To do and to be done

Back in the 1990s when I was still living in Japan, there were swarms of "commentators" who were eager to provide "theories" on why Japan's economic golden age had ended. The ten years following the economic bubble burst was called "the...

PG-13 for G environment

Running an ad at the side of the bus is a brilliant idea, even though the 'ad-buses' are causing sales-pitch version of diarrhea all over Taipei (or over any large cities). The benefits are too tempting even for those opposing the overabundance of...

Humble symbol

I like Taiwanese churches: the buildings (because I can see), not the system (because I haven't see any yet). In the world of look-at-me, me, me architectural showmanship, Taiwanese churches stand out not because they have tall structures — as evidenced by...

When you realize it’s recession

Eslite bookstore, Taiwan's finest example of creating an artistic windowshopping area by combining bookstore, boutique, and coffee shop, started serving a brunch set (above). This is a remarkable departure from their previous offering, in terms of price and...

Images replace words

A picture is worth a thousand words. In general, images are more powerful than words when it comes to clarifying parts of our communication. Maybe ALL of our communication — this can be the subject of another topic — but since we have relied so much of our...