I'm splitting this account, which will remain focused on living in Taiwan, history/culture/politics of the region, and little hints of science and urbex here and there. For webdev/tech stuff I'll move things over to @synapticism.com so my interests aren't so tangled up in the same account.

Appeared on @aljazeera.com to discuss what could occur in the event of an invasion. You see a lot of Daybreak in here a lot as well! Thanks again @mikg.bsky.social

Is China seeking to copy Iran’s Strait of Hormuz blockade around Taiwan? | 101 East Documentary

YouTube video by Al Jazeera English

youtube.com

criiiiiiiiiinge

Erica Joy Astrella@ericajoy.astrel.la · 2mo ago

negging is…definitely a strategy. when people start coming over here with fighting energy, just know this is why. (link for veracity: www.threads.com/@bluesky_soc...)

Threads accounts for approximately 22% of inbound traffic to some of my projects. Something like 20% of global traffic on Threads is from Taiwan (where I live). Meta has a lock on Taiwanese social media.

Rodger Sherman@rodger.bsky.social · 3w ago

Two possibilities: —Threads is becoming the dominant text-based social media app even though nobody you’ve ever met has ever used Threads —Meta is doing some funky math and just counting people who use their Instagram accounts as active Threads users

Just learned some of Taiwan’s talented chefs & bakers are creating interesting new recipes using jute leaves (麻芛) as gourmet ingredient. Wish Lin Bakery (林金生香) in Taichung has jute chiffon cake, jute cheesecake, jute sun cakes (太陽餅) & jute scholar cakes (狀元糕) to just name a few examples!

輕妝糕點 麻芛戚風蛋糕｜林金生香WISH LIN

一年又過去了。 年節特有的風景，穿梭於餐桌與賭桌上。年度的寒暄與盛裝，搭配著先禮後兵、高抬貴手的招式和眼神。那一年之間誤以為不可承受之重，盡在年節寧可輕鬆笑鬧的姿態，琢一口輕妝糕點，輕盈化解。 綿延百年的年節風景，由見證百年風華的林金生香，優雅演繹。

1866.com.tw

Brian Hioe@brianhioe.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Interesting read on a rare food that comes up in Taiwan Travelogue--notably, when served it at a banquet in honor of the book, Lai Ching-te himself never had had it before www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/ar...

This site commemorates Eguchi Ryōzaburō for his contributions to developing the Port of Hualien, ignoring his brutal subjugation of Taiwanese Indigenous peoples. The county restored the discarded stele in 2008 and added a torii that might have never been there. spectralcodex.com/hualien-eguc...

Eguchi Ryōzaburō Monument (江口氏紀念碑) - Spectral Codex

A newly-manufactured (and already weatherworn) torii stands in front of the reinstalled monument. Along the waterfront in the Port of Hualien stands a monument dedicated to the memory of Eguchi Ryōzab...

spectralcodex.com

Taiwanese stamps from the late 90s

Support for same-sex marriage in Taiwan has risen to 54.3%, up 12 percentage points from 7 years ago, when it became legalized, according to a survey by a non-profit civic group.

Support for same-sex marriage in Taiwan rises to 54.3%: Survey - Focus Taiwan

Support for same-sex marriage in Taiwan has risen to 54.3 percent, up 12 percentage points from seven years ago, when it became legalized, according to a survey released Friday by a non-profit civic g...

focustaiwan.tw

Great news. It was a great honour and pleasure to be there in February of 2024, to photograph some of the process and the craftspeople involved in the restoration. See some of my shots from that assignment, here: blog.alfiegoodrich.com/portfolio/co... www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/06...

Ceremony set for November will mark Shuri Castle’s main hall being restored

Restoration work for the main hall began in November 2022 following a fire in October 2019.

japantimes.co.jp

Guy who grew up in the Pacific Northwest: Oh, shit, it’s May 18th. I wonder where my childhood jar of volcanic ash is now.

El tiempo no borra: transforma. Spectral Codex: un viaje por las huellas invisibles de Taiwán. humantraces.net/spectral-codex #spectralcodex #taiwan @spectralcodex.com

Spectral Codex: un viaje por las huellas invisibles de Taiwán. | Human Traces

El tiempo se deposita en cada capa de polvo. El deterioro se siente en un cine abandonado, una fachada descascarillada, un cartel que aún promete un estreno que nunca llegará. Esos rastros del pasado permanecen allí, en silencio, esperando a que alguien vuelva a mirarlos. Alexander Synaptic es una de esas personas que todavía las […]

humantraces.net

🧵 I'm experimenting with Threads a little more these days since it's way more Taiwan-centric and generally better vibes than some other places. For anyone also using the service you can find me there with my IG handle: www.threads.com/@synapticx

Boys Day with “koinobori” (traditional carp windsocks). Early 20th century, Japan. The carp is a central symbol in this celebration, representing strength, courage, and the determination to overcome obstacles—qualities inspired by the legend of the carp swimming upstream to become a dragon.

Inside the dictator’s bedroom: A judgmental jaunt through Chiang Kai-Shek’s winter residence in Kaohsiung, Taiwan… #台灣 #高雄 #部落格 #taiwan #blog www.taiwanquest.com/chiang-kai-s...

Inside the dictator’s bedroom

A judgmental jaunt through Chiang Kai-Shek’s winter residence in Kaohsiung, Taiwan…

taiwanquest.com

Another sign of the apocalypse 🍃 focustaiwan.tw/society/2026...

Sugar-coated, flavored betel nuts prompt calls for regulation - Focus Taiwan

Sugar-coated and flavored betel nuts have been sold in Taiwan since last year, the Taiwan Betel Nut and Oral Cancer Prevention Association said Friday, calling for the early passage of a bill to regul...

focustaiwan.tw

It would be pretty funny if Taiwan went around making up pet names for every country that gives in to Chinese irredentism.

Korea JoongAng Daily@koreajoongangdaily.com · 5mo ago

Taiwan has replaced “Korea” with “South Korea” on residency documents issued to Korean nationals, in a reciprocal move to Seoul’s continued designation of the island state as “China (Taiwan)” on its electronic arrival forms. koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2026-03...

Hinamatsuri, brought to you by the Fukui Dinosaur Museum.

Taiwan relies heavily on imported energy. In 2024, about 95% of its fossil fuels were imported. Around 70.3% of Taiwan’s crude oil comes from Middle Eastern countries. Developments in and around the Strait of Hormuz are therefore closely monitored, as disruption affect global supply chains.

INBOX: South Korea's birth rate increased(!) for a second straight year(!!), with the highest year-over-year growth rate since 2007(!!!) For the first time since 1981 (!!!!), both monthly births and marriages increased for all 12 months: www.chosun.com/english/mark...

South Korea Birth Rate Rises 6.8%

South Korea Birth Rate Rises 6.8% Largest Increase in 18 Years as Fertility Rate Reaches 0.80

chosun.com

I've been documenting the locations and conditions of former Shinto shrines in Taiwan for several years by now. This map now shows 464 sites... and I'm sure there are dozens more to uncover! ⛩ spectralcodex.com/themes/taiwa...

Shinto Shrines in Taiwan (台灣神社) - Spectral Codex

Documenting the original locations and remaining relics of the hundreds of Shinto shrines built in Taiwan during the Japanese colonial era, most of which were destroyed following the end of colonial r...

spectralcodex.com

Workers make the world, including the Dragon Horse statue. Poster courtesy of Kaohsiung Museum of Labor

"The transformation of a dark remnant of Taiwan's authoritarian past into a venue for human rights education began in 2009, with the discovery of dozens of formalin jars containing human body parts inside an abandoned building in New Taipei's Xindian district." (CNA) focustaiwan.tw/culture/2026... 🧋

How a site of White Terror persecution became a human rights venue - Focus Taiwan

The transformation of a dark remnant of Taiwan's authoritarian past into a venue for human rights education began in 2009, with the discovery of dozens of formalin jars containing human body parts ins...

focustaiwan.tw

Facebook really feels like a retirement home for aging millennials.

It's pretty sad that so many of these ruined townhouse complexes you find around #Taiwan are the result of developers swindling people who are then stuck holding the bag. Anyway, here's another #urbex post from a recent bike ride... spectralcodex.com/dahu-little-...

Dahu Little Tianmu Villas (大湖小天母別墅) - Spectral Codex

An unfinished townhouse complex on the edge of central Dahu that became a symbol of developer fraud in rural Taiwan. Construction began in 1993 but the 54 units were never completed; buyers were left ...

spectralcodex.com

Surface Ruptures of the 2022 Guanshan–Chihshang Earthquake Sequence, Eastern Taiwan: Implications for Fault Behavior and Recurrence Available #BSSA⚒️ Satellites, photos and field observations help scientists map surface ruptures in Taiwan. buff.ly/Pt25VXK

Cyberpunk's not "dead," but it's old-fashioned, even tenderly nostalgic, like being a poetic '50s beatnik rebel in 1985 Countercultures get assimilated. The very fact that ChatGPT can slop-out a cyberpunk with such chatbotty confident-wrongness... it's not "electronic frontier" here in 2026

In a new #BSSA paper, scientists discuss Taiwan’s response to earthquakes and how it has evolved from 1999 to 2024. ⚒️ pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/bssa/art...

The handbook you hope never to use: What Taiwan’s civil defense manual reveals about democratic resilience Jozef Huljak unpacks 🇹🇼’s national civil defense 📙 & contrasts it with 🇪🇺 preparedness handbooks, showing how threat perception shapes preparedness & public messaging. ceias.eu/the-handbook...

The handbook you hope never to use: What Taiwan's civil defense manual reveals about democratic resilience - CEIAS

On the opening pages of Taiwan’s national civil defense manual, citizens are confronted with a stark question: “In the event of aggression, are you aware that adversaries will flood the internet with ...

ceias.eu

If you can substitute "hungry ghost trapped in a jar" for "AI" in a sentence it's probably a valid use case for LLMs. Take "I have a bunch of hungry ghosts in jars, they mainly write SQL queries for me". Sure. Reasonable use case. "My girlfriend is a hungry ghost I trapped in a jar"? No. Deranged.

Built around 1962 in central Taichung, Nanye Dance Hall (南夜大舞廳) first opened as Coffee Honolulu and was later renamed Honolulu Club. It was designed by local multidisciplinary artist Wang Shui-ho (王水河) and features an unusually expressive façade. spectralcodex.com/taichung-nan...

Taichung Nanye Dance Hall (台中南夜大舞廳) - Spectral Codex

Established in the early post-war era as Coffee Honolulu (南夜咖啡), it was converted into a bar, nightclub, restaurant, and concert hall in the early 1960s. It was abandoned for much of the 2000s and 201...

spectralcodex.com