A special guest checked us out this week. Taiwanese movie godfather, Hou Hsiao-hsien (
After sending the sketchy information to our film expert for analysis, Pop Stop concluded that the film could be Hou's long-awaited project The Best of Our Time (
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
Now back to the bitchy side of show biz. Nationally acclaimed as ``the most beautiful woman in Taiwan,'' age-resistant Stephanie Hsiao (
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
After 15 years in the entertainment industry, Hsiao is now tapping into the Mando-pop music scene and introduced her first album earlier this month. Since then, the musical freshwoman has been running around, popping up at as many events as she can in the hope of boosting her not-so-promising record. Judging from the reviews and sales so far, the star still has a long way to go.
But another foxy lady is on the rise. Despite a previously plump figure (plump by the industry's standards), Little S (
Not only is she the spokesperson for a body-sculpting cosmetic brand, but Little S also got a big fat red envelope from a Taiwanese diet-drink manufacturer for endorsing its products.
Local media put the super-model Lin Chih-ling (
When asked whether she has the confidence to win back the title of ad queen by the end of the year, the sweet, well-cultivated lady Lin gave her typical response, ``I always put 100 percent effort in each and every job. Titles to me are not important at all.''
While Little S will use her fat check to take her whole family abroad for a luxurious vacation, Singaporean pop singer Stefanie Sun (
(
During this time of happiness when everyone is preparing for the New Year break, show biz is still able to generate miserable break-up news. Chang Chen (張震) -- the actor who has frequently starred in works by Ang Lee (李安) and Wong Kar Wai (王家衛) -- has broken up with his singer girlfriend Lu Jia-Hsin (路嘉欣) after six years of their low-profile relationship. Chang chose to remain silent after the news broke, but Lu made a brief and ambiguous comment: ``Right now, I feel everything is illusion.''
Dec. 16 to Dec. 22 Growing up in the 1930s, Huang Lin Yu-feng (黃林玉鳳) often used the “fragrance machine” at Ximen Market (西門市場) so that she could go shopping while smelling nice. The contraption, about the size of a photo booth, sprayed perfume for a coin or two and was one of the trendy bazaar’s cutting-edge features. Known today as the Red House (西門紅樓), the market also boasted the coldest fridges, and offered delivery service late into the night during peak summer hours. The most fashionable goods from Japan, Europe and the US were found here, and it buzzed with activity
During the Japanese colonial era, remote mountain villages were almost exclusively populated by indigenous residents. Deep in the mountains of Chiayi County, however, was a settlement of Hakka families who braved the harsh living conditions and relative isolation to eke out a living processing camphor. As the industry declined, the village’s homes and offices were abandoned one by one, leaving us with a glimpse of a lifestyle that no longer exists. Even today, it takes between four and six hours to walk in to Baisyue Village (白雪村), and the village is so far up in the Chiayi mountains that it’s actually
These days, CJ Chen (陳崇仁) can be found driving a taxi in and around Hualien. As a way to earn a living, it’s not his first choice. He’d rather be taking tourists to the region’s attractions, but after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the region on April 3, demand for driver-guides collapsed. In the eight months since the quake, the number of overseas tourists visiting Hualien has declined by “at least 90 percent, because most of them come for Taroko Gorge, not for the east coast or the East Longitudinal Valley,” he says. Chen estimates the drop in domestic sightseers after the
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo, speaking at the Reagan Defense Forum last week, said the US is confident it can defeat the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the Pacific, though its advantage is shrinking. Paparo warned that the PRC might launch a “war of necessity” even if it thinks it could not win, a wise observation. As I write, the PRC is carrying out naval and air exercises off its coast that are aimed at Taiwan and other nations threatened by PRC expansionism. A local defense official said that China’s military activity on Monday formed two “walls” east
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