As the world celebrated the 60th birthday of Barbie, a doll manufactured by the US toy company Mattel, on March 9, many of you may not know that Barbie dolls in the early years were actually produced by Mattel’s factory in what is now New Taipei City’s Taishan District. For three decades, between the 1960s and 1980s, its production line supported the local economy.
In recent years, Mattel has given Barbie a makeover with more diverse looks and body types, and the strategy has paid off. Today, 58 million Barbies are sold each year in more than 150 countries worldwide. Warner Bros will be making the first live-action film about the doll this year.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Hello Kitty will also appear in a film for the first time in its 45-year history, her creator Sanrio said last week. A US$6 billion (about NT$180 billion) industry has successfully been built around the mouthless cat since its debut. It is now found in over 130 countries on more than 50,000 authorized items every year.
Photo: Chou Hsiang-yun, Liberty Times
照片︰自由時報記者周湘芸
(Eddy Chang, Taipei Times)
美國美泰兒玩具公司製造的芭比娃娃,於三月九日在全球歡慶六十歲。但許多人可能不知道早期的芭比娃娃,其實是該公司在現在的新北市泰山區的工廠生產的。在六○至八○年代間,其生產線支撐著當地經濟長達三十年。
近年來,美泰兒還為芭比進行了大改造,以呈現更多元化的樣貌和體態,此一策略也成功奏效。目前芭比在全球一百五十多個國家,每年熱銷五千八百萬個,華納兄弟公司今年還將拍攝芭比真人版電影。
而日本三麗鷗公司上週則宣布,旗下的Hello Kitty誕生四十五年以來,亦將首度進軍大銀幕。這隻無嘴貓出道後成功打造了六十億美元(約一千八百多億台幣)的玩偶王國,現在每年超過五萬件授權商品,在全球一百三十多個國家販售。
(台北時報張聖恩〉
A: Wow, three Taiwanese restaurants just won the 2024 “Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants” awards. B: Awesome! Which three restaurants? A: Taipei’s Logy at No. 22 and MUME at No. 34, and Taichung’s JL Studio at No. 33. B: Actually, there are many more great establishments in Taipei. How about other Asian cities? A: Singapore claimed nine spots this year, making it Asia’s new “food capital.” A: 2024「亞洲50最佳餐廳」名單揭曉了,台灣有3家餐廳上榜。 B: 好厲害,哪3家? A: 台北的Logy和MUME分獲第22和34名,台中的JL Studio獲第33名! B: 其實台北還有很多好餐廳,那其他的亞洲城市呢? A: 新加坡今年入選9家,可說是亞洲美食之都。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Let’s explore another delicacy primarily known to Tainan locals: floating milkfish in thick soup. Despite its peculiar name, this dish is another Tainan specialty that showcases the popularity of milkfish, which is made into fish paste and served in thick soup. Unlike the version with tutuo fish, which also adds other ingredients to its thick soup, the floating milkfish version primarily features the “floating fish” itself in its thick soup, ensuring that the fish paste remains the star of the dish. 讓我們來探索另一道台南人熟悉的美食:浮水魚羹。這道菜名奇特的美食,再再展現了台南虱目魚料理的多樣。浮水魚羹是用虱目魚漿做成的羹品,雖然和𩵚魠魚羹一樣是羹湯,但不像𩵚魠魚羹會在湯中加入其他食材,而是讓虱目魚漿成為這道料理的主角。 peculiar (adj.) 獨特的;古怪的 The belly of a milkfish is considered the most
The practice of freezing embryos as part of in vitro fertilization (IVF) was thrown into chaos in Alabama this year, when the state supreme court ruled that such embryos should be considered children, exposing clinics to wrongful death claims in the event they are destroyed in the thawing process. In 2021, more than 80 percent of US IVF procedures involved the transfer of frozen embryos, according to a recent report by the US Department of Health and Human Services. HOW IS EMBRYO FREEZING USED IN IVF? IVF uses high doses of hormones to stimulate ovaries to produce as many eggs as possible. Once
A situation puzzle is a game in which one person describes a scenario and asks the players to explain it. The situation is deliberately lacking in details, but the players may acquire more information by asking questions — however, these can only be answered with “yes” or “no.” A player wins by describing the approximate events that led up to the situation. To do so, they must use a blend of logical and lateral thinking. A famous example of this is sometimes known as “Turtle Soup.” Here’s the riddle: “A man in a restaurant orders turtle soup, tastes it