2010 Taipei

It's been over a year now in Taiwan. I am still having a great time although I miss my family back home. I still lucky enough to have a full time job do design and compared to last year where I struggled to find full time employment in the warm up to the recession and had to rely on freelance work. I am just about to head of too watch the new year fireworks from the 101 which will be a great way to end the year!

Hello December

Wow it's the beginning of December in Taiwan, it seems like time flys bye so fast out here! It's nearly been a whole year at AmTran. Not much has happened over last weekend as I have been desk bound in the office.

I was suppose to go mountain biking in the morning on Saturday and I was looking really forward to my lesson from the sensei, but i got an 8.00am phone call saying the ground was a tad wet so maybe next weekend!

It's starting to get a little colder now in Taipei. I have been debating with myself if it's best to buy a mini oven to heat my room or a fan heater both are the same price, but I can cook on one while staying warm, bring on those cheese sticks I say.

Simply Star Stuck

I was on my way down to Taichung today for the Love & Money 50 years of creative Briton. In a nut shell the British Arts Council get various UK creatives to give presentation about them or there company and to promote Britons creativity.

The talk I was going to had Dick Powell talking about Design and Innovation and various others UK creatives. I knew I had to go too see the Dick Powell speech, maybe I would get the chance to talk to him plus he is one of my favorite designers in fact I think if I could turn out to be like any type of designer it would be him. I really do believed in what he talks about and what his company Seymour Powell stands for.













Entrance to the TDC Taichung, and miniature windmills it is!













Taiwan's new design mark, The Gold Pin.

In order to make the talk I pulled a few night shifts to get my work done and by Wednesday evening things were looking good. Come Thursday morning I was off down to Taichung to represent the design arm of AmTran. When I arrived at the Taichung Design Centre I realised they had a large exhibition on which was a surprise and I didn't really have much time to go around it as it was about 12 when I arrived and the talks started at 1.20pm.














LED lights by Process Design far right.














Slightly more of a student approach in layout I felt.

Feeling peckish I went off to find a restaurant, as I was walking around I saw a slightly colonial looking coffee house so I though I would check it out. As I entered low and be hold, there is Dick Powell, Deyan Sudjic and a few others waiting to have lunch. I though I am on my own so I might as well ask if I can join them for lunch I mean this is one of the cool things about been a foreigner in Taiwan, because you all have one thing in common you're in Taiwan!


I got introduced to everyone and I have to say everybody was really friendly, considering the heavy weights in the design world sitting at the table. They asked me what I was doing out here etc and instead of talking too much about TV design I told them about this company called Inscentinel I use to work for who train honey bees to find explosives though smell so I manage to hold my conversation fairly well.

The creative talks were all interesting in there own way, I also got the chance to talk to Dick and I have to say I was a bit star struck and did not really know what to ask!














The something about the fast train.














On the move.

Crepuscular

It's a nice way to end the working day seeing the sun go down over the buildings with a foggy haze in the back ground. It's just a bit of a shame that I can't see a complete sunset from the my floor.

















Sunset Down.

Touch Down

One of my best mates has come over to Taiwan too visit me for a whole month. I've made a plan of things to do with Laurence so he is not stuck in Taipei city for too long, hopefully we well take a trip down too Green Island which could be pretty cool as I would like to try and visit all the Island around Taiwan before I leave.

Apart from that I've had an extremely busy month at work I sometimes wonder if the is a rescission.

Jet Lag.

Solar Ellipse Taipei

Today we had a Solar Ellipse, but unlike Shanghai, Taipei didn't have a complete black out just an over casted morning. I did managed to take a few photos of the events unfolding outside company HQ.

The Sun.

The Ellipse.

The clouds.

Return to England

I've booked my flights back to England today and I'll be leaving Taiwan and going back home for a two week trip which has been a much need one! I have not seen my family for ages now and I think it's been having an effect on me. Obviously the is the Skype video call when I can get it to work but it's been over a year since I've seen them in person and that's a very long time.

But it's been good to have a target to aim for over the last few weeks, especially at work where I think I have had one of the best weeks ever but I did some fantastic concepts.

Corporate View

Yes I 'm making progress in the world of corporate work space, I now have a window view although this is more to do with the fact my co-workers don't like to have any sunlight on there

ink I did them a favor choosing this space.

Let's get creative flowing!

Frustrated & Homesick

The mental effort which has been required for this week has really taken it out of me. I have found it very tough and very stressful. This evening I had to come back and have 2 beers just to level my nerves, and I never drink mid week unless it's socially.

Working in Asian management is really tough and not for the faint hearted, not that I know how Korean, Chinese or Japanese management is. But Taiwanese management is a mixture of culture, tradition and business which makes the working process tough!

I have also been tucking into comfort junk food and I have let my running slip this week partly because of the rain, but next week I want to make the effort to hit the track with my Asics as they still smell fresh.

I also think the fact that I have not been home now for 14 months is beginning to have it's effects on me. I need to get back for a two week break or at least one week to see my family, the only thing which cheered me up was the fact that Laurence said he might pop over in September which would be wonderful.

Asics & 老師

I have been meaning to get fit again and start doing exercise I also think it's a great way to get rid of stress. I did want to get into mountain biking, but I guess for now buying a pair of trainers is sightly more in my budget at the moment.

George recommend that I get Asics as there about 30% cheaper here than in Europe. I had also researched running shoes when I was state side and the shops assistant told me that Asics were one of the best brand to buy into and thanks to AmTran I had a few SOGO vouchers burning a whole in my pocket to buy them with.

After visiting the shop and been told I was underpronate, from the 3D scan they did of my feet, which was pretty cool. They said I should go for the Gel-Kinsei 2, I did try other trainers but the Kinsei were the most comfortable one's, so I got them.

I have to say they are the most uglyious trainers I have every bought, my metallic gold strips are actually blue I think that's because it's the Asian model.

I also meet my new Chinese teacher we worked out my lesson plan and what I wanted to learn, I have two hours per week every Tuesday.

Rain For Computext

My second visit to Computext and I still have not grown up yet! The is something about showgirls which make those flashing back lite LED hard drive boxes not so bad to look at. I suppose the only difference this time is that I am visiting on behalf of AmTran.

The girls from Team Group inc. doing there stuff.

I don't think the show has the same impact as CES and it's definitely for the lower end of the market and the heavy hitters like Sony, Dell and HP etc don't have stands or at least I didn't see them there.

The has been so much rain for nearly the whole week!

I don't think I'll go next year, as I think it's not relevant and the is a lot of gear to see, one of the nice things is to catch up with my mates at the independent design studio in Taipei whose stand are partly funded by the Taipei Design Center, to promote design in Taiwan but I am not sure?

Dragon Fetsival

Today was the start of the Dragon Festival, it was a national holiday in Taiwan but I was in work getting ready for the Monday presentation, no time to recover from jet lag, which was probably a good thing!

My boss had asked me if I would be watching the boat race, I wasn't sure if he was teasing me! I had to be back at the apartment around lunch time as I had my new AC coming which I think I got for a great price delivered and installed for 8,000NT. It's an LG with a remote and not too noisy.

Johnny said he tends to get his room cold, then turns the AC off and goes to sleep. I had wanted to be super local and not have AC at all and just a fan but I soon figured this was not a wise idea!

Laguna Rewind

Laguna beach town is kind of similar to those coastal town you get in Cornwall minus the palm trees. I have attached some photos have do have a look.

















I like the British phone box hiding behind the tree.










View from restaurant balcony.

If you click on the photo below it should in large notice the guy under the palm tree playing bagpipes to the left, quite surreal and odd!










Laguna beach straight ahead.

















Quite similar to Bembridge with a wash of Mercs and Bentley parked on every corner.

Don't think I'll be going out this weekend to explore as have a rather heavy work load and tight deadline which is a shame, but I still have next week.

1 Year On Away From Home

Wow it's been 1 Year to the day since I was last in England, I was so close to making it the whole year in the Asian block but I fell short by just a few days.

Life: A lot has happen over the year, and a heck of a lot has happened in the past six months. But I have spent my time with amazing people who have taken me too visit fantastic places and have been truly wonderful and kind to me. Especially Rita who was just simply great and very supportive!

Work: I've been lucky enough to worked with some amazing design offices in Taipei from DEMinc 橙果設計, Process to AmTran 瑞軒科技, which is where I am working now.

It's been a real eye opener to how things are done out here and I had a steep learning curve which is still getting steeper!

Traveling: I've managed to visit Lanyu (Taiwan, but still an island in it's own right) Thailand (Bangkok), Macau and now America (California).

Rita also took me all over Taiwan, which gave me one of the best insights and cultural experience I think anybody could ever get and I was extremely privileged and honored to of had such a wonderful experience.

Languages: I wish I could speak more Chinese, but then I have not made enough effort to improve, I did find it tricky but I really want to improve now.

Music: I suppose my end of the year away from home song is going to be Steinski - Let's get it on

California

I'm here in sunny California, I arrived last night, the flight was not too bad, even thought it was with China Airways they managed get me here in one peace. But I still think it's worth to pay the 20 dollars more and go with Cathy Pacific the cabin crew are so much more friendly.

First thoughts on California is it's quite open and residential in Irvine. The is very little public transport everybody drives here in huge cars. So far people seem nice, all I can say is everything is very American and what you would expect. Maggie my guide took me to lunch today where I was served a huge portion of food which could of fed two people!

My hotel that I stayed in last night was fine, but completely charmless, but I have just been move to the company apartment as I'm here for 3 weeks.

Cribs

I am staying at the company flat near Culver Drive in my little gated community which is a bit odd for me, but the place is perfectly comfortable and much nicer than the hotel I was at in the beginning.

Front of the house.

This is my new ride, it’s a Honda and it’s huge, which does make it a big tricky to drive, In fact I parked next to a Range Rover the other day and my car is longer and taller. I think if I ever got lost I could sleep in the boot without having to put down the back seats.

My ride.

It also has some cool accessories like electric sliding doors and LCD screen which, show a camera image of the back when you’re reversing which is pretty useful.

My street.

I am very great full to have satellite navigation too as it’s quite easy to get lost as you need to drive everywhere to do the most basic of things, like getting milk from you local petrol station as it’s so far away from where you home is.

Boarding

I am just about to board the flight, I must admit I do feel a little bit sad to be leave Taiwan and I think I am going to be missing the hustle and bustle of Taipei. But I have to admit it's pretty cool to have my first business trip too America!





















Entrance to Terminal 2 with it's multi coloured lighting effects, which feels like your entering an arcade game.

356 Days in Asia

I've spent nearly one year in the Asia belt, I'm just falling short by 9 days. Why?

I have a business trip out to California and I leave tomorrow evening, I suppose it's a pretty cool place to head too and my first visit to the USA and I am away for three weeks. It's not all going to be fun I imagine it's going to be pretty hard work. But it's still great to leave the East and head to the West again!

I had hoped to of completed a year in Asia, but I guess it will be nice to walk into a restaurant and not have complications ordering food for once, ah one hitch I have just got to avoid getting swine flu.

Mark's BBQ

Mark took the ID team all out for dinner tonight, what a great guy! We went to this BBQ restaurant I don't know the Chinese name, I think the English name was Love Eat? but it's near Jhingiheng this is the Chinese address 台北市中正區汀洲路三段269號 it was pretty good as BBQ restaurants go in Taiwan.

Mark and his love for Taiwan beer.

My co-workers tell me that BBQ restaurant are super popular in Taiwan and I think it's back to the love of food they have in there culture.

Avo, telling me all about BBQ restaurants!


Prawns ready to go!

Not quite Jamie Oliver.

Steven, before we left the office on our scooters.

Xinyi District 信義區

My CEO asked the ID department to see his apartment this morning which is located in Xinxy. He had revamped his interior and I think he was keen to get see what we thought.

Xinxy is like the Kensington & Chelsea of Taipei, accepted more bling! Alpha’s place is right next to the 101. I didn’t actually take any photos but it was totally different to what I was expecting and not over the top at all.