Changes?
We all know where to find coffee and sour cream now. 
OH MY Goodness VJ NONIE ??? YES YES YES YES 
:)
Gosh I had a huge woodie for her. Every time she came on I was transfixed at the tv screen. And my GF will notice and get pissed off !!
I just said âwhat? shes a good vjâŚâ
[quote=âMark Nagelâ]Italian Vespa scooters used to be very popular here during the 1980âs, especially the Vespa PX, which was much better than the Japanese scooters because it had a four-stroke engine (100 cc, 125 cc, or 150 cc) and manual transmission. There were four gears, and you changed gears by pressing the clutch (the lever on the left handlebar) while turning the left handlebar.
In fact, if it wasnât for Piaggio, there wouldnât be any scooters in the world, because Piaggio invented the scooter in 1946 (but they didnât export them to Taiwan until the 1960âs), and then Honda, Yamaha, and Suzuki started making scooters in the early 70âs. (In addition, Cushman and Lambretta also made scooters in the 50âs and 60âs, but they were never exported to Taiwan.)
Hereâs the story about how Piaggio invented the scooter in 1946:
wheelsofeurope.net/vespa_history.htm
Vespa scooters all looked almost exactly the same from 1946 until about 1985. Thatâs when Vespa stopped making the PX and started making scooters which look just like the Japanese scooters.
Vespa still makes scooters, but I hardly ever see them in Taiwan anymore. They used to really stand out because they looked so different than the Japanese scooters. And Taiwanese people would often brag about how the Vespa engines were built much better than the engines in the Japanese scooters. But in Taiwan, it isnât âcoolâ to have a scooter thatâs more than 5 years old, so the Vespa PX started to die out in the early 90âs.
By the way, âvespaâ means âwaspâ in Italian (because of the buzzing sound of a scooter engine).[/quote]
lambretta were made by yue loong for some time too in Taiwan. Yue Loong also made the ubiquitous nissan bluebird
and Taiwanese girls have always had GREAT LEGS and still do.
I remember young ladies riding side-saddle on the backs of scooters.
Ten years ago Roosevelt was all torn up and under construction for the MRT, and it still is.
I remember talking with my professor who was here from Columbia on a grant to study Chinese history. This must be the mid-60s, possibly early 70s.:
On a student grant alone, he and his wife rented a house on xinyi with a houseservant. of course, back then, xinyi was quite different.
He and the other american scholars would take day trips to the beaches somewhere (near the US base?) with their wives and gfs, have picnics, and make love, etc.
all that while studying for his pHD. Not bad at all.
[quote=âJack Burtonâ]I remember talking with my professor who was here from Columbia on a grant to study Chinese history. This must be the mid-60s, possibly early 70s.:
On a student grant alone, he and his wife rented a house on Xinyi with a houseservant. of course, back then, Xinyi was quite different.
He and the other American scholars would take day trips to the beaches somewhere (near the US base?) with their wives and gfs, have picnics, and make love, etc.
all that while studying for his pHD. Not bad at all.[/quote]
Possibly McCauley Beach? They used to have a once per hour free shuttle from the US military compound on Chong Shan N.Rd. out to and from the beach. The beach was for US Military use only and had a little snack bar that served up hamburgers, hotdogs and cokes for bout 15cents each. YOu had to use US dollars only. Was fun. They even had cabins that you could stay in for real cheap.
All you had to do was talk your way past the Chinese Soldiers guarding the gate at the compound at chong Shan N.RD. GEt on the bus and get out to the beach !!! WAs great. They even had a bunch of surfboards lying around.
The beach wasnt guarded at all, yet the local Chinese people never ventured in there.
Today the beach is still there and due to the runoff from the Number Two Nuclear Power Plant at Wanli sitting right there , the water is un-naturally hot. I swam there once or twice but felt strange swimming in ocean water thats hotter then a jacuzzi. I may still be radioactive today?
Used to do that in the summers in the 70s.
can someone find some info on VJ nonie please?? maybe some pics? i canât seem to find anything.
Vespa 'Scooters are all over Taiwan. New ones as well as classic ones.
Piaggios and Lambrettas also. I see them about everyday.
Youâre mistaken about the Lambrettas, TC. Theyâre as rare as henâs teeth here, moreâs the pity â Lambretta was what the self-respecting Brit mod would ride back in the 60s, with the Vespa very much second pick.
There are one or two Lambrettas up here in Taipei that I see about the place, and theyâre both owned by enthusiasts, i.e., completely restored and heavily tricked out.
Piaggio, by the way, is the company that makes the Vespa.
Sandman -
I see Lambrettas a lot down here. Maybe they are excellent restorations, maybe there is a club here, I donât know.
Iâll try to get some picâs up.
I know about PiaggioâŚsee them also. Theyâve gone to smooth rounded lines of late.
And, of course, I see the Chinese knock-off copies of them.
Iâll get some picâs up and see what weâve got.
Changing money at the jewelry stores in Kaohsiung when you had to do a visa run.
The Basement, the first non- businessmen/sailor/hostess pub in Kaohsiung- yo, Jeff.
Chinese New Yearâs: everything was shut down, especially in the smaller places ( never stayed in Taipei for more than a day or two, so it might have been different there.) Youâd be lucky if you could buy a bowl of instant noodles.
The movie theaters would run exclusively the new big hits from HK- no Western films at New Yearâs. A few years later the Hollywood Christmas blockbusters would come out at this time.
Yamaha DTs, though I had a Honda (not Sanyang) 125 4-stroke dual purpose- a great little bike.
The death-defying road from Fenggang to Taitung, especially with the wild chicken taxis.
Spooky, first time i log in, and you guys know San Qian and Xiao Shan. He also had a friend/cousin, Leslie I think, who married a french girl if my memory serves me right.
Whiskey agogo was fantastic!
Is Spin still around? We used to drink across the road at Fubar then go to Spin when properly inhebriated.
I remember staying at Tyac in 1989.
I also remember the day we arrived rats (dead rats) on show in front of the shops. There had been some government campaign and people were showing off how big a rat they had caught. It was quite a sight !
Speaking Taiwanese was very low class then, it was mandarin all over.
Chiang Kai-shek: national hero then, evil incarnate now.
Taiwan: military dictatorship then, immature democracy now.
the difference? young people donât give a shit about Fu Hsing. Glorious restoration now means getting a nice new paint job on the old car.
[quote=âurodacusâ]Taiwan: military dictatorship then, immature democracy now.
the difference? young people donât give a shit about Fu Hsing. Glorious restoration now means getting a nice new paint job on the old car.[/quote]
Not ten years ago. Martial law ended in 1986.
This thread was started 6 years ago, we could get a kick out of mentioning changes on Taiwan since 2002.
Tesco came and went.