Hear in Taiwan

Sometimes English signs and messages should be proofread before being printed.

This coffee cup, for example, says “小心燙口,” which is translated quite literally as “burn the mouth carefully.” It should be translated more like “Caution: Hot Beverage.”

Of course, there are many humorous examples. Some clothes say not to use “cry cleaning,” and a few restaurants may offer up a dish called “hot and sour dirty.”

But it’s the thought that counts. People are opening their hearts to try and communicate with the rest of the world, even if they’re not entirely sure how. And practice makes perfect. Since I first came to Taiwan five years ago, the level of English seems to have continued to climb. So if someone tries their best but doesn’t quite succeed, be a sport and encourage them rather than laughing.

After all–the poorly written English signs found here are so much better than those Chinese character tattoos that are so popular in the West. There’s a highly amusing blog called Hanzi Smatter (Hanzi or 漢子 means Chinese characters) that collects bad tattoo decisions and tells unsuspecting victims what their ink really says.

Here’s one of my favorites. The tattooed thought this character (麵) means “loyalty.” What it actually means is “noodles.”

I’m not quite a loyal-enough noodle eater to want this tattoo for myself.

The lesson to take away from all of this? Look before you leap. If you don’t speak a foreign language, don’t pretend that you can just to look cool. And when other people make mistakes in a foreign language, be nice and help correct them if you can. Of course, when ink has been permanently embedded into your skin at a tattoo parlor, there’s not much you can do to correct it. At times like that, I guess, it’s ok to laugh.

Shaking hands with an old friend can be a challenging task.

You see, it all has to do with the way you position your external urinary organ-

if you aim it too high, the lukewarm stream bouncing off of the urinal will land on your hands;

Read the rest of this entry »

The 228 Peace Memorial Park is one of Taipei’s nicest public spaces. It features everything from a public amphitheater to two (yes two!) museums, is serviced by the MRT, and has lots of shaded places to hide on a summer (or very warm spring) day.

The park was originally built in 1908 by the Japanese colonial government and designated Taihoku (Japanese for “Taipei”) Park. In 1996, the park was renamed to memorialize the tragic 228 Incident of 1947. The actual memorial plaque rests on this modern art installation.

Read the rest of this entry »

Taiwan has a lot of great bloggers (click for a full list of English blogs). And this pic is from Catherine Shu, the author of the blog Shu Flies, which was voted on Taiwanderful as the Best General Blog of 2011 for Taiwan.

She gives perspectives on Taiwan’s design scene among other aspects of life here from the perspective of a Taiwanese-American. Shu will be featured on Taiwan Today this week, so check out the interview!

Walking around in Taipei, I was a bit surprised to find an ad that used the expression “fire hot”  to tout its business. I have no objection to that as I have heard the two words so many times by watching Chinese soap opera at night. That’s despite the fact that I have never used that expression myself and nor have I heard anyone in Taiwan use “fire hot” to describe the popularity of a product.

Another ad I found, however, was partially written in simplified Chinese characters as opposed to the traditional ones that we use in Taiwan. Could it be possible that the two sides across the Taiwan Strait are moving one step closer in langauge cooperation? If yes, can I choose or insist on using traditional characters simply for the sake of  the aesthetic beauty of  the forms? I have one compelling argument. The familiarity with traditional characters allows us to read inscriptions carved during the Tang dynasty ( AD 618-907) without major difficulties.

While we were taking photos of the models, there were Wen’s employees working away in the back of the office.

Every semester when I teach Radio Broadcasting at Ming Chuan University in Taipei, I find myself trying to convince my students that radio is not a dying medium.

“It’s flexible!” I say. “It’s accessible!” I cry. “It’s cheap!” I scream, imploring them to “get it.”

What other medium can you can consume when driving a car? What other medium is so effortless in crossing political and socio-economic borders? What other medium is so effective in conjuring up “theater of the mind?”

Sure, the internet has been a struggle, but haven’t we weathered that pretty well? Especially when you compare radio with the print media?

Recently, while browsing the internet, I came across this wonderful diagram on the Sonos Blog that shows you where radio began and what we’ve been through. There have been ups and downs, but on the whole it leaves me feeling pretty positive about the flexibility of the medium. Yup, this little multi-colored chart makes me think that radio is here to stay.

I recently discovered an old Taiwanese treat that is no longer that widely available. The dessert, almond soup (杏仁茶), was immensely popular decades ago, but these days, you hardly see a stand selling this healthy treat. The white essence is called almond soup (杏仁茶). The golden fritter is Chinese breadstick (油條). Almond soup can be served cold or hot, but I think it tastes better when it’s piping hot (a great treat in winter!).

Almond soup is not only tasty; it actually has some therapeutic benefits. The almonds (which are apricot kernels and look different from the almonds in the West) help lower your cholesterol level and are natural anti-oxidants. What’s even more important (for us at RTI) is that the soup clears your voice. Perhaps listeners can write me an e-mail to tell me whether I sound particularly nice on Saturday?

Behold! You are seeing one of the most beautiful subway stations in the world.

It’s the Formosa Boulevard Station in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan. The station has been rated the world’s second most beautiful subway station by Bootsnall.

Read the rest of this entry »

It might surprise you to learn that Confucius Temple is not a place of worship, but a place of learning.

On this week’s Occidental Tourist, Shirley and Wesley head to Taipei Confucius Temple to learn a bit about what makes it unique. But since the program is only 15 minutes long, it’s impossible to give you all of the information in that format. So let’s fill in (some of) the blanks.

Read the rest of this entry »