微笑大叔來自台中，目前是放放堂台南店的店長。
Uncle Smile is from Taichung. He is the store manager of FUN FUN TOWN in Tainan.
你為什麼會在台南？
Why are you here in Tainan?
大概五、六年前就有人問我要不要來台南發展，當時有飄過一下那個想法，但好像少了那麼一點重要的東西去行動，所以也就沒有下文。兩年前我離開待了七、八年的工作，開始放大假尋找自我。然後有個朋友在台南，聽說我整天閑晃，就邀請我來台南過暑假，就這樣我來到了台南。暑假過後，就莫名奇妙的在這裡開始了店長生活。
I’ve been asked to move to Tainan around 5 or 6 years ago, and the idea had been in my mind for a while before I put it off for the lack of a specific motivation. Two years ago, I left my job at a company I worked for almost 8 years and started a long vacation of self reflection. A friend in Tainan had heard about my situation, and invited me over for a summer. That was how I ended up in Tainan. By the end of the vacation, I became a store manager and started my new life here.
那你喜歡台南嗎？
Then, do you like Tainan?
喜歡啊。很多人只喜歡台南，不喜歡臺北，但我兩個都喜歡。我在臺北生活了二十年，畢竟它是一個大城市，有很多不同的面向，其中也有像台南的部分，只是一個是某部分，一個是大部分。搬來台南以後變得比較空閒，這裡的生活節奏比較緩慢，我自己做事也是慢慢的，所以好像會比較適合我也說不定。不過台南好像又跟表面上看到的不一樣，可能是這幾年不斷有新的元素加入，新、舊或者新的與更新的不斷地撞擊刺激，還有許多東西要再觀察看看。
Yeah, I like it! Many people prefer Tainan over Taipei, but I like them both equally. I’ve spent 20 years in Taipei and discovered many facets of it as a big city. A part of it has the same atmosphere as Tainan, but it is only a part of it, not the whole of it. I am living a more relaxed life here, in line with the slower-paced city and my own tempo, so I guess it suits me better! In addition to what it is known for on the surface, the city seems to carry other faces too. Maybe it has something to do with all the newcomers to the city and the never-ending clashes between old, the new and the newest. We’ll wait and see.
那有什麼是你覺得來台南應該要做的事情或是去的地方嗎？
What would you suggest to people visiting Tainan that they should do here? Where should they visit?
少吃多走。去的地方：在鹽田靠海邊布袋的台61線濱海快速道路-173甲縣道（全台灣最靠海的縣道）那附近有許多已經荒廢的鹽田、魚塭，開車經過那裡的時候會有一種世紀末的荒涼感。
Eat less and walk around more!
Place to visit: in Yantian near Budai, take Provincial Highway 61(West Coast Expressway) to Route 173A. It is the County Highway that comes closest to the sea in Taiwan. You will go past many abandoned salt pans and fisheries, and the desolation feels like being at the end of the world.
你跟放放堂是怎麼連上線的？
How did you end up managing the shop for FUN FUN TOWN in Tainan?
記得來放暑假的時候，常有朋友來台南找我，才半個月我就變成了在地導遊。我記得那一天是放放堂的開幕茶會，而我其實才剛送走一批瘋狂的廈門朋友，內心很想要回去休息，可是喧囂過後總會有一種空虛，再加上邀我來放暑假的朋友一直說著：「我只會推薦你好的啦！」於是我還是去了那天的開幕茶會。當晚被邀請一起去土雞城吃飯，隔天又陪著當時開幕邀請的日本設計師大治將典逛逛台南。又過了半個月，放放堂的老闆問我有沒有興趣一起合作台南店。當時我還沒有做好準備，所以請老闆等我放完暑假再說，後來我就答應了，成為台南店的店長。
Many of my friends came to visit me in Tainan when I was taking my vacation here, and quickly I became almost a professional tour guide. One day, after saying goodbye to some crazy friends from Xiamen, I was nearly exhausted and desperately needed a good rest, but a part of me was having post-part blues. So I took the suggestion of the friend, who invited me to Tainan and kept saying it’s something I shouldn’t miss, to go to the opening part of FUN FUN TOWN on the same day. That evening, I was invited to the post-celebration dinner and met Oji Masanori, the Japanese designer, who held his exhibition here. I accompanied him as a tour guide in Tainan on the next day. Another month went by, and the owner of FUN FUN TOWN asked me if I wanted to work with them for the store. That wasn’t something I had expected at that time, so I asked him to wait until I am done with my summer vacation for a formal response. Later, I accepted the offer and so, here I am.
想在台南放放堂做些什麼？
What are you planning to do in this store?
我在蘑菇工作的時候就擔任過店員了，所以對服務業並不陌生。之後希望可以把這裡的內容再好好規劃一下，讓書有自己的空間。也希望可以弄一個咖啡吧以及一個DJ檯。 雖然現在複合式空間不少，不過我相信這裡還有很多事情可以做。不過還是要有趣好玩啦，不然會枯萎，但節奏感很重要，總之都還在學習啦！台南有一個好處，就是很容易呼朋引伴一起進行一些活動，好比說之前北京的品牌“失物招領”來台南展覽，便是在許多在地朋友幫忙下才能順利完成，大家就像支游擊隊一般，各司其職，任務結束就地解散，挺酷的！
I had experience in the field of retailing when I was a sales at Mogu. In this shop, I plan to reorganize our space so there will be a corner for books, as well as a cafe and a DJ turntable. The idea of a multi-purpose creative space is not new, but I believe there are still rooms for development. Of course it will have to be amusing and fun, or it will be difficult to survive. Having the right momentum is the most important, and I am still learning on that! One thing that’s really nice about Tainan is that friends are always available when needed. It was actually my friends who helped to make our last exhibition Lost & Found from Beijing a success. They are like guerrilla fighters, and they will enter fighting position when there’s a mission, but go back to mind their own businesses once everything’s over. That’s pretty cool I think!
基本上店裡的選品都是老闆選的，有許多都是兩間店共有的，但是因為位於不同的城市，所以在商品的陳列以及選擇上也會依照我站在第一線跟客人接觸後進行一些改變以及調整。我也會推薦自己喜歡的商品給老闆，像是剛剛看到的那個紅色的咖啡沖壺我自己本來就有在用，所以後來就引進到台南店裡。
Basically everything in my shop were picked by the owner of FUN FUN TOWN, so we share a lot of the same merchandise with the shop in Taipei. But since we are located in two very different cities, we have customers of vastly different styles and it is important to make changes and rearrangement according to their feedback. I also recommend to my boss good products that we can sell. For example, that red coffee pot was something that I’ve been using for some time, and now we have introduced it to the Tainan store.
「是一家店，不如說是遊樂場；是遊樂場，不如說是生活的實驗室。」 是放放堂官方網站上介紹詞。 我前一陣子也有上臺北逛了一下臺北店，我覺得臺北店的確給我一種遊樂場，氣氛中有一種歡愉的感覺，不過台南店卻好像不是那種感覺，而是比較沉靜一點的。
“ Call us a shop, but we are more appropriately a playground; Call us a playground, but we are more precisely a lab researching on life.” It was how FUN FUN TOWN introduced itself in its website. I visited its shop in Taipei a while ago and saw its entertaining, cheerful side. The Tainan branch, on the other hand, seems to be calmer.
其實一開始在取名字的時候本來是想要將台南店叫做『店店』，用台語念就是安靜的意思，不過怕會造成品牌的混亂，後來還是決定簡單一點就叫做放放堂台南店。
Well, we did think about naming the Tainan shop Dian Dian but the idea was rejected out of the confusion it can create with the overall branding. Therefore we decided to call it FUN FUN TOWN in Tainan for simplicity.
微笑大叔的由來？
Why do you call yourself Uncle smile?
我很重視自己的私生活。儘管我的前一份工作是擔任蘑菇手帖的寫手與編輯，但當時的我莫名地很怕被知道、被看見，所以我在雜誌裡面有各式各樣的筆名，如果你看到奇怪的名字，大概都是我。至於微笑大叔這個名字，大約是在2003年吧！那時我剛加入蘑菇寫手的工作，那期的主題是《小孩》，當時很認真想了筆名，忽然跑出這四個字，覺得微笑大叔這名字好像還滿對應這主題的，有點溫暖的中年滄桑，還有一點香港感－因為香港朋友很愛稱呼長輩叫叔啊、姨的，這算是這名字第一次出現吧！
I wanted to keep my privacy. Although my previous job was a writer and editor for Mogu and their publication Booday Zine, the idea of being seen and known by the public frightened me. I had all kinds of pen names in the magazine. In fact, if you ever read the zine and come across many weird and funky name, it’s probably me.
I started using the name Uncle Smile in around 2003 when I first came to the job as a writer. I was working on an issue themed “Child” and needed a pen name and the words “Uncle Smile” came into my mind. The name feels right for the theme, and is warm with a hint of middle-age bitterness. It sounded a bit like someone from Hong Kong, as they love using the words “uncle” or “aunt” to refer to people they respect. It was the first appearance of the name.
不過那次寫的東西公司的人都說看不懂，結果只有名字被稱讚。之後因為工作接洽的需求，需要一個統一的藝名，不然每次介紹自己得念一長串筆名給別人，那也挺傷腦筋（不過好像也能變成一個記憶點）所以當時還滿多人叫我大叔的（儘管當年我才三十出頭），不過現在已經是名副其實的大叔了，哈哈。
As a funny fact, nobody in our office got what I wrote in the issue, but I was praised for my pen name. As time went by, I needed to unify my pen names to make it easier to introduce myself and to take on new jobs or to impress others. I scratched my head in search of a better one but settled on this, since then many started calling me “uncle” (the short for Uncle Smile) despite I was only in my 30s. But I’m old enough to be a real uncle now. (Laughs)
來聊聊音樂吧！
Let’s talk about music and how important it is for you!
我聽音樂聽得很雜，但是不精，唯一的優點大概是這個興趣一直不曾間斷過，就是那種我走過的橋，比你吃過的鹽還多的意思，所以才會被朋友抓去寫樂評。聽音樂跟我們理解世界的態度有點像，其實我以前不喜歡電子音樂，不過有一次在一個大學學長的唱片行裡聽到了Aphex Twin化名Polygon Window的專輯《Surfing On Sine Waves》，從此打開了我聽電子樂的大門，所以要保持開放的心迎接未知。Aphex Twin今年出了一張新的專輯
– Syro，一樣很酷！很多玩電子樂的人都會取不同的名字，我想我會取不同的筆名，應該多少也是受到他們的影響吧，而且取名字會取上癮！
I listen to a lot of different music, but I am just a
casual listener. It’s a hobby that I
could not put down, so it’s very likely that
I’ve listened to more songs than most others, and that’s how I started writing albums reviews for a friend. I
guess the way we understand the world is similar to the way we enjoy music. In
the beginning I just couldn’t get electronic
music, but it was a trip to my schoolmate’s
record store, which was playing Polygon Window (Aphex Twin)’s Surfing On Sine Waves, that opened the world
for me. It is just like how we should view
the world with an open mind and be able to appreciate new things. By the way, Apehx
Twin’s album Syro is
out now and it’s really cool. Those in electronic
music tend to go by name names, so I must have been influenced by them to have
many pen names too! It’s a real addition!
形容一下自己吧。
How would you describe yourself?
這很難誒。反應慢真會殺死人，或者天性上討厭被看見，但現在又拉哩拉雜說了一堆，矛盾。這個問題應該外國人比較會回答吧！？
That was a tough question! I think I am rather slow in
reacting to people, and I prefer not to be noticed or seen. But then I shouldn’t be doing this interview…its’ kind of contradictor, huh? I guess Westerners have better
answers for your question?
恩， 也不完全是。不過就我以往訪問的經驗，滿多都算滿清楚自己要做什麼，所以也比較可以描述自己是誰。我覺得可能跟教育還有整個生活環境也有關係吧。他們的家庭關係、教育和我們很不一樣，我們都把時間塞得太滿所以沒有時間思考自己。
Well not exactly.
Many of my past interviewees know exactly what they are looking for, so I guess
they can describe themselves better. Perhaps it’s also related to how they were educated and
the environment they were raised. Some of them had a very different family and
education background and were less busy so they could find time to think more
about themselves.
那大概和天秤座有關係吧！我對事情喜歡多面向思考；溫溫的很平和，有距離感不夠熱情。大概就像是衛星或飛碟一樣，在外圈繞著觀察。需要時間去思考、反應才能動作，不過有的時候也會因此錯過一些東西，但也沒辦法啊！我有我的節奏。所以，至少希望能像外星人一樣，默默潛伏在人群間，然後一舉殲滅地球！
I think I act like Libra, the zodiac sign I am born on. I
am always peacefully weighing options from a distance, so some may think I am
not passionate enough. I am like a satellite or a UFO, evaluating from afar and
taking my time before I am ready to react. I did miss a few opportunities
because of this, but that’s how I am, really.
I have to live in my own pace. Perhaps I will stay hidden like an alien living
among humans, and one day I will conquer Earth without anyone noticing!
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Date of interview: 2014.11.20
Photography & text: Huiwen Chen
English text editing: Sanford Poon
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