TRAVEL TO PLACES: TAIWAN-- TAIPEI AIRPORT DEPARTURE

My Personal Experience: I went to Taipei Airport for our departure last year April 23, 2019, together with my sister. We went there to fly back home as journey of our trip comes to an end! This escapade has become the highlight of my year even in such a small time we made great memories that will last and capture images that will remind us the places we visited and came:)

Taipei Airport Departure

Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (IATA: TPE, ICAO: RCTP) is an international airport serving Taipei and northern Taiwan. Located about 40 km (25 mi) west of Taipei in Dayuan District, Taoyuan, the airport is Taiwan's largest and busiest airport. It is operated by the Taoyuan International Airport Corporation. In 2016, it was ranked the best airport for its size in the Asia-Pacific region by Airports Council International. In 2018, Taiwan Taoyuan handled a record 46.5 million passengers and 2.3 billion kg of freight, making it the 11th busiest airport worldwide by international passenger traffic, and 8th busiest in terms of international freight traffic in 2018. It is the main international hub for China Airlines and EVA Air. It is also a hub of Uni Air and the LCC Tigerair Taiwan. Formerly known as Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, it was renamed on 6 September 2006 to its current name. It is one of two that serves Taiwan:0)

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoyuan_International_Airport

TRAVEL TO MOVIES: RISING HIGH

Director: Cüneyt Kaya

Cast: David Kross , Emily Goss , Frederick Lau , Janina Uhse , Dejan Bucin , David Haack , Úna Lir , Uwe Preuss , Silvina Buchbauer , Jerry Kwarteng , Alexander Yassin , Jimmy Gutzeit

Plot: Rising High tells the story of the rise and fall of two real-estate fraudsters. Viktor Stein (David Kross), Gerry Falkland (Frederick Lau) and the banker Nicole Kleber (Janina Uhse) get incredibly rich within a short period of time. But soon they are sucked deeper and deeper into a maelstrom of lies, fraud and deceit - until at some point they completely lose sight of reality and have to decide what is really important to them.

Source: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rising_high

My Movie Review: The movie is flashy white collar foe with familiar criminal caper brings new cool visuals to show but less substance to tell set in real-estate chicanery lead's to the high life! Rising High (Betonrausch) is sophisticated in the first look that party scene was epic and when the party's over kinda cool too just don't know where it starts to look redundant as unbearable:( Maybe the cash, cocaine and construction get too much they forgot to enjoy it was supposed to be a feel good movie in my mind if they loosen up' and gone run wild this one could worked:) The Wolf Of Wall Street for German Estate Agents slick caper can't quite keep pace with what the story demand to flow as fun con becomes more liability leaving us feeling sad a bit down! As fast shifting plot, where the whole story are flashbacks to the past during an interview made in prison we look on the positive side the main actors are cute and high quality acting, the score are as usual' with some extreme rhythm section that catches' the central vibe of the film:)

Critics Consensus: This is a competently crafted movie too shallow to come up with much reason why we should root for these people, and too derivative to make their vertiginous rise and fall more than forgettable formula entertainment. It's a bit like a Brit geezer-caper film in some ways, and, like so many of those, sounds as though it is based on a hundred urban myths and friend-of-a-friend anecdotes. What makes it more than just that is Kross... Drug use! binge drinking, cursing in formulaic crime drama. Brings nothing new to the rise-of-a-conman genre, but it does it well enough. Rising High is watchable, but it needs to be much more than that. It starts well, finishes with a flourish and finds enough "Isn't this rip-off cute?" moments to be worth your while. "Rising High" is a white collar crime movie with little pizazz and even less substance. Rising High is a crime caper with nothing to say a watchable yet hollow 90 minutes!

Source: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rising_high

TRAVEL TO PLACES: TAIWAN-- HOTEL RELAX 1 DEPARTURE

My Personal Experience: I check-out to Hotel Relax 1 exactly one year last April 23, 2019, together with my sister. We went there to have easy access to tourist spots something to stay in convenient location with comfortable rooms before leaving we went to Relax Cafe take some photo's and settle charges in the lobby, once the traffic light stop- time to capture my departure!

Hotel Relax 1 Departure

Hotel Relax - we are a group consist of contemporary artists, interior designers and marketing experts aiming to provide quality service and a relaxing environment for your comfort and satisfaction. Hotel Relax I & Relax II & Relax III are all at the heart of Taipei city, near Taipei Main Station and Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store, with a wide variety of transportation choices including train, high-speed rail, metro and bus. From our hotel you can get to Q Square in 8 mins (by foot), Ximending in 15 mins (by foot), East district in 8 mins (by metro), CKS Memorial Hall (2 stops by metro) and Taoyuan airport in 45 mins (by car or bus). Relax I and Relax II is within walking distance by only 2 mins. In Taipei City Centre, Hotel Relax provides elegant accommodations just a 5-minute walk from Taipei MRT Station and a 4-walk from National Taiwan Museum. Wi-fi is available free of charge throughout the hotel high floor:)

Source: https://www.taiwanhotelnews.com/hotel-relax-65321.html

TRAVEL TO MOVIES: TIGERTAIL

Director: Alan Yang

Cast: Hong-Chi Lee , Tzi Ma , Christine Ko , Joan Chen , Yo-Hsing Fang , Kuei-Mei Yang , Fiona Fu , James Saito , Hayden Szeto , Cindera Che , Queenie Fang , Akio Chen , Kunjue Li

Plot: In this poignant multi-generational drama, Pin-Jui (Hong-Chi Lee) is a free-spirited yet impoverished young Taiwanese factory worker, who makes the difficult decision to leave his homeland -- and the woman he loves -- behind in order to seek better opportunities in America. But years of monotonous work and an arranged marriage devoid of love or compassion leave an older Pin-Jui (Tzi Ma) a shadow of his former self. Unable to sympathize with his daughter Angela (Christine Ko) and at risk of living out his retirement in solitude, Pin-Jui must reconnect with his past in order to finally build the life he once dreamed of having.

Source: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tigertail

My Movie Review: The movie is half-wit melodramatic the flashback's better than it's present:( Tigertail, a new Netflix drama from first-time director Alan Yang about the immigrant experience of a struggling Taiwanese-American family moving drama but a muddied father-daughter story! Yang’s unfussy direction jumps back and forth effortlessly between four different time periods, sparking waves of nostalgia as it weaves a tangle of repressed family ties with assured clarity:) This multi-generational drama follows a Taiwanese factory worker who leaves his homeland to seek opportunity in the US, where he struggles to find connection while balancing family and newfound responsibilities I've find it a little boring when the old man's around and perhaps underdeveloped commentary on immigration my advice to keep it interesting I wish they added more youthful takes once he arrived in America' so that more compelling and mostly appealing! What seems fine doesn't mean its good it takes a skilled artist to get an audience to truly see those shadows looming on the cave wall of one's growing up. Bluntly put Yang's not there yet:0

Critics Consensus: Uneven yet revealing, Tigertail offers a well-acted -- and ultimately valuable -- look at the immigrant experience in America. The film feels like a three-hour epic that's been slashed to 91 minutes, with crucial details reduced to crude bullet points for economy's sake. It isn't intimate, it's small. Yang's script is thoughtful and precise -- every character gets to be three-dimensional. Alan Yang has given us one immigrant's story that feels like his dad's unique, deeply felt experience, but also makes it reverberate like it's his own - and ours. The lack of dimensionality given to the daughter's story weakens the potential impact of Tigertail. Yang's eye for beauty and composition sometimes gets in the way - poverty in Taiwan is more picturesque than painful, and New York's grime is also given a romantic sheen - but he makes a convincing case for everyone to forgive his or her bottled-up dad.  Its a very quiet, moving, and poignant intergenerational family saga with some lovely directorial flourishes. Alan Yang's Tigertail finds rich beauty in a sea of regret and perhaps still well acted:)

Source: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tigertail

TRAVEL TO PLACES: TAIWAN-- MORPHOLIO TRACE

My Personal Experience: I went to Taipei 101's Morpholio Trace last year April 21, 2019, together with my sister. We went there by accident just roaming around the mall get a glimpse to design exhibition launching that day we saw the box chairs and thought to get photos with it. Morpholio Trace is one learning in my trip never knew now consider it when it comes to design!

Morpholio Trace

Morpholio: It was almost an accident. Trace was originally conceived to be part of “Crit” in Morpholio and is still being developed as such. In June we made a test copy and presented it at the Herman Miller pop-up shop during the “Morpoholio Breaks New Ground” party to get some feedback. The response was incredible and before we knew it, the feature had a life of its own. The next day we had an emergency meeting and “Morpholio Trace” was born. Trace a cool new digital design tool that allows architects and other creatives to instantly draw on top of imported images or background templates, and layer comments or ideas to generate intelligent sketches that can be shared seamlessly with one another. Trace, along with Morpholio, are just two of four new apps to be released in The Morpholio Project series, which aims to change how architects and designers approach the creative process, for design education and beyond!

Source: https://inhabitat.com/morpholio-and-trace-ready-to-shake-up-the-design-world/

TRAVEL TO MOVIES: UNCORKED

Director: Prentice Penny

Cast: Mamoudou Athie , Courtney B. Vance , Niecy Nash , Bernard David Jones , Gil Ozeri , Matt McGorry ,Kelly Jenrette , Sasha Compère , Lashun Pollard , Michael Mobley , Robert Cox

Plot: Fueled by his love for wine, Elijah enrolls in a course to become a master sommelier, an elite designation given only to a handful who are able to pass its notoriously difficult exam. It's a dream that upends the expectations of his father, Louis (Courtney B. Vance), who insists Elijah take over the popular Memphis barbeque joint that's been passed down from father to son since its inception. Elijah struggles with the demands of school and a new relationship, while Louis wrestles with the feelings of his son rejecting the family business until a tragedy forces both of them to slow things down. Written and directed by Prentice Penny (Insecure), and starring Mamoudou Athie, Courtney B. Vance, and Niecy Nash, Uncorked is a hilarious and touching drama about a father and a son who have to finally learn to listen to one another!!

Source: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/uncorked_2020

My Movie Review: The movie is crisp fresh off the vine with amazing beats and different kinds of wine sure to refine your palate and inspiring drama to follow your dreams makes a round up! Uncorked is unique in style it's unusual to carry most scenes with just songs but somehow it works you get the gangsta vibe without being literal as it flows to it's own rhythm as a fine wine! Mamoudou Athie is smooth you won't feel much weight in his presence he got that Rico Suave kind of man for a black guy his cool even under pressure at the same time focused on being Sommelier- I found a new kind of respect to those wine enthusiast who can memorize those hard to articulate terminologies and details that come along with it' not so easy but they deliver! The latter part after the mom dies I think the movie it's lost focus and I lost interest as well just wish it continue to slay rather showing insignificant end this should make lemonade with those lemons of grief it underscores the subliminal tensions brewing between two strong-willed men:(

Critics Consensus: Like a good wine, once you let Uncorked breathe, its heartfelt tenderness will yield a sweet time. "Uncorked" pours an old, old wine into an unexpected new bottle, and while the results are hardly vintage, it still goes down better than two-buck chuck. Captures an energy that's far too common in modern culture in regards to what we pursue, why we pursue it, and the way we dream. We all should be paying attention. It's sweet, medium-bodied, and unchallenging. It's the kind of movie anyone can easily curl up with, without too much thought. Just don't forget the wine. This is a very simple and very lightweight [comedy], but charming in its own way. "Uncorked" is a familiar sort of story in a unique setting. The result is well-rounded, a bit too dry, yet it goes down with a pleasant finish. Uncorked is closer to satisfying, everyday table wine than a rare, award-winning bottle. Niecy Nash deserves a compliment for combining her comic moments with her character's more serious nature. One thing Uncorked gets right about Memphis barbecue is deeply personal connection our restaurateurs have with their cuisine. Athie, Vance, and Nash are all doing terrific work, which only adds to what a film like this is capable of. Piquant, precise, and charming from top to bottom, Uncorked instantly enters the pantheon of great wine movies... Moving coming-of-age story it has mature themes!!

Source: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/uncorked_2020

TRAVEL TO PLACES: TAIWAN-- XINYI ROAD AT NIGHT

My Personal Experience: I went to Taiwan's Xinyi Road At Night last year April 21, 2019, together with my sister. We stayed there as we saw the yellow cabs in brightening up the night! This post is inspired by the color they bring to the city whether New York or everywhere else this cabs keep the place lively and keep us moving faster so take a moment to slow this down:)

Xinyi Road At Night

Xinyi Road (Chinese: 信義路; pinyin: Xìnyì Lù, also called 2nd Blvd) is an eastbound one-way arterial forming a one-way couplet with the nearby Renai Road (3rd Blvd), connecting the Zhongzheng District with the Xinyi District in Taipei, Taiwan. Its western terminus is at the East Gate of Taipei's former city wall, at the intersection of Zhongshan Road, Ketagalan Boulevard, and Renai Road. Near the eastern terminus, there is a new interchange with the new Xinyi Expressway, a new highway connecting Xinyi Road in the Xinyi District to National Highway 3 in the Muzha District. Xinyi Road is known for the location of the original Din Tai Fung restaurant, which is famous for its Taiwanese dumplings, and as the location of the Taipei 101 skyscraper. In recent years, landscaped medians separating traffic have been added, along with a contra-flow bus rapid transit lane, Xinyi Line of Taipei Metro runs underneath Xinyi Road!

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinyi_Road