As we bid farewell to 2021, news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) pointed out that even though 2021 was marred by the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters, it has brought with it some strange and fantastic news. The AFP has chosen a few highlights for us to recap.
Here are two whacky stories in 2021 that AFP came up with:
‧ “Salmon chaos”
Photo: Liberty Times 照片:自由時報
Japanese sushi chain Sushiro offered free sushi for people whose name contained the Chinese characters for salmon, causing a wave of name changing to break out across Taiwan.
‧ “Four weddings”
A bank employee and his wife married four times and divorced three times over a period of 37 days. The man applied for marriage leave four times to get a total of 32 paid holidays, but the bank only granted him eight days for the first period of marriage leave. Believing that the bank owed him 24 days of leave, he filed a complaint to Taipei City’s Department of Labor. The bank was found to have violated labor laws.
(TRANSLATED BY RITA WANG, TAIPEI TIMES)
二○二一年結束之際,《法新社》指出,雖然今年受到疫情和許多天災侵擾,但仍有一些美妙有趣的新聞,他們也選出幾則新聞帶大家回顧。
以下列出兩則《法新社》選出的二○二一年新奇報導:
‧ 「鮭魚之亂」
連鎖壽司「壽司郎」台灣店為名字中有「鮭魚」中文字的人提供優惠,造成台灣人瘋狂改名。
‧ 「四場婚禮」
台灣一名銀行員在三十七天內連續跟同一個人結婚四次、離婚三次,並向公司申請四次婚假共三十二天,但銀行只准第一次結婚的八天假,行員認為公司欠他二十四天假,因此向北市勞動局提出檢舉,銀行被認為違法。
(自由時報)
A: I want to go to Neihu to see the cherry blossoms. B: Do you want to go by YouBike? A: Well, how much does it cost? B: The Taipei City Government just announced that riders can use the bicycles for free for the first 30 minutes! A: Great! Riding bikes is also more eco-friendly than driving. A: 我想去內湖賞櫻花耶。 B: 那要不要騎YouBike微笑單車去? A: 車費怎麼算? B: 台北市政府最近宣布︰前30分鐘免費! A: 太棒了,而且也比開車更環保。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
One of us is a murderer. The terrifying thought fills your head. There’s a corpse in the next room, and one of your fellow diners put it there. As the evening progresses, you learn disturbing secrets about everyone, and you’re forced to confess to a few yourself. You all have motives for the crime, but who committed it? Fortunately, it’s just a game. Murder mystery games are multiplayer role-playing games designed to be played over the course of an evening. The concept likely originated with “wink murder,” an amusing pastime that became popular in the early 1900s. In this game, a “murderer” kills
A: How does Taipei’s YouBike service charge after the free ride for the first 30 minutes? B: It’s NT$10 every 30 minutes within four hours. A: What a bargain. No wonder Taipei is listed by Britain’s “Time Out” magazine as one of the best 50 cities in the world. B: But I spotted a few English mistakes on YouBike’s Web site. A: I guess that aspect of it still has room for improvement. A: 台北市YouBike前30分鐘免費,之後怎麼算? B: 4小時內每30分鐘10元。 A: 真劃算,難怪台北市會入選英國《Time Out》雜誌全球最佳的50座城市。 B: 不過我在YouBike的網站上看到了好幾個英文錯誤。 A: 看來這個部分還有改善的空間。(By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/ 台北時報張聖恩)
Mullet roe is a highly-priced delicacy typically served during special occasions like wedding banquets or Chinese New Year’s dinners, where families come together in celebration. The mullet roe can be prepared in various ways. It is usually pan-fried but can also be roasted or torched. To cook a pan-fried mullet roe, soak it in liquor or wine and peel off its membrane. Then, it is browned over a low fire and turned several times. Finally, the fried mullet roe is cut diagonally and is ready to be served. This dish is usually served with garlic scapes and daikon slices, but