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Oddity Central reports that Taiwan’s garbage trucks commonly play music in order to alert people of their arrival in a neighborhood. Among the more popular tunes is Beethoven’s “Für Elise.” They often switch to thematic songs during Christmas and the Chinese New Year. Which songs do you think would be ideal for garbage trucks?
I saw pictures of this place last year and could not find enough information about it to share, so I am delighted to find this article. A neighborhood found in Taichung City in Taiwan, a military dependents village founded over 50 years ago, is one of the most colorful places in the world, thanks to 86-year-old artist Huang Yung-fu.
Huang Yung-fu first picked up a paintbrush about two years ago. He started to paint for his own pleasure using the remains of the equipment from the art classes he attended when he was a child. Students of a university not far from the “painted military dependents’ village” seem to be among the first who discovered this old man’s talent and started to spread the news. Some even took pictures of the paintings and published them online. Information about his paintings went viral, to the point where tourists have flown in from Malaysia, Japan, and Korea to see them. The dull and drab military dependents’ village is now recognized as one of the must-see spots in central Taichung City.
See more pictures at Amusing Planet. Link -via the Presurfer
(Image credit: Flickr user Steve Barringer)
It’s noteworthy that the sandwich factory put a lot of effort into cheating customers a small amount.
It seems like a metaphor for so much in life.
Link -via That’s Nerdalicious!
A salesman in Taiwan made scarecrows that resemble Michael Jackson. I wonder how these affect crows compared to other scarecrows. See a video report (in Spanish) at Buzzfeed. Link
Nerdcore has a roundup of three signs of changing times in East Asia: an interview with the last traditional swordmaker in Taiwan, the decline of the geisha tradition, and the diminished demand in Japan for actors skilled in the martial arts of the samurai.
The last swordsmith in Taiwan is 65 years old and makes his blades using human bones with the permission of the deceased’s relatives. He says that according to tradition, the bones infuse a spirit into the completed sword.
Urban explorer Kyle Merriman, who brought us pictures of Nara Dreamland, has a new collection of photographs from an abandoned hospital in Tainan, Taiwan.
As we entered it was clear we weren’t the first visitors it had received. Prescription drugs, lay scattered across tables and floors, while others remained unopened. Broken syringes crunched underfoot and bottles of formaldehyde still kept their mysterious contents. The wind followed us inside, slamming random doors and causing the peeling wallpaper to dance. It was a spooky place to say the least.
As an admitted coffee junkie, I’m curious about this NPR story about this new drink from 85C, a coffee chain from Taiwan, sea salt latte:
"It’s really unique," says Stephanie Peng, manager of the company’s flagship U.S. store in Irvine, Calif. "The sea salt’s in the cream, the foam part, so it just brings out more coffee essence."
The lattes sound exotic, but the salt flavor is incredibly subtle — you have to tease it out with your tongue. Sea salt lattes have helped establish 85C as the "Starbucks of Asia." The chain has more than 300 stores across Taiwan, and it plans to expand its presence across China, Australia and the U.S. over the next few years.
But the real gem may be the weird pastries that they sell:
One surprise crossover hit is a black squid-ink bread, made with Vermont sharp cheddar cheese and garlic paste. Each roll costs less than a dollar, meaning there’s incentive to stray outside your flavor comfort zone.
NPR’s Neda Ulaby has the story: Link
Has anyone here tried salted coffee? I have some sea salt, perhaps I should just salt my morning coffee tomorrow …
Revolvers that fire shotgun shells are not a new idea. In fact, Taurus sells one called “The Judge” that fires .410 bore shells. What makes this handmade revolver from Taiwan unique is that it fires the much larger 12-gauge round:
Police said 19-year-old gang brother Zhuangren dimension, usually in the mountains more than 10 hotels Wai things put in charge possession of force, at any time ordered to carry weapons to parts of the scenes; within the lake precinct office yesterday morning to Linsen North Road, Suite A search in 7th floor “gun room” seized wheel and 6 rounds of canister-type shotgun, as well as four pistols, one a standard for the Beretta, and the other three for the transformation of the gun, and 15 bullets, blanks 19 made. The initial inventory, guns from the nickname “God pig” man.
This is the very large wheel shotguns, can be filled with 6 rounds of shotgun, the gun body are all constructed of steel, a short gun, weighing more than 3 kilograms, there is no rifling, can also be fitted sight, external trigger is not Buckle have no insurance, fill out bombs loaded on the mean, believe it or mistakenly pulled the trigger will fire, very dangerous.
Link via Hell in a Handbasket | Photo: Liberty Times
Just how awesome is this: the Zipper Lotus Pond at the Juming Museum outside of Taipei, Taiwan. The zipper pond is created by Taiwanese sculptor Ju Chun and I, for one, am surprised that it doesn’t say "YKK" (look at your zipper, I betcha it says YKK)
Welcome to the Hello Kitty Castle in Taiwan. It can help take care of all of your cute needs. The gallery has some amazingly cute things in it, including food garnished with a Hello Kitty chocolate dusting.
Link Via Cute Overload
A 96-year-old Taiwanese man finished a master’s degree program in Philosophy after being told "he was too old to continue as a volunteer at a local hospital." Known as "Grandpa Chao", this old man was able to compete with younger
students by pulling all-nighters before exams.
“I was bored after I left the hospital,” Chao said Thursday. “I don’t play mahjong or have other hobbies. I felt I had to do something with my life.”
Chao said the most difficult part of his studies was coping with a poor memory.
“I can’t remember things as well as my fellow students,” he said. “So before a test I would wake up at midnight and study all night. That way, the material was still fresh in my mind when the test began.”
From the Upcoming 
ueue, submitted by dradell.
Politics in Taiwan have always been rough, but this is downright dirty. A man was sentenced to 5 months in jail for tearing a wig off Taiwan legislator Chiu Yi. The sentence was for depriving Chiu of the "freedom to be pretty."
Yes, you read that right:
The Taipei District Court sentenced Huang Yung-tien, 50, to jail for snatching the toupee off the head of ruling Nationalist Party lawmaker Chiu Yi. Chiu has become a household name for his media-friendly offensives against the political opposition.
"The judge thought Chiu Yi had the freedom to wear what he wanted, and Chiu felt the wig made him look prettier," court spokesman Huang Chin-ming said. "The judge thinks that to remove it intentionally was to take away that right."
Previously at Neatorama: A Trip to Taipei’s Shilin Night Market and Not In Kansas Anymore
or North Carolina, either–odds and ends– observations at random on Taiwanese daily life
Once again, Neatorama welcomes guest blogger Joel Haas, North Carolina sculptor and author, as he posts his adventures in Taiwan.
Culture shock happens when you pick up the live wire of daily life in another country, particularly another continent. It can be the big thing such as finding yourself a racial minority and oddity in the street, or small things such as wondering what all those fires in front of every business and home mean–it’s not the least bit cold. Why do people stuff their sales receipts in special clear plastic boxes on the sidewalks–and, speaking of sidewalks, why is the sidewalk a different height and design in front of each business or home? and speaking of home and business, what is it like to have the family living room open out into the street and double as a place of business where every body who wants to, say, have your dad fix their scooter, can bring it right up to the family couch and television? Does everybody have their family shrine right over the TV and DVD player?
Before we get into the genuinely amusing, strange stuff (from an American perspective) about Taiwan, let me get several things off my chest:
Don’t they all look alike? I mean, really how can you tell those people apart?
This is the one comment that pushes my button. Really. Stand around on any street here for five minutes and you’ll see Taiwanese don’t look any more alike than Caucasians. Even without the admixture of the American Armed Forces stirring the genetic pot for decades, the advent of modern hair coloring means the average school girl with blond hair here is no more likely to be a real blond than an American one. There has been a disquieting fad for wearing enormous blue contacts in their eyes.
a shot of this promotional poster is as well as I can do since I couldn’t take photos of the elevator operators in Shin Kong Department Store
Don’t they eat dogs and other odd stuff like snakes?
No. They don’t eat dogs. Most dogs I’ve seen here are as pampered as ones in America. On the way to a concert today, I saw no less than three dogs in, so help me God, knitted sweaters. In this heat, that may cook them, but not by design.
What people eat is always an interesting question. Food often is a major definition of culture. My culture in North Carolina is only a generation or two removed from widespread consumption of chitlin’s, possum, squirrel, and fat back. Frog legs are considered a delicacy in French restaurants, so let’s not get carried away with what other people think is down home cookin’. There is a place in Taipei called Snake Alley that sells snake meat. It’s mostly a tourist attraction now. The average Taiwanese eats no more snake than the average American eats rattlesnake or alligator meat.
Don’t you get tired of eating rice?
No. Mainly because they don’t serve a lot of rice here. Look back through all my food photos, in my travel letters and my extra photos on Flickr; don’t see any rice do you? Rice is served like a roll might be served to you in the States. I have been served rice three times in the more than two weeks I have been here. Each time it was simply in a small bowl to the side, a bowl no bigger than a coffee cup at home. The average Taiwanese’s reaction to a serving of Kung Pow chicken from an AMERICAN Chinese restaurant would be about the same as an American’s if served field peas, collards, carrots and fried pork chops glopped together on a bed of twelve slices of bread.
WITH THOSE ITEMS OFF MY CHEST, LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT SOME STUFF THAT AIN’T LIKE IT IS AT HOME.
7-11s run this country. It’s not a democracy nor a dictatorship. It is “quick-stop-ocracy.”
There are competing chains, Circle K, Family Store, Happy Store, etc. but they’re all the same as a 7-11 which remains the dominant brand. You can do anything at a 7-11; pay your bills, taxes, traffic tickets; buy French wine, pickled duck eggs, Love Milk, and videos.
Every receipt comes with a lottery ticket. Now wouldn’t that just get all the Baptists’ panties in a twist back home in the South!
Also see the previous posts: A Trip to Taipei’s Shilin Night Market and Red Bean Filled Hockey Pucks and Mind Control.
If you enjoyed reading A Trip to Taipei’s Shilin Night Market yesterday at Neatorama, you’ll want to see part two of sculptor Joel Haas’ travelogue. Red Bean Filled Hockey Pucks and Mind Control chronicles his visits to the National Palace Museum and the Long Shan Temple. Also look for part three online tomorrow! Link
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This guest post is from North Carolina author and sculptor Joel Haas (featured previously at Neatorama), who is traveling in Taiwan and taking plenty of pictures.
Whatever they are, a night market is NOISE and COLOR!!
The smell of “stinky tofu” (fermented tofu) fills the air so you know you’re in a true Taiwanese market. You can buy everything to eat from steaks to jellyfish to candied tomatos to tea jelly; cotton candy to squid; tripe to exotic fruit. Shop for clothes, luggage, underwear (remember the people who needed waistband amplifiers?) or books. Power tools or bok choy, a night market’s got it all and probably more.
Grannies shoot baskets at one of the numerous arcades.
“Buddha Head” fruit on sale–Joy’s and my favorite. Called “custard Apple” in English. It is unknown in the States as it doesn’t ship well.
I couldn’t resist buying a package of this stuff. It’s very thin and dry. Quite tasty, actually.
Photo: Badger 23 [Flickr] – via Miss Cellania
No, "Turd Baby" isn’t just a pejorative (look it up at Urban Dictionary, if you must) it is a store in Danshui, Taipei, Taiwan, selling stuff out of little vending machines! It certainly has a unique name!
