All stories about "Taipei"

The NY Times visits Taiwanese capital city Taipei for 36 hours to find "crackling night life" and Chinese art, hot springs and hiking trails. Must-sees in include The National Palace Museum, "considered by many to be the finest repository of Chinese art in the world," the tallest building in the world (for now), Taipei 101, and lounges like Rewine that "have popped up all over Taipei." [NYT]

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The Today show leaps atop the restroom restaurant meme with this clip showing actual eating from actual tabletop toiletry in Taipei. We've mentioned this place before, as well as its Portuguese doppelganger. The amazing thing mentioned in the clip is that there are apparently twelve such toilet restaurants in Taiwan alone.

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Buzzfeed notes a new trend among Asian nightlife establishments: the medical theme. First is Taipei's inscrutably named DS Music Restaurant, where staff are dressed as doctors and nurses, and beer is available via an "IV drip" that hangs on a pole next to your table. Singapore ups the ante considerably with the enormous entertainment and eat-o-plex called the Clinic, a 13-room, 15,000-square-foot monstrosity divided into two bars, two clubs, and a restaurant. Several of the Clinic's spaces are given over to "concept rooms" featuring art and furnishings geared to particular themes ("couples" or "caffeine" among others); the restaurant, which sports golden wheelchairs as seating, specializes in madfood science (or "molecular gastronomy") like the kind popular in Spain and Chicago's Moto.

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Oh yes, it's exactly that. A startlingly successful sub-brand of Taiwan's Eva Air, the "Eva Kitty" airline flies routes from Taipei to Fukuoka and Tokyo on two jets extensively restyled as airborne Hello Kitty fortresses. But it's not just a matter of a few characters stenciled on the sides. Flight staff are decked out in special HK-appropriate garb, and the food is dominated by cuisine branded with the likeness of Sanrio's world-dominating feline. The costumery is so well-deigned that Wallpaper awarded Eva Kitty its 2007 award for "Best Livery." Destination: Cute!

Hello Kitty Craze : Hello Kitty Airline [via Cityrag]

-- Chris Mohney

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If legions of dainty Asian cuties is your thing, then today's your lucky day, courtesy of Belly Button Window. A sojourn at Computex, Taipei's Comdex-like gathering of computeroids, produced a fine gallery of largely demure booth babes. We're talking not so much fishnet and leather as T-shirts and cheerleader skirts, but will you take what you can get? I think so. Check the gallery after the jump, or on Flickr.

Cityrag directs us to this amazing night shot of the Taipei 101 skyscraper. Be sure to click above for the full-size popup. Pretty g-dang incredible.

Taipei 101 at night [Cityrag]
Taipei 101 night scene/�北101夜景(無色溫版) [Flickr]

Previously: Your New Blog Home, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Roundup Roundup #16, Taipei's Treasure Hive, Roundup Roundup #7

Live to blog? Blog to live? Not good enough! Not anymore, when you can actually live inside a blog. Or rather, you can live inside Shi Da Blog, a new "Hip House" condo in Taipei. Unfortunately, the owners/marketers did not actually register the myblog.com domain advertised on their billboards. Nevertheless, this is only the beginning -- soon you will also drive the blog, eat the blog, and have shameful intercourse with the blog. In closing: blog.

UPDATE: And yet more.

In Taiwan, a condo project called "BLOG" [Boing Boing]
Marketing. [Taipei Nights]

Previously: Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Roundup Roundup #16, Taipei’s Treasure Hive, Roundup Roundup #7, Mystery Grub Hub at CKS

$499 4-Night Paris Air+Hotel: It's your typical bargain-basement Paris package, complete with ultra-crap hotel way over in the 19th arrondissement. Still, just Paris airfares alone will approach this price for spring dates, so it's not too bad if you care not where you sleep. The $499 price is good for five departure dates in April and May. Better hotels are available for a price bump, of course, as are departure cities besides the standard New York origin. Taxes and fees come to about $140 additional.

$555+ Asia Airfare Sale: These Travelocity fares work from most major cities U.S. to most hubs in Southeast Asia. The best deals come from the west coast, specifically Los Angeles, with the bargain basement being $555 from LAX to Nagoya. You can also fly LA to Bangkok ($705) or Seattle to Taipei ($709). Special note -- this is the first time fare-sale copy has urged me to imagine "the tantalizing taste of Bangkok’s street food." Book by March 23, with travel valid April 1 through May 18. Taxes and fees begin around $160 additional.

6 Day Paris in Spring [Gate1]
Fly Round-Trip From $555+ [Travelocity]
TravelFinds [SideStep]

The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is one of Taipei's most singular sights, and no wonder -- it's enormous. Part of a park complex of several cultural buildings, the main Memorial Hall rises 70 meters above a square popular with patriotic and civic groups as a performance and practice space. (The park is bordered by the Gate of Great Centrality and Perfect Uprightness, the Gate of Great Loyalty, and the Gate of Great Piety.) The central chamber of the hall contains a giant Lincoln-Memorial-style statue of Chiang Kai-shek himself, which is under guard during the memorial's opening hours. Beyond that is quite a lot of artifacts, writings, and assorted other Shekabilia for the hardcore fan. The exterior looks much more impressive than the interior ... check out these pics from photographer Alfred Molon to see what I mean.

Taiwan - who knew?, never really thought of it as somewhere 'cool' to visit [TravelPod]
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall [Official site]
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall [Wikipedia]
Chiang Kai Shek Memorial [Alfred Molon]

[Photo: lounytoon]

Previously: Roundup Roundup #16, Taipei’s Treasure Hive, Roundup Roundup #7, Mystery Grub Hub at CKS, The Wall Punkplex

The Roundup Roundup collects recent "roundup" articles or general material about cities and city travel worldwide.

Bangalore
City Guide: Bangalore [Wallpaper*]

Buenos Aires
It's time for a tango or two in Argentina [LAT]

Dublin
Browsing Avoca [NYT]

Events
Party On! [New York Post]
The World's Most Romantic Spots Go All-American [Washington Post]

Gay Travel
Cities in red states play ball with gay travelers [USA Today]

Guides
Site Scene [Washington Post]
New Web sites for travel research [Chicago Tribune]

London
London on a Budget [About.com]

Los Angeles
Cupid Valentino [Daily Candy]

Miami
Book 'Em [New York post]

Minneapolis
In the Frozen North, an Increasingly Cool City [NYT]

New Orleans
Expect Big Things from the Big Easy: This Year's Mardi Gras Won't Disappoint [Frommer's]
New Orleans hoping Mardi Gras brings back the tourists, revenue [Travel Weekly]

New York
My Bloody Valentine [Daily Candy]

Photos
Picture Perfect Travel Writing [Mediabistro]

St. Petersburg
All that glistens is gold [Guardian]

Taipei
Going To: Taipei [NYT]

Turin
The complete guide to Turin [Times]

Washington DC
A Perfect Ten [Daily Candy]

Malaysia Airlines has a number of early-spring sales on trips to the Mysterious Orient. Notable is a $569 fare from Los Angeles to Taipei (additional taxes and fees of about $170) and the somewhat less exciting $747 LA or NYC to Singapore or Kuala Lumpur (additional taxes and fees of about $200). Book by February 28 for travel through March 31, and note that flights leave Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

LAX to Taipei as low as $569, roundtrip [Malaysia Airlines]
Kuala Lumpur or Singapore, $747 roundtrip [Malaysia Airlines]

Malaysia Airlines has a promo running for $547 round-trip tickets between Los Angeles and Taipei. Availability looks scant for the rest of January, but the fares are good for travel through May 31; a couple random checks found plenty of seats after early February. Note that there are no flights Tuesday or Thursday, and weekend flights add a slight price bump. Book by January 31; taxes and fees come to about $170 additional.

LAX to Taipei as low as $547, roundtrip [Malaysia Airlines]

Expat Samantha Culp recently tipped us off to the artsy squatter going-ons in Taipei’s Treasure Hill district.

A former military base, Treasure Hill fell into disuse and eventually found it’s buildings inhabited by seniors and, yup, those lovable, bohemian, unconsciously-gentrifying artists. The big news from the neighborhood is the opening of Treasure Hive, a bar/juice bar/grocery store/soup kitchen/art venue catering to the local hipster crowd.

Treasure Hive even has its own blog, though you’ll have to read Chinese to understand it. In the meantime though, lots of pretty, pretty pictures courtesy of proprietor Mina Chin.

Treasure Hive [Official Site, In Chinese]
A Hive of Activity at Treasure Hill [Taipei Times]
Treasure Hive in Taipei [Samantha Culp]

The Roundup Roundup collects recent "roundup" articles or general material about cities and city travel worldwide.

Amsterdam
The Polder Method [Pology]

Baltimore
Neighborly affection [Houston Chronicle]

Buenos Aires
Buy Low [NY Post]

Events
A continental Christmas [Guardian] - Barcelona, Copenhagen, Istanbul, Paris, Rome, Vienna.

Fes
Let's trance [Guardian]

Food
Best New European Restaurants 2005 [Travel + Leisure] - Amsterdam, Berlin, Istanbul, London, Madrid, Moscow, Paris, Rome.

Hotels
Cheap Sleep [NYT] - Chicago, New York, Paris, Los Angeles.
Hot property: The latest places to check out [The Independent] - Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Helsinki, San Francisco, etc.

Key West
Is Key West Going Straight? [NYT]

Los Angeles
Venice, Calif., Is Turning Into Sunrise Boulevard [NYT]

Marrakech
Marrakech's new Euro chic [LAT]

Milan
Business As Usual In Milan [Pology]

Oaxaca
Going To: Oaxaca [NYT]

Oslo
Norway is so much more than fiords and Vikings [Canada.com]

Prague
Capital savings in the Czech Republic [LAT]

Rio de Janeiro
Keep It Rio [NY Post]

Saigon
Vietnam, Revisited [Daily Candy]

San Francisco
San Francisco's Mission District: Eclectic, Eccentric, Electric [NYT]

Santa Fe
Adobe Walls, but Fare Beyond the Southwest [NYT]

Shanghai
Into Shanghai [Sunday Times]

St. Petersburg
A St. Petersburg Christmas [Travel + Leisure]

Taipei
Taipei City Guide

Valencia
Valencia Rising [Travel + Leisure]

It lives! Or does it? Over on Flyertalk's Asia board, a hot debate over the existence of a certain noodle shop in Taipei's CKS International Airport is raging. The shop is hard to find, tucked somewhere within the maze of the mezzanine lounge level. Those who have experienced it say the fare, served by "grandmas behind the counter," is downright heavenly, "one of the great airport meals." Some posters who have gone in search of the mysterious restaurant say it does not exist, while their opposition counters that they have simply not looked hard enough. Fans have gone so far as to type out nearly step-by-step directions, while others have pledged to take photographs next time a flight takes them through TPE. If you've experienced the noodly mystery, post details in the comments below or send to tips@gridskipper.com (with photos if you got 'em).

Connecting flight at Taipei CKS airport [Flyertalk]

[Davie Kaufmann]

Previously: How Do You Like Your Warm Nuts?, Hangar 7, Shocker: Airport Food Sucks, Preflight Inflight Meals, Shanghai Starbucks Snatched

Tucked behind an overpass right off Taipei's Roosevelt Road is an entertainment complex we like to call the punk rock hamster habitat. The Wall is situated underground (though you'll see a sign at street level outside) and is comprised of three miniature streets (called "This Street," "That Street," and "The Other Street") lined with a tattoo parlor, cafe, a sitting area, two record stores selling imported and local music, and a few other tiny shops. At the end of the trail is the complex's namesake, a venue/bar that is ... okay ... slightly awkward, but endearing nonetheless. The vibe is vaguely retro, the bands mostly modern indie (look for the signed Mogwai poster by the bar), and the crowd is local and hip. And the rock shows start way later than advertised, just like here in New York! But for around NT $300 (USD $9), a ticket buys you a concert and a drink to kick off your night, a deal which makes this gem of Taipei's burgeoning original rock scene a must to check out.

The Wall [Official site, in Chinese]

[Davie Kaufmann]

Previously: Go Grab Your Balls and Kill Yourself, Blinky Don’t Surf, Dawn Patrol in Taipei, That Funky Monkey, Living Large at the Living Mall

On my weekend jaunt through the referrer logs -- that's right, I know who you are and what you're doing, always -- I came across the delightful Taipei Kid blog. One of his recent posts discussed the tai ke phenomenon, which amounts to the Taipei incarnation of local rednecks. A full taxonomy can be found here, but it boils down to profanity, cigarettes, energy drinks, untucked shirts, and betel nuts. And flip-flops! Can't forget the flip-flops. Furthermore, TK identifies something he refers to as a "tai ke escort service," but which bills itself (in English) as Macho-Man Naprapathy. Pictured above is a nice beefcake pic from Ah-San, who couldn't even be arsed to put aside his smoke while posing for his leopard-bikini glamor shot. Naprapathy appears to be some species of chiropracting, i.e. massage, so connect those dots yourself about what the Macho-Men actually do. Anyway, be sure to follow the taxonomy link noted above to brush up on all your tai ke insults, the best of which forms the apt title for this post.

Rent-a-Tai-Ke [Taipei Kid]
The new ubiquity of tai ke [POTS]
Macho-Man Naprapathy [Official site]

Previously: Blinky Don’t Surf, Dawn Patrol in Taipei, That Funky Monkey, Living Large at the Living Mall, Reverent Sun Moon

Sure, Taipei's been great. First, it was whoremongering in the Zone, dodging the advances of women your dad fucked back in the 1970s. Then it was Wednesday night at Plush, dancing with the well-dressed but unattainable locals at Ladies' Night. Because one Ladies' Night is never enough, you double-bagged it with the expats at Brass Monkey's Thursday night bacchanalia. Finally, just when it couldn't get any better, you went slumming with Roxy Vibe's after-hours gutteratti. Time for some fresh air. As soon as Typhoon Longwang blows over -- yes, yes -- hop a bus to Nanwan on Taiwan's southern coast, where dual nuclear-reactor domes watch over the sleepy lil' surf village like scary twin brothers. The week I was there, Typhoon Nabi was days away from kissing the island, making for gentle four-foot waves each morning. Even without an approaching storm, the friendly locals told me, a sunrise surf is not uncommon. They also told me to avoid the northernmost breaks. Not because the rocky coastline is dangerous; rather, it's here that the domes' cooling water is dumped into the ocean. I found out the hard way one morning, when I drifted into the steaming-hot runoff. So much for a healthy sperm count. If radioactive wave-riding isn't your thing, there's plenty else to do around here -- hiking, riding, even a hot spring or two. Nanwan is just minutes outside of Kenting, Taiwan's most popular tourist destination, and the nearby national park boasts Sail Rock, also known as Nixon's Nose. Rent a scooter (650NT/US$20 for 24 hours) and explore the lovely countryside. And no, there are no decent nightclubs in the area.

Kenting National Park [Official Site]

[Jeff Koyen]

Previously: Dawn Patrol in Taipei, That Funky Monkey, Living Large at the Living Mall, Reverent Sun Moon, Calvin Tang

Friday night in Taipei. Ask any under-30 local for nightclub advice, and nine times out of ten they'll tell you about Luxy. Taipei's reigning nightclub is a madhouse carnival of house, hip-hop, and a bit of trance, with a reasonable cover and a decent mix of locals and foreigners. Head there for a good night out, and you won't be disappointed. Fact is, it doesn't matter where you start your Friday night in Taipei. All good gutterscum eventually ends up at Roxy Vibe, the last resort for everyone who hasn't already pulled. Appropriately situated underground, the weekend-only Vibe doesn't open until midnight and sees significantly no one until 2 a.m., which makes for a nicely liquored-up clientele. The 250NT ($9) cover charge gets you one drink and unlimited access to the mediocre dance music that carries everyone well into morning. My second-favorite Roxy Vibe story stars two foreigners crawling in at sunrise, wired out of their skulls and looking for kicks. They come across a pair of local ladies, similarly wired, similarly looking. Everyone heads over to a nearby love hotel. The women pay for the room; the men play rock-paper-scissors. It doesn't matter anyway, as the couples end up swapping after a few hours. My first-favorite Roxy Vibe story stars one guy from my second favorite story. The very next night, he's once again cruising at sunrise, and finds himself yet another local lady. This time, he's massaged, bathed, and licked clean before being fucked for three hours. Again, the lady pays for the room. In short, hook up at Roxy Vibe, or don't hook up at all.

Luxy [Official site]
Roxy Vibe [Official site]

[Jeff Koyen]

Previously: That Funky Monkey, Living Large at the Living Mall, Reverent Sun Moon, Calvin Tang, The Chairman’s Caves

While the rest of the city recovers from last night's Ladies' Night, Taipei's many expats are gearing up for their own weekly party.

Iron your khakis, Brad! It's Thursday at the Brass Monkey!
Duuuuuude! Which polo shirt should I wear?
Duuuuuude! The one that gets the bitches, maaan!

On other nights, the Brass Monkey is your run-of-the-mill expat-oriented sports bar. Bar stools, dark wood, big-screen TVs -- you know the place -- and an ordinary vibe unless Arsenal is playing. On Thursdays, though, it's Thunderdome for male English teachers: Two go in, one comes out (with a date). To be fair, Ladies' Night at the Brass Monkey isn't a trip to the bottom of the gutter. There's no cover, and women drink free from 9 p.m. to midnight; for men on a budget, there's a 7-11 with a comfortable stoop just down the block. Even at the end of the night -- Brad! You got any rubbers? -- the men are well-behaved. And the women are still dancing.

Brass Monkey [Official site]

[Jeff Koyen]

Previously: Living Large at the Living Mall, Reverent Sun Moon, Calvin Tang, The Chairman’s Caves, Socialite, Meet Socialism

Wednesday night is ladies’ night in Taipei, and if every Canadian English teacher wearing last decade’s polo shirts can get laid, you can certainly dig up a game face. If competing with drunk Canucks isn’t your idea of a good time, head over to either the Party Room or Plush, two locals-heavy nightclubs tucked away on the top floor of the Living Mall, one of Taipei’s most distinctive buildings. When I went, the cover charges for men were 450NT ($14) and 500NT ($15) respectively, but the Party Room was an all-you-can-drink affair. Which made for a younger crowd more likely to invite you to play drinking games than to fuck them after-hours in an hourly hotel. Or so I’m told. On the upside, there are two dance floors. The smaller features decent hip-hop and soul; the larger, an erratic mix of rock and house. Admission to Plush included just one free drink -- a follow-up cost 250NT ($7.50) -- but the clientele was proportionately more upscale. At the stroke of midnight, the dance floor filled up with a crowd attractive enough for one of Taiwan’s many celebrity-style magazines. Wear nice shoes and leave the polo shirt at home.

[Jeff Koyen]

Core Pacific City Living Mall [Official site]
The Party Room [Official site]
Plush [Taiwan Fun]

Previously: Reverent Sun Moon, Calvin Tang, The Chairman’s Caves, Socialite, Meet Socialism, Chocolate Fashion: Good Enough to Eat

It’s too late to be one the 17,000 swimmers allowed to take a dip in Taiwan’s spectacular Sun Moon Lake this Sunday (October 2), but it’s not too late to cheer on the throng of multicolored bathing caps. Postponed from its usual slot during the August Moon Festival due to Typhoon Talim, this annual tradition brings swimmers from all over the island. They don’t actually cross the entire lake, mind you; rather, they’ll tackle a 1.8-mile stretch along one side. Still no small feat. While the event promises to be a massive outdoor party, don’t expect Thailand-style lawlessness. Despite the urban madness that is Taipei, the Taiwanese countryside is relatively sedate. In other words, expect more hash than ecstasy. And seek out one of those dirty Canadian expats to make a purchase. In the meantime, for those getting into town early, why not take a trip down memory lane? Or, as the old-timers like to call it, The Zone, or The Combat Zone. These several blocks located in Taipei’s otherwise swank Zhongshan district along Shuang Cheng Street (just east of Zhongshan North Road) was once the hotspot for whore-seeking GIs and wife-ditching conventioneers. The Zone now draws a crowd that’s … well, pretty much the same. Admittedly, Monday night isn’t the most happening time in the Zone, but there’s still plenty of mischief on hand. Don’t pass up a chance to be harassed by Cathy the manager and her whore, Lisa, outside of the Malibu Club just off the main strip. When you don’t immediately offer to lap up Lisa’s juices, Cathy will smile and call you “arrogant.” When you protest yet again, she’ll switch to compliments. Still outside? Cathy moves seamlessly to the insults.

Sun Moon Lake [National Scenery Bureau]

[Jeff Koyen]

[Photo: Taipei Times]

Previously: Calvin Tang, The Chairman’s Caves, Socialite, Meet Socialism, Chocolate Fashion: Good Enough to Eat, Chinese Ban Naked Sushi

World traveler Calvin Tang's blog isn't updated too frequently -- at least not yet -- but his site still hosts a backlog of trip reports and great photos, like the above surreal Taipei pic. Worth digging around the archives.

Calvin Tang [Official site]

Previously: Land of the Rising Thong, Chez Pim Eatin? Large, Subway Series, Fired Flight Attendant Libidinous, Litigious, Sploid Becomes Tabloid Colossus

Register with Cathay Pacific's CyberTraveler program, and you can purchase the All Asia Pass for $1,099. What does this mean, grasshopper? I shall tell you, and listen well, for there are many fare-bumping pitfalls on the way to enlightenment. Firstly, you may only travel now through December 1. You must depart from New York, Los Angeles, or San Francisco. You may only travel on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. But once you get to Hong Kong, you can fly around to (and among) Bali, Bangkok, Cebu, Fukuoka, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Karachi, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Nagoya, Osaka, Penang, Sapporo, Seoul, Singapore, Surabaya, Taipei, Tokyo, and Xiamen for 21 days. You could travel Sunday-Thursday, but that involves another $500. And don't just think you can stroll up to the ticket counter and hop on and off planes with immunity. Oh no: space is limited. Limited, I tell you! Don't believe those physicists and their jabber about infinite space! Best to by the pass, then book all your flights in advance. You'll spend three weeks zipping around Southeast Asia in a manner sure to attract the attention of international authorities. Travel light.

All Asia Pass [Cathay Pacific]

Maybe it's the mind-altering brew with which Nick Denton supplies all his minions, or maybe it's just the site's goofball style of drawing, but I can't stop clicking through this tutorial on using a Japanese toilet.

Related:
Real-life pics of Toilets in Japan [Trials and Turbulations]
Toilet-themed Restaurant in Taipei [Gridskipper]

As strange (and to some, maybe even sick) an idea as this is, I'm mostly surprised by the fact that this is the first time that someones actually goes ahead and does it. Over at Cool Hunting, Josh Rubin uncovers the Toilet Bowl restaurant in Taipei. As the name of the place suggests, it's all about toilet bowls, and they go all out in depicting the restaurant's theme through their furniture -- you actually sit on a toilet bowl -- to serving meals in toilet-shaped dishes. But all this toilet theme business has got me thinking -- what do the restrooms look like?

Toilet Bowl Restaurant [Cool Hunting]

Taipei can make for a great travel destination, especially for its lively night markets (I recommend Shilin, which I believe is the city's largest). A look at Walker Young's panoramic shots of the anti-China Law protests of this past Saturday suggests that checking the political calendar is probably a good idea before flying in. Wouldn't want to get caught in the middle of that crowd! Celebrity blogger Joi Ito is currently in the city for some conferences, so let's wish him a calm and relaxing protest-free stay.

QTVR of Taiwan Independence Protests [Boing Boing]
Taiwan Protest March - Taipei March 26 [Panoramas.dk]
Off to Taiwan [Joi Ito's Web]