Fili An's Comments

Fili's world : Touring Taipei : National Palace Museum Shilin

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:39:22 +0000

jacthques - Thanks, that's always nice to hear. Sure, you can link as much as you want :P

Fili's world : The China Price : Thinking about China but not looking at who we are

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:59:17 +0000

David - yeah, I believe we have shortly debated and perhaps at times disagreed on this topic before on your blog. I'm not saying foreigners aren't entitled to their own opinions and that if they have an opinion they shouldn't express it. Yet, there are a few things to be said about the way it should be done, and the point I'm referring to here is that bashing, as opposed to constructive culture-sensitive criticism, is often the case with foreigners when judging others rather than one self. It's especially troubling when expats go into a glorification of their own cultural and national background, coming from a stand point of superiority and higher knowledge-skills-understanding than locals. When it comes to China, Taiwan, and especially Israel I sometimes support the view that foreigners do not understand their target of criticism as they rarely speak the local language, know anything about the local culture and norms, and live off scraps of translated information through a self-serving politically-biased international media. I've even seen that with world renowned called experts who - as far as my limited understanding allows me - are at times severely lacking in their perception of simple situations (as I'm sure I do too). It's not to say that their views should be ignored, but that they should perhaps be more sensitive and follow what you wrote in your last paragraph.

Fili's world : Taiwan's Beauty : Top Most Beautiful Taiwanese Girls

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:53:42 +0000

cfimages - you're my hero. ^_^ Seriously, I've always wanted to know more about photography, but the insane costs of equipment, how heavy the whole thing is, and the fact that nowadays everybody's into it kind of puts me off the whole thing. You are among the selected few that have managed, somehow - not sure how, to turn this into a livable profession. I've seen quite a few talented folks who have invested alot of their lives and finances into it and are still struggling to make their way (you probably know Tainan's Garret).

Fili's world : Taiwan's Beauty : Top Most Beautiful Taiwanese Girls

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:47:01 +0000

Carrie - Glad to hear things are working out with Wordpress (love what you did with your blog, looks very professional) although you seem to be running from one health incident to the other? Is that Taiwan related or just bad luck? Hopefully, will keep having interesting stuff 'round this parts to write about.

Fili's world : The English Teaching Tainan Garbage Trucks : Are You Hungry?

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:13:30 +0000

Nitzan - as you can clearly see in the garbage truck photo, the photo was taken from the Starbucks next to the university looking at Chimei cafe (sign saying "daxue rd." in Taiwanese Pinyin). Those trucks are all over Tainan. If you haven't noticed them so far, I say - lucky!

Fili's world : The Battle of Red Cliff Chinese Movie : Absolutely Perfect

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 02:15:22 +0000

RanE - ^_^ Well, it's perfect but not without flaws :P . The Japanese guy casted has horrible Mandarin, the Taiwanese girl can't really act very well, and some of the historical facts are questionable (were Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu such good friends? probably not). Still, I've been told by some of my Taiwanese friends that this movie does a much better job than most TV dramas made on the period so far, historical accuracy issues included.

Fili's world : Taiwan's Celebrities : Top Taiwanese Celebrity Beauties by my Taiwanese friends

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 09:22:17 +0000

PaserbyJ - Thanks for the names, looking good, indeed.

Fili's world : Taiwan's Celebrities : Top Taiwanese Celebrity Beauties by my Taiwanese friends

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 04:26:38 +0000

PaserbyJ - Oh wow. I have to say that I've been in Tainan for quite a while but never saw anything quite like this girl :) Yeah, I agree, she's gorgeous. She looks like a very traditional girl :) ( http://fashion-photography-album.blogspot.com/200... ) Any other recommendations?

Fili's world : Taiwan's Celebrities : Top Taiwanese Celebrity Beauties by my Taiwanese friends

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 03:29:12 +0000

PasserbyJ - "Akemi Katsuki was born in Brazil, but growed up in Tokyo. Now at 20 and based in Taiwan, she is dubbed as the hottest pin-up girl in Taiwan after supermodel Lin Chi Ling." I guess someone thought she's considered to be Taiwanese.

Fili's world : Taiwan's Celebrities : Top Taiwanese Celebrity Beauties by my Taiwanese friends

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:49:32 +0000

YeinJee - thanks. My bad. Hopefully corrected now.

Fili's world : Taiwan's Celebrities : Top Taiwanese Celebrity Beauties by my Taiwanese friends

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:05:40 +0000

Carrie - My list was better, right? :) actually, A-Mei is pretty good looking.

Fili's world : Taiwan's Beauty : Top Most Beautiful Taiwanese Girls

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 08:52:17 +0000

Carrie - you need to give me an update on the latest from the Chinese cinema and the new hot pop stars. I'm a bit behind, and I can't keep up with it all. Here in HK, it's pretty much all HK centered (with the occasional visits from Japan and Taiwan). Next time you have some trouble with the blog, please email me and let me know. I'll then try and get my magical tech charm to will it to work again.

Fili's world : Taiwan's Beauty : Top Most Beautiful Taiwanese Girls

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 08:49:43 +0000

Cfimages - you get to photograph these girls? and take photos of Oasis up close and in person? Dear Mother of God, some people get all the luck in the world. ^_^ Honestly, I'm jealous. (How are you liking this Intense Debate thingy?)

Fili's world : Taiwan's Beauty : Top Most Beautiful Taiwanese Girls

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 08:46:42 +0000

Michael - I knew it would take atleast something like "hot sexy Taiwanese girls" to get the world famous Michael Turton to comment on my blog. Mission accomplished. (I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!)

Fili's world : Foreigners and Locals : Do Taiwanese like foreigners in Taiwan?

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:54:07 +0000

Mike - that surprises me alot. I've never had anything that blunt. I did have some unfortunate incidents in other "western" countries. I guess you have all sorts in all places.

Fili's world : Taiwan's History : Pingtung County's Hengchun Ancient City

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:47:55 +0000

Gladys - Yeah, I thought you might have. I wonder about Taiwan's historical appeal to the average tourist. A professor at UST who visited Tainan recently commented "I was told Tainan is the historical capital of Taiwan, and it took us exactly 15 minutes to see all the historical sites". ^_^

Fili's world : Touring Hong Kong - HK Museum of History

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:22:23 +0000

Gladys - thanks, I didn't know that. At last, a clarification. Interesting, this actually means that most of modern HK was not part of the 99 years agreement. My next question is - shouldn't the HK people be the ones to decide whether the southern part should be returned to China or not and not the British? How come the HK people have never voiced their protest on the way the deal was signed between China and the UK?

Fili's world : Touring Taipei : National Palace Museum Shilin

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 13:11:36 +0000

Nitzan - It's going to get worse all over Taiwan, maybe even especially in Tainan. I hope it's worth the economic contribution some say it will bring.

Fili's world : Culturally embedded religious symbols : Christian cross as fashion

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 13:08:48 +0000

MJ - :) I think this is partially the point of this post. Symbols are symbols regardless of their true meanings or origin. Nimrod and Tamuz might have adopted that from somewhere else too. Star of David is used by other religions predating organized Judaism and Islam. It's interesting how those symbols become what they are, and how they are interpreted differently by different cultures. Thanks for the clarification, though ;)