Taipei: President Ma and Lil Jon

So much to say about Taipei that this one is a two-parter. part one:

Taipei has been dubbed, "the world's most underrated capital city." Now, I ain't been to enough capital cities yet to know about all that, but I will say Taipei is a really cool spot. A few weeks ago we were invited to this real fancy party for "Double-Ten" day, which celebrates the uprising that led to the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of Taiwan. The party was pretty good and I felt like James Bond. There were all these diplomats in tuxedos and beautiful women in evening dresses, and I chatted up some ambassadors from Burkina Faso, The Gambia, and Senegal. There was even a Latin American guy in military regalia, which I think is a prerequisite for these kind of events.

The President of Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou, was also there. I was just goin to get a martini (shaken, not stirred) when I turned around and there was President Ma with this huge security detail shakin hands with people. I wanted to talk him up (President Ma went to Harvard Law, that was gonna be my opening), but then he got swept away somewhere else with his big entourage, so i didn't get a chance to go up to him and say, "Hey Ma, whatsup? You smoke? I drink, me too, well good...cuz we gon get it on tonightttt"

There was one more celebrity sighting, the Taiwanese actor Van Fan. He's big here, having recently starred in the movie, "Cape No. 7," which is the 2nd most successful movie ever in Taiwan, behind only "Titanic." "Cape No. 7" is also Taiwan's entry in this year's Oscars for "best foreign language film." I saw the movie and it was really good, check it out if you get a chance.

Then after rubbing elbows with the high-rollers, we went to this hip-hop club where Lil Jon was performing. That's right, you heard me. Lil Jon. Mr. "Yeaaaa" himself came thru because he's got love for Taiwan. And also because they prolly paid him an insane amount of $. I was skeptical as to what he was actually goin to perform, because he's not technically a "rapper," but his set was actually pretty cool, just doin the hooks from a lot of dirty south songs and pouring expensive vodka on the crowd while taking big swigs of it himself. It got krunk in the club.

Here are some pics from the wknd: Lil Jon, President Ma, and a picture of me killin the buffet (like I always do) at this welcome reception they had for Fulbrighters.