Prime Calendar4Friday, December 23, 2011

The China Post

All events listed here are subject to change. Send your event information in english to

primetime@mail.chinapost.com.tw

Editor Dimitri Bruyas

Image and Web Editor Fan ruixin

Designer Fan ruixin

© 2011, The China Post. All rights reserved.‧Happenings‧Movies‧Calendar‧PRIMETIME

Dining & Wine

European aesthetics, Italian cuisine combine at Elite Concept

The recent grand open-ing of the Elite Concept (禮莊園) flagship store is bringing forth the idea of combining “top bakery products and Italian gourmet cuisine” for the local public.

While the ground level of the creative store features the Elite Concept Bakery, other floors are dedicated to refine Italian cuisine. The top floor hosts the Elite Concept Academy where food-lovers can improve their cooking skills, learn floral arrangements or attend lec-tures from master bakers and let European aesthetics and cuisine combine with their lifestyle. ■

► For more information please visit website: www.eliteconcept.com.tw.

Special Promotion

Enjoy Christmas Dessert Buffet at Marco Polo Lounge

On Dec. 24 and 25, from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., the Marco Polo Lounge at the Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel of-fers one drink and a festive dessert bar for NT$950 per person.

Handmade desserts available include Christmas fruit cake, mini mince pie, traditional Italian panettone, English-style scones with jam and whipped cream and apple strudel with vanilla sauce, and a chocolate foun-tain with fruit skewers! Also served are sandwiches and canapés.

Guests may select one cold or hot drink from the beverage menu, such as espresso, cappuccino, mac-chiato, iced café latte, iced mocha, and tea varieties including English breakfast, Earl Grey, rose petal, jasmine, apple dreams, peppermint, chamomile and oolong. ■

► For reservations please call: (02) 2378-8888 ext. 5952.

Year-end Promotion

Regent Taipei welcomes you to a traditional Christmas brunch

In addition to the various mouth-watering Christ-mas feasts, The Regent Taipei is hosting Traditional Christmas & New Year Brunches at The Gallery on Dec. 24-25 and Dec 30-31.

Hosted on the hotel’s second floor, this weekend’s Brunch menu includes beef fillet Wellington with truffle sauce, seafood vol-au-vent, pork meatloaf with basil sauce, holiday sweet bread loaf, appetizer platter, or-ganic salad bar, handmade Christmas biscuits and fresh seasonal fruit bar for a price of NT$980 per person.

Christmas classic drinks such as Egg Nog (NT$250) and Gluhwine (NT$360) are also available to order. Come to The Regent Taipei to enjoy this festive holiday season with delightful Christmas dishes and the tallest indoor Christmas tree in Taipei. ■

► All prices are subjected to a 10-percent service charge. For more information or reservations, please

call: (02) 2523-8000 ext. 3852 Gallery.

Books.com.tw (博客來網路書店), the first online bookstore in the pan-Chinese community and the largest retailer in the Tai-

wanese book market, recently released the “2011 Books Report” (博客來報告), a survey of this year’s bestsellers, analyz-ing sales in terms of genres, publishers and demographic groups, and offering insights into what the Taiwanese have been reading.

The top three books purchased through the online retailer are Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs, Mi-chael J. Sandel’s “Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?” and “A Female Doc-tor Teaches You Truly Pleasurable Sex” by Japanese physician Mihyon Song (宋美玄).

In addition to the clear mark left by Jobs death, the popular website identi-fies several more trends. As the economy dives, many nine-to-fivers are becoming more concerned with financial-related is-sues, better organizing and personal de-velopment, as well as spiritual release.

The renaissance of Taiwanese films, exemplified by “You Are the Apple of My Eye” (那些年，我們一起追的女孩) and “Seediq Bale” (賽德克巴萊), brought sig-nificant growth to franchise-related fic-tion, overtaking works translated from foreign languages, which have domi-nated in previous years.

The centennial of the Republic of China (R.O.C., 中華民國) also appealed to the people of Taiwan, propelling books on indigenous heritage and culture such as “Seeking a Hundred Crafts” (尋百工).

The arrival of the Year of the Drag-on also triggered a baby and marriage boom, boosting parenting books up the charts. The year’s third best-selling book, on the topic of sex, enticed male and female buyers equally. Moreover, men and women under 30 years of age are both preoccupied with fitness and beauty, while those above 30 show growing concern with health and dis-ease prevention.

One unnerving fact that one can-not help but notice is that six of out of the ten bestselling books in Taiwan are still works translated from a foreign language. Also intriguing is the fact that five titles on the list are distributed by the same publishing group. ■

Taiwan Literature

By ED Kao anD Lin yutingThe China Post

Six of out of the ten bestselling books in Taiwan over 2011 are works translated from a foreign language

Translated works dominate Taiwan’s book market

CONSUMER HIGHLIGHTS Text: Huang Yu-chun, Kung Hsiang-hua and Lin Yuting, Supplement writer / Photos: Courtesy of the advertisers

Get ready for TiBE 2012

T he 20th Taipei International Book Exhibition (TiBE, 台北國際書展) will kick off on Feb. 1, 2012 at the Tai-

pei World Trade Center (TWTC, 台北世貿中心) with the theme “Green Reading.”

This year’s general topic aims into instill some eco-friendly attitudes among local and international book-lovers by presenting rare books from the late Ming Dynasty (明朝) as well as handmade cre-ations by several contemporary artists.

Among others, artist and photogra-pher Claire Xuan of France will show her handmade book and photography works inspired by five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water.

Xuan, who is interested in the philos-ophy behind these elements, has created a series of portfolios printed on paper made of 100-percent natural fibers, such as “Provence,” through which she delved

into water, wood and earth. She is one of the six authors and illustrators invited by the French Institute in Taipei to the fair.

In addition to reviewing the past and the present, TiBE 2012 will also bring you to the city of tomorrow with “Mor-genstadt,” a 3D creation that hints at what our cities will be like in the year of 2050.

“Morgenstadt” gathers weekly blog contributions by comic artists from Ger-many, Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan that highlight contemporary lives in mod-ern cities. The project is co-organized by the Goethe Institutes in the East Asia, and Moga Mobo, a manga community from Berlin.

Also as a part of the future section, visitors will be able to check out a new electronic paper that feels like real pa-per, on which they can highlight, write down notes and connect to databases via cloud computing. ■

Trade Fair

By tang Hsiang-yiThe China Post

1 “Steve Jobs,” by Walter Isaacson

2 “Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do,” by Michael J. Sandel

3 “A Female Doctor Teaches You Truly Pleasurable sex,” by Mihyon Song

4 “You Are the Apple of My Eye (那些年, 我們一起追的女孩),” by Giddens (九把刀)

5“Confessions of a Crooked Building Contractor (黑心建商的告白：買屋前不看會哭的17堂課)” by Sway

6 “Before I Go to Sleep,” by S. J. Watson

7 “These People and Those Incidents (這些人，那些事),” by Wu Nien-Jen (吳念真)

8 “Getting More,” by Stuart Diamond

9 “Education Unlike This (教育應該不一樣)”, by Stanley Yen (嚴長壽)

10 “The Power,” by Rhonda Byrne

Sources: Books.com.tw and courtesy of book publishers

Classical Music

‘Chopin’s Silver Xmas’

(蕭邦的銀色聖誕)

The Andrzej Jagodziński Trio from Poland reinterprets classics by Chopin through the lens of jazz. Keyboardist An-drzej Jagodziński, bassist Adam Cegielski and drummer Czesław Bartkowski are ac-claimed veterans on their own, and since joining forces in 1993 has been acclaimed by audiences at major festivals worldwide. Their elegant twist on Chopin’s works has won acclaims from the Sunday Times and the Penguin Jazz Guide.

This time in Taiwan, the Trio also part-ners with jazz diva Agnieszka Wilczyńska to offer a strand of Christmas favorites such as “Silent Night” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” In the past few years Wilczyńska has performed in Carne-gie Hall and celebrated Chopin’s bicenten-nial with performances in Chicago. ■

‘Chopin’s Silver Xmas’ (蕭邦的銀色聖誕) ► 7:30 p.m. Dec. 23 (Fri.) / National Concert

Hall (國家音樂廳) / 21-1 Chung-Shan S. Road, Taipei (台北市中正區中山南路21之

1號) / NT$500 ~ NT$2000 / (02) 3393-9888 / www.artsticket.com.tw

Classical Music

‘Auferstehung: NSO 2012 Near Year Concert’

(太初之光—馬勒第二交響曲“復活”)Count down to 2012 with the National

Symphony Orchestra (NSO, 國家交響樂團) playing Mahler’s “Symphony No. 2,” an epic that starts with a funeral march and ends with a grand chorus whose text is based on German poet Friedrich Klop-stock’s “Die Auferstehung” (Resurrection).

Using a chorus as the centerpiece of a long final movement, Mahler’s “Second Symphony” invites comparison to Lud-wig van Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony.” Mahler decided to use Klopstock’s poem upon hearing it at the funeral of a re-spected colleague, adding verses of his own dealing more explicitly with redemp-tion and resurrection. He finished the finale and revised the orchestration of the first movement before inserting the song “Urlicht” (Primal Light) as the penultimate movement. ■

‘Auferstehung: NSO 2012 Near Year Concert’ (太初之光—馬勒第二交響曲復活) ► 22:30

p.m. Dec. 31 (Sat.) ► 19:30 p.m. Jan.1 (Sun.) / National Concert Hall (國家音樂廳) / 21-1 Chung-Shan S. Road, Taipei (台北市中正區中山南路21之1號) / NT$400 ~ NT$2500 / (02)

3393-9888 / www.artsticket.com.tw

(Top) Claire Xuan’s photography focuses on the five elements. Courtesy of TIBE

Courtesy of NTCH Courtesy of NTCH