Edison Chen (?夢洷) serves as a symbol of trends over the past year and, perhaps, what to expect in 2009. For those of you who have been living in outer space recently, some 1,300 explicit images were stolen from Chen＊s computer showing the star and at least half a dozen Hong Kong celebrities 〞 Gillian Chung (潝釔糽), Bobo Chan (?恅磏), Mandy Chen (?郤?), Cecilia Cheung (?啡皏) and Chiu Ching-yu (猣??), to name a few 〞 in various sexual poses and posted on the Internet. In the resulting ※sex scandal,§ Chen fled overseas amid moralizing by the media and authorities and rumors that he is on the triad＊s hit list (HK$500,000 for either hand). Predictably, the fallout of the scandal included Chen losing several endorsements and promising that he would step out of Hong Kong＊s entertainment industry forever.
If half a million Hong Kong dollars is the price for one of Chen＊s hands, in Taiwan the going rate for someone＊s life is NT$3 million. At least that was the sum disgraced entertainer Hung Chi-te (粹む肅) offered the family of a woman he killed in Kenting in February while driving under the influence. This marks a steep decline of NT$5 million compared to the previous year when Shino Lin (輿?鑠) paid the family of the victim she ran over while wasted behind the wheel. Blame it on the global economic downturn.
Actor Ethan Ruan＊s (??毞) virile member has done rather better by him despite his own propensity to flaunt it about the gossip rags. The long running saga of his rumbustious sexual marathons with the mysterious ※Joanna§ and his on-again, off-again relationship with ※official§ girlfriend Tiffany Hsu (偝洱撣) did nothing to reduce his pulling power, and the soap opera To Love You Is My Destiny (韜笢蛁隅扂?斕) in which he stars continued to achieve stellar ratings.
Pop Stop has also shown a good deal of interest in two of 2008＊s most high-profile weddings. The first was that of Terry Gou (廖怢?), head of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (?漆儕躇), and dancer Delia Tseng (崠黹?), which took place in August. Delia is something of a step down from former Gou marriage prospects, which have included the queens of the Chinese-language entertainment industry such as Carina Lau (?樁鍍), Rosamund Kwan (燊眳轅), and supermodel Lin Chi-ling (輿祩鍍), but as Tseng is nicknamed Doggy (僩僩), she may well have qualities that even Next magazine has avoided speculating about.
Former Gou prospect Lau decided that good looks and charm beat a bulging pocket book and settled for heartthrob Tony Leung Chiu Wai (褽陳?). The couple were also married in August at a ceremony in Bhutan from which the press where rigorously kept at telephoto length.
Lau＊s best friend Faye Wong (卼滑) had less to celebrate this year. The Hong Kong media broke out into a rabid and somewhat tasteless frenzy when gossip rags reported in September that the pop chanteuse had miscarried what would have been her second child with husband Li Ya-peng (燠?齺). Some newspapers speculated that the 39-year-old Wong＊s ※advanced age§ might have contributed to the miscarriage or that it might actually have been an induced abortion after Wong＊s doctor discovered that the fetus had some sort of ※abnormality.§
Wong＊s manager Chen Jia-ying (?模踕), in a move no doubt designed to save her notoriously private client from more public mortification, hurriedly declared to the press that Wong＊s period had just been a little bit late. This was despite the fact that Chen herself had announced the pregnancy earlier.
The pregnancy-obsessed media also declared a bump watch on Cecilia Cheung, the aforementioned subject of Edison Chen＊s nude portraiture and wife of Wong＊s ex Nicholas Tse (珴鰝鄣). Rumors had also circulated that Cheung had suffered a miscarriage, but Sing Tao Daily News (陎???) speculated that Cheung might be knocked up again after one of their intrepid reporters spotted her in a convenience store loading up on five cups of noodles, three cans of some unspecified foodstuff, two boxes of chocolates and three big bags of potato chips. Perhaps Cheung was just seeking comfort food 〞 it must be tough when the entire world is your gynecologist (especially if they have Chen＊s photos for reference).
After a widely reported string of flings with mixed-race models last year, pop idol David Tao (枎?) garnered further attention from the tabloids when he fell off the wagon. After a bender at the uber-trendy Barcode lounge in Taipei＊s Xinyi District to celebrate the beginning of 2008, Tao＊s taxi driver dropped him off at a nearby police station because the sozzled star was unable to recall where he lived.
Tao became a little too friendly with the authorities, engaging in amiable antics such as high-fiving officers, making incessant small talk, and fawning over cops who just wanted the inebriated star to stand still. The lively display of drunkenness even included addressing the Next magazine paparazzo who had been called to record the silly scene as ※bro.§
Guatemalan-Taiwanese model Liz Yang (?獲佷), one of Tao＊s many rumored sweethearts, promptly claimed that they were ※just friends§ after the farcical episode.
Finally, this year＊s roundup would not be complete without mentioning the Beijing Olympics, which presented an ideal venue for A-listers to show off their patriotism. Entertainment big shots including Jackie Chan (傖?), Andy Lau (?肅?), Wang Lee-hom (卼薯粽) Kelly Chen (?雌轅) and Zhang Ziyi (梒赽禊) all expressed their support for China＊s authoritarian regime by bearing the Olympic torch (a ceremony invented by the Nazis for the 1936 Berlin Olympics to promote Aryan ideals) and singing songs with schmaltzy titles such as Beijing, Beijing, I Love Beijing (控儔ㄛ控儔ㄛ扂?控儔) at director Zhang Yimou＊s (??牾) less-than-creative closing ceremony.
Wooden houses wedged between concrete, crumbling brick facades with roofs gaping to the sky, and tiled art deco buildings down narrow alleyways: Taichung Central District’s (中區) aging architecture reveals both the allure and reality of the old downtown. From Indigenous settlement to capital under Qing Dynasty rule through to Japanese colonization, Taichung’s Central District holds a long and layered history. The bygone beauty of its streets once earned it the nickname “Little Kyoto.” Since the late eighties, however, the shifting of economic and government centers westward signaled a gradual decline in the area’s evolving fortunes. With the regeneration of the once
Even by the standards of Ukraine’s International Legion, which comprises volunteers from over 55 countries, Han has an unusual backstory. Born in Taichung, he grew up in Costa Rica — then one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — where a relative worked for the embassy. After attending an American international high school in San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital, Han — who prefers to use only his given name for OPSEC (operations security) reasons — moved to the US in his teens. He attended Penn State University before returning to Taiwan to work in the semiconductor industry in Kaohsiung, where he
On May 2, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), at a meeting in support of Taipei city councilors at party headquarters, compared President William Lai (賴清德) to Hitler. Chu claimed that unlike any other democracy worldwide in history, no other leader was rooting out opposing parties like Lai and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). That his statements are wildly inaccurate was not the point. It was a rallying cry, not a history lesson. This was intentional to provoke the international diplomatic community into a response, which was promptly provided. Both the German and Israeli offices issued statements on Facebook
Perched on Thailand’s border with Myanmar, Arunothai is a dusty crossroads town, a nowheresville that could be the setting of some Southeast Asian spaghetti Western. Its main street is the final, dead-end section of the two-lane highway from Chiang Mai, Thailand’s second largest city 120kms south, and the heart of the kingdom’s mountainous north. At the town boundary, a Chinese-style arch capped with dragons also bears Thai script declaring fealty to Bangkok’s royal family: “Long live the King!” Further on, Chinese lanterns line the main street, and on the hillsides, courtyard homes sit among warrens of narrow, winding alleyways and
RSS