Let’s talk about books this week! In today’s episode, PhenPhen chatted with M.B., the staff from the Middleburg bookstore about her top three recommendations of the week for children's books. Check out below listing for your children to prep for the raining days - 

• The Magnificent Book of Horses

• Jonty Gentoo - The Adventures of a Penguin

• Wheels - The Big Fun Book of Vehicles

Here is PhenPhen’s recommendation for the week - 

• The Hidden Life of Trees: A Graphic Adaptation: (of the International Bestseller)

• IG: elephant.phen

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I remembered I talked about Harpers Ferry before - Here we are again!

Let's hear what other people visiting there say about Harpers Ferry Lower Town and West Virginia as a whole, what they like about - Check it out!

• Music Venue
• National Park Service Things To Do

Correction - "Maryland Height cliff face is currently closed until July 31, 2025 for Peregrine Falcon's Nesting" - I used a future tense - Sorry for the confusion.

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Middleburg, VA. is a picturesque town located in Loudoun County, approximately 45 miles west of Washington, D.C.

Middleburg has earned the title "Nation's Horse and Hunt Capital" due to its rich equestrian heritage, including foxhunting and steeplechase events.

I had the privilege of speaking with one of the staff members in the Middleburg Museum , Chesie, who has lived in Virginia for the past eight years. Let’s hear her thoughts on Middleburg and Virginia.

Websites you could check out about Middleburg, VA. - 

• MIDDLEBURGFILM.ORG

• CHRISTMASINMIDDLEBURG.ORG

• https://www.themiddleburgmuseum.org/
  

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After Feb. 18th, there has been a wave of distress among my community. We wondered, Would Taiwan be the next?

I happened to work with a couple Ukrainians in my workplace. My heart goes out with them reading all the progress relating to the ceasefire, and my tears drop thinking about how similar we are on the international political avenue.

Today's episode referred to the episode on the same topic from the channel LINE Today and hosted by Fan Chi-fei. The original episode in Mandarin can be found here.

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What comes to your mind when you hear about Taiwan? What's Taiwan's semiconductor magnate, TSMC's relationship to the company which surged to the spotlight over the past couple years - NVIDIA?

In today's [Phen Story], I’m sharing two videos. The first is an interview with Yang Guanglei, former Director of R&D at TSMC, hosted by Fan Chi-fei. They discuss whether Trump’s tariffs could impact Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, TSMC’s expansion into the West, and how cultural differences might pose challenges for U.S. semiconductor localization, including Intel’s role in this landscape.

The other video is an interview with TSMC’s 93-year-old founder, Morris Chang, hosted by the YouTube channel Acquired. I stumbled upon it by chance, but it’s entirely in English and filled with fascinating insights. Even if you’re not familiar with semiconductors, Morris Chang’s stories will keep you hooked.

The links are as below:

• A strength and weakness for the U.S. and China? Taiwan's semiconductor dominance but lack of global perspective? ft. Professor Yang Guanglei
• Yang Guanglei
• Acquired Exclusive Interview with TSMC's 93-Year-Old Founder Morris Chang: Stories About Jensen Huang, NVIDIA, Apple, Goldman Sachs, Intel, Samsung, IBM, and Qualcomm

P.S. Apologies for my incorrect pronunciation of the word "tariff". Hope that does not impact your understanding of the script.

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Today is Valentine's Day! I am going to share an episode that I came across accidentally. Here is the original episode.

The podcaster's name is Liu Xuan, he grew up mostly in the US, but for Taiwanese, his name has been somewhat familiar, mostly due to his father, a well-known author, Liu Yong.

In the episode, Liu Xuan invited his wife, Cardin, to talk about their 2024 - the ups and downs, and reflections, and sharing thoughts that they might not yet have a chance to talk to each other. They mainly talk in Mandarin, with some English in between.

If you like my podcast, I would appreciate it if you give me a 5-star rating, leave a comment. And if you've reached this far, I truly appreciate your time, and wish all your loved ones, including you, a Happy Valentine's Day!

When talking about the Amazon Rainforest, what comes to your mind?

In today's episode, we are going to talk about TFFF - A momentum currently under discussion in Brazil that is using the Amazon Rainforest as an investment in the stock market, in order to have a sustainable funding for the conversation and protection. TFFF stands forThe Forests of the Future Fund.

This topic is inspired by the recent episode hosted by Fan Chi-fei onLINE TODAY, which talks about the same topic but in Mandarin. Please check out the episodehere.

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It's the Year of the Snake in the Lunar New Year - Let's talk about Red Envelopes.

Do you know what scenarios Taiwanese usually give red envelops and any taboos around how much you should put in it?

Today's episode is inspired by Fan Chifei's video where she talked about how she upset her mother by mistakenly put the amount of money that included a number "4", which pronounced similar to "death" in mandarin. She also chatted with her staff about the different way of spend the new year holidays with family and friends, and any games they would play together, and sometimes, a little gambling for fun.

The original video in Mandarin can be checked out here

If you like my podcast, please leave a 5-star rating, and leave a comment to let me know what topics you'd like to know about Taiwan or our culture. If you've gone this far, I really appreciate your time. Before next time, take care and so long!

Recently, Taiwan’s hotels stopped providing toothbrushes, and toothpaste. This seems to have sparked a lot of discussions.

To me personally, has been a new normal in the US and some big cities in the Western Europe for some time, as far as I noticed.

Do you like it? What's your view on this?

This topic is inspired by an episode which talks about the same topic in Mandarin and hosted by Fan Chi-Fei, on her another Youtube channel. The original episode in Mandarin can be checked out here.

In addition, in most part of the North Hemisphere, we've experienced relatively colder winter in most countries. In the US, even in the East Southern area, we have 10-inch of snow recently. I encourage everyone with bandwidth, considering donate or volunteer to help local community in need to go through this brutal winter.

If you like my podcast, I would appreciate it if you give me a 5-star rating, leave a comment to let me know if you like or dislike my content, or any other topics you’d like me to talk about.

I really appreciate your time if you've reached to this far. Thank you, and before next time, take care and good-bye!

In 2025, I am adding a new topic called [Phen News / Fun News]

I will select one news story that I have feelings about to share with all of you. The thought is that most of the news stories being broadcasted in Taiwan or adjacent countries are produced in Mandarin. I hope to bring some of those stories to my English-speaking friends or listeners.

Today's topic is, "House Sitting" which was inspired by one episode via the platform, LINE TODAY . "House-Sitting" means someone takes care of another person's house while living in it. Here is the episode talking about House Sitting in Mandarin, hosted by Fan Chi-fei, a seasoned journalist who reported on U.S. news for Taiwan's press and television stations for over a decade. She is now based in Taiwan and dedicated herself to the awareness of global news in Taiwan.

In this episode, I talked about the pros and cons of house sitting, the reasons behind its booming, and the latent societal issues behind that.

If you like my content, please leave a 5-star rating, and leave a comment to let me know your thoughts. Thank you for your time. Before next time, take care and good bye!