Anyone else have fond memories of the 80s in Taiwan?
Stuff like Bufflao Town, MTV, martial law, military police patrols, Snake Alley etc etc.
How much has gone!
By the way, this is not for any project I’m doing - that is already finished.
Missed the 1980s by a couple months. First came here in Feb 1990.
[quote=“anotherlaowai”]Anyone else have fond memories of the 80s in Taiwan?
Stuff like Bufflao Town, MTV, martial law, military police patrols, Snake Alley etc etc.
How much has gone!
By the way, this is not for any project I’m doing - that is already finished.[/quote]
I remember Buffalo Town yes. I went there quite a lot.
My guess is a lot of the stuff was the same.
You should have just lied and hoped no one would catch you out.
Which is something else we had a lot of in 80s politics etc.
I remember:
Girls riding side saddle behind their boyfriends on scooters.
Lack of an MRT system.
Lots of family-run eateries that stayed open until really late at night, daily.
The market building that ran along the middle of Chunghua Road.
The market that used to be opposite Longshan Temple.
MTVs.
Grandma Nitti’s when it was a tiny place in the alley by the Technology Building.
Wild Chicken buses.
Teaching job opportunities up the wazoo, and nobody caring that they were illegal.
When Fuxing Road was one way.
When there was a bridge over the railway tracks on Dunhua Road.
Shinkong Mitsukoshi building when it was still a hole in the ground.
A neighborhood where Da’an Forest Park is now.
[quote=“Chris”]I remember:
Girls riding side saddle behind their boyfriends on scooters.
Lack of an MRT system.
Lots of family-run eateries that stayed open until really late at night, daily.
The market building that ran along the middle of Chunghua Road.
The market that used to be opposite Longshan Temple.
MTVs.
Grandma Nitti’s when it was a tiny place in the alley by the Technology Building.
Wild Chicken buses.
Teaching job opportunities up the wazoo, and nobody caring that they were illegal.
When Fuxing Road was one way.
When there was a bridge over the railway tracks on Dunhua Road.
Shinkong Mitsukoshi building when it was still a hole in the ground.
A neighborhood where Da’an Forest Park is now.[/quote]
Yep i remember all that.
I remember smoking on buses.
There were two Mac Donalds
The deserted American embassy
The slave girls in cages around the back of snake alley
the exotic animal shops
orangutangs on chains in snake alley getting hit over the head with metal cudgels
armed police with machine guns stopping people for checks in Taipei while they the police chewed and spat bing lang
terrible bus system with no MRT and choking pollution
Rhino Horn being sold openly
Meth over flowing
loads of work teaching even if you could not read or write English
salaries similar to today for teaching but living costs a fraction of what they are now
The women were more ugly then because they didn’t have all those cosmetics and were more flat chested (thanks Mac Donalds for the change)
No Internet or cell phones
and almost every Taiwanese who knew me said I looked like Rick Astely
…
BTW There are some MTV’s still here where you can watch movies and bang …
and the meth part may have been the early 90’s not sure it was a HIGH time anyways
I remember standing outside a store selling TV s and watching M.Jackson and Thriller being shown and being impressed with the precision of the moves !
I remember dancing in buffalo town with my coworker and if I had the balls I would have…(didn’t have the balls).
The rest I have to try to re-activate a few RAMs.
[quote=“tommy525”]I remember standing outside a store selling TV s and watching M.Jackson and Thriller being shown and being impressed with the precision of the moves !
I remember dancing in buffalo town with my coworker and if I had the balls I would have…(didn’t have the balls).
The rest I have to try to re-activate a few RAMs.[/quote]
lol Tommy we probably even said hello to each other (or scowled at each other) in Buffalo town not knowing in many years we’s be a couple of middle aged men talking about it on a forum with lots of other middle aged men. :roflmao:
sad but funny too
Unless you were middle aged then which would make you as old as count Dracula now lol
[quote=“fenlander”][quote=“tommy525”]I remember standing outside a store selling TV s and watching M.Jackson and Thriller being shown and being impressed with the precision of the moves !
I remember dancing in buffalo town with my coworker and if I had the balls I would have…(didn’t have the balls).
The rest I have to try to re-activate a few RAMs.[/quote]
lol Tommy we probably even said hello to each other (or scowled at each other) in Buffalo town not knowing in many years we’s be a couple of middle aged men talking about it on a forum with lots of other middle aged men. :roflmao:
sad but funny too
Unless you were middle aged then which would make you as old as count Dracula now lol[/quote]
gawd she was beautiful too … and those tits !!
We talking 1980’s or 1780’s here?
What do you mean with that ? Was that kind of an attraction those days?
[quote=“ceevee369”][quote=“fenlander”]
The slave girls in cages around the back of snake alley
[/quote]
We talking 1980’s or 1780’s here?
What do you mean with that ? Was that kind of an attraction those days?[/quote]
I dont remember the cages but i remember all these small holes in the wall where the young girls hang outside and wave at you for business. They were 300nt whores whos parents sold them into 3 or 4 years of sexual servitude for about 500,000ntd. They serviced 10 to 20 a day and worked to pay back the debt. They were mostly aboriginal girls and mustve been only around 15 to 16 or so. NOt a whole lot of them over 20.
If you went to snake alley at all, you would be sure to bump into the alley where they were.
This was at a time where ladies in their early twenties were available at hotels islandwide for 800nt for a short time.
IF you were at a small hotel in Ktown then you would see these young ladies going in and out just by sitting in the lobby for a little bit.
Sex for sale was , shall we say , rampant then.
Lucky for me I was at an age where I was as pure as the driven snow, so I never got into these and wondered why anyone would.
Course in those days i remember saying to a very cute female classmate who was visiting me at home that there were two showers available and we should use them if we were to make the movies in time, and not share one shower as she suggested. I obviously had no clue !!
[quote=“tommy525”][quote=“ceevee369”][quote=“fenlander”]
The slave girls in cages around the back of snake alley
[/quote]
We talking 1980’s or 1780’s here?
What do you mean with that ? Was that kind of an attraction those days?[/quote]
I dont remember the cages but i remember all these small holes in the wall where the young girls hang outside and wave at you for business. They were 300nt whores whos parents sold them into 3 or 4 years of sexual servitude for about 500,000ntd. They serviced 10 to 20 a day and worked to pay back the debt. They were mostly aboriginal girls and mustve been only around 15 to 16 or so. NOt a whole lot of them over 20.
!![/quote]
Teenagers were the majority for sure yes and there were younger ones too. They also had some larged size cages I mean kind of like what you would keep lions in those kind of cages (but perhaps that was temporary as loads of really sick weird stuff happened there). But you are right Tommy they were manily those little rooms with peep holes and teenage girls crammed inside… Anyways it was VERY weird and hard to describe. Okay 1870’s is a good way to describe it ceevee369
@ceevee369
the girls (and I mean girls not women) were for local men only. As Tommy said they would service many men per day one after the other. Most were aboriginal girls sold into the business by their parents. The whole original idea of snake alley was for the men to drink snake bile to “improve” their sexual performance and then go around the back and have sex with teenagers. Those teenagers were sold by their parents into the “business”, so yes absoulutely they were sex slaves.
Anyways tourists would also go and stare but you were not allowed to take pictures and if you did you would likely be beaten by a large mob of thugs with baseball bats etc as one German man found out (that was on the news) Anyways that was what went on back over at snake alley and then and at some point the government closed it down (the teenage part not snake alley itself). If you go to snake allery now and walk around the back alleys and you will see all those little rooms still there, but now empty of course.
That was all a long time ago and now when I hear parents saying “things are so dangerous for kids these days in Taiwan” I remember those times and think “mmmm are you sure things are worse?”
South of Snake Alley were a lot of streetwalkers.
I recall reading in China Post one day how the cops had busted some woman in her 80s down there for turning tricks.
Turned out she was an ex-movie star and she said it was the only way she could get laid!
The 80s was even a good time to be in your 80s!
(I’d love to find that article again, but I’d have to wade through a couple of years worth of old papers).
[quote=“anotherlaowai”]South of Snake Alley were a lot of streetwalkers.
I recall reading in China Post one day how the cops had busted some woman in her 80s down there for turning tricks.
Turned out she was an ex-movie star and she said it was the only way she could get laid!
The 80s was even a good time to be in your 80s!
(I’d love to find that article again, but I’d have to wade through a couple of years worth of old papers).[/quote]
lol There was so much money in Taiwan at that point in time. A lot of cash and gold as credit cards were not that popular yet. I spent most of that easy money to be made though. Easy come easy go :no-no:
Fenlander & Tommy - thanks for clarifying the cage story.
When I arrived in 2005, people brought me on a city-tour and Snake alley was among the hot-spots. Indeed, few of the “old generation” were still around , posting in the small alleys but I never knew that merely 30 years ago (when I was playing with my Walkman at he age of 16 ) this country and it’s capital was at that level still of sex-slavery.
I was told that the Police of the Long-Shan area was bribed for decades to close an eye - but was prostitution not already forbidden in the 80’s?
Well - I learned something today on the flob. Thanks for that~!
edit: Typo’s and wrong comparison removed
I was only in elementary school back then, but I remember train tracks going down the Danshui MRT line, smoking in the theaters, NT$24 Taxis, stores selling monkeys, a huge fruit bat on Lin Sheng N. Road, and the smell of sewage? that I ended up associating with Taiwan.
There is a popular email getting passed around lately reminiscing the life for those who were born in ROC calendar '20s, '30s, '40s, and '50s. It describes the times around 1950 to 1990 in Taiwan.
If you can read Chinese, enjoy!
“我們這群二三四五年級生”
作者：四年級生
靠著這一群呆胞，臺灣才有穩定、安寧的今天！
靠著這一群呆胞，臺灣才有今天的好日子過！
首先，提醒大家：
﹛
台灣 沒石油、 沒鐵 、沒煤 、沒黃金、 沒牧場、 沒資源 、沒邦交。
可是今天：
台灣GNP21000美元
GNP 購買力37500美元
外匯存底 世界前4名
電子業 世界前4名
鋼鐵業 世界前12名
石化業 世界前12名
進出口 世界前12名
高鐵捷運品質 世界前5名
全民健保品質 世界前5名
水費 世界最低
電費 世界最低
汽油 世界最低
學費 世界最低
繳稅率 世界最低
罵總統 世界最大聲
反對黨 世界最兇悍
這全都是因為當年二三四五年級生當年
都很乖，都很認真聽講總統的訓話，都很努力讀書、都很努力考試的結果！
每週上班五天半 薪水比現在少 學生比現在多
不會也不敢跳樓
不知道如何罷工 只會努力工作
不敢丟豬糞
不可能去總統府前種稻米
只會聽鳳飛飛 白嘉莉 唱愛國正經歌！
然後，讓你我重溫下列的史實：
「二、三、四、五年級生」：
★童年時期只有三家電視台可以選擇，台語節目每天限播時數與時段，布袋戲甚至要「說國語」。
★為了政令宣導，九點鐘到九點半必須是「三台聯播」，轉過來轉過去都是「寒流」「海棠血淚」。堅信大陸同胞都活在「水深火熱」之中，都在啃樹皮（長大之後第一次在新加坡某研討會遇到一位大陸同胞，才聽說他們的教科書也說台灣同胞在啃樹皮。樹皮好無辜﹛）
★小孩時期都曾經被叔叔阿姨舅舅姑姑帶去冰果室跟情人約會充當電燈泡。
★晚飯之後搶不到電視，因為阿嬤都在看楊麗花歌仔戲。
★最紅的卡通片應該是[太空飛鼠]「雷鳥神機隊」「小英的故事」「小甜甜」「科學小飛俠」「無敵鐵金剛」. ★最愛的漫畫書是[漫畫大王]「小叮噹」「老夫子」「四郎與真平」，第一次投稿是「王子月刊」和「國語日報」。
★「包青天」「保鏢」演好久，好比「夜市人生」和「娘家」。
★很期待中秋節，因為可以蒐集中秋月餅的玻璃紙。
★三不五時就有「反共義士」駕機投奔自由，可以領黃金還能上電視綜藝節目。
★一二三自由日，要聽谷正綱演講，但是聽不懂說什麼。
★大多數的人都知道「宋能爾牧師佈道大會」。
★ 四月四日 兒童節會收到健素糖當禮物，長大之後才知道那是給豬吃的。
★地理課本歷史課本關於台灣的篇幅可能只有半頁，一定要背黃河跟長江流經哪些省分，但不知道濁水溪在哪裡？
★小時候最大的恐懼就是「共匪打過來」！
★在學校講台語要被罰錢（侯文詠比較倒楣，他要掛牌子！）
★ 10月31日 會發動全國募捐，籌建「介壽號」戰機向偉大的蔣公祝壽
★蔣總統死掉的時候，電視機會從彩色變黑白，學生制服要別黑紗，升旗典禮要「默哀三分鐘」，從此畢業旅行都要去慈湖跟頭寮謁靈。
★但「畢業旅行」不可以是「畢業旅行」，而是「公民訓練活動」。
★每到國定假日就要穿制服去體育館開「團結自強大會」，不知道是什麼道理，但也是男女校互窺的好時機。
★演講比賽不管什麼題目，最後都要「復興中華文化，堅守民主陣容，消滅萬惡共匪，拯救大陸同胞」「以三民主義統一中國」「把青天白日滿地紅國旗插滿秋海棠的每一個角落」等口號做結尾，這是最早的內容自動產生器嗎？
★選舉賄選最流行送味精與彩色鍋。
★最冷的笑話是：「請問下一屆蔣總統是誰？」
★寫作文寫到「總統」，前面沒有空格就死定了！
★朝會聽演講要是聽到「蔣總統」三個字就要立正！
★超過五成的人會唱兩種版本的「總統蔣公紀念哥」 （噗，寫錯啦，是紀念歌……還有，忘了空一格，警總不要來抓我）
★高中男女在校外走在一起，被教官發現一定記過！
★制服沒有紮進褲子裡也要記過！
★高中女生頭髮長度不得超過耳下一公分或不能超過衣領（所以脖子短的人就倒楣了），要穿軍訓裙，要戴船型帽，軍歌比賽要踢木蘭步，每學期打靶還會被後座力撞到內傷
★大學很難考，俗稱「窄門」，還有一部賣座電影叫做「門裡門外」。
★大學在校外偷開舞會如果遇到警察臨檢，必須開燈關音響，立刻變成包餃子或湯圓聚會。
★幾乎每個人都玩過小天使遊戲。
★暑假不能出國遊學，只好參加救國團活動，因為不是國民黨員，所以報不到最熱門的「溪阿縱走」和「虎嘯戰鬥營」。
★每個班級都有國民黨指派的小組長。
★要看藝術片就要去小隔間的MTV，想約會就去西門町冰宮，要改褲子就去中華商場。
★最時髦的手機是黑金剛。
★有BBCall就很了不起，用數字就可以發簡訊，譬如520就是我愛你！
★看「天天開心」看到主題曲一字不漏記下來。
★剛畢業的時候，平均有四個工作機會可以選擇（好囂張）！
★領到第一份薪水的年頭，定存利率還有10％（神話﹛﹛）
★見識過股市破萬點的榮景，而且破很多（人生少數驕傲）
★所謂懂電腦的人，就是學過COBOL、BASIC、Fortran。沒有PC，沒有Internet，只有半夜登記排隊上機房。3.5吋磁碟片還沒出現，用那種軟軟薄薄，容量 1.2M 的5.25吋軟碟。
★剛開始上班的時候，使用過Telex電報機，用過手動打字機（打錯字要用刀片刮。什麼意思？ 唉，聽不懂就算了！）
★沒有ATM，沒有號碼牌，提款存款都要在櫃臺前面排隊。
★星期六要上半天班，除夕要到五點鐘才能下班。
★看病之前要先去公司管理部開一張手寫「勞保單」。
★因為沒有手機，所以才有日劇「東京愛情故事」莉香與完治最後在車站擦身而過的淒美梗。
★沒有交友網站，只有「愛情青紅燈」與「姊妹雜誌」。
★還沒有「壹週刊」跟「蘋果日報」，最猛的是「獨家報導」跟「自立晚報」。
★以前怕人口爆炸，大力鼓吹「家庭計畫」「3321：結婚三年生一個，再過三年生一個， 兩個孩子恰恰好，男孩女孩一樣好」；現在憂心少子化與高齡化，高喊「助你好孕」,發獎金催生！
★以前要「保密防諜」，不得與匪勾結；現在要ECFA，沒有中國就沒有世界觀！
★以前聽費玉清唱「中華民國頌」好激動；現在重新把歌詞看一遍，覺得好KUSO。
★以前罵總統要被抓去關，現在罵總統有時候被鼓勵，有時候被教育部警告，但還不至於抓去關。
★以前最紅的是綜藝節目，現在最紅的是call in 節目，但兩者基本功能相同
★以前說「當選」，現在說「凍蒜」（吼，講台語，罰錢。指﹛﹛）
這篇故事真是生動、忠實！ 真是越看越有味啊！
如果你/妳就是這群呆胞之一，拍拍手吧！讓你/妳/我肯定自我一下吧！
最後更要謝謝寫這這篇故事的作者，讓你/妳/我都能溫故知新！I actually remember that fruit bat lol Near the dumpling shops
I actually remember that fruit bat lol Near the dumpling shops[/quote]
He was a big mother effer! I used to watch him eat apples after school.
Anyone else remember Igor and Natasha from Buffalo Town?
they were both 6’ tall, which even for a bloke was pretty unusual back in the 80s.
Igor looked a bit Igor-ish - he had braces and a very ugly Japanese-looking face,
whereas Natasha was a really striking beauty.
I think she later married a Laowai,
and Igor later was a cook at the Bushiban pub,
which was recently demolished to make way for yet another hugely pricey condo block down by Gong Guan.