Pop Stop would be negligent of its duty if it failed to report on the latest twists and turns of gossip rag fodder Terry Gou's (郭台銘) latest affair(s) of the heart and wallet. Recently admitting to gossip hounds that his feelings for Carina Lau (劉嘉玲) are genuine and serious, one of Taiwan's most minted men nevertheless shared the love by flying Lin Chi-ling (林志玲) in his private jet to host grand parties at his IT empire's redoubts.
The tycoon's courtship game with Lin was made official at his company's evening party in Shanxi Province, China, last Friday when the national sweetheart-turned-private hostess played the role of a fan-holding fortune-teller offering her divination on Gou's future love. "There is no need to forecast my love life since I am the one who is in control not fate, and I'm not interested in the fan but the person who is holding it," said subtle-as-a-sledgehammer Gou.
Lin later said that Gou was just using her, not for her looks, or her intellectual prowess, but as a cloak to hide his real intentions towards Lau. The tycoon-turned-playboy touched on his latest progress with the Hong Kong diva by mentioning his rival in love for the first time. "Tony Leung (梁朝偉) is my mom's favorite actor and I think he has more merit than I," Gou was quoted as saying, suggesting the well-preserved star may be out of the picture.
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
Is the whole convoluted affair a contrived circus for the media to boost Gou's chances of becoming a movie mogul, or, heavens above, is he really just a player?
Another budding relation-ship in the spotlight is between the queen of Mando-pop Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) and foreign-educated wannabe star Eddie Peng (彭于晏). The pretty boy is reportedly following Tsai from online chat rooms to late night parties.
Peng's strategy seems to be working as Tsai told members of the local press last week that, "Peng is a good friend that I can talk to," which in dating game speak roughly translates as, "ya, I like him and we'll see how it goes."
Ah! Love, power, money, lust and fame — what a heady mix. At least Hong Kong actor Andy Lau (劉德華) has other things on his mind. The star, it is widely speculated, is going bald.
When cornered by local paparazzi, Lau laughed off questions about his reportedly thinning mop top, but failed to explain why hats have become an indispensable part of his outfits these days.
One of Taiwan's most famous pop culture exports, the disbanded boy band F4, will unite again in Taipei, for a handsome profit of course. Their get-together party with fans, to be held next month, will draw over 5,000 devotees from neighboring countries such as Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, it is reported.
The Taipei Times last week reported that the rising share of seniors in the population is reshaping the nation’s housing markets. According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, about 850,000 residences were occupied by elderly people in the first quarter, including 655,000 that housed only one resident. H&B Realty chief researcher Jessica Hsu (徐佳馨), quoted in the article, said that there is rising demand for elderly-friendly housing, including units with elevators, barrier-free layouts and proximity to healthcare services. Hsu and others cited in the article highlighted the changing family residential dynamics, as children no longer live with parents,
It is jarring how differently Taiwan’s politics is portrayed in the international press compared to the local Chinese-language press. Viewed from abroad, Taiwan is seen as a geopolitical hotspot, or “The Most Dangerous Place on Earth,” as the Economist once blazoned across their cover. Meanwhile, tasked with facing down those existential threats, Taiwan’s leaders are dying their hair pink. These include former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), among others. They are demonstrating what big fans they are of South Korean K-pop sensations Blackpink ahead of their concerts this weekend in Kaohsiung.
Taiwan is one of the world’s greatest per-capita consumers of seafood. Whereas the average human is thought to eat around 20kg of seafood per year, each Taiwanese gets through 27kg to 35kg of ocean delicacies annually, depending on which source you find most credible. Given the ubiquity of dishes like oyster omelet (蚵仔煎) and milkfish soup (虱目魚湯), the higher estimate may well be correct. By global standards, let alone local consumption patterns, I’m not much of a seafood fan. It’s not just a matter of taste, although that’s part of it. What I’ve read about the environmental impact of the
Oct 20 to Oct 26 After a day of fighting, the Japanese Army’s Second Division was resting when a curious delegation of two Scotsmen and 19 Taiwanese approached their camp. It was Oct. 20, 1895, and the troops had reached Taiye Village (太爺庄) in today’s Hunei District (湖內), Kaohsiung, just 10km away from their final target of Tainan. Led by Presbyterian missionaries Thomas Barclay and Duncan Ferguson, the group informed the Japanese that resistance leader Liu Yung-fu (劉永福) had fled to China the previous night, leaving his Black Flag Army fighters behind and the city in chaos. On behalf of the
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