Taiwan Talk: T.C. Locke on “Barbarian at the Gate” (4/20/2014)
Listen Episode description In this episode we speak to author T.C. Locke about his new book “Barbarian at the Gate: From the American Suburbs to the Taiwanese Army,” which recounts his experience serving in the Taiwanese military in the mid-90s as a U.S. born Caucasian. After gaining citizenship in Taiwan in 1994 Locke spent two years...Continue reading
Preview: Batman: Arkham Knight
Rocksteady has released the latest trailer for the fourth and final game in the Batman Arkham series. This takes place approximately a year after the events of Arkham City (game 2). This trailer is supposedly all game-play footage, though there are bits in there (especially in the beginning) that look like cut-scenes. First off, characters...Continue reading
Disney and Marvel’s Big Hero 6
Marvel fans, rejoice! Big Hero 6 is hitting the big screen this fall! The Walt Disney Animation Studios is bringing this semi-obscure franchise to life, and by the looks of it it’s got that cute Disney-Pixar flare that we all adore. The story follows Hiro Hamada and his squishy robot pal, Baymax, in San Fransokyo....Continue reading
Details Emerge About MRT Stabbing Assailant
Details began to emerge yesterday about 21-year old college student – Cheng Jie – who allegedly killed four aboard a moving metro train in Taipei Wednesday. Some accounts describe him as a loner who had spoken of plans for doing “something big.” Cheng, a sophomore studying environmental engineering, transferred last September to Dong-hai University after...Continue reading
Assailant Ordered Detained in Taipei MRT Stabbing
Twenty-one-year old student – Cheng Jie – was ordered detained by the New Taipei District Court earlier this morning after a 20-minute hearing. Cheng was arrested by police and metro staff at Jiangzicui MRT Station yesterday afternoon after killing four people and injuring 21 others on an MRT train. The train was traveling into Banqiao from...Continue reading
Record Rainfall Recorded in Taipei
Rainfall in Taipei city has set a new May record, seeing the highest rainfall during the month in nearly one hundred years, when the Taipei Observatory was first established. The Central Weather Bureau says between midnight and 3 P.M. today, Taipei received 193 millimeters of rain, an astonishing amount. The CWB also says that the...Continue reading
Golden Melody Nominees Announced
The nominees for this year’s Golden Melody Awards were announced Tuesday, with Singaporean singer-songwriter Tanya Chua hoping for her fourth Best Mandarin Female Singer win. Chua will compete in the category with Taiwan’s Faith Yang and Jia Jia, Malaysia’s Penny Tai and Hong Kong’s Denise Ho. The five nominees for Best Mandarin Album are Li...Continue reading
Preview: Guardians of the Galaxy
Marvel has dropped another trailer for its upcoming cosmic comic book movie, Guardians of the Galaxy! To be honest with you, while I’m a big fan of comic books, I know very little about this particular property. Part of that reason is because I actually grew up with a different team of Marvel superheroes that...Continue reading
Legislature Passes New Tax Rates for Non-Owner Occupied Houses
Amendments to the House Tax Act have cleared the Legislative Yuan and will raise the tax rate for non-owner occupied residential houses to 1.5 and 3.6 percent of the unit’s value. The current rules levy tax rates of between 1.2 and two percent on all residential houses without making a distinction between owner-occupied and non-owner...Continue reading
Pow! Wow! Taiwan Mural Festival is Taking Over Taipei
Street art is taking over Taipei City starting May 28th! Pow!Wow! started four years ago on the island of Oahu and for the first time ever it’s being brought to Taiwan. Come check out international artists such as Pow!Wow! founder, Jasper Wong, as well as Madsteez and Aaron De La Cruz. Local Taiwanese artists such...Continue reading
Click for Cute (05/20/14)
Okay, this is both cute and a bit weird. Behold, the Flapjack Octopus! This particular Flapjack is part of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s new Tentacles exhibit, all about octopuses. The Aquarium was one of my favorite places to visit growing up in California, so I think it’s particularly cool that they’re continuing to have awesome...Continue reading
Taxi Fares in Taipei, New Taipei and Keelung May Increase
The Taipei City government’s Public Transportation Office says it is reviewing a proposal to hike taxi fares in Taipei, New Taipei and Keelung. The statement follows calls by the Business Association of Taipei Taxi Transportation to increase fares due to rising fuel costs. Under the plan, the basic rate will remain at 70 NT –...Continue reading
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