I initially assumed it was because a new sign was being installed or some minor construction up on one of the floors above.

After a week of not seeing any such activity I asked the doorman what was up.

He said small pieces of the building were falling on that spot and until it was fixed the sidewalk would continued to be blocked, adding that the cost of repairing the entire frontside would be around 500,000NT (about $US14,400) and it was unlikely the tenants would be willing to spend that kind of money collectively any time soon.

Two weeks go by, and a few doors down I noticed a fresh pile of rubble on the sidewalk. It took a minute for me to realize this was evidence of another vintage building like ours was crumbling.

This, though, was much worse fallout. Had someone been walking there they would’ve been serious injured or killed.

The bank which occupies that building put up a yellow tape barricade which was in place until a day or two ago. The rubble was removed, tape discarded, but no sign of any repair.

Likely it is the vibrations from the constant stream of buses which is helping accelerate the process of disintegration. I tend to look up a bit more now when walking around.

[snip]

“Don’t ask foreigners their age, marital status, income, past experience, address, personal life, religious beliefs or political beliefs, it says.”

By “personal life” we assume that they mean “sex”. I wonder what people in China (or Taiwan) for that matter, think of such advice. Could be along the lines of “What do you talk about then?”

This is the more reasonable advice. For the lowdown on what and what not to wear, say, and do, read it online here:

http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/world/2008/07/31/D928NHPO0_oly_china_etiquette/index.html