Ideas have ways of getting around. A few years back, a savvy entrepreneur in Tokyo had an idea he thought would sell: open a restaurant for hip young couples and office workers with a jail theme.
Dress the waiters and waitresses in guard uniforms and put bars around each table and close the doors after the orders are taken. The idea worked superbly, and the restaurant thrived, with worldwide publicity following.
Enter Jail, a new restaurant off Tunhua South Road in Taipei that, judging by the crowds, has won over local diners with a beerhouse cuisine in a mock prison, with the waiters in convicts' uniforms. The sign outside the door reads: "Food, Cock, Jail, Music," according to those who've been there. The Chinese name of this joint? Devil's Island (
John Naisbitt doesn't own a cellphone
Now it can be told. During a TV interview in Taipei the other day, visiting US trend watcher John Naisbitt, author of the huge international bestseller Megatrends and other popular books, said he doesn't own a cellphone and doesn't plan to, either.
Yes, the high-profile author of the new book High Tech, High Touch -- co-authored with his daughter Nana -- said he doesn't want people calling him wherever he goes and prefers to use an old-fashioned answering machine at his home office to screen his calls.
"When the day is over, I just return the important calls after screening all the messages at the end of the day," Naisbitt said.
However, Nana Naisbitt, a bit younger than her bearded dad, admitted to owning a mobile phone.
"They're necessary," she said.
Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao (李佳豪) on Sunday won a silver medal at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England, a career best. Lee, 25, took silver in the final of the men’s singles against world No. 1 Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) of China, who won 21-17, 21-19 in a tough match that lasted 51 minutes. After the match, the Taiwanese player, who ranks No. 22 in the world, said it felt unreal to be challenging an opponent of Shi’s caliber. “I had to be in peak form, and constantly switch my rhythm and tactics in order to score points effectively,” he said. Lee got
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
‘RELATIVELY STRONG LANGUAGE’: An expert said the state department has not softened its language on China and was ‘probably a little more Taiwan supportive’ China’s latest drills near Taiwan on Monday were “brazen and irresponsible threats,” a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday, while reiterating Washington’s decades-long support of Taipei. “China cannot credibly claim to be a ‘force for stability in a turbulent world’ while issuing brazen and irresponsible threats toward Taiwan,” the unnamed spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to media queries. Washington’s enduring commitment to Taiwan will continue as it has for 45 years and the US “will continue to support Taiwan in the face of China’s military, economic, informational and diplomatic pressure campaign,” the e-mail said. “Alongside our international partners, we firmly
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
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