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Restaurant review: Lobster Bar

Taipei Times
Date:  Nov 07, 2015
By: Han Cheung  /  Staff reporter

From time to time, I still think of that amazing lobster roll I had at Ed’s Lobster Bar by the

The crab cakes were delicious, with the inside being mostly crab meat. Photo: Han Cheung, Taipei Times

The crab cakes were delicious, with the inside being mostly crab meat.
Photo: Han Cheung, Taipei Times

New York City waterfront on my last visit.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I passed by the Lobster Bar in Taipei. However, the restaurant’s higher-end, atmospheric interior, had always deterred me from just popping in for a quick seafood fix.

Eventually, I brought a date. But as soon as we sat down it became apparent that, due to portions and pricing, we should have brought a group so that we could sample the restaurant’s intriguing and diverse menu, which includes far more than its namesake suggests. For example, we didn’t order the seafood paella because there was a minimum order of two portions (NT$420 per portion), and who wants to fill up on rice when there’s lobster?

Also, visit early if you want to try the surf and turf burger (NT$680), featuring prime shoulder meat, foie gras and lobster. Alas, they only make 10 of these per day.     [FULL  STORY]

Opinion: Ma is digging his own grave

Taiwan News
Editorial
Date: 2015-11-05
By: Lin Yi-shen, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

Provided that there are no mishaps, President Ma Ying-jeou will get what he wants – a

Opinion: Ma digs his own grave. Central News Agency

Opinion: Ma digs his own grave. Central News Agency

meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore this coming Saturday. Not only will Ma make history, he is bound to drag the Kuomintang down to demise and into oblivion.

For the past seven years, Ma’s self-centeredness and egoistic ways have put the nation and its people struggling to make ends meet, whose well-being are being jeopardized as they fair the worst economic turmoil since Ma’s tenure in office. In hindsight, he’d rather forego the dignity and respect of the people by kowtowing to the Chinese.

To those familiar with international affairs and cross-strait relations, Ma’s premeditated trip to Singapore is nothing but another of his shoddy deals with Beijing, and a so-called “black-box” process conducted under the table.     [FULL  STORY]

Number of dengue fever cases tops 30,599

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/11/05
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Nov. 5 (CNA) The number of dengue fever cases reported since the start of May

A worker spread pesticide in Taipei City Hall Monday.

A worker spread pesticide in Taipei City Hall Monday.

has reached 30,599, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Thursday.

As of a day earlier, the southern cities of Kaohsiung and Tainan, where the dengue fever outbreak has been concentrated this summer, had reported 240 and 54 new cases, respectively.

The outbreak remains concentrated in the two cities, where 8,062 and 21,996 cases, respectively, have been reported since May 1.

The CDC said the epidemic continues to surge in Kaohsiung, while in Tainan it is on a steady decline, adding that more disease-control efforts will be shifted to Kaohsiung.     [FULL  STORY]

Visitors to become artists at Taipei festival

Taiwan Today
Date: November 5, 2015

Visitors to become artists at Taipei festival“Render Ghost,” an interactive performance

“Render Ghost,” an interactive performance space by CBMI featuring innovative light and sound effects, is to take center stage Nov. 20-22 to wrap up the 2015 Digital Art Festival Taipei. (Courtesy of TCG)

“Render Ghost,” an interactive performance space by CBMI featuring innovative light and sound effects, is to take center stage Nov. 20-22 to wrap up the 2015 Digital Art Festival Taipei. (Courtesy of TCG)

space by CBMI featuring innovative light and sound effects, is to take center stage Nov. 20-22 to wrap up the 2015 Digital Art Festival Taipei. (Courtesy of TCG)

Digital Art Festival Taipei is set to kick off Nov. 13 at Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, showcasing interactive art programs combining contemporary art forms with the latest production techniques.

Organized by Taipei City Government’s Department of Cultural Affairs, the 10-day event features an eclectic lineup of exhibitions on animated films, interactive art installations, GIFs and video games, as well as competitions, electronic music concerts and avant-garde performances by talented artists from home and abroad.

According to event curator FabLab Dynamic, the development of new technologies enables the public to better understand artistic creation and become a part of the festival, which is themed Digitopia this year. “We think everyone is an artist, and there is every reason to encourage interactions between involved talents and festival-goers via collaborative practices.”     [FULL  STORY]

Xi talks for Taiwanese well-being: Ma

HIT A NERVE:Ma Ying-jeou lost his cool when asked about Tsai Ing-wen’s criticism of the meeting, saying: ‘I have never understood what she is talking about’

Taipei Times
Date:  Nov 06, 2015
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday that his decision to meet with Chinese

President Ma Ying-jeou gestures while answering a question during a news conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Pichi Chuang, Reuters

President Ma Ying-jeou gestures while answering a question during a news conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Pichi Chuang, Reuters

President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Singapore tomorrow was not prompted by electoral factors, but by his determination to ensure the welfare and happiness of the future generations of Taiwanese.

Ma made the remarks at an international press conference held at the Presidential Office yesterday morning, responding to reporters’ questions on whether the unprecedented Ma-Xi meeting was merely part of his efforts to etch his name in the history books and if it would shackle the nation’s development.

The press conference was packed with local and foreign reporters eager to learn details of the first official meeting between the leaders of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait since the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) 1949 retreat to Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War.     [FULL  STORY]

Three brothers die in Taipei shooting

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/11/05
By: Jay Chen

Taipei, Nov. 5 (CNA) Three brothers working for one of Taiwan’s top meat importers died 201511050018t0001Thursday after one of them apparently gunned down the two others before killing himself, authorities said.

The incident took place after a regular meeting at Mayfull Foods Corporation headquarters in Neihu District, Taipei, according to Apple Daily.

The police are looking into the cause of the shooting.     [FULL  STORY]

Government defends Xi meeting

‘SNEAKY AND SECRETIVE’:The Presidential Office brushed off criticism by the DPP, saying when in office it also sought a meeting and that 80% of the public support it

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 05, 2015
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Saturday’s planned meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese P01-151105-322President Xi Jinping (習近平) is aimed at consolidating cross-strait peace and the “status quo,” and does not involve election-motivated political machinations or backroom deals, Presidential Office spokesman Charles Chen (陳以信) said yesterday.

“President Ma is no longer chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] and has distanced himself from party affairs. The aims of the Ma-Xi meeting are to strengthen peace and the ‘status quo’ across the Taiwan Strait, for the sake of the public interest and the future development of cross-strait ties,” Chen said.

Chen made the remarks less than a day after he confirmed reports of a planned meeting in Singapore on Saturday — only after the Chinese-language newspaper Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) broke the news in an exclusive story published late on Tuesday evening.     [FULL  STORY]

Opinion: History will not speak Ma’s name

Taiwan News
Editorial
Date: 2015-11-05
By: Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Provided that there are no mishaps, President Ma Ying-jeou will get what he wants – a 6713226meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore this coming Saturday. Not only will Ma make history, he is bound to drag the Kuomintang down to demise and into oblivion.

For the past seven years, Ma’s self-centeredness and egotistic ways have put the nation and its people struggling to make ends meet, whose well-being are being jeopardized as they fair the worst economic turmoil since Ma’s tenure in office. In hindsight, he’d rather forego the dignity and respect of the people by kowtowing to the Chinese.

To those familiar with international affairs and cross-strait relations, Ma’s premeditated trip to Singapore is nothing but another of his shoddy deals with Beijing, and a so-called “black-box” process conducted under the table.     [FULL  STORY]

President hopes cross-strait leaders’ meeting will become regular

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/11/05
By Jay Chen

Taipei, Nov. 5 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said Thursday that his upcoming

CNA file photo

CNA file photo

“historic landmark” talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) will mark the first step toward making such meetings a regular occurrence between the leaders of the two sides and will help further improve cross-Taiwan Strait relations.

The fact that the two leaders will address each other as “Mister” rather than by their official titles indicates “equality and dignity,” Ma told a press conference, adding that it reflects “flexibility and pragmatism” in the conduct of bilateral ties.     [FULL  STORY]

Local businessman excited about meeting of China, Taiwan presidents

Northwest Florida Daily News
By: The Associated Press

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan’s president will meet Saturday with his counterpart from once

Paul Hsu, Okaloosa County business leader who was born in Taiwan.

Paul Hsu, Okaloosa County business leader who was born in Taiwan.

icy political rival China, the Taiwanese side said, a historic first culminating nearly eight years of quickly improved relations despite wariness among many Taiwanese of the mainland government.

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Singapore to exchange ideas about relations between the two sides but not sign any deals, presidential spokesman Charles Chen said in a statement early Wednesday.

Presidents of the two sides have not met since Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists lost the Chinese civil war to Mao Zedong’s Communists in the 1940s, and the Nationalists rebased in Taiwan 160 kilometers (100 miles) away. The two sides have been separately ruled since then.

Fort Walton Beach and Crestview business leader Paul Hsu was born in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1950, the year after the two countries’ presidents last met. He said growing up in Taipei, the relationship between the two countries was always very hostile.     [FULL  STORY]