Seediq Bale: Warriors of the Rainbow is an amazing film from Taiwan in which describes the struggle of the Aboriginal people during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan in the late 1800′s. When Japan took over Taiwan around 1895, they completely oppressed the Taiwanese Aboriginal tribes and called them all “savages”

This story is quite similar to that of the United States and the Native American Indians. Taiwan Aboriginal tribes were considered savages by the Japanese and forced to become almost slaves doing the hardest work imaginable at that time in Taiwan. Aboriginal kids were often beaten in school if they didn’t learn quick enough or misbehaved.

The truth of the matter is that the Taiwan Aboriginal people were not savages at all. In fact, they communed with nature, had great faith, and were true to their families. They were Seediq Bale which in English can be translated as True men.

This movie highlights an important part of Taiwanese history called the Wushe Incident 霧社事件. The Wushe Incident took place in 1930 and was the uprising and rebellion of the Taiwan Aboriginals against the Japanese. It was the last major uprising against colonial Japanese forces in Taiwan.

You must go see this movie. It has some awesome special effects and plenty of action scenes but more importantly has a lot of heart and Spirit. Seediq Bale is a story that really spoke to my heart and made me think about the pride I have in being who I am. Not allowing anyone to oppress my Spirit and call me names such as Savage.

I have included the trailer of this movie below that includes the English subtitles just as it does in the actual movie. Another great thing about this film by Wei-Te Sheng is the amazing Soundtrack of the Taiwan Aboriginal music. It truly does make one feel connected to something higher than yourself.

During my flight back home from Taiwan, I was browsing the in-flight entertainment from EVA airlines and found a fairly new Taiwanese music artist that I never heard of before named 吳勇濱. He is absolutely an awesome singer and I listened to his album on the plane about 4 times!

吳勇濱 (Wu Yong Bin) is fairly young as he was born in 1990 in Taiwan. His first album came out in 2010 and am very surprised that he is not more famous than he is already. His style of music is very unique for someone his age because the music sounds more Traditional Old style rather than pop such as artists like Jay Chou.

This actually makes me love Wu Yong Bin’s (吳勇濱) music even more! He has a beautiful face which makes the below Music Video even better as well. The MV was filmed primarily in Ximending of Taipei, Taiwan which is the most popular shopping district in Taipei and also the location of the hotel I stay at each year (InnTouch Hostel)

This fact alone makes this music video very special to me as I know all the places in it. It also shows a great view of a train ride in Taiwan as well as the local subway system called MRT. Most of all, you can hear the soft pleasing voice of Wu Yong Bin 吳勇濱! Please take some time out to watch this video as you will not regret it. Also “Like” his page!

Wu Yong Bin 吳勇濱 Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/SlurBin0215

However, Matthias shares a love for Taiwan as I do and has a created a fantastic video about a Taiwanese traditional food by the name of Pig’s Blood Cake 豬血糕. Pig’s Blood Cake 豬血糕 is considered a very traditional food in Taiwan and most Taiwanese love to get foreigners to try this!

This video that Matthias Dallmann created about the food is done so perfectly that I honestly couldn’t stop watching it! The music score was beautifully done and his accent is just so nice to listen to. My friend Nefi who owns El Cafe restaurant near Taipei also did some of the camera work in this video.

If you don’t know what Pig Blood’s Cake is please take a minute to watch this video to learn more about this Taiwanese traditional food. Even if you do know what it is, I think you will really enjoy this video. Oh, and please help Matthias win a competition with this video by voting for it here: http://www.huayuworld.org/BestDirector/vote.php?LANG=ENG&types=food&m=119 Voting ends March 3rd, so do it today!

I tried Pig’s Blood cake 豬血糕 once last year in Taiwan. It wasn’t that tasty in my opinion but I am willing to try it again in a few weeks when I arrive back in Taiwan. Maybe I will learn to like it! Now, I just hope Matthias Dallmann continues to create these amazing videos about Taiwanese Traditional food 台灣傳統美食!

He is now in Taipei, Taiwan and has created an amazing video series available on Youtube called “ABC Lost in Taiwan” I am very excited because when I go back to Taiwan in a few weeks I will have the opportunity to meet Harrison Chao in person for some delicious Taiwanese food!

“ABC Lost in Taiwan” has now had about 50 episodes recorded from Taiwan and all of them can be found on his Youtube Channel for you to watch and subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/user/hchizzle

I encourage everyone that wants to know what an American Born Chinese guy thinks of Taiwan to watch his videos. Harrison’s videos are also good for those who never been to Taiwan before as they include very good details about the foods and traditions of Taiwan. Another reason they are great is because of Harrison’s sense of humor! So funny!

The video below is one of Harrison Chao’s latest videos from his ABC Lost in Taiwan series. It is a very fun video filmed at Shida Night Market 師大路夜市 at a place called Waffle Prince 鬆餅王子. I chose to show you this video because I love waffles! I am so excited to try this place in a few weeks! Waffle Prince 鬆餅王子 looks amazing!

Please subscribe to Harrison Chao on Youtube, follow him on Twitter, and “Like” him on Facebook!

Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/hchizzle

Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/#!/harrisonchao

Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/harrysonchao

I must admit, I didn’t know much of their music when I created their fanpage on ThinkTaiwan but I did so because I made friends with some of the group members via Facebook. About 5 days ago MJ116 uploaded a brand new MV called Just Believe. At the time, I was very busy and couldn’t really watch the music video.

Today, I decided to take time on my day off and watch the music video. And really OMG ! MJ116 has got to be one of my number 1 Taiwanese music groups now! Their music video “Just believe”, actually brought me to tears! The song includes an English chorus which is why I was able to understand it so much. But not even just that. It includes amazing visuals which tell the story without needing to know all the lyrics.

The MV is about a young Taiwanese boy who grows up to be a man but  feels defeated by all of life’s challenges throughout each stage of a man’s life. It depicts each hardship that many Taiwanese men have to face which include, school, military, business, and family. Each with its own particular stage of difficulty. The message of this beautiful song is Just Believe and continue to keep your head up no matter what you face in your life.

It certainly does not suggest that your life will not have challenges. In fact, it goes out of its way to show you that life will indeed have all of these challenges and more. However, the beauty is in the fact that a man (Taiwanese or not) can keep his head up and keep his faith. Belief comes from the soul of man and can keep one going throughout the physical and mental challenges of a man’s life. My hats go off to MJ116 and E so chen 冒險王 (Lead vocal) for putting together the best Taiwanesse MV I have seen!

So please watch this video and be prepared to tear up a little bit (if you have a heart) Help support the great Taiwanese music group MJ116 as well by following them at the following links. Please let me know what you think about this MV Just Believe by MJ116!

MJ116 Main Website

MJ116 E So Chen Facebook Fan Page

MJ116 ThinkTaiwan Fanpage

Steven Crook is an author and long time resident of Taiwan. Steven has visited over 40 countries but this still doesn’t stop him from wanting to live in Taiwan as he has already lived in Taiwan for over 20 years! Taiwan for Culture Vultures has so much fresh insight and expert information from someone who knows Taiwan inside and out.

Below are links to more information about the Taiwan Iphone App itself including the Press Release about Steven Crook’s Taiwan for Culture Vultures App! So try it out today! It is most definitely worth the $2.99 and will help Steven Crook continue to live his dream adventure in the great Island of Bobee!

 http://thinktaiwan.com/taiwan-culture-vultures-press-release/

http://appshopper.com/travel/taiwan-for-culture-vultures

The style of clothing that Delite is would be considered “urban clothing” that is both casual and comfy. All of the designs are truly unique and very fun. My Captain Taiwan shirt is of course poking fun at Captain America, while their “Singleman” shirt is poking fun at “Superman”. I highly encourage you to support Delite by purchasing a shirt if you are living in Taiwan.

If you don’t live in Taiwan but do speak Chinese you can order from wherever you are. The site to purchase the shirts is not yet in English unfortunately. Below are the essentials links for you to learn more about Delite and to purchase some of their awesome clothing. Please do not forget to like their Facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/DELITE.URBAN.CLOTHING

Delite’s Official Website: http://www.delite.com.tw/

Delite’s Yahoo Online Store: http://tw.user.bid.yahoo.com/tw/booth/Y1466928216

Delite’s Flickr Account with Designs: http://www.flickr.com/photos/delite_clothing/sets/

So please, help support Taiwan made brands and spread the word about Delite ! Thank you friends!

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Currently, Taiwan enjoys a free and open democracy unlike most all countries in Asia. But in order to keep this freedom and democracy alive, its citizens must get out and vote on election day!  I have never once gotten political on ThinkTaiwan and do not intend to start at all. This is not the intention of my post.

My intention is only to inform those living in Taiwan that this is a very important moment in the history of the Country of Taiwan. What will YOU do to help protect the future freedom of your wonderful Homeland? Please take a moment to watch this video which emphasizes the importance of voting for Taiwan’s future freedom. This song is written and sung by my friend XenoYella (鍾翔宇)

So please go out and vote on election day if you are living in Taiwan! Do not take this for granted! Do not lose your freedom! Keep Taiwan free! For those of you who only speak English, here are the lyrics to the song written by XenoYella (鍾翔宇):

Our democracy is our greatest weapon 
Do not doubt Only it can protect the welfare and justice of the country 
So do not see politics as an affliction 
If you don’t care about politics the society is prone to fall into authoritarianism 
If you are dissatisfied or angry about the government 
Let us use our ballots to grade our government 
A nation under democracy, this is our responsibility 
Only by voting can we elect our representatives 
Who said the purpose of rapping is to act cool 
I wrote this song hoping that we can be represented by our government 
Heading toward the future of our generation 
This is the era to create another generation 
No matter how great the hardship Taiwanese will certainly not fail 
So if you have thoughts or opinions that you want to express 
Let the government hear your voice 
It’s simple, get out the vote on election day 
No matter how deep your political conviction 
If you want democracy to be effective 
You gotta go vote on the election day 
Let us shout out for the era of our generation 
For Taiwan’s future, Let us get out the vote 
The sacrifices of our forerunners we shall not forget 
Our homeland, Taiwan, our pride