A Gringo's Life in Taiwan 
A Gringo's Life in Taiwan 
a cheeseball.
Observations thus far:
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The industry (here) is not what you might think. Before coming to BMG, I had visions of wild parties, loud music, girls in mini-skirts, etc. But no. Here and in other Asian countries it has two extremes: Bangkok brothel or Hello Kitty meets karaoke. There is no happy medium between sleaze and mundane. For instance, take our end of the year party- I would expect a major blow out from a major record company. Instead, we had dinner, played pop-the-balloon-by-hugging games, and everyone cleared out by 10pm. No live performance, no late night craziness, no schmoozing starlets. Albeit the food was nice, but we could have been an accounting firm at that dinner. Pop the balloon, Kitty!
The other extreme is the massage parlour aspect. I've been to our other offices where the local practice is to go buy yourself a girl. Dimly lit red lounges of gaudy opulence. To tell the truth, I guess I prefer the excitement of the brothel over Hello Kitty Karaoke even though I don't partake of the goods. Window shopping is enough of a vicarious thrill. Really!
Yet this still leaves the problem of not having a happy medium. Parties with starlets and good music, but only moderate amounts of Hello Kitty and sleaze. I'm working on it- need to change the mind set of our staff!
A big problem living in Taipei and being a surfer is getting to the beach. I guess I was spoiled growing up one block away from surf my whole life, but it's a pain to get out in the water here. Imagine this: it's like living in San Bernardino and having to get out to Santa Monica everytime you want to surf. Moreover, you don't have a car. Not too tasty.
MUSIC. The band is officially up and running, and with a name, even: "Ai Never." We had our big debut to a capacity crowd in late April. Well, it was a small place, but a great PARTY! We have a fairly eclectic song mix since we are just going on songs that each of us knows already. A performance circuit is developing. More later... There are a few pubs around that have decent live bands, who I go see now and then. The hard part is finding people to go with (see "Music Industry" section above). I don't even bother with bigger concerts as most are idol pop and extremely uninteresting after about 15 minutes.
OTHER. Well, sometimes I go hiking in "Four Animals Park" if you call that hiking. It's a good work out as the trail can get quite steep, but it's not a trek type hike. Drinking is always an entertaining past time no matter where you are, but overseas it seems like even more fun. It sure makes my Chinese better. I like to drink because it also makes me more handsome and witty. Loafing is another past time I find myself engaged in often. Or you could call it contemplating life's vagaries...
| Do not click on me! |  | I am a gratuitous picture only! |
On special occasions I eat
PUB & NIGHTLIFE REVIEWSThis section will be amended as I continue to explore Taipei. As I write this, I predict that the reviews of each place will vary in emphasis according to my particular mood at the time of patronage and time of writing. |  |
45
This is a good place to "pre-party" before going out to the expensive dance clubs. Definitely a place devoid of pretense. The music selection generally keeps you happy because the DJs know their stuff. They have no problem playing Clash, The Jam, Violent Femmes, Buzzcocks, Letters To Cleo, etc. The patrons are about 50/50 waibin to local, and tend to be a 20-30 something crowd. Well, one time I did see an old dude. He was a Chinese and he brought in his own stash of booze. He was trying to glom on to any group of people who would make eye contact with him. He wanted us to drink some of his plum wine with him, but the waitress came over and told him not to open it. He kept trying to include himself in our table and conversation. I don't know what to do in these kind of situations- you know, where you can tell someone is a little bit off in the head and he/she keeps trying to interact with you. Anyway, that's 45. (2/F #45 Hoping East Road Sec. 1).
The Opium Den
...or "OD" to the in-crowd. I find this place tries a bit too hard to be avant-garde (I'm a poet), but it is a nice place to go if that wad of cash in your pocket is burning a hole. I am most impressed by the HUGE mound of melted wax near the entrance which appears (or which is made to appear) to have come into existence through burning candle after candle. I would recommend this as a place to go on weeknights for a martini and conversation. On weekends look for yuppies and local pop idols, which are suited to the place- more form than content. (corner of Chienkuo Road and Jenai Road)
TU
This is one of my favorite places to end up later in the evening if I feel like dancing. The live band plays a good mix of funk and classic motown, with bits of jazz thrown in where they can get away with it. The music alternates between the band and a DJ. The DJ plays basically today's dance hits, so this is a good place to tanzbein schwingen after you've had cheaper drinks earlier in the evening. American basketball players (playing in the Taiwan professional league) tend to appear here around midnight. Well, I am assuming they are basketball players because they are TALL and are decked head to toe in FILA clothing. The women here are pretty dang good looking, but with personalities to match- in other words, bring your cell phone, conspicuous Swiss watch, and Mercedes key chain. (249 Fuhsing South Road Sec. 1)
DV8
Similar in patronage to 45, but perhaps a slightly more "underground" feel. Pool table and dart boards downstairs, backgammon upstairs. The music is highly eclectic, but song selection is right on, making it overall an even better experience than 45. The DJs play everything from lounge to grunge to reggae to techno- just no mainstream pop. Physically, the place is not that big and is a little inconspicuous from the outside. It's funny, I saw the same old man from 45 there, but I don't think he was trying to bring in his own booze this time. If you come here, bring your inhaler because this place, along with TU, is keeping the world tobacco industry alive. I forgot the address, but it's on Chinhua St close to the corner of Chinhua and Lishui Streets (not far from the Mandarin Training Center). Not affiliated with the club of the same name in Kuala Lumpur.
Spin
Basically a dance place, but not fancy and disco'd out. This is good because it attracts a more down-to-earth clientele when compared with a place like TU or The Opium Den. The crowd tends to be younger, especially with a lot of foreign students. 45 is the place where the foreigners are older- English teachers, etc- while Spin is the place where the young'uns congregate. The music tends to be lots of techno, all beat and electronic noises. I actually get really bored by this kind of music because it is so repetitive and message-less, but the crazy kids these days seem to enjoy it. You can get tickets for Spin at 45 by asking. If they like your face, you'll get some for free. Otherwise there's a cover charge of ______ (sorry, can't remember). Spin is located near 45 on Heping East Road, right next door to the Nikko Mart.
More coming soon...
