Kent Mathieu recently sent this to me. Here's what he had to say:I worked as a Night Manager at the MAAG HQ Officers Club for two years during my time in Taipei, and we passed out this business card to our customers. It was a great place to work. I ate wonderful meals and it kept me out of trouble.
The card clearly shows the USTDC compound, though the map area might be a wee bit larger than it actually was.
But the card map is interesting. The streets have changed so much in the last 40 years.
4 comments:
I forgot to point out that the American Institue in Taiwan (AIT)our semi-official Consulate, maintains their offices in the old MAAG HQ buildings shown on the map. They have built additional facilities northward and now have a large facility stretching out to Sinyi Road.
I went by the area in November 2007and took a couple of pictures only to have a group of men come out to the street and tell me to stop taking photographs. I argued with them and they told me to "move on."
So much for American hospitality! You'd think I was in Beijing not Taipei..... Kent
That happened to me too, Kent. I was taking photos in the other direction, of the street, while standing in front of our officially unofficial representative office there. In the street was an interesting situation -- a huge truck was trying to turn down that alley next to the AIT building, and in fine Taiwan style, had totally snarled traffic. Despite the fact that vehicle bombs are common, AIT decided I was the security threat, not the trucks stopped in front of them. I had quite a sharp exchange with an AIT employee there.
The policy is totally stupid, as anyway can take pictures of the building easily. They'd really give a much better impression of themselves by ceasing such childishness.
Michael
One clear mistake on this map: the location identified as Taipei Air Station is instead Sung Shan Air Base (which was also the main commercial airport until the new international airport at Taoyuan opened many years later). Taipei Air Station was actually located off Roosevelt Road, toward the lower right part of the map.
I would really love to have photos of the Officers' Club taken during the late 1960s or early '70s, if anyone has any to share. Write me at ferguson6552-at-hotmail-dot-com
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