If there was a match made in Pop Stop heaven it would be the king of soap Jerry Yan (言承旭) getting in a lather with Taiwan's supermodel Lin Chi-ling (林志玲). News programs earlier this week were interrupted with "information" that Yan and Lin were together in the US. Reporters following the two stars discovered they had disappeared from the media radar and immediately put one and one together, to come up with a couple.
Not to be outdone in the arena of speculation, where it shines brightest, Apple Daily "interviewed" a holidaymaker from Taiwan who did not have a name and was quoted as saying, "We were near Hollywood in a shopping area looking around when we saw Jerry Yan and Lin Chi-ling!" Wah! Must be true then.
Actually, the story is not so far-fetched as it might seem. Yan and Lin were at the same modeling agency and two years ago someone was hawking around mobile phone shots of the couple together. Yan, a boy band singer with F4 (flower four) and star of The Hospital (白色巨塔) was even said to have bought a toy poodle for NT$60,000 as a get-well present when Lin fell off her horse.
PHOTOS: TAIPEI TIMES
When normal service resumed at the news networks there was no relief from the unraveling scandal of Rebar Group Chairman Wang You-theng's (王又曾) flight from justice. Not known for his tact or timing, "Local King" Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) weighed in with some support for the disgraced businessman's son Gary Wang (王令麟), calling him a "good friend." Not incidentally Wang is the chairman of Eastern Multimedia (東森多媒體), which broadcasts many of Wu's shows. Even so, Wu was moved to say that he noticed Wang was having problems with the bank because when they played golf together Wang would often have to disappear before close of business to sort out his cash problems.
Wave a notepad or a microphone and Wu cannot help himself from saying something stupid. Asked about his "good friend" Hu Gua (胡瓜), Wu told Apple a man who is not convicted must be innocent. Hu got off the hook last week when the Taipei District Court decided he had not cheated at mahjong, even though it was established he did inform his brother by radio about other player's tiles by spying with surveillance cameras from another room. Wu figured the judge would not have declared Hu innocent unless he was; then added rapists should not be set free. Apparently, Wu does not realize he suffers from Tourette's syndrome.
Contrary to what they tell you, not everyone is equal before the law. If you can afford a good lawyer then the law is an ass. Hu managed to solicit the services of William Koo (顧立雄), who is said never to have lost a case. Koo is now representing the president's wife Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), as she attempts to prove that she did not have her hands in the nation's cookie jar. Surely, all bets are off on whether she's innocent.
Last but not least, Pop Stop would be remiss if it did not inform the English-speaking world of the latest love in Jay Chou's (周杰倫) life. The Chairman of Mandopop was caught by most of the local rags in a rental car at Neihu Riverside Park with 21-year-old model Tsai Hsin-jie (蔡欣潔). Naturally both parties refused to comment and Tsai's agent issued the usual denial to confirm it was true. As if he wasn't getting enough attention, Chou is currently directing and starring in a movie about himself, as a student.
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
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
This Qing Dynasty trail takes hikers from renowned hot springs in the East Rift Valley, up to the top of the Coastal Mountain Range, and down to the Pacific Short vacations to eastern Taiwan often require choosing between the Rift Valley with its pineapple fields, rice paddies and broader range of amenities, or the less populated coastal route for its ocean scenery. For those who can’t decide, why not try both? The Antong Traversing Trail (安通越嶺道) provides just such an opportunity. Built 149 years ago, the trail linked up these two formerly isolated parts of the island by crossing over the Coastal Mountain Range. After decades of serving as a convenient path for local Amis, Han settlers, missionaries and smugglers, the trail fell into disuse once modern roadways were built
RSS