VIEW THIS PAGE Get out your green outfits — St Patrick’s Day arrives on Tuesday. While legend has it that St Patrick used the shamrock to explain the holy trinity, revelers in Taipei will find another symbolic trio to mark the celebration: Guinness, Jameson and Bailey’s at their local pub and at reduced prices.
But before rushing off to the usual nightspots, consider a relatively quiet day and a view at Donovan’s Coffee (2F, 10-1, Ln 56, Gongming St, Tamsui Township, Taipei County (台北縣淡水鎮公明街56巷10之1號2樓), www.donovans.com.tw, (02) 2625-6234), located a five-minute walk from Danshui MRT Station (淡水捷運站). This second floor cafe and restaurant, run by Irish expatriate Tim Donovan, has a small balcony overlooking the harbor and Guanyin Mountain (觀音山) — a perfect setting to try one of the house specialties, Irish coffee (NT$110). Tall cans of Guinness normally go for NT$190; on Tuesday, there’s a 15-percent discount on all alcohol and food. Donovan says he will also be there to chat about the story of St Patrick and offer free Gaelic lessons to anyone who’s interested.
Back in town, the parties start tomorrow. Sports bar Tavern Premier (415, Xinyi Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市信義路四段415號), www.tavern.com.tw, (02) 8780-0892) is throwing its “St Patrick’s Madness” party tomorrow and Saturday, with NT$99 specials on pints of Guinness from 8pm to 9pm, and various cocktails for NT$99 from 10pm to 11pm. On Tuesday, there will be an Irish buffet for NT$299, which includes dishes like Irish lamb stew and fried fish. Purchasing a buffet dinner allows you two pints of Guinness for NT$99 each.
Get your jig on at the Brass Monkey (3F, 8, Nanjing E Rd Sec 5, Taipei City (台北市南京東路五段8號3樓), www.brassmonkeytaipei.com, (02) 2547-5050), which is holding an Irish dancing contest tomorrow at 9pm followed by a party hosted by the Taiwan Celts, an expatriate Gaelic football team. Guinness pints are NT$199 for all of this month. For tomorrow’s party, receive a free “green” shot (Bailey’s and creme de menthe) by either wearing green underwear, providing proof of Irish nationality, wielding an Irish flag, sporting green hair, or proving it’s your birthday.
Free beer, who can resist? The Cosmopolitan Grill (218 Changchun Rd, Taipei City (台北市長春路218號), www.cosmo.com.tw, (02) 2508-0304) thinks you can’t. From tomorrow until Tuesday, wear green clothing or green make-up or carry an Irish flag to get one free bottle of Miller Chill beer. If that’s not Irish enough for you, then go for tall cans of Guinness for NT$100, Jameson whiskey for NT$90 and Bailey’s for NT$75.
Free Guinness, need we say more? Carnegie’s (100, Anhe Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市安和路二段100號), www.carnegies.net, (02) 2325-4433) follows its own St Patrick’s Day tradition of offering free Guinness pints, from 7pm to 8pm on Tuesday. The rest of the day pints will cost NT$150. Other drink specials include Bailey’s and Jameson’s shots for NT$99 all day, while lunch and dinner menus offer corned beef and cabbage (NT$360) and lamb stew (NT$390).
For those who want an authentic Irish pub experience but can do without the crowds, Hell’s Kitchen (1, Civil Blvd Sec 5, Taipei City (台北市市民大道五段1號), (02) 2748-6407) may be the ticket. One of the proprietors, Irishman Niall Clinton, says he and his partners are trying to run their latest establishment “more like an Irish bar,” by adorning their smallish space with “Irish bits and pieces.”
If Hell’s Kitchen remains anything like Clinton’s previous ventures at Spaceman or On Tap, expect to celebrate until the wee hours of the morning.
And it’s one of the nicer deals in town: tomorrow, Saturday and Tuesday, the bar offers Guinness pints for NT$150 from 8pm to midnight, and Jameson and Baileys for NT$50 each, all night.
Leave your vehicles at home when celebrating, and let taxis and public transport be your chariots. Happy jigging. VIEW THIS PAGE
May 6 to May 12 Those who follow the Chinese-language news may have noticed the usage of the term zhuge (豬哥, literally ‘pig brother,’ a male pig raised for breeding purposes) in reports concerning the ongoing #Metoo scandal in the entertainment industry. The term’s modern connotations can range from womanizer or lecher to sexual predator, but it once referred to an important rural trade. Until the 1970s, it was a common sight to see a breeder herding a single “zhuge” down a rustic path with a bamboo whip, often traveling large distances over rugged terrain to service local families. Not only
Ahead of incoming president William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20 there appear to be signs that he is signaling to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and that the Chinese side is also signaling to the Taiwan side. This raises a lot of questions, including what is the CCP up to, who are they signaling to, what are they signaling, how with the various actors in Taiwan respond and where this could ultimately go. In the last column, published on May 2, we examined the curious case of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) heavyweight Tseng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) — currently vice premier
The last time Mrs Hsieh came to Cihu Park in Taoyuan was almost 50 years ago, on a school trip to the grave of Taiwan’s recently deceased dictator. Busloads of children were brought in to pay their respects to Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正), known as Generalissimo, who had died at 87, after decades ruling Taiwan under brutal martial law. “There were a lot of buses, and there was a long queue,” Hsieh recalled. “It was a school rule. We had to bow, and then we went home.” Chiang’s body is still there, under guard in a mausoleum at the end of a path
Last week the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) released a set of very strange numbers on Taiwan’s wealth distribution. Duly quoted in the Taipei Times, the report said that “The Gini coefficient for Taiwanese households… was 0.606 at the end of 2021, lower than Australia’s 0.611, the UK’s 0.620, Japan’s 0.678, France’s 0.676 and Germany’s 0.727, the agency said in a report.” The Gini coefficient is a measure of relative inequality, usually of wealth or income, though it can be used to evaluate other forms of inequality. However, for most nations it is a number from .25 to .50