野草莓運動ㄧ野莓之聲 from freshfoliage on Vimeo.

Translation for the subtitles in the video: http://vimeo.com/2205674 (slide number)

(1) The Wild Strawberries Movement;

a group of students with different political views

joined together without prior planning

fighting for a common cause…

(2) we hope to serve as a reminding voice

that the current administration should protect

the invaluable yet often fragile peace and human rights

(3) The Voice of the Wild Strawberries

music & lyrics/ nelleven video/freshfoliage

photos/Andytn/sun_line/freshfoliage/wwaahhaa/hankblue/Nienyi Ho/kaizan/mutolisp

(4) on November 5th, we saw reluctant overworked police during the Grand Formosa Regent Hotel and Sunrise Records incidents

(5) but we also witnessed inappropriate and excessive law enforcement tactics…

(6) on November 6th, we sat peacefully outside of the Executive Yuan building

hoping to show bipartisanship

(7) by wearing all black

we simply hoped for peace

(8) we recognize the difficulty in maintaining public safety but also deeply care for the welfare of our fellow citizens

so we hope to challenge the constitutionality of some of our laws

(9) and appeal to the President and related officials to take responsibility

(10) we hope to use our strength

(11) and let our voices be heard

(12) I was not wrapped in cotton wool

(13) so please save the insincere compassion

(14) I could never understand your hypocrisy

(15) and will always remain true to myself

(16) we have dreams and ideals

(17) we have a few things to say

(18) after you have betrayed yourselves

(19) please do not also sell us out

(20) we have dreams and ideals

(21) we have a few things to say

(22) as you broke all your promises

(23) we chose to rise and join this sit-in

(24) silence does not represent acquiescence

(25) nor does peace indicate acceptance

(26) your arrogance has once again burned us

(27) and this time we will no longer remain silent

(28) we have dreams and ideals

(29) we have a few things to say

(30) after you have betrayed yourselves

(31) please do not also sell us out

(32) we have dreams and ideals

(33) we have a few things to say

(34) as you broke all your promises

(35) we chose to rise and join this sit-in

(36) (protest against police brutality, protect our liberty and human rights)

(37) we are not leaving Liberty Square

with the modest hope that our voices will be heard

(38) please visit our website and check out our statement

(39) if you agree with us

please come and sit with us peacefully

(40) The Wild Strawberries Movement

(41)

http://action1106.blogspot.com

http://taiwanstudentmovement2008.blogspot.com/

歌詞

我已經睜開眼了　撐過甦醒的疼痛
我伸開雙手迎接四方的風　抖落刺骨的操縱
我不是溫室花朵　你也不用假裝溫柔
我學不會你們虛偽的臉孔　只會真實面對自我

*我們有屬於我們的夢　我們有我們的話想說
在你背叛了自己以後　不要連我們一起出售
我們有屬於我們的夢　我們有我們的話想說
在你背棄了信念以後　灰燼裡我們選擇出走*

安靜不代表認同　和平不代表承受
你的傲慢再一次燙傷了我
這一次我不會沉默

Lyrics:

I have opened my eyes

and have withstood the aches of awakening

I opened up my arms to feel the breeze coming from all directions

and shook off the stinging pains of your control

I was not wrapped in cotton wool

so please save the insincere compassion

I could never understand your hypocrisy

and will always remain true to myself

(refrain)

* we have dreams and ideals

we have a few things to say

after you have betrayed yourselves

please do not also sell us out

we have dreams and ideals

we have a few things to say

as you broke all your promises

we chose to rise and join this sit-in*

silence does not represent acquiescence

nor does peace indicate acceptance

your arrogance has once again burned us

and this time we will no longer remain silent

In the nation of Taiwan, instead of giving a simple tax cut, the currently extremely unpopular Ma Ying-jeou administration is trying what in essence amounts to buying votes for the KMT for the next election. The KMT will hand out money to people in the form of "consumer coupons" -- citizens just have to go to the polling stations to pick them up. At the polling stations!

Herein you can see an example of social conditioning to make Taiwanese think: voting for Ma Ying-jeou's KMT party means you can get money later on from the polling place where you cast the ballot for them. Every high school student studies Pavlov's experiment: ring the bell while you give the dog food. The dog eventually associates food with the sound of the bell. Finally, when the bell rings the dog will salivate whether there is food there or not. Ma has applied Pavlov's experiment on a grand scale to a grand new way of generalized vote buying. It will also make people more susceptible to accepting fully-fledged candidate-targeted vote buying come election time.

The Ma government and KMT legislators ran campaigns in the past election cycle on how much the DPP had bungled the economy and how much supposedly the KMT had masterfully run it during its dictatorship era and also in the 1990s. However this latest vote-buying scheme in all but name shows that the Ma government has no clue how to manage or improve the economy. But they are slick at propaganda and so have figured out how to turn a weak spot into political benefit. The only skill the KMT seems to exhibit is how to grab power and try to hold onto it (oh yes, and also take money from Taiwanese citizens via government and somehow transfer the assets into KMT party coffers or even individual KMT party leaders pockets, but avoid any corruption charges in the process.)

Taiwanese need to realize that the money they might get is not the KMT's money but instead their own money -- it is money taken from the very Taiwanese people who now are receiving it in the form of "consumer coupons." It is like the magic trickster who asked for a NT$1000 bill, waves it around, folds it up, and pulls it out of the volunteer's ear and ends up giving it back to the volunteer who produced it for the magic demonstration in the first place. If the volunteer leaves the place dazzled and feeling that he has walked away with a prize of NT$1000, he has been truly bewitched. People who love Taiwan will need to put extra effort in convincing coworkers, neighbors, family and friends of the true nature of this "handout" and exposing these kinds of KMT lies. Otherwise democracy will further be eroded as the KMT uses their propaganda tricks to keep a hold on power -- and on your money.

For more reading on this type of manipulation, please see the Taiwan Democracy Movement article on Throwing Off the Slave Mentality

BLACK AS CHOCOLATE
No. 50, Fuxing S. Road, Sec 1
(02) 2796-5133

website: blackaschocolate.com English and Chinese options

hours: 11 AM - 10 PM, Fri/Sat 11 AM - 11 PM

$$

Visit reviewed: 8/12/2008



Chocolate cake in a beautiful package- it's an easy thing to give and an easy thing to receive.

But is it easy to buy? Black as Chocolate doesn't even display their cakes.



In fact, it's hard to tell what they are selling unless you know what they are selling. Their entire BaDe Road store of white walls and black writing is filled with a huge artwork and balloons on the ground, and a lone display of chocolate ice cream.



You have to flip through a book of pictures to decide which chocolate cake you want to buy, and some might be sold out for that day (like the chocolate cheese cake we wanted). I would have never even known about this store unless my friend told me and she said I had to try it. We decided we would be split the cost and split the guilt by getting a classic chocolate cake.

The packaging is definitely interesting- from the drawn instructions of how to unpack and present your cake to the packaging of the spoons and forks.




I guess it continues on the themes of black and white, good vs evil, sinful vs angelic... Though the white spoon looks adorned with angel wings, the tiny box states its real identity is "devil's fork." (while the devil's fork is black and looks like pitchfork) Does it make sense? Not really, but it depends on if you're a sucker for packaging, or you just want to eat cake!



The cake is equally a sight to see... We finally get to see it after unboxing it and not getting to see it in the store.



My friend said that the cake seemed to have gotten both smaller and more expensive (NT$750-980 for 6' inch), but so we made sure to take our time while devouring our slices.

It wasn't overpoweringly sweet, but will definitely hit any chocolate cravings. Black as Chocolate also has some more unusual flavors- such as Mango & Passion Fruit chocolate cake or Caramel Banana Chocolate Cake or Black Currant and Strawberry chocolate cake- with about 7 different cakes to choose from (there's lots of tantalizing pictures on their site). If you want a specific type of cake, call ahead and order it to make sure they hold it for the day you need it.

I think I might have to order the Chocolate Cheese Cake or Chocolate Raspberry Tart after looking at these pictures. Available online are also 3.5 inch mini cakes (NT$350) and chocolate dipped strawberries (NT$430 for 6).

Whether you choose the cake from Pozzo or here, splurge on your hungry girl with a sweet surprise since she probably can't bear to pay these prices for herself. Besides, after she oohs and aahs and unwraps it, you can eat some too!

OTHER LOCATIONS:

Songshan shop
No. 123, BaDe Road, Sec 4

Jhongshan shop
No. 247, Lin Sheng N. Road

Eslite XinYi shop
No. 11, Song Gao Road, B2

Tienmu shop
No. 15, Lane 38, Tian Yu Street

Neihu shop
No. 282 Rui Guang Road

new shop spotted at Vieshow Cinemas Foodcourt

Freedom House had some tough words to say on behalf of Taiwan this week (emphasis mine):

"A public investigation of the violence—which involved both sides—will send a critical message that the new government of President Ma Ying-jeou is interested in upholding the democratic values of transparency and accountability," said Jennifer Windsor, Freedom House executive director. "The inquiry should examine evidence on both sides and recommend any needed reforms to police practices and the legal framework governing demonstrations."

Hundreds of university students are currently staging a sit-in in Taipei's Freedom Square and several other cities to protest the government's handling of the incident. During Chen’s visit, police reportedly used heavy-handed tactics—including physical assault, arbitrary detention and destruction of property—to prevent Chen from seeing symbols of Taiwanese or Tibetan independence, as well as broader demonstrations against the Chinese regime. Demonstrators also employed violence against police, throwing rocks and petrol bombs outside Chen's hotel on November 6.

The clashes reveal a need for police to undergo crowd control training that adheres to the standards used in other democracies. Likewise, demonstrators and political advocacy groups must recommit themselves to orderly protests that avoid violence under any circumstances.

The inquiry commission should examine controversial passages in Taiwan's Assembly and Parade Law, such as restrictions on where people are allowed to demonstrate, and determine whether they need to be liberalized to protect citizens' rights to freedom of expression and assembly. The commission should also investigate claims that police are selectively enforcing the law.

The visit by Chen, the most senior Chinese official to visit Taiwan since it split from China in 1949, and the recent arrests of several opposition party figures are raising concerns that that President Ma and his Kuomintang Party may rollback democratic freedoms.

They hit on everything -- police behavior, student protests, general fears about democracy. Nice work, guys.

[Taiwan]

A question for you - what’s different with this Google map of Tainan? (captured from the Tainan Directory on a Google map on INCKU frontpage)

Yep, it’s hard to believe but along side the Chinese street names are now Pinyin English street names. Yippi!

At first, it took me a while to realize what was different about the map I was looking at, but finally I realized I didn’t need to struggle with reading the Chinese street names, the Pinyin name was there, with the section number and even main city locations and important buildings are now translated (notice “Jian Xing Junior High School”?) . How brilliant is that?

Took a while for Google to catch up with the competition but they’ve finally implemented it, and much better and in more detail. Good job.

© - visit fiLi's world for more great content.

---
Related Articles at Fili's world:

Taiwan Maps in Hebrew
Taiwanese culture : Temple Parade in Tainan-Taiwan
The “Help Fili eat … better” Chinese-Taiwanese Food Project
Introducing China and Taiwan Blog Search Tools
Romanization problems

Taiwan’s media seem to be implausibly stupid in their discussion of these ’shopping coupons’. Let’s have some clear thinking about this supposed free money coupon that’s being ‘handed out’ by the Taiwanese Government.

Firstly: This is not an ‘economic stimulus’ - it is a voter bribe. If it were an economic stimulus it would be handed out to all consumers. This taxpayer money is being redistributed only to voting families. Why do you think that is?

Furthermore, do you think the government would be encouraging you to “buy gold” with it, if this was about saving small businesses or saving the economy?

“Chen Tain-jy, chairman of Council of Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) told the press… ‘Of course, you can even buy gold as an investment.’”

That quote is taken from the article “Anything can be bought with vouchers“. Though perhaps a better title would be ‘Everyone can be bought with vouchers’.

Secondly: This is a voter distraction. With free money filling up the columns, journalists have less room to draw attention to the government’s recent amazingly low standing in the opinion polls, breaking of election promises, protests against police actions, imprisonment of opposition politicians, and kowtowing to Taiwan’s big friendly neighbour.

Thirdly: These coupons are not a gift from the government. You think the politicians are dipping into their own wallets? This ‘gift’ is your own money! The government is going to take $4200 from you in tax over the next few years, waste $300 on administration and re-printing costs, waste $300 on interest costs, and give you $3600 back today. How generous!

Fourthly: This is not going to save the economy. For goodness sake, it’s $3600. What will it buy? A single bottle of whiskey to drown your sorrows? 1/4 of a small digital camera?

The average income is, (from GDP/PPP), around 900,000 NTD per year. Divide 3600/900000, and you get 0.004 of your annual income. Wow. 0.004 of one year’s income. And supposedly, this kind of huge spending is really going to avert disaster for small businesses… That’s how big a difference this is going to make. And don’t forget, that ‘0.004′ (+ another 0.001) will be taken back off you again in the next few years.

Fifthly: If I re-frame this ‘gift’, perhaps you can see better what it really is.

Effectively, you are being forced to take out a personal loan from the bank, whether you want it or not. Laws are being passed to force you to spend this personal loan, so that it must be spent on stupid crap during the month of January. If you don’t spend all the loan, your money will be confiscated! And you can only spend it at places that are registered as taxpaying businesses, increasing the government tax income that month.

Additionally, a new law will mean you are going to be forced to pay the government a small charge as a thankyou for imposing these new laws and forced borrowings on you, perhaps $600 or some similar fraction of the money borrowed, in administrative costs, printing costs, interest etc. Finally, another law will force you to repay the bank loan over the next few years, along with all the other crippling debt that is weighing you down just now.

If the government tried to introduce such new laws as described this way, forcing people to take out unwanted debt and spend it on crap, confiscating people’s money if they didn’t go out and spend it where and when the government chooses, there would be riots in the streets! But this is what they are actually doing, and people are delighted! What the hell? What’s wrong with people?

As I begin to see Taiwanese people talking about what they will spend the money on, I ask myself: Doesn’t anyone here realise who’s really paying for this ‘gift’? Don’t they realise the government is passing laws to force them to spend money they don’t have, on crap they don’t need - and that it will be forcing them to pay that money back with interest in the next year or two to come? And that the whole ‘gifting’ is simply marketing - a public relations attempt to gain favour with voters?

For what it’s worth. Taiwan is not the only country playing these silly games. Look at the USA, and George Bush’s pre-election rebate ’stimulus’ bonanza. Look at Britain, and the ‘poor elderly (voting) person’ handout we see in every single general election…

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | Click here to visit Taoyuan Nights for more articles like this.

Half Asleep In Frog Pajamas

"Stories from Taiwan"

by Olivia Wycech

No Daily Photos for a couple days, I’ve been spending some of my spare time dividing up the Taiwan Butterflies page so that each family of butterflies has a separate page.

Where: Liberty Square (the former Chiang-Kai Shek Memorial Hall).

When: 3pm Sunday (November 23, 2008).

What: Art in Action

Who: You and all those who care about the liberty of Taiwan.

Local citizens and international friends are welcome!

Bring your masks, hats, and sun glasses.

Come…

 

When the president of a country sells our civil rights, hurts the citizens’ fundamental human rights, and disregards people’s voices, what’s left is the mere shell devoid of soul.

The bill would allow police force to be used when necessary to remove legislators who are filibustering or obstructing legislation. This would effectively kill the only speedbumps the DPP can put in front of KMT bills.

Speaker Wang Jin-pyng would be the one authorized to call in the police force, but as I recall he's not a fan of doing this -- this sort of proposal has come up before and he was always cold to it.

Meanwhile, the legislature has sent the four cross-strait agreements recently signed by Chiang and Chen to appropriate committees for review.

"...then they spoke in Korean..." & "Passenger unsatisfied, protests airline company's discriminatory treatment."

From NetEase, Tiexue, and Sohu:

Airplane delays departure to let “Korean passengers go first”

28 October, an airplane for Korea’s Asiana Airlines was delayed due to a mechanical problem while in Taiwan. After Taiwanese passengers suffered many hours of waiting, the plane finished repairs and was preparing to depart. But Asiana Airlines then notified Taiwanese passengers to let the Korean passengers go first, enraging the Taiwanese tour group who pointed out that this was discrimination against Chinese people.

“Airplane mechanical problem. Suffer discrimination. Koreans go ahead. Suffer in silence.”

"Today our dignity has been insulted"

“]

"...treat our organization as people..." [incomplete

"Why do Koreans still treat us this way?"

"...It simply is not fair, in a place like Taiwan..." & "Same day arrival/departure, passenger complains: Not fair"

“]

"...waited until now to leave, 8:30..." [incomplete

"No need for discussion, us Koreans simply go first."

"...then they treated us as stupid when we did not say anything..." & "Asiana Airlines only spoke in Korean..."

Comments on NetEase:

“Bang zi” yet again.

Shameless…

They are big customers, nowadays whoever has money is the boss.

Korea, sooner or later you will be taken care of.

Foreigners look down on Chinese because foreigners have been spoiled by us Chinese!

It is the same within the country, foreigners get to go first. It seems it is still better to be a foreigner…

Our trains allow Japanese people to go first.

China’s trains temporarily stop a minute to let foreigners get off [referring to a story about a train making a special stop for foreigners], foreign planes give priority seating to their nationals, with such an obvious contrast, I no longer know who I should yell at.

Why bother going to visit Korea in the first place?

So when they get bullied, they say they are Chinese people, but when they are with Chinese people, they say they are Taiwanese, are they shameless???

Hurry and return [to China]. The [Communist] Party will protect you. Then you will no longer be bullied.

Forget this incident, even Shanghai’s Westin Hotel will have this same kind of problem. A lot of Chinese people are waiting in the taxi queue line, two British people come out from the hotel, and the doormen say to them that they can go first. At the time, I was very angry when I heard that. No matter where in the world, people should be equal. When Chinese people do not even treat other Chinese people well, what else can be done, so disappointing!

They can conveniently use this time to to go get a make-over/cosmetic surgery.

If this was in mainland China, it would not even be reported. Everyone would think it was very normal…

If this was in mainland China, I guarantee Taiwanese people get to board first and China’s ordinary common people board last!!!

So now you think of saying you are Chinese people, yet you do not mention it when clamoring for independence, serves you right.

Comments on China.com, “Hilarious, Taiwanese people in Taiwan discriminated against by Koreans!”

Other than mainland China, who else respects Taiwanese people?
Who can you blame? Everyone in the world has seen clearly, whoever treats Taiwanese people well are hated by the Taiwanese, so, with yourselves being like that, who can you blame?

Sit on the sofa!!! [This poster was actually the second reply, not first.] So WW also now knows what it means to be unable to voice one’s grievances!!! So little WW now knows to run to its mom crying. Oh well, what can we do, WW is our child after all. Do not be angry, come home first to let Mommy know, and Mommy will speak out for you!!!

What is so weird about that? If that was a China airplane, Koreans would still get to go first.
The weird thing is how come Koreans do not understand how to give precedence to others out of courtesy, their own plane first taking care of their own people. They stole Confucius for nothing! [This means they should know better if they really want to insist that Confucius is "their's."]

Feel stupid now?

Kao, Koreans are once again bullying us Chinese people. Old me is going to take a kitchen knife and chop you Koreans.

This is a post from chinaSMACK. If you enjoy our translations of hot internet stories, pictures, and videos from the Chinese-language internet, please consider showing us some support.

Taiwanese Accuse Korea Asiana Airlines Of Discrimination

Share:

Washington
November 20, 2008

Freedom House urges Taiwan's government to create an independent commission to thoroughly investigate clashes between police and activists protesting Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin's historic visit and recommend needed reforms.

"A public investigation of the violence—which involved both sides—will send a critical message that the new government of President Ma Ying-jeou is interested in upholding the democratic values of transparency and accountability," said Jennifer Windsor, Freedom House executive director. "The inquiry should examine evidence on both sides and recommend any needed reforms to police practices and the legal framework governing demonstrations."

Hundreds of university students are currently staging a sit-in in Taipei's Freedom Square and several other cities to protest the government's handling of the incident. During Chen’s visit, police reportedly used heavy-handed tactics—including physical assault, arbitrary detention and destruction of property—to prevent Chen from seeing symbols of Taiwanese or Tibetan independence, as well as broader demonstrations against the Chinese regime. Demonstrators also employed violence against police, throwing rocks and petrol bombs outside Chen's hotel on November 6.

The clashes reveal a need for police to undergo crowd control training that adheres to the standards used in other democracies. Likewise, demonstrators and political advocacy groups must recommit themselves to orderly protests that avoid violence under any circumstances.

The inquiry commission should examine controversial passages in Taiwan's Assembly and Parade Law, such as restrictions on where people are allowed to demonstrate, and determine whether they need to be liberalized to protect citizens' rights to freedom of expression and assembly. The commission should also investigate claims that police are selectively enforcing the law.

The visit by Chen, the most senior Chinese official to visit Taiwan since it split from China in 1949, and the recent arrests of several opposition party figures are raising concerns that that President Ma and his Kuomintang Party may rollback democratic freedoms.

"The government must renew its commitment to tolerating robust freedom of assembly and peaceful protest, no matter what the cause," said Windsor.

Taiwan is ranked Free in the 2008 edition of Freedom in the World, Freedom House's survey of political rights and civil liberties, and in the 2008 version of Freedom of the Press. (Original page)

Freedom House, an independent nongovernmental organization that supports the expansion of freedom in the world, has been monitoring political rights and civil liberties in Taiwan since 1972.

The Only Redhead in Taiwan had a post with photos of Taiwan from a new archive of photos from LIFE magazine hosted by Google. The collection is fascinating and contains photos of important historical events as well as more everyday shots. I searched for Formosa and found some interesting photos. I have linked the images back to the page where they are hosted at Google.

Taipei Railway Station c. 1950.

I guess these terraced rice fields are in Sanzhi (三芝), on the north coast of Taiwan.

A line up of rickshaws.

And some tricycle rickshaws in action.

This looks like the harbour at Keelung (基隆).

A couple on motorcycle pass by the Presbyterian Church on Zhongshan South Road, Taipei.

All these images are dated 1 January 1950 except for the color photo which is from 1959. There is also an extensive collection of historical photos of Taiwan at Vintage Formosa.

Related posts:

• New photo gallery
• Images of old Taiwan
• Not Chinese but Signese
• Links 1 October 2007
• Disappearing fish

Copyright © David Reid 2008
This feed is from the blog David on Formosa. Please respect the copyright of the author. Any questions please contact me. (Digital Fingerprint:
96ce0efd4c72536e61bdc1f9d92ff829)

Just a few days to go now until you get a chance to win something. So this is a good time to explain what’s happening.

Starting Monday November 24th, I’ll be posting 5-6 photos per week - 1 a day with Sunday and sometimes Saturday off. Each photo will be a part of a theme, and they will all be posted to the category of the same name.

The only catch is that I’m not going to tell you what the theme is. And that’s how you can win. The first person to correctly guess the theme will win the photograph of their choice from the photos posted. The photo will be at it’s native resolution or slightly larger, depending on the photo. To put that in English, it’ll be 8 by 12 or bigger. The winner will be the first to guess the theme based on the time stamp in the comments, which is set on Taiwan time (GMT +8).

The rules are simple. You are allowed one guess per photo. Leave your guess in the comments below the photo. I will not announce the winner or the correct answer until the close of the competition. This particular competition will run for about a month, with the winner announced around January 1st.

The included photos will have short descriptions - anything from a few words to a paragraph or two. Guessing won’t be easy. You’ll need to think a bit, sometimes laterally, to get the correct answer.

So on that note, I’ll wish you all good luck. Remember to check back on Monday for the first photo as well as another little surprise.

A friend invited me to go visit Kaohsiung and so it was my first time to take the new Kaohsiung underground KMRT system. It’s gorgeous, although extremely empty when it’s not rush hours.

You know, this is one of the things that makes me very jealous of Taiwan. Taiwanese tend to focus on the fact that the MRTs and the Taiwan High Speed Rails (THSR) took too long and too much money to build. To that I can only say – it’s there, it’s running and it’s beautiful, and in Israel - a country of similar size with Tel Aviv Gush Dan area of similar scale to Kaohsiung (1.2 million people) – we’ve failed at producing anything remotely resembling those impressive projects. Similar things can be said about many of the highly advanced west-European economies.

This is what it looks like…

This is another thing that I doubt can work as nicely in Israel. It doesn’t even work that well in HK either. It’s just amazing how – most times - people line up one after the other and wait for passengers to get out of the MRT before entering.

Feel like taking a short ride?

I must say that I prefer the English speaking lady in the Taipei MRT. Although the British accent HK MTR lady sounds the best, the Taipei MRT girl sounds exotic. I remember falling in love with her instantly.

BTW – did you know that Kaohsiung is also working on building a “Circular Light Rail Transit”?

Here’s what one of the stations looks like from the outside :

This specific station leads to one of Kaohsiung’s night attractions, called Urban Spotlight, hosting a few live music cafes with nice lighting.

Here’s from one of the live music performances in the cafe I was sitting in. I didn’t think much of this next video, till I suddenly noticed there’s a guy sleeping in the middle of the screen

Kaohsiung is looking better and better each time I visit there.

© - visit fiLi's world for more great content.

---
Related Articles at Fili's world:

Visiting Kaohsiung : Cheng Ching Lake
Touring Kaohsiung and Cijin Island
Kaohsiung’s Dream Mall
Touring Kaohsiung County on Tomb Sweeping holiday : The majestic Fo-Guang-Shan temple
Touring Kaohsiung : Museums, Cijin island-lighthouse-fort and the Takao British Consulate

Fans of Taiwanese puppetry listen up: the 2008 International Puppetry Festival has kicked off in Yunlin, southern Taiwan!

The festival is now in its 10th year, but as usual it will feature a variety of events dedicated to the art of Taiwanese puppetry. You can expect exhibitions, performances, concerts, workshops, and a lot more in the 16-day festival, which will run through December 7.

This weekend if you're in the mood for a Taiwanese movie, you might consider checking out "My So-Called Love" starring Barbie Hsu, Chang Hsiao-chuan, Eddie Peng, and Eason Dong. It's a love story based on real events. The acting is stronger than the plot, but you might get a kick out of the music which was written by Mavis Fan. Watch a trailer for the movie here. The movie opens on 11/21.

Movie lovers in Taichung will be happy to know that the Golden Horse Film Festival will kick off in their city this weekend. More info can be found on the official web site.

If you're in the mood for some art, make your way to the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Taipei. A new exhibit called "Super Generation @ Taiwan" opens this weekend feature a cross-disciplenary group of artists who celebrate the philosopies of the next generation. More information can be found on the MOCA web site.

Some photos of the dangki - otherwise known as a jitong or martial diviner - we saw at San Qing Gong near Guilin Street on the day after Qingshan Wang's birthday.

As mentioned in a previous post, dangki invite possession by spirits who then control their movements. They are handed a 'tool kit' of implements to injure themselves as per the inhabiting spirit's wishes, and while they don't injure themselves deeply, there is a lot of blood loss. The blood is used to write talismans or texts used in divination.

It's a...scary sight, to be sure.

Just a video of some costumed guys dancing to techno (above), bajiajiang and dragon dancers (below). Enjoy!