Cartoon characters seem to be everywhere in Taiwan. "Hello Kitty" may be a Japanese trademark, but the Taiwanese have plastered it on more stuff than even the Japanese. Noodles, boba tea, you name it. It was even painted on the last Boeing I rode on to get there, with the theme replicated throughout the cabin and even on the dining implements.
There is a bit of truth in saying that successful men need not leave the country to find a wife. But in their defense, men have it tougher than before over there. Many Asian women have been infected by Western ideas and also now have more opportunities in the more prosperous Asian societies to make a go of it alone. The men have not yet caught up with these ideas, and still seek more traditional partners. As a result, many women have since concluded that marriage is not a great deal for them any more. Many men report that women won't even go out with them unless they can first report that they have a suitably high salary and other trappings of prosperity like property ownership.
On the flip side, young women from poorer countries are often more than happy to marry some old fart from Taiwan who is drawing a nice pension from his time in the ROC military. If they can put up with him for just a few years, they will inherit his pension when he finally goes to meet his maker. This has apparently become quite common.
Your reports on the weird food choices are spot on. One thing I noticed in Taipei is that they have elevated the concept of "fusion cuisine" to a whole new level. Though some of these experiments yield something unexpectedly good, most are just as bizarre as they sound.
The old, impoverished, and repulsive still wanting to be loved and desired is one of life's more tragicomic aspects. And unless you're Mick Jagger or Rupert Murdoch you won't be getting any action in your 80s. Heck, even the not-so-old like Plath died craving more love from absent parents and lovers. I recall silent film icon Louise Brooks, who tossed husbands and suitors away like so many used tissues in her youth, calling up her sister one day in her late 50's and sobbing: "There is no one in this world who loves me!"
Many conclude they have to make themselves hard and unlovable merely to survive in this world. So they survive, unloved. Just ask Israel.
Who is Tomorrow's Dancing Girl? Keep hearing about her. Must have missed the photo.
Tried a web search and came up w/ this put down on white women. https://mashable.com/article/tiktok-white-girl-dance-joy Started by a black man, it pretends to champion spontaneity and joy but all the examples shrivel my balls.
Cartoon characters seem to be everywhere in Taiwan. "Hello Kitty" may be a Japanese trademark, but the Taiwanese have plastered it on more stuff than even the Japanese. Noodles, boba tea, you name it. It was even painted on the last Boeing I rode on to get there, with the theme replicated throughout the cabin and even on the dining implements.
There is a bit of truth in saying that successful men need not leave the country to find a wife. But in their defense, men have it tougher than before over there. Many Asian women have been infected by Western ideas and also now have more opportunities in the more prosperous Asian societies to make a go of it alone. The men have not yet caught up with these ideas, and still seek more traditional partners. As a result, many women have since concluded that marriage is not a great deal for them any more. Many men report that women won't even go out with them unless they can first report that they have a suitably high salary and other trappings of prosperity like property ownership.
On the flip side, young women from poorer countries are often more than happy to marry some old fart from Taiwan who is drawing a nice pension from his time in the ROC military. If they can put up with him for just a few years, they will inherit his pension when he finally goes to meet his maker. This has apparently become quite common.
Your reports on the weird food choices are spot on. One thing I noticed in Taipei is that they have elevated the concept of "fusion cuisine" to a whole new level. Though some of these experiments yield something unexpectedly good, most are just as bizarre as they sound.
The old, impoverished, and repulsive still wanting to be loved and desired is one of life's more tragicomic aspects. And unless you're Mick Jagger or Rupert Murdoch you won't be getting any action in your 80s. Heck, even the not-so-old like Plath died craving more love from absent parents and lovers. I recall silent film icon Louise Brooks, who tossed husbands and suitors away like so many used tissues in her youth, calling up her sister one day in her late 50's and sobbing: "There is no one in this world who loves me!"
Many conclude they have to make themselves hard and unlovable merely to survive in this world. So they survive, unloved. Just ask Israel.
What percentage of Taiwanese still wear masks?
Thank you for calling bullshit on bubble tea Linh.
There are some things in this universe that I will never understand and bubble tea is one of them.
Who is Tomorrow's Dancing Girl? Keep hearing about her. Must have missed the photo.
Tried a web search and came up w/ this put down on white women. https://mashable.com/article/tiktok-white-girl-dance-joy Started by a black man, it pretends to champion spontaneity and joy but all the examples shrivel my balls.
In one of his first Taiwan articles, there were dancing girls handing out Porsches on a TV in a dining area.
https://linhdinh.substack.com/p/kawaii-taipei