spend.

That's why stimulus schemes based on giving people money have a poor track record of energizing the economy. Usually, the only thing that gets stimulated is a politician's approval rating."

NPR

What's interesting to note, though, is that Taiwan's government isn't just giving out cash or giving a tax break (which people can convert into cash and just save away without helping to stimulate the economy). People have to use the vouchers to buy products at businesses that issue receipts for purchases (which the tax department obviously likes since people pay their taxes (incidentally, this is the reason why the have the lottery on those receipts: it tries to keep businesses more honest about their books)).

Also, as implied in the report, some people have argued that the vouchers are just to buy voters since only citizens can receive them (that rules out us foreign paying taxpayers since we definitely cannot vote). However if that is the case, then why would a country like China also launch a stimulus package? It's not like they need to cater to their voters. However, they do need to keep its economy rolling to keep its citizens happy and that's purely psychological.

So there you have it. By me, the package seems reasonable as real stimulus or as a placebo or both. In the end, my Taiwanese wife for one will be spending her voucher with pleasure as will, I am sure, most of the people who receive one. Happy and positive spending!

Golden Horse Rides Again

From 2008_11_16 Good Citizen

I never see this festival coming but thanks to my Japanese friend, Koizumi, we managed to catch it this year.

Saw a great film called 'Shine a Light' starring the Rolling Stones and directed by Martin Scorsese. It ran about 122min and had the Stones in concert in New York in a small auditorium for a Bill Clinton organization event. It was great. Pure escapism and the energy of the concert really started me up. Get it?

From 2008_11_16 Good Citizen

Taking a cue from the posters outside, Koizumi and I drank a cold beer in the theater while watching. A perfect match for a rock concert and testament to the openness of living in Taiwan (drinking virtually anywhere, even in cars as long as you are not the driver!).

The end of the movie featured an acoustic version of 'Wild Horses'... Wild Golden Horses indeed!

You still have time to catch other films. The festival ends Nov. 21.

McDonalds Goes Psychedelic

From 2008_11_16 Good Citizen

I wonder what item on the menu caused me to trip like this?
Blah!

In the Navy

From 2008_11_16 Good Citizen

Is it just me or is this advertisement for joining the ROC military just a little gay (happy if you wish)?  Aren't military types supposed to be silent and disciplined killers? 

Put it this way, would a bunch of shaved head guys piled on top of each other and smiling like a batch of giddy school boys make you want to join?  It just reinforces the cute image that Taiwan tries to put on everything with mixed results...

Taiwan's cute imagery vs China

The irony is that the morale in the army is very poor.  Lots of suicide.  Superiors drinking on the job.  Initiation involving women of ill-repute.  Not to mention the poor training and sometimes inadequate equipment (Humvees for the narrow alleys of Taiwan?  Give me a break!  The war would be over before they got those things out of the traffic jams!).

Don't believe me about the initiation?  See for yourself.  As most boys who have done their military service will tell you, you'll come out a man whether you want to or not.

The Dink Rides Again

From 2008_11_16 Good Citizen

And there it was.  Right in front of me.  Someone's Dink.

Yes, it's a real scooter model.  

Click on the pic for a closer look and read the label on the side.

another Dink link

Recycle This

From 2008_11_16 Good Citizen

In case you are wondering what types of things are recyclable in Taiwan, here is a good brochure that we received from our neighborhood leader to help us sort it all out.

Grounded

From 2008_11_16 Good Citizen

A photo I snapped on my cell of a jet sitting outside a machine tool shop on the TaiDa campus.  I assume it's for students to take apart in order to study engineering.

Fittingly, one side of it was plastered in grafitti.  If I'm bold enough, I'll try climbing on it one day to take a look in the cockpit.

Bike Paths of the Taipei Area

From 2008_11_16 Good Citizen

I've written a little about the bike boom recently.  On a recent stop at Carrefour, I picked this brochure up in their bike section.  It's a pretty good overview of the bike system in place in the Taipei area, most of it running alongside the rivers withing the flood wall system.

I wonder if Taiwan will ever get around to having something like the Cross Canada bike path we have back home.

The Diner: Truly Comfort on a Plate

From 2008_11_02 The Diner

Ahhhh, The Diner.  I only have good things to say about this place.

Started by Taiwanese Amy and her boyfriend, the place does amazing business and rightfully so.  The Diner is home to the tastiest hamburger of them all in Taipei.  Grilled to perfection, greasy like it's supposed to be.  Crispy, firm fries.  And this is not mentioning the all-day breakfast menu also available to you.

And the service?  Well, I've been to a lot of places and to my knowledge it is unsurpassed.  Amy the hostess must have a great memory as she has remembered our names every time we have gone and has gone out of her way to make us feel welcome.  And the waitresses are also very accomodating too!  Keep up the good work everyone!

Like I said, the business there justifiedly rocks, so much so that the Diner does not take reservations.  So, be prepared to wait long waits at feeding time on the weekends.  However, fear not.  The Diner has opened a second location on Dunhua I you will.  

Check out their hamburger selection.  Two of our favorites, the bacon and cheese and the swiss cheese and mushroom go for $200 (served as in the picture).  

One more recommendation: the chocolate brownie with ice cream ($150).  A large warm brownie with two scoops of ice cream towering over it.  Enough to feed 2 people.  Exceptional value all around.

From 2008_11_02 The Diner

View Larger Map

What a Butt!

From 2008_11_01

Taipei Times had another great Johny Neihu piece today (Nov 1, 2008):

Poontang in the peddling of Taiwan

"A publication called Taiwanese Businessman Weekly, published in China to promote tourism in Taipei, had the following lines: “Girls who go clubbing in Taipei are all dressed in sexy outfits, showing half of their breasts and wearing mini skirts.”

The mag described our capital city’s clubbing girls as “chicks who dress hot and act wild.”

Good one, guys. Why not just call the article “We’ve got poontang”?"

I have to agree with him. I know of another very strange promotional article for Taiwan that appeared in a tourism magazine here several years back. As you can see, 'What a butt!' is conveniently written in Chinese, Japanese and English for all the pervs (sorry for the clarity as I only have it in photocopy form now... click on the pictures for closeups) and seems to echo the the opinions of Taiwanese Businessman Weekly...

From 2008_11_01

Jesus, who writes this stuff?

Taiwanese Food is #1 in the Taiwanese Mind

The question though is does Taiwan's cuisine rank in the top 10 or even top 20 in the world? Are the Taiwanese true culinary masters or do they just have a huge culinary ego?

Basically, most top ten lists name the usual suspects:

Chinese
French
Italian
Indian
Japanese
Moroccan
Spanish
Thai
Turkish

Indonesian

Mexican, Greek and Lebanese and lots of others also get thrown in. Could these lists be anything other than super subjective though? It's a fact though that I've actually never seen Taiwan on a top ten list unless you lump it in the Chinese category.

Most Taiwanese are ferociously proud of their cuisine (even with respect to other local Chinese cuisines) which in some respects has had thrown in a mixture of many different Chinese styles. This is due to the fact that immigrants to the island have brought their various Chinese local area cuisines with them. For example, I'm a big fan of Northern food (dumplings and buns) but these are hardly traditional Taiwanese food, even though sold everywhere in Taiwan.

Another thing is when Taiwanese travel to other places, they are often disgusted with foods there. My wife wasn't even that impressed by French, which consistently rates as the top in Western minds! But when I experienced her rejection, I presumed that Taiwanese are quite picky about their food's taste and are not so adventurous when it comes to international cuisines that do not resemble their own; they are fond of Italian (noodles) and Thai (spicy) but are turned off by British food (to the point of packing instant noodles in their suitcase when having to live there for any period of time) or German (heavy and would doubtfully rank in the top 10 in Western minds either).

Taiwanese tour groups visiting European destinations famous for their food often hit local Chinese restaurants to essentially please the older (read more stubborn to try new things) Taiwanese travelers. My Taiwanese father-in-law, for example, often shows his dislike of cheese but in fact I think he just can't change his eating habits.

So, in the end, maybe the best way to judge cuisine is on a restaurant by restaurant basis. As such, there are many amazing restaurants and places to eat in Taiwan. Ding Tai Feng, a dumpling restaurant, was rated one of the top restaurants in the New York Times and boasts of this fact. I, for one, agree with the review when talking about the taste and presentation.

However, faced with the 'lu-wei' stall on the street with it's assortment of brown (soy-marinated) animal parts etc., I would say exactly what a old Japanese teacher once said to me when we were teaching at the same school in China:

"Japanese food looks fantastic but tastes so-so. Chinese food tastes great but looks horrendous."

The latter sentence pretty well sums it up for most cases. But then again, I'm an aesthetic minded Westerner! :)

Cosplay is a little freaky

From 2008_10_26 Petit Fancy

I went to Petit Fancy this weekend (for research purposes). This is Taipei's COSPLAY central.

First, I met a colleague of mine who is an all-things-Japanese aficionado. In the two hours we spent there, he guided me through the event which approximates a comic book or sci-fi convention.

What made it different though was the darker undercurrent, a mixture of cuteness, youth and porn. And to think it was held on the grounds of Taiwan's foremost university.

I will be asking my colleague to sort through what we saw and will present it as a series of further posts.

From 2008_10_26 Petit Fancy

TiT Town in Taipei

Taiwan's Tantilizing TiT Townhouses - More free videos are here

What is TiT? Well according to this development it's Town in Taipei.
Maybe I should find some TaT and trade it in for TiT.

This entry's been begging for someone to write up. A few people beat me to the punch...

Other links:
http://www.heresjonny.com/taiwan/2008/05/tit-taipei.html
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-photo/jonnymatthews/1/1210934580/ithink-ixll-call-my-new-shopping-centre-xtitx.jpg/tpod.html

Bike Blind

I have to say that I've been oblivious to a trend that has swept the biking world. Folding, compact and ultra-light bikes are all the rage!

I recently had a talk with a Dahon employee Matthew Davis who brought me up to speed with the phenomena.

It seems that with the high price of oil, there has been a boost in public transportation use. The problem is the soft connections, that is the connections between the home and the public transportation outlets.

Step in the folding bikes. You've seen them around Taipei. Taiwan still remains one of the foremost places for bike design, you know! Old ladies ride them, business people ride them and some are even motorized (electric).

The fact is they really fit the bill here in Taipei in order to make the connection with MRT stations (who wants to take the jerky old crowded bus). Just pack it up and take it with you on the MRT. It's as easy as that! It's good exercise and it's environmental!

Well needless to say, I'm really considering one. Maybe you should too!

http://www.dahon.com/choosing/choosing-intl.htm

P.S. There are actually many companies that manufacture these things so this is not necessarily an endorsement of Dahon only!

Third Wave of MRT Lines

I was in YingGe visiting the in-laws and I spotted this poster in a new building developer's office. It shows the path of the MRT through YingGe.

You see, what's likely going on here is that the developers are likely asking an MRT price for their buildings. Property around MRT stations usually goes up quite a bit when the proposed lines are announced.

What's amazing when researching this entry is the DORTS maps are pretty terrible so it's difficult to know just where the MRT is really going and where the stations will be.

The planned system map so far on a great but HUGE map (2,973 × 2,064 !!!)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Taipei_Rail_Map_ENHP.png
A lot of the stations have numbers and/or no names...

Here's a previous entry about the system:
http://blog.islaformosa.com/2007/06/imagine-what-mrt-system-will-be-like-in.html

Anyone know where the new MRT stations will be exactly?

Being a Banana or an Egg

Are you a 'banana'? If you didn't know already, 'banana' is slang for an Asian born in North America. That's right, yellow on the outside, white on the inside. However, I really think that the term applies to Asians who have left their country and have pretty well adopted their new 'white' country's culture (for example, leaving Taiwan at even a young age).

Some ABC and CBCs I know have told me about their experiences in Taiwan, interacting with their relatives without the language ability or the acceptance of a lot of the customs. It's the distance they sometimes feel cultural-wise from their local counterparts. Some Taiwanese must really feel that these guys are a pale shade of what real Taiwanese are.

And another odd thing happens to me when I go back to Canada. I go see my Chinese friend who, for all extents and purposes, is less Chinese than me. Hey, I speak Mandarin; he doesn't! I eat Chinese food every day. Not him!

That's why I guess I'm kind of an 'egg'. You got it! White on the outside and yellow on the inside. Hey, I don't get offended! I'm not a total Asian convert and will probably never be but there is something to be said about returning to your native country and have a little bit of reverse culture shock.

In fact, I believe there is a kind of reversion that happens when we do return to a place that we have an affinity for. I guess for some it can really get confusing, especially when you don't know where you should really call home. Eggs of Taiwan unite!

Saw a funny thing at the gym the other day...

Going to the gym in Taipei is good for the obvious reasons. You can burn off that stress by throwing some weights around and make new friends while you are at it.

However, there is another reason to go: people watching. I get a kick out of watching people use machines and weights the wrong way.

I take delight in watching young ladies lift their flimsy weight dumbells or step erratically on the elliptical machine because they are more interested in watching their TV shows on the overhead monitors than to concentrate on their workout. Or how about the guy who uses the lateral pull down bar and either pulls the bar to the back of his neck or uses it like a rowing machine!

One of the funniest things that have seen are bunches of university age guys using the Smith Machine, a type of bench press consists of a barbell that is constrained to move only vertically upwards and downwards on steel runners. Behind each runner is a series of slots on which the barbell can be hooked. Even though there are these extra safety measures, it is advisable to have a spotter to make sure you the barbell doesn't pin you or just drop on your chest when lifting the heavy stuff. What had me laughing is that, instead of standing behind the lifter (as in the picture), the lifter's spotter had actually straddled his buddy facing his head. Man, talk about gay!

Anyone have any other pet peeves or funny experiences at a Taiwan gym?

Taiwan Blogger Sausage Fest at onHouse

Was it just me or was that a total sausage fest at onHouse? Oh well, I'm sure my wife can sleep soundly knowing this fact.

A big thanks to Byron, here for an Intel conference, for treating us all to his hospitality at onHouse. Byron is the interesting and active individual who hosted the blogger/techie event attended by a lot of Taiwan's foremost bloggers (myself included) on Sunday, October 19.

Of note in attendance on the Taiwan front:
Byron
http://texturadesign.com/
http://bikehugger.com/

David Reid
blog.taiwan-guide.org

Bushman
http://www.thenhbushman.com
http://www.thenhbushman.com/2008/09/27/bushmans-blogtoberfest/

Matthew from Dahon bikes
http://www.dahon.com

Darren Melrose
http://www.darrenmelrose.com/
http://www.conductorsnotebook.com/

Christopher Lee Adams from Creative Commons
http://creativecommons.org/

Going back to my original festive note, just noticed that there weren't any female bloggers. C'mon you guys! Get your ya-yas out and blog in Taiwan! I know it's Octoberfest and everything so sausages were in order but this was ridiculous!

Anyway, it was good to put a face to the bloggers and chat about tech, biking, Taiwan strangeness, expats, politics and finance.

Cheers Byron and thanks for the gracious door prizes!