Taipei 101 - more portraits

Most of these portraits are from the 'underground city' under Taipei Main Railway Station. It's a fascinating place, lit in half light, it's easy to forgot the time of day and the heat outside. The place is always packed with students, shoppers, travellers and the homeless. They constantly flows and ebbs down the corridors and in and out of shops. I always wanted to do an around the clock here - you know 24 hours of life in the underground city but I was never brave enough.

The Fortune Teller


As part of the Taipei 101 project, we labeled the people we wanted to meet. We did this, because we felt that after five years in Taipei we still only knew people from a very limited social background - the main ones being English teachers and Taiwanese who could speak good English.

One of the things me and Lewis learned from the labeling was that it wasn't a very good measure of a person. When you label someone with a job or a status, your mind usually comes up with a picture, often a very inaccurate one. The main thing we learned was that we shouldn't take too much notice of the label, it's the person that matters - and people are very good at surprising. Still, if we hadn't labeled people for this project, we wouldn't had met the variety of people we did.

The Pregnant Woman

The pregnant woman was fun to talk to. She was happy and she joked a lot. She found what we were doing interesting and seemed to enjoy the interview, the present swapping and recieving a thank you card.



The Person who practices on the street

The guy was part of a yoyo team. He had been part of it for five years. They loved the underground city as it's dry and they can continue to yoyo even when the weather was wet outside. The guy worked in a factory, though we didn't understand exactly what he did.

The underground city has it's gaming areas and it's students but it's also home to a lot of traditional Chinese practices too. There's fortune tellers, people selling traditional things but the place I liked the most was the one where the masseuses used meat cleavers to massage. This was my opportunity. I had 10 minutes of meat cleavers chopping up my body. It felt great! The woman in the picture below was the one who chopped me up.

The Masseuse who uses a meat cleaver















The student is holding up some Indian money and a invitation to India. It's a joke or a start, depending on how you see it. Lewis had the idea to do a present swap for all the people we met. His idea was that the present will help link the people together. This present was one I put together but some people were very generous in their present giving. One lad gave a shirt, another a T-shirt she had designed, a pawn broker gave us a crazy Japanese ornament and so on. I really didn't think this part of project would work but it did and it was a great feeling giving out the presents and we were always excited to see what people would give in return.



The Student

First Helper in Malacca

Ray, outside Red Handicraft





It was eight thirty and left to my own devices I found myself in a trendy cafe bar called Limau Limau.

My habits ruled and my nose took me to coffee. I decided not to eat breakfast here but to ask the owner instead for suggestions.

Jasmine, the owner, suggested I talk with Ray, her most loyal customer. Jasmine has only lived in Malacca for five years and felt that I needed to speak to a real Malaccan.

Ray was tucking into a healthy fruit salad breakfast. He's probably in his 30's and runs a shop called 'Red Handicraft' (Blog with photos of Ray and his shop)which specializes in papercuts.

"My favourite place, a place where I take friends is Jalan Bunga Raya, in the old cinema area. I always take my friends from China there. They do great 'doygan' (soyabean cakes). It's a simple setup, just on the side of a street."

Shellfish at the roadside place Ray recommended

The crowd at the roadside cafe


Later in the week, Ray took me here and also to the Portuguese area of town, where we had a Portuguese style meal. The people still speak Portuguese but in a 17th dialect.













The subject of food took Ray on to traditional food.

"This place used to be full of traditional food and cheap it was too. Not like now. The traditional ways are going, sadly and in more ways then one. It used to be very safe here. There was no need to lock your doors but now, break-ins are common. People get into house through the airwells looking for antiques."

Antique dealers and migrants got much of the blame for this change in Malacca's fortunes.
Jasmine and Ray also talked about streets names. I remember Jasmine said about Goolie Street and that it was the place for very cheap labour. Oh, so Koolie is a Malay word.

We talked a lot but my stomach got the better of me. I asked for a breakfast suggestion.

Ray "Here's great. The food's healthy and delicious."
Me "Yes, this does look great! But I want to eat what locals eat. Do you have any suggestions for a more traditional breakfast"
Ray "Ok, toast and jam."

Ray gave me the directions. It was only a couple of minutes away. Unfortuately, I didn't record the name of the place but it's on the corner of Jalan Kampung Kuli and Lorong Hang Jebat.

More Taipei 101 portraits

More portraits from the Taipei 101 portrait series. These are mainly from August, so going back some time. It reminds me very much of Taiwan and I miss the warmth of the place. Wales is absolutely freezing!

The cosmetic girl with a present from King Kong, the musician














The Musician - King Kong







King Kong was the only person we interviewed that we bumped into again. Like the first time, he was sitting outside drinking beer with his band mates.















The Police Man



Things are different in Taiwan, even police men have time to help some hapless foreigners pursue their crazy projects.












The Falun Dada follower






The Falun Dada follower was, surprisingly, one of our favourite interviews.






The Artist

For the interview with the Artist, click here.

Travel Through People

Cowboy Lim - the first famous trishaw driver in Malaka


It was simple, NO TRAVEL GUIDE! Also no looking up travel information on the web either. I was going to Malaysia and Singapore, two countries where most people speak English and I’ve been travelling for twenty years, so wasn’t it time I did something different.

Don’t get me wrong. I think travel books are great! They’re motivational and inspirational, encouraging wayward spenders to forsake some excesses and save for a dream holiday. I remember the magic of buying a Lonely Planet to India and reading about rat temples, Shiva and the countless Indian gods, Varanasi, the Himalayas and countless other exotic and exciting Indiapeadia. But travel books can give you too much information!

Mother and son releasing birds on Guanyin's Birthday















Many travellers end up in the same hotels and restaurants, go to the same tourist sights and experience nearly the same experiences because of travel guides. Obviously, this is very sociable and a great way to make friends but most of this socializing is with people from similar backgrounds. Thanks to guide books, many people don’t need to talk to people in the country they’re visiting; hotel workers, waiters and travel agents being the exceptions. Add in modern devices such as Ipods, GPS, laptops, Wifi and this result is multiplied.

Me and Tan Hoon Keong at La salle's St Joseph School






So to inject ‘the need to communicate’ into my travels I ditched the travel guide for a two week trip to Malaysia. I had been there before and I knew that English and Chinese was widely spoken and in general Malaysia was a medium cost and easy country to get around. It wasn’t that radical but the results were, especially in Malacca, the place where I‘ve never been before and had no contacts.

Some school children taking photos at St Paul's Church

In Malacca, I kept meeting people and I built up an impression of Malaka that extended beyond places. The history came alive as different people gave their version of it and not only the history of Malaka but personal history too. I met some people a few times and got taken to places that I think I’d have gone with a guide book.

But the best part was how warm and generous people were with their time.

A woman visiting a temple for Guanyin's birthday

Updates on Strangers

The Gay Man - from the Taipei 101 series


No blogs, no pictures and no updates would suggest that the '100 strangers to friends' blog had died. But this isn't the case.

I've been busy on a collaboration with my good friend Lewis. We foolishly started Taipei 101; a project where we were to hunt down 101 people of different backgrounds and interview them about Taipei. Most of the interview were in Chinese, so they're still mostly untranslated and we've ended very behind in getting the interviews up on the 'Taipei 101' blog. In the end Taipei 101 has turned out to be Taipei 48.

The Spicy Boy; from the Taipei 101 series

Despite not completing this project, it was great fun and we ended up learning lots about Taipei that we didn't know before. Also we both felt that people in general are incredibly nice and tolerant. At first we were surprised at how co-operative people were and then as it continued we became to expect it.

The Betelnut Girl - from the Taipei 101 series

Adding in the strangers from the 'Taipei 101' series, I'm now up to 118 strangers. Also, I took some more strangers on a recent trip to Malaysia. I decided to travel without a travel guide book, so that I'll be forced to talk with strangers. It worked!

The Bin Man - from the Taipei 101 series

For interviews: The Bin Man, worth a read, especially what he says about protecting his wife. The Spicy Boy. The Gay Man

I'll write more about this project in my next post.

Malaysian Strangers

Hi

Xinyi, outside the Sun Yat Sen Museum

This post is long overdue. I met these people back in June/July when I went to Malaysia for six weeks.

Two of the strangers are mother and daughter, Jessie and Xinyi. They both work at the Sun Yat Sen Museum in Penang. I learned lots of things there, like Sun Yat Sen was kidnapped in London and that he was a bit of a fugitive, moving around alot and I get the sense that he had a women here and there.

The museum itself is in a beautiful old Chinese townhouse on Armenia Street. The house is very long as frontage was taxable and incorporated several feng shui elements into its design. There's a an airwell that lets in wind and water, satisfying the feng shui as the Chinese believe that water flowing in, means wealth coming to the family and it also cools down the house. The Penang Convention was staged here, this led to the Guangzhou upraising in China and eventually the fall of dynastry rule in China. Pretty monumental historical event, eh.

Jessie and Xinyi

Xinyi, the daughter, is a very cheerful and charming girl. She took me around the museum explaining the history of the man and the place. She speaks English, Malay and Chinese, and works at the museum on Sundays. She thinks Europe is very romantic and its her dream to travel Europe one day - go girl, I'm sure you'll be in Europe sooner than you think.

Jessie, told me about the feng shui elements of the house and showed me a video of Sun Yat Sen's life (probably where I got the idea that he had a few women in his life). Like her daughter she's very helpful and cheerful.

Kheng

Kheng works at 79 Travellers Lodge in Penang. He's an incredibly kind and helpful man. All the people I met at the hostel loved him because of his consideration to people's needs. I enjoyed chatting with him, especially as he entertained my Chinese.

I have passed a 100 strangers already but I haven't posted them yet. More on this soon.

Penghu Strangers - first week of June

Xu, Guo Zhen, a photographer with 10s of trophies; outside his wife's restaurant on Cimei

Hi everyone.

I've just come back from Penghu, a group of 64 islands off the west coast of Taiwan. I had a great time there despite the wind and cloud, though I do have a suntan. It wasn't cloudy all the time!

Xu, Guo Zhen, is a photographer and helps run his wife's Vietnamese restaurant on Cimei. Penghu's most southernly island. Xu, Guo Zhen, takes photos of Cimei's landscape and nature. He's won numerous awards for his photography and certainly knows what he's taking about. Because of him, I'm taking one of my lens for a clean. He also plays keyboard for 'live' Karakao and has a great knowledge of plants.

If you want Vietnamese food when you're in Cimei, you can follow the ads painted on the walls from the main port in Cimei. They also have Vietnamese coffee, mmmm!!!

Hygeia and Xingyi looking gorgeous on the sunny island of Cimei. Xu, Guo Zhen suggested the composition, one I think works well. (Certainly better than the other two portraits this time round)

Hygeia works on Penghu, studying a special kind of coral that can move with the tide. This species is only found in Penghu and only off the coast of Baisha, near the aquarium. It looks different to most coral, in that it's long and has no branches. She sounded like she loved her job. It's certainly different to working in an office.

Xingyi was on vacation. A friend of a friend put her in contact with Hygeia as she wanted to travel to Penghu. We bumped into her on her last day. She was in Magong city busy buying presents before taking a flight back to Taipei.


Xun,Cha Ya runs Erkan Min Shu, a guest house where people can stay in traditional style houses. Sorry about the portrait, not one of my better ones :(

Xun, Cha Ya is only in his twenties yet he's running a beautiful guest house and he's an excellent cook. We stayed at Erkan Minshu for a night. The rooms and 'houses' are in the same style of Erkan village next door. They looked great and were also comfortable too.

Erkan has numerous traditional houses. It prospered because the people of that village traded Chinese Medicines brought over from China with people in Taiwan. Whilst many places in Penghu have traditional houses, Erkan stood out as most of the homes are still occupied and it feels much more lively than the other old places we visited.

Erkan Village, a village with lots of traditional houses that are still lived in.

Penghu was fun. We also went fishing and took quite a few boat trips. I should've got more strangers but hey,,,, I was on holidays. I'm a bit dispointed that a couple of the portraits didn't come out well. I'll definitely have to rethink my night photos.

Anyway that it's for today. I'll be back soon

Ciao