Taichung residents will be able to eat, drink and make merry courtesy of city guide Compass this coming Sunday, when the magazine celebrates its 10th anniversary with a special one-day international food and beverage festival in the plaza in front the city's Sogo department store.
From 10:30am onwards festival goers will be able to sample a smorgasbord of global fare and take a tipple from food and drinks served up by 20 of Taichung's more internationally focused, pubs and bars.
Aiming to offer something for everyone, festival organizers have enlisted the help of local establishments both large and small. Viva Cafe, the Evergreen Laurel Hotel, Kebabish, La Terrasse Bistro, Country Goose Kitchen, the Splendor Hotel and Tai Xin Thai are just a few of the joints participating in the event. In all there will be some 20-plus stalls selling edible delights from Thailand, Spain, Hong Kong, Mexico, the UK, France, Italy, Japan, Ireland, the US and Taiwan.
Although the only beer available at the event will be San Miguel's Blue Ice, which will cost a mere NT$50 per can, several of the city's popular watering holes will be on hand to provide thirsty crowds with more potent brews. Chubby's will be pouring the shots, La Bodega will be serving sangria, PJ's Cafe will be making the margaritas, O'Chang's will be portioning out the Irish liquor and Finga's will be decanting the fine wines.
Along with the food and beverages the festival will also include lots of music. DJ Pressplay will be kicking off the event with a heavy early morning dance set and popular Taichung bands Milk, 22, Inner City Block Lung Choir and Schlumpy will be performing two sets each throughout the day. Other special events include a trivia quiz and a beer-drinking contest.
Admission is free and, according to the organizers, nearly all of the food and beverages available will cost well under NT$100.
The Compass International Food Festival will take place between 10:30am and 8pm on Sunday in the plaza in front Taichung's Sogo department store, which is located at 299 Taichung Harbor Road, Sec 1 (中港路1段299號).
July 1 to July 7 Huang Ching-an (黃慶安) couldn’t help but notice Imelita Masongsong during a company party in the Philippines. With paler skin and more East Asian features, she did not look like the other locals. On top of his job duties, Huang had another mission in the country, given by his mother: to track down his cousin, who was deployed to the Philippines by the Japanese during World War II and never returned. Although it had been more than three decades, the family was still hoping to find him. Perhaps Imelita could provide some clues. Huang never found the cousin;
On Friday last week, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency very excitedly proclaimed “a set of judicial guidelines targeting die-hard ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists” had been issued “as a refinement and supplement to the country’s ‘Anti-Secession’ law” from 2005, with sentencing guidelines that included the death penalty as an option. At the same time, 77 People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) aircraft were flown into Taiwan’s air defense identification zones (ADIZ) in just 48 hours, a high enough number to indicate the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was peeved about something and wanted it known. What was puzzling is that the CCP always
Once again, we are listening to the government talk about bringing in foreign workers to help local manufacturing. Speaking at an investment summit in Washington DC, the Minister of Economic Affairs, J.W. Kuo (郭智輝), said that the nation must attract about 400,000 to 500,000 skilled foreign workers for high end manufacturing by 2040 to offset the falling population. That’s roughly 15 years from now. Using the lower number, Taiwan would have to import over 25,000 foreigners a year for these positions to reach that goal. The government has no idea what this sounds like to outsiders and to foreigners already living here.
David is a psychologist and has been taking part in drug-fueled gay orgies for the past 15 years. “The sex is crazy — utterly unbridled — which of course is partly down to the drugs but also because you can act out all your fantasies,” said the 54-year-old, who has been in a relationship for two years. Chemsex — taking drugs to enhance sexual pleasure and performance — “has opened a whole world of possibilities to me,” David added. “Sex doesn’t have to be limited to two people... There is a whole fantasy and transgressive side to it that turns me on. It