A topless Zhang Ziyi (章子怡) has been warming up winter for the blogosphere, as paparazzi snapped up shots of the Chinese actress and her fiance, Israeli venture capitalist Aviv “Vivi” Nevo, frolicking on the Caribbean island of St Barts.
A collection of 80 photos, taken while the pair were on vacation earlier this month, has been posted on various Web sites, a few of which have received server-crashing traffic, according to the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper).
The couple’s frisky beachside manner had blogging tongues wagging the most. Nevo was photographed giving the 29-year-old starlet’s tush a robust squeeze as she lay sunbathing. In another shot, he nuzzles her squarely where the sun don’t shine (not even on this tropical island). The Apple Daily noted the shocked reactions on the Internet to this “butt biting.”
Others in the Chinese-language press dutifully regurgitated the posted blog comments, which included remarks to the effect of “get a room,” “disgusting foreigner,” “oh my, they’re not even married,” and “what a disgrace to the Chinese people.” Apple’s assessment combined concern for Zhang’s “future happiness,” given Nevo’s past as a playboy, with bewilderment: “For famous foreigners, sunbathing topless is no big deal at such a locale, but [Zhang] and Aviv’s overly brazen display of passion would have even Hollywood celebrities admitting defeat.”
The saga of the troubled marriage between actress Annie Yi (伊能靜) and singer Harlem Yu (庾澄慶) has taken yet another twist. While their marriage has reportedly been on the mend, Next magazine has stirred things up again, reporting that Yi had been seeing Chen Chia-chun (陳嘉鈞) before her reported affair with Laurence Huang (黃維德).
According to Next, Chen, the younger brother of a prominent newscaster and former boyfriend of Little Pan-pan (小潘潘), was so distraught after reports of Yi’s affair with Huang that he went on a drinking binge. When confronted by reporters, Chen denied that he was drowning his sorrows over the affair, but expressed his “appreciation” for “this caring female friend.”
Who’s number one? The question has spawned the latest “war of words” in the Mando-pop world, as Little Pig (小豬) claims to have bested Wang Lee-hom (王力宏) for the top spot in G-music’s sales charts for the final week of December. Both Little Pig, also known as Alan Luo (羅志祥), and Wang have just released new albums. When asked how he felt about beating Wang, Little Pig said “I can only make comparisons with myself,” reported the Liberty Times.
But Wang’s label, Sony, doubted the accuracy of the charts. A company representative offered a sore response, implying that Little Pig’s label, Gold Typhoon (金牌大風) rigged the charts: “Everyone in record industry knows that whenever major artists from a certain well-known label come out with a new release, they come up with ways to make sure they are the top sellers.” Wang chimed in, saying that “there’s not enough credibility to the charts, they don’t really matter.”
Gold Typhoon, shot back with more numbers: number one in mobile phone ring tones and nine other sales charts and an average of 5,000 copies sold at autograph signing events. “We’ll continue to work hard — not make excuses,” said a company representative. Now, now, there’s enough room for both of you, said the Liberty Times report, which commented that the real praise should go to the two stars for their charity work.
Pretty-boy rockers Mayday (五月天) endured a rough start to the New Year. According to the Liberty Times, disgruntled fans on Internet boards complained that lead singer A-hsin (阿信) was singing off key throughout the band’s New Year’s eve concert in Taipei. Other fans aired suspicions that he was lip-synching, which Mayday’s manager vehemently denied, saying that the band was in the middle of a grueling tour schedule and A-hsin had been suffering from a cold.
Sept.16 to Sept. 22 The “anti-communist train” with then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) face plastered on the engine puffed along the “sugar railway” (糖業鐵路) in May 1955, drawing enthusiastic crowds at 103 stops covering nearly 1,200km. An estimated 1.58 million spectators were treated to propaganda films, plays and received free sugar products. By this time, the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台糖, Taisugar) had managed to connect the previously separate east-west lines established by Japanese-era sugar factories, allowing the anti-communist train to travel easily from Taichung to Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港). Last Sunday’s feature (Taiwan in Time: The sugar express) covered the inauguration of the
The corruption cases surrounding former Taipei Mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) head Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are just one item in the endless cycle of noise and fuss obscuring Taiwan’s deep and urgent structural and social problems. Even the case itself, as James Baron observed in an excellent piece at the Diplomat last week, is only one manifestation of the greater problem of deep-rooted corruption in land development. Last week the government announced a program to permit 25,000 foreign university students, primarily from the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, to work in Taiwan after graduation for 2-4 years. That number is a
This year’s Michelin Gourmand Bib sported 16 new entries in the 126-strong Taiwan directory. The fight for the best braised pork rice and the crispiest scallion pancake painstakingly continued, but what stood out in the lineup this year? Pang Taqueria (胖塔可利亞); Taiwan’s first Michelin-recommended Mexican restaurant. Chef Charles Chen (陳治宇) is a self-confessed Americophile, earning his chef whites at a fine-dining Latin-American fusion restaurant. But what makes this Xinyi (信義) spot stand head and shoulders above Taipei’s existing Mexican offerings? The authenticity. The produce. The care. AUTHENTIC EATS In my time on the island, I have caved too many times to
In a stark demonstration of how award-winning breakthroughs can come from the most unlikely directions, researchers have won an Ig Nobel prize for discovering that mammals can breathe through their anuses. After a series of tests on mice, rats and pigs, Japanese scientists found the animals absorb oxygen delivered through the rectum, work that underpins a clinical trial to see whether the procedure can treat respiratory failure. The team is among 10 recognized in this year’s Ig Nobel awards (see below for more), the irreverent accolades given for achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think.” They are not