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The Many Strangers of Bangka

·January 5, 2021·4 min read

The thing about living in a city I really love is how many interesting characters there are. And you'll never know them all, no matter how hard you try. Where I live in Taipei—Bangka, the oldest and historically poorest district—has proven especially full of unique characters. All of these people have stories, but I'll never know them all Read More

What Disappears During an Outbreak

English Life

·July 23, 2021·3 min read

It’s likely that a lot of bars or nightclubs will disappear during the current outbreak—particularly smaller establishments that eke out a living with what few customers they have Read More

Everyone is an Island

English Life

·March 23, 2021·3 min read

There are no answers in the vast endless ocean...only questions Read More

Celebrating a God’s Birthday with a Temple Rave

English Life

·December 7, 2020·8 min read

The first hint that something big would be taking place in Bangka over the weekend was when a large stage was set up on the street of my apartment building and started blaring loud electronic music every day at 11 AM Read More

Animatronic Hells and Goddesses with GPS

English Life

·April 20, 2021·5 min read

Temple festivals in Taiwan often seem to be a mixture of the sacred and the profane. Sure, temples are places of worship—but temple festivities often have elements of what would otherwise be considered “low” culture incorporated into them Read More

When in Taiwan: The Color of Your Skin

English Life

·April 13, 2021·18 min read

To be a child of globalization comes with an inconceivable sense of perpetual displacement—a disturbance of sort: the fault lines between distant societies or “civilizations” are deeply felt in the space you occupy, the people you interact with, and the commonplace cross-cultural misunderstandings you observe Read More