This week's celebrity news features Jay Chou (周杰倫). Delayed by Typhoon Krosa at Hong Kong airport, the pop king rushed to the wedding of local singer Will Liu (劉耕宏) - most famous for being the king's buddy - to beauty queen-turned starlet Wang Wan-fei (王婉霏). He arrived at the NT$23 million ceremony, which was fully sponsored by celebrity friends and multiple businesses, at the last minute on Sunday evening.
In addition to the star-studded, attention-grabbing nuptials, the Liu-Wang union is a modern fairytale, if not plain fable. During the last four years of their eight-year relationship, the Christian convert couple claim to have stuck to a vow of chastity.
No sex for 1,460 days? It's difficult to imagine why anyone would make up such a scenario and Pop Stop would like to refrain from making any innuendos, but hopes the newlyweds enjoy their honeymoon destination, Hawaii, and the earth moves for them.
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
In other Chairman Chou (周董) news, the Mando-pop star donned a cowboy outfit for his latest album Jay Chou on the Run (我很忙), and unwittingly became a rent boy. According to Chinese-language media, a Web user under the name of Jack is using Chou's photos to peddle sexual services on an English gay Web site, with a pitch line referring to a "large and uncut tool." The service fee is US$85 per hour and around US$400 a night.
That snippet of news and the cowboy look coincide with the star's recent pronouncement in an interview that if he were a woman, he would fall in love with Wang Lee-hom (王力宏), who is talented, upright and honest.
Those two would make a toothsome couple Pop Stop has to admit.
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
Following in the footsteps of his very "close friend" Lin Chi-ling (林志玲), Jerry Yan (言承旭) is eyeing the silver screen again. The first time around, he starred in an obscure romantic comedy Magic Kitchen (魔幻廚房). That was three years ago. Yan's reentry into the coveted movie biz is most likely to be grand and in style as the star was last week caught by paparazzi attending a dinner meeting with not one but three doyens of Hong Kong's cinema industry: Stanley Kwan (關錦鵬); Wong Kar-wai (王家衛); and William Chang (張叔平).
Gossip hounds staking out the joint caught the heartthrob off guard as he walked out of the restaurant after six hours of eating, drinking and getting acquainted with the showbiz movers and shakers. Swiftly escorted and pushed into a car by his escort/agent, Yan disappeared into the night, leaving pundits to ponder the star's next move.
Death metal brand Chthonic (閃靈) has become the nation's new pride and joy after its two-month tour of the US spreading the pro-independence message to the foreign press. Their musical and diplomatic adventure will be made into a documentary by Cheng Wen-tang (鄭文堂), which is expected to hit the international film festival circuit next year.
Currently, the outfit is busy with preparatory work before it departs again, this time to rock Europe with 30 gigs starting next month. One of the concerns raised by the band's erhu player, Su Nung (甦農), however, is not something normally expected from a heavy metal group.
After losing a great deal of money on the stock market during his absence, the artist said a major problem that needs to be solved is how he can stay in touch with his stockbroker while he's globetrotting.
On Jan. 17, Beijing announced that it would allow residents of Shanghai and Fujian Province to visit Taiwan. The two sides are still working out the details. President William Lai (賴清德) has been promoting cross-strait tourism, perhaps to soften the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) attitudes, perhaps as a sop to international and local opinion leaders. Likely the latter, since many observers understand that the twin drivers of cross-strait tourism — the belief that Chinese tourists will bring money into Taiwan, and the belief that tourism will create better relations — are both false. CHINESE TOURISM PIPE DREAM Back in July
Taiwan doesn’t have a lot of railways, but its network has plenty of history. The government-owned entity that last year became the Taiwan Railway Corp (TRC) has been operating trains since 1891. During the 1895-1945 period of Japanese rule, the colonial government made huge investments in rail infrastructure. The northern port city of Keelung was connected to Kaohsiung in the south. New lines appeared in Pingtung, Yilan and the Hualien-Taitung region. Railway enthusiasts exploring Taiwan will find plenty to amuse themselves. Taipei will soon gain its second rail-themed museum. Elsewhere there’s a number of endearing branch lines and rolling-stock collections, some
Could Taiwan’s democracy be at risk? There is a lot of apocalyptic commentary right now suggesting that this is the case, but it is always a conspiracy by the other guys — our side is firmly on the side of protecting democracy and always has been, unlike them! The situation is nowhere near that bleak — yet. The concern is that the power struggle between the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and their now effectively pan-blue allies the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) intensifies to the point where democratic functions start to break down. Both
This was not supposed to be an election year. The local media is billing it as the “2025 great recall era” (2025大罷免時代) or the “2025 great recall wave” (2025大罷免潮), with many now just shortening it to “great recall.” As of this writing the number of campaigns that have submitted the requisite one percent of eligible voters signatures in legislative districts is 51 — 35 targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus lawmakers and 16 targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The pan-green side has more as they started earlier. Many recall campaigns are billing themselves as “Winter Bluebirds” after the “Bluebird Action”
RSS