A publication of the Community Services Center Centered on TAIPEI September 2013, Volume 14, Issue 1 KINMEN: A MAGICAL HISTOry TOUR LGBT IN TAIPEI LOVE RIVER: THE HEArt OF KAOHSIUNG ARE YOU THINKING ABOVE-THE-LINE? A PEEK INSIDE A LUXUry BABY HOTEL THE Art OF ANTIQUING WOOGO CALIFORNIA SMOOTHIES UNCOVERING A DARKER PERIOD IN TAIWan’s PAST Sept_13_Cover.indd 2 2013/8/27 8:21:49 AM Sept_13_Cover.indd 3 2013/8/27 8:21:57 AM COVer ImAge: Richard Saunders Alleyway in old Jincheng Town, Kinmen at night. September 2013 volume 14 issue 1 5 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 6 RICHARD RECOMMENDS NATIONAL THEATER AND CONCert HALL: SEPTEMBER 2013 8 CENTER GALLERY THE CENTER’S FAVORITE FINDS 9 OFF THE BEATEN TRACK Kinmen 10 OUTLOOK LGBT in Taipei 12 TRAVEL Love River 14 COFFEE CORNER Frog Café 16 EXPAT PERSPECTIVE Are You Thinking Above-the-Line? 18 PHOTOGRAPHY Depth of Field 19 HeALTH The Facts About Probiotics CONTENTS 9 20 ArOUND TAIPEI The Art of Zuo Yuezi 22 ANTIQUES Faye Angevine and the Art of Antiquing 25 TCM CORNER A TCM Approach to Menopause 26 DINING WooGo Smoothies 28 PROFILE 22 Michael Hurst 30 GENERATION Y The Importance of Volunteer Work 31 CHINESE KITCHEN Bottle Gourd 32 COMMUNITY TAS 33 EVENTS ABOUT TOWN EVENTS AT THE CENTER 34 COURSES AT THE CENTER 26 CSC BUSINESS CLASSIFIED Centered on Taipei is a publication of the Community Services Center, 25, Lane 290, ZhongShan N. Rd., Sec. 6, Tianmu, Taipei, Taiwan Tel: 02-2836-8134 fax: 02-2835-2530 e-mail: [email protected] Correspondence may be sent to the editor at coteditor@communitycenter. org.tw. Freelance writers, photographers and illustrators are welcome to contact the editor to discuss editorial and graphic assignments. Your talent will find a home with us! Copyright 2013. All rights reserved. Material in this publication may not be reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner. www.communitycenter.org.tw SEPTEMBER 2013 3 Sept_p3-end.indd 3 2013/8/28 4:13:35 PM 4 SEPTEMBER 2013 www.communitycenter.org.tw Sept_p3-end.indd 4 2013/8/27 10:06:57 AM EXPAT PERSPECTIVE COMMUNITY SERVICES CENTER Publisher Community Services Center, Taipei Kari Schiro Richard Saunders Kara Wall Editor Co-editor Advertising Manager Editor Kari Schiro Co-editor Richard Saunders Advertising Manager Kara Wall Tel 02-2836-8134 Fax 02-2835-2530 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Email [email protected] Writing and Photography am often surprised by the juxtaposition of old and new Contributors Suzan Babcock Kirstine Krabsen Marina Burana Reese McMillan that I encounter daily in Taipei. One moment I’m outside an Ivy Chen John McQuade Apple store in the hyper-modern Xinyi District, and the next Michelle Cheung Chi-Kwun Laura Osborne I’m passing a Chinese medicine shop with ancient herbal Aly Cooper Shaun Ramsden Craig Ferguson Richard Saunders remedies lining the walls. It seems that every street has both a Thomas Furey Kari Schiro IStarbucks and someone selling xiaochi from a rickety pushcart. Shana Garcia Anja Serfontein Katharine Gill Rosemary Susa But my favorite blending of old and new occurs during Ghost Monica Hess Maria Tan Month (August 7 to September 4 this year) when, following Serina Huang Grace Ting ancient rituals, people all around the city prepare offerings for the spirits of the deceased. But what are they offering? Alongside the presumably more traditional fruits and incenses, Community Services Center Editorial Panel Siew Kang, Fred Voigtmann you often see Coca Cola, Doritos, and Oreos. Not only that but in addition to paper money, some generous relatives burn photos Printed by Farn Mei Printing Co., Ltd. 1F, No. 102, Hou Kang Street, Shilin District, Taipei of iPads and Coach handbags, ensuring that their ancestors enjoy Tel: 02-2882-6748 Fax: 02-2882-6749 the afterlife in style. I often wonder if the ancestors are reveling E-mail: [email protected] in the new-fangled luxury or rolling over in their graves.... This mix of traditional beliefs with contemporary concerns is sometimes frustrating — as people burn paper money by the Adam McMillan Director fistful, I can’t help but cringe pondering the carbon footprint Office Manager Grace Ting — but I also find the integration of the two admirable. Finding ways to remember and honor the past while moving into the Counselors Suzan Babcock, I-Wen Chan, Fawn Chang, Katherine Chang, Jung Chin, Wendy Evans, future is a challenge, one that the Taiwanese seem, in many Ting Ting Ge, Cerita Hsu, Carol Lee, Eva Salazar-Liu, ways, to take in stride. Ming-I Sun, Cynthia Teeters, Mark Yang In this issue, we explore this theme of “Present & Past” with Newcomer Orientation several articles that illustrate how tradition and history play out Consultant Amy Liu in contemporary life. Serina Huang’s piece on luxury postpartum Accountant Monica Cheng Communications Kari Schiro confinement centers captures the idea perfectly, describing Programs Coordinator Rosemary Susa how modern Taiwanese have adapted an ancient custom. Events Coordinator Bianca Russell IT Coordinator Shana Garcia Meanwhile, Thomas Furey examines the storied past and Program Support Bunny Pacheco remarkable, recent transformation of Kaohsiung’s Love River, Gloria Gwo Chinese Teacher now the city’s beloved centerpiece. Volunteers Nancy Achorn, Alison Bai, Lily Lau, John McQuade, Laura Osborne’s profile of Michael Hurst and his work exposes Monica Pillizzaro, Gloria Peng, Ruth Reynolds, a dark chapter in Taiwan’s history when Allied troops were held Anita Town on the island by Japanese captors, and reminds us that history Benefactors Bai Win Antiques is often much more immediate than we imagined. Similarly, European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan Hau Ran Foundation Richard Saunders takes us “off the beaten track” on a historical Nita Ing tour of present-day Kinmen. The Regent Taipei In anticipation of The Center’s Charity Auction Dinner coming Premier Sponsors BP Taiwan Ltd. up on October 4, when a number of collectibles from Bai Win Concordia Consulting Antiques will be on auction, we’re profiling one of The Center’s Costco Wholesale Taiwan HSBC most ardent supporters, Faye Angevine, a woman with a ICRT passion for merging the ancient with contemporary life through antiques. The Community Services Center (CSC) is a non-profit foundation. CSC provides outreach and early intervention through counseling, cross-cultural education and life skills programs to meet the needs of the international Enjoy! community in Taipei. CSC offers the opportunity to learn, volunteer, teach and meet others. Check out our website www.communitycenter.org.tw and drop by The Center to chat with us about our programs. You can also email us at csc@ communitycenter.org.tw. Centered on Taipei is printed on 50% post consumer waste content stock. We have also replaced the glossy laminated cover with a softer aqueous based resin coating which makes it easier to recycle. By committing to post consumer paper stock we support the market for recycled fibers and reduce environmental impact. Recycling paper uses 60% less energy than manufacturing paper from virgin fiber. Please send email submissions, comments, and feedback to "Every ton of recycled paper saves enough electricity to power a 3 bedroom house for an [email protected]. entire year." (http://www.greenseal.org/index.cfm) www.communitycenter.org.tw SEPTEMBER 2013 5 Sept_p3-end.indd 5 2013/8/28 4:13:54 PM National Theater & Concert Hall Richard SEPTEMBER 2013 Recommends NATIONAL THEATER Great Wall String Quartet Quartets by Haydn, Hindemith, Beethoven and Piazzolla RICHARD SAUNDErs Beijing Opera September 2 – 8 September 8 he new season at the National CKS Cultural Center gets underway Novel Dance 2013 – Akram Duo: Ibragimova and Tiberghien in September as the National Symphony Orchestra sinks its Khan DESH Violin sonatas by Beethoven September 20 – 22 September 11 collective teeth into Richard Strauss’s gorgeous (if rather over- inflated) Alpine Symphony and Sibelius’s thrilling Violin Concerto. Guy Cassiers & Toneelhuis: Gonzalo Rubalcaba Trio TheT illustrious Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet make an appearance on Sunken Road Summer jazz continues the 25th, with an interesting and wide-ranging program featuring works September 26 – 28 September 14 by Mozart and Hindemith, while in an equally varied evening’s music, EXPERIMENTAL THEATER Taipei Symphony Orchestra the Academy of Taiwan Strings couple a violin concerto by Paganini with Works by Beethoven and Janacek’s First String Quartet and a rare chance to hear music by one of Trio Amos from Vienna Shostakovich Soviet Russia’s greatest contemporary composers, the late Alfred Schnittke. Contemporary music for flute, cello September 15 RR Several of this month’s most intriguing offerings though come from an and accordion unusual source – the Experimental Theater. I’d wager that very few expats September 26 Ning Feng and Academy of Taiwan Strings have ever ventured inside this, the fourth of the CKS Cultural Center’s iOFloat & Jorinde Jankowski Works by Paganini, Janacek, performing spaces, which generally devotes itself to contemporary theater Improvisation, contemporary music Schnittke and Boccherini in Chinese, but this month’s Innovation Series features a sequence of and painting – all at once! September 19 performances of contemporary music that will hopefully find an audience September 27 among more adventurous non-Chinese speaking music lovers. There’s no NSO Season Opening Concert Lecture: Playful Piano Works by Strauss and Sibelius easy way into the enormous complexities of much contemporary music, A talk (in Chinese) about innovative September 21 RR but probably the best way to start learning to appreciate it is to hear (and piano playing techniques see) it in a live performance, where the emotional (as well as the more September 28 Berlin Philharmonic Wind obvious intellectual) qualities of much of it are generally more apparent.