It was the day after the Worldwide Photo Walk (winners and worthy mentions here and here) and I asked my son Kevin what he felt like doing. Kevin's response was to ride the train somewhere. After discussing we decided upon Hsinchu. It's about 50 minutes north of us by train. Hsinchu is a town primarily of Hakka Chinese. It is the town where Taiwan's computer industry took root. The old fellow above was sleeping rather nicely at the bustling train station when we arrived.
The Japanese occupied Taiwan from the beginning of the 20th century until 1949. Hence, most Taiwanese cities follow the Japanese city model. The train station is the hub and the downtown grows out an away from the train station. Hsinchu is exactly that kind of model. We stopped for lunch at some old food stand featuring some of Hsinchu's famous rice vermicelli and thicker bantiao (rice noodles) and it was quite satisfying. Got to this shot at just the right moment as the little boy and his father entered this backlit space.
The Eslite Book store chain has really elevated the book store as art and community game here in Taiwan. All of the stores are beautifully designed and laid out. They are always packed with people hanging out and reading and drinking expensive coffee drinks.
Kevin is one of my favorite subjects (doh-he's my son) and he often models for me. I still prefer candid shots over posed ones and got this in the same busy area near we had lunch. He's rocking those sun glasses...
In honor of Kevin's "star-like effect" today's musical offering will be Roxy Music. Roxy was another band that didn't sell nearly as big as their influence on other bands would indicate. They came onto the music scene in the glitter days but had great musical chops featuring Brian Eno (on keyboards and tapes), Phil Manzanera (guitar) and Brian Ferry (crooning). Here's there classic-Do The Strand. It's campy but swings and rocks.
PS: Thanks back to Ron Dubin for the link love at the Weekly Buzz.
