He Lianhua

A: If I’m just staying in Taipei as usual, I definitely sleep until I wake up naturally. So my day starts at 11 a.m. Then I make a light brunch, because I have intensive classes or rehearsals later, and I want to take it easy and have a good, leisurely bathroom break (laughs).

A: The Elves Dance Company welcomes you to come visit in Tamsui! If you’re lucky, you might even spot a wild Taiwan blue magpie.

A: Guandu,Dawenshi RestaurantAt TNUA, if you order a main dish, there’s a small all-you-can-eat buffet. The food tastes good, the price is reasonable for me, and you can also enjoy the nighttime view of the Guandu Plain.

A: Drinking red wine, watching documentaries, staring blankly at Facebook (hahahaha), and writing Facebook posts. If I had a little more money, I’d seek out good restaurants or nice places to eat—not necessarily somewhere luxurious or beautiful, but I feel that food is the best cure for everything. I also get together at friends’ homes. If the kids are around, I’ll cook and share a meal with them. That’s my idea of entertainment.

A: I started dancing when I was three, and continued until I discovered flamenco at twenty. It truly changed me, allowing me to be courageous and unapologetically myself. As someone who was cynical and resentful toward the world, I could find release through the sound of my feet and the emotions expressed by my body. Flamenco can stay with me for a lifetime. It changed me—most importantly, by teaching me sincerity—and brought me closer to the depths of my soul.

This is a tough one~~ Flamenco is probably something that even a thousand words can hardly describe in a single sentence. I should put it this way: “Dancing is my breath; flamenco is my way of expressing myself.”

 

“Don’t be afraid of the heat when you step into the kitchen.” We’re not walking along a set of railway tracks; we’re building the tracks ourselves, and we don’t even know which direction they’ll go. In this day and age, entrepreneurship comes with more obstacles. You may have to work harder, yet the results may still fall short of expectations. So, in terms of mindset, focus on what you can do now, and do your best to keep going and get a little closer to your goal. Sometimes taking a step back isn’t a bad thing.

A: *The House Where the Mermaid Sleeps* by Keigo Higashino. The ending of this book moved me deeply. I won’t spoil it for you just yet (hahahaha). A little girl in the story accidentally drowns and is declared brain-dead after being resuscitated. In order to keep her daughter alive, the mother does everything she can to hold on to her, sustaining her life with machines. To others, it’s hard to understand what meaning there is in living with the help of machines. The book beautifully portrays the struggles and heartbreak of a mother who cannot bear to let go. And that brings us to the question: How do we know whether someone who is brain-dead is alive or dead?! In real life, this ties into the debate over whether euthanasia should be legalized. The issues explored in the book are well worth reflecting on. I highly recommend it. Don’t wait to tell people you love them~~~~~~~

A: Every year, I go up to the mountain to teach Indigenous children how to dance. This back-and-forth has continued for eight years now. I hope to establish an arts and humanities center in the community, where art and love can be shared and nurtured through the companionship of art and dance therapy, wherever God’s love is present. I want to sow seeds of art and love and gradually nurture those seeds—the Indigenous children. I hope we can narrow the urban-rural divide and remove the barriers between people. I believe that everything can be changed with love.

A: I usually couch-surf or stay at a B&B because it feels more like home (haha). I’d like accommodations to offer a semi-open space where artists like us, who need to connect with nature, can create. I’ve stayed at four- and five-star hotels before. Although they were beautiful, I felt that a lot of the space was wasted. I prefer somewhere small, fully equipped, and homey.

A: The exterior of the Caesar Hotel looks very minimalist and upscale. Its first impression might make you hesitant to go in, but once inside, you find it’s welcoming and relaxing. The art installations inside are underpinned by the hotel’s philosophy of working with charitable organizations, making it feel like a place filled with love and warmth!