Whether it’s for the bus, ramen, Bape, or the heck of it, Japan is hands down the country of long lines.  That is until I came across this line outside Xi Men Ding Starbucks.  Starbucks???

Xi Men Ding is the staple of urban culture and graffiti in Taipei complete with that feeling of raw energy and physical imperfection.  It’s Harajuku over a decade ago before the money started pouring in. 

I hung out with Bobo, an inspiration to a lot of young writers and his partner Colasa, a stencil graffiti artist with a dark edge.  These days they run Citymarx and work closely with the government on legal walls and enrichment programs.

After I left Citymarx, it started to rain…

then came the downpour.

Gave CHEK a call and he was in the area so we met up.

I followed CHEK to a shop that was closed with the shutter pulled down.  Turned out to be UNITY after he shouted for them to open up.  They were having a meeting upstairs while we chatted in the back of their office.  CHEK is hardcore with a “don’t give a shit” attitude but he told me he lost his passion for bombing after a bad run in with a gang that resulted in brain surgery.  Hope things get better.