The Storyville Mosquito in Taiwan! Tour recap!

Hey Everyone! 

Hope your holidays are going wonderfully! We just got back from the Taiwan tour and Asia premiere of The Storyville Mosquito! Just thought I'd share some photos and stories about our trip!

On the plane to Taipei the plane (inflight entertainment screen) asks you how you're feeling and then proceeds to recommend the films in the library that may fit your mood! LOL

Oddly, No matter what you picked, it seemed to recommend the film "Father of the Bride" LOL!

Here are some fun things I saw on my first day in Taipei:

I usually notice the difference in trees and foliage when I get to a new city or country. Taipei is full of tropical trees. I especially love seeing these banyan trees everywhere!

Here's a 2 person Karaoke booth in a shopping mall! Just incase you feel the overwhelming urge to belt out Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer" while you're shopping...

Taiwan is known for it's food stands! Here are some cuboid dumpling buns!

I also saw these stuffed pancake things:

Taipei is a very dense and vertical city. Lots of tiny shops stacked on top of each other on most blocks. Here we are in the "Electronics" sector of the city.

I love the future/retro designs of the architecture!

This building has such a robot-y playful design!

This is where The Storyville Mosquito played... at the National Concert Hall.

Here's what it looked like on the inside of the Concert Hall!

It took us a day to set up all the sets, cameras, puppets and music equipment. We played 2 shows at the National Concert Hall to super fun audiences!

After the shows, we hosted some stage visits where the audience could take a closer look at some of the sets and meet the puppeteers! 

I don't know how many rubber shoe related accidents there are on escalators in this country, but I saw these signs everywhere!  

In Taiwan, they also have claw machines that have the most unlikely things in them! like detergent!

and mice! (plush mice)

I went to teach a masterclass at the Taiwan National University of Art. Where I spoke to their composition and multi media arts students! The campus was beautiful and up on one of the mountains near the city!

Here's the Storyville Mosquito crew on the shuttle bus to the train station where we would take a high speed train to Kaohsiung, a city in the south of Taiwan. 

On the 2 hour train ride, we decide to film a few scenes for the 8pus tour documentary! LOL!

Our hotel in Kaohsiung was near a food market! Including 24 hour fruit stands!

We set up in the Weiwuying Playhouse, which just opened 5 years ago. 

It's a beautiful, state of the art performing arts center with a concert hall, opera house and a playhouse (where we played). The architecture was inspired by the canopy provided by the banyan trees!

My friend and patron Yoshi travelled from Japan to see the show!

And he brought a wonderful gift of customized Koala's March cookies from Japan! Apparently it says "Kid Koala" and has my silly face printed on the iconic hexagonal box! LOL! Thanks Yoshi!

There are interesting flavour combos in Taiwan, like peach and tomatoes:

or apples and milk!

or Ramune Gelato!

Before the second show, I was invited to visit a music composition class. We listened to their tracks and I was there to give feedback on what I heard. I thought they all did amazing, melodic and cinematic pieces that sounded like they would fit perfectly into a Miyazaki film! 

A lot of people ride scooters in Kaohsiung! Here's a scooter mechanic shop I saw with the mini scooter lifts!

Yams and sweet potatoes are a popular snack here!

Check out the milk, tea, coffee and juice options at the corner store!

I walked into a random skateboard shop and saw our video editor, Phil! I asked him "Do you work here?" LOL. He was setting up a skateboard he just bought. Phil buys a skateboard wherever we go as a souvenir. Plus it gives him a great way to explore each city we're in!

My favourite thing that I witnessed in Taiwan culture was at the park. Every morning, people would gathering under the banyan trees to slow dance. It was such heartwarming thing to see!  

Here we are beginning our journey home...

And some of our crew doing stretches before the 13 hour flight!

This last photo outside the Concert Hall was taken by the Taiwan National Theatre and Concert Hall photographer LIN Yu-Quan. Thanks to everyone involved for the amazing trip! We look forward to coming back to Taiwan someday with our next production!