Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Melbourne Trip 2008 =D..重访墨尔本2008年...再びメルボルン2008年の旅...

Above: Is there a 'QuanJude' in melbourne now??!! Thats the same name as the famous Beijing establishment world-renowned for its 'Peking Duck'....


Above: New Melbourne development...



Above: Famous cheese-sticks...

Above: Skybus into the city....
Above: Entering departure area. I think these are Qantas pilots...

I went back for a visit to Melbourne during the long weekend here in NSW..it was the first time back to Melbourne for me since i moved up to Sydney in 2006. I missed it dearly and enjoyed going back to some places i used to visit during my uni days and also got the chance to visit Melbourne Uni and the law faculty building again as well as made the effort to revisit my highschool in Melbourne, where i spent my first year in Melbourne studying Yr12...didn't get enough time though and missed out on going to Brunswick St, Smith Street, and having gelato and MOST importantly, durian ice-cream at il dolce freddo on lygon st ( i had dinner at lygon, just realised on the last night that the ice-cream stores close on mondays!)...so that was a pity..oh well..there's always next time heh?

I got to meet and take a photo of my Yr12 Legal Studies teacher, i was surprised that many of my Yr12 teachers were still teaching there, after 7 years!!! The law faculty building looked the same as it was 2 yrs ago but the law library added new on-the-wall screens and changed the entire special loans area as well as changed the entrance by making the once-exit only into the entrance AND exit and blocking off the old entrance...

It was pretty nostalgic and i made it to the NAB-sponsored Dreams Festival which was on the weekend that i was there...so i got to see the absolutely amazing and dream-like fireworks at close range near the banks of the Yarra River and it was one of the highlights of my melbourne trip! There were also art displays and floats on the Yarra River that night at the Dream Festival which was simply fantastic...oh yeah, and i got to do a walking trip down Chapel Street, Melbourne's premier shopping strip and had dinner at TGI Fridays there...was good.

Met up with old friends and classmates, some of whom i hadn't seen since 7 years back so it was pretty nostalgic...

I managed to visit Great Space Cafe on Collin Street , my favourite cafe during ALL my yrs in melbourne (where they arguably serve the best bacon n eggs n ice choc n friand )and walk up beautiful Collins St, visit Victoria St for the famous Vietnamese Noodle soup at Yong Kei, walk the beautiful Melbourne gardens for which it is famous for, had pizza at the late-night pizza place near flinders sta., and visited a pub in the cbd cos i was bumming at a friend's place on the first night there....and of cos melbourne has THE best shopping (NOW i appreciate how much better shopping, esp small-lane shopping, is in melbourne compared to sydney)....sigh..i love melbourne:-)

However, there were also major upsets during this trip there, the full list of which i shall not say here, suffice to say that i missed my flight on the first day and had to spend money on ANOTHER ticket on Qantas Airlines and also i lost my house keys as well whilst over there....but then the good thing which came out from the Qantas flight (my first time on Qantas mind you; in all my years in Australia)was that i happened to chat with this lady sitting next to me and she happened to be the little girl in the very first Vegemite commercial back in the 50s (or was it 60s??) ...it was so cool, she was being paid to attend this special Kraft event celebrating i dun know how many years of the discovery of vegemite; so that was really really cool..she has been interviewed for the nightly news and women's magazines n i thought it was pretty cool to be sitting next to this mini-celebrity and what more iconic of Australia than the vegemite?!


Above: Famous and delicious Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup on Victoria Street..

Above: The iconic Melbourne Central clocktower area where people meet up with friends...like me..haha.

Anyways, it was great visiting Melbourne again.....
Ps; more photos on my online photo album link on the right-hand side...
i miss melbourne :D

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Taiwan Pride 2008+Taiwan Politics 2008....

Above: Gay men in skimpy swimming trunks parade along a busy Taipei street...i think the impact of them parading on the streets with buses and vehicle passengers driving past is great as it influences mainstream society into accepting, or at least, starting a conversation on gays and lesbians in Taiwan...imagine a family in a car or friends passing by seeing this, its bound to start a discussion on gays which is always a good thing..even just discussing it..
Above: 'Waterboys'..always a highlight of the Taipei Pride as you get to see hunks in trunks...hehe...

Above: 'One Mother is Good. Two Mothers is even Better' .


Above: More 'Waterboys'...



Above: Tongzhi (Gay) Hotline...with Taipei 101 in the background... http://twcnomad.blogspot.com/ (The Above 5 photos come from a blogger who was there at the parade)


Above: Malaysian participants at the Taipei Pride 2008.

Above: Rainbow Flag along Taipei's busiest stretch...ZhongXiao East Road Sec. 4

Taipei held its 6th annual Pride Parade on September 27th themed 'Run the Rainbow Way' and it was reported that 18,000 people attended. Taiwan's pride parade which started in 2003 and has grown steadily since then in both diversity and participants, is now not only the biggest pride parade in the Chinese-speaking world (China does not have any pride parades and Hong Kong's is very small...) but also is Asia's largest LGBT pride parade (yes! its actually larger than the one in Tokyo and even Asia's gay capital Bangkok!)...this year there has been more emphasis on diversity within the LGBT community including highlighting bisexuals and trangendered people.

The spanish movie 'Queens' also opened in Taiwanese cinemas to coincide with the pride parade showing the visibility of the pride parade nowadays considering how the movie was made in 2004 and cinema owners are open enough to decide to screen a gay-themed movie to coincide with the parade.
Youtube Video of Taipei LGBT Parade 2008:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOi_5CjQrtM

Taiwan Politics October Rant:

I wanted the DPP to win but the KMT won instead in Taiwan's Presidential Elections early this year....this meant that Taiwan only experienced 8 years of rule under a different government and reverted to KMT rule once again which has ruled it since 1949.
Anyways, the economy hasn't improved since Mr.Ma came into power (one of his key campaign pledges was to give Taiwan a 6% economic growth rate and turn around the economy which had been faltering under the DPP govt..) and now the KMT have revised their pledge and said that 6% economic growth is unlikely to be achieved until the END of Mr.Ma's presidential term, which means in 4 years time...wow..and this is party which sought to present itself as the economic wizkids of Taiwan as opposed to the DPP which was presented as lacking economic credentials..

And one thing which piss me off alot is the KMT emphasis on closer economic ties with China. It says the future of Taiwan lies in closer ties with China and wants to put all its eggs in the one basket, China. This makes Taiwan extremely vulnerable and is in effect eroding Taiwan's bargaining power with China as it becomes increasingly reliant on China's economy for its own survival. One must remember that the highest period of economic growth for Taiwan was during the 1980s and 1990s before China became a financial and political giant in Asia and it did fine without China's economy. I don't see whats different now. I mean of course trading with China is desirable but one must remember that Taiwan and China have a 'special relationship' which means that unlike other countries, Taiwan must actually rely LESS on China's economy, not more!

Many KMT supporters will cite China's large economy, its financial prowess, and the need for Taiwan to reap benefits from China's still growing economy, but lets not forget that other countries in Asia such as Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, also rely on trade with China to boost their GDP growths BUT do not argue that they must rely on China's economy solely to boost domestic growth, which is one you hear incessantly from pro-reunification and KMT people and supporters...i think at the heart of it is an arguement based on emotional terms rather economic terms, that China and Taiwan are inherently one and the same race and culture and thus a tight economic cooperation between the two is desirable.

And then Mr.Ma, in an interview with a Mexican paper, said that China and Taiwan are both 'regions' of China which means that Taiwan is NOT a country but merely a 'region' of some kind of delusional cold-war era concept of 'China' which Mr.Ma and the rest of the KMT call the Republic of China (ROC)...basically the KMT and Mr.Ma are now REGRESSING (make no mistake about that!!!) back to cold-war era mentality whereby 'China' means the 'Republic of China' and the ROC means BOTH China AND Taiwan and the PRC (the Beijing government) has no legitimate claims over 'China' and is renegade government!


Mr.Ma's only logical conclusion is thus this:

The Republic of China is the only legitimate government over the WHOLE of China including the mainland AND Taiwan. The PRC Communist government which has been ruling China since 1949 DOES NOT REALLY exist.

Taiwan is a part of the ROC. It is thus not a country of itself but is the 'Taiwan region' of the ROC whilst China is the 'mainland region' of the ROC.

This is of cos bullocks and total BS given the reality that the PRC Communist government is now recognised as the only sole legal government of the whole of China by every (almost) nation on earth AND is also the holder of a permanent security council seat at the UN.


By lowering Taiwan's status to that of a mere 'region' and with the reality that the whole world now only recognises the Beijing CCP government as the sole government of China, do you think anyone in the world, including the CCP in Beijing, would not take that to mean that Taiwan is indeed a mere 'region' (like Hong Kong and Macao) of the People's Republic of China??!

I think Mr.Ma has too much historical baggage and is still living in the cold war era of 'Free China' (meaning Taiwan) and 'Red China' (meaning mainland China)....its so silly and offensive that i simply dun know whether to laugh or cry...

Under Lee Teng Hui and the DPP, there was already a healthy trend towards asserting Taiwan's distinctiveness and culture called 本土化 'Localisation'. I think this was a natural and necessary step considering the current trend worldwide of indigenous culture appreciation and localisation be it from Australia's emphasis on Aboriginal culture in its identity-forming process to Japan's recent recognisation of its Ainu people as an official indigenous people to Malaysia and Singapore's culture of lahs and Malaysian and Singaporean English which only made Taiwan's emphasis of its indigenous roots only the more inevitable. From Lee Teng Hui's 特别国与国关系 'special state-to-state' relations in characterising Taiwan-China relations to former President Chen's characterisation of Taiwan-China relations as 一边一国 'one side one country' i have always felt that the DPP were much more willing to accept reality and the actual on- the-ground reality that Taiwan is already an independent country and the ROC no longer controls mainland China. The DPP have always recognised the CCP Communist government as the only legitimate government in China whilst the KMT has refused to do so.
And now Mr.Ma has regressed ALL the way BACK to cold war era characterisations of Taiwan being 台湾地区 'the Taiwan region' and mainland China being 大陆地区 'the Mainland China region' of the Republic of China. Mr.Ma said he respects democracy and the Taiwanese people's right to choose either independence or reunification with China. BUT..how can you choose independence when you're merely a region of the ROC and the ROC government is in Taipei?! If Taiwan became independent, where would the KMT/ROC govt go?? (cos the DPP don't really say they're part of the ROC) Certainly not back to Nanjing or Beijing cos the CCP government is there...then where??
The KMT people hide behind the Constitution which characterises the Taiwan-China relationship as one between regions of the ROC..this shows that the Taiwanese Constitution has to be changed urgently because it is totally unreflective of post-cold war realities and the reality that the CCP government has been ruling China since 1949 and that the PRC has existed since 1949 and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Taiwan has been an independent nation state since 1949, separate from China, and never was the myth which the KMT government conjured up to legitimise its rule on Taiwan, being 'Free China'.

So lets see what nonsense Mr.Ma spews up next time and whether the economy will truly become better as espoused all along during the campaign by the KMT and Mr.Ma or that its all empty promises by the KMT.......

Previous posts on Taiwan's politics: http://chinesechic.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html