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View Full Version : My visit to Shining Discus Studio - Taipei, Taiwan



Wahter
11-19-2002, 11:36 PM
Here are some photos from my visit to Shining Discus Studio in Taipei, Taiwan. They are located on #3 Kunlun Street/ ph# 866.2.2585.0398 (they do not speak very much English).

Willie Loh recommended that I visit this husband/ wife team of breeders and I had also read an interview with them in the Aquapets magazine. They are located "almost" next to the Confucious Temple. The husband's name used to be Chang Pei-Chi, but recently changed it to Weng Jui-Hui.

After trying to contact them twice by phone, we found out that most aquarium shops in Taipei, do not open until 2:00pm in the afternoon! (I guess us dumb Americans just assumed they should be open at noon!). We (my parents, a family friend, and myself) walked into their storefront, introduced ourselves to the wife (the husband was out and about at the time). I know many Asian aquarium shop owners are really nervous about letting people photograph their fish, and the wife told me that one time they let someone do that, and the person ended up using the photos of the Shining Discus fish to misrepresent some other fish of inferior quality! Sheesh! I told her that I had met Wayne Ng in Hong Kong and Jack Wattley before and Wayne was nice enough to let me photograph his fish. So she finally said "okay", after I assured her I would identify her fish as Shining Discus.

Even though we interupted her lunch, she was still nice enough to offer us some tea while I was clicking away. One funny thing - she said I had a nose like a that of a foreigner! She also called her husband, told him a "Chinese American wanted to get a photo taken with him", and to get back as soon as possible.

Again, (you people are going to think I'm nuts) I didn't buy any fish, but I did buy two nice books:

1.) Malaysia Discus

2.) Discus in Taiwan (I had the husband sign the mini-bio of them in this book)

Here are the pics; enjoy!

Walter

Wahter
11-19-2002, 11:37 PM
and another...

Wahter
11-19-2002, 11:39 PM
more..

Wahter
11-19-2002, 11:40 PM
more...

Wahter
11-19-2002, 11:41 PM
some more - funny how that one blue diamond is surrounded!

paul_burney
11-19-2002, 11:42 PM
Vey nice pictures Wahter got any more for us to enjoy :)
Paul

Wahter
11-19-2002, 11:43 PM
some snakeskins and I don't know what the name of the pinkish strain on the right is, they had a few of these with a smattering of red spots on the sides.

Wahter
11-19-2002, 11:45 PM
And here is the fish that April says is always sticking it's tongue out at you! haha! Shining Discus also has Asian arowanas, but I didn't see any of the highly sought after "platinum" arowanas at this shop - at another shop, there was one that was about 12" (about 30cm) selling for...$7,200+ US dollars! ulp!

Wahter
11-19-2002, 11:48 PM
And here's the last photo of myself (now you know what I look like - I'm on the left) with the husband/ breeder/ owner. If you look closely above our heads, you'll see several (and one REALLY BIG one) trophies from the International Discus Championship/ Competition in Duisburg.

Jeff
11-20-2002, 12:06 AM
Wow Wahter those are nice. It looks like you had a nice trip.

Lynn
11-20-2002, 01:33 AM
Walter,

Thanks for sharing the photos, looks like you had fun.
Too bad you came back fish-less! :(
Those snowflakes(I think thats what they are) look very sweet!

Carol_Roberts
11-20-2002, 01:54 AM
Hi Wahter:
Can I go with you next time? I'll even buy you some discus, lol.
Carol :heart1:

BLUEKNIGHT
11-20-2002, 02:10 PM
really nice wahter. Too bad you didnt bring any back with you.also didnt you vistit waynes place too. ;D

arpanlib
11-20-2002, 03:32 PM
hi,
i am sure you enjoyed your trip. and thanx a lot for sharing the discus pics. they are relly nice.

arpanlib

chuck
11-20-2002, 04:09 PM
Great pictures.. Wish I went !!! ;D
chuck

DarkDiscus
11-20-2002, 05:21 PM
Walter,

Thanks for the pictures! Very nice. Also thanks for the story of your visit. Sounds like a lot of fun!

John

11-20-2002, 05:44 PM
How exciting!!!! Great pictures!!! Thanks for sharing ;D

keno
11-20-2002, 07:29 PM
Wow, way coooooool!! Thanks for posting, very interesting seeing pics from overseas ;D ;D ;D

11-20-2002, 07:31 PM
Walter...

1st I must say, it is so nice to finally see you!.... (took long enough ;D ;D)

And thanks so much for sharing the visit with your Simply family. I loved the pictures, especially the 1st one. Have more? :P

Julz

Willie
11-20-2002, 09:35 PM
You didn't buy any discus? You didn't buy any discus? You didn't buy any discus? Did you buy me any discus? :D :D :D

Here's some pix I had taken at their place in previous years,

Willie

Willie
11-20-2002, 09:37 PM
Not sure if you read Chinese, Wahter, but this couple used to be professional dance instructors. Glad they made a career change.

Willie

Willie
11-20-2002, 09:39 PM
I don't quite understand that stuff about not taking pictures, Wahter. It must be the nose thing. :D

Willie

Willie
11-20-2002, 09:40 PM
Oops.

11-20-2002, 10:04 PM
Nice pictures Willie!!!!! Thanks for sharing ;D ;D ;D

BLUEKNIGHT
11-20-2002, 11:19 PM
Really Nice pictures willy. ALso thanks for sharing. ;D ;D

beta
11-21-2002, 12:14 AM
one word: "BEAUTIFUL"

Jeffery_Doty
11-21-2002, 01:05 AM
Thanks to you both! I love looking at great fish pictures! What a great adventure.

Jeff
Oregon

April
11-21-2002, 01:56 AM
great pics Walter. now did you go to any other places? only one? nice pic of the tongue sticker outer fish walter. :P
Looks like you had a great time.

Wahter
11-21-2002, 08:59 AM
Hmm... didn't know they were dance instructors, else I would have asked for them to give me a demo!

Yes, April, I only was able to visit one discus breeder's place - I had visited a few other aquarium shops, but only one of the shops had discus (and they were mediocre). The rest were stocked with arowanas and luo han/ flowerhorns.

The wife at Shining Discus told me that many (if not most) of the discus breeders in Taipei closed over the last couple of years due to the slumping economy. :(

Oh, I did visit a shop that specialized in aquarium plants - it was one of the cleanest shops that I ever visited. Even the front glass door was glass and would slide sideways to open. They carried some Amano brand goods too. This is their website:

http://www.hichance-aquarium.com/


Walter

mench
11-21-2002, 09:57 AM
Nice pics Walter,now for a question.How do thier prices for Discus compare with the prices in the U.S.???? More,less about the same?

Mench

Willie
11-21-2002, 09:16 PM
When I visited this store in April, the economy in Taiwan has slumped and the discus were affordable. I bought this tankful at $35 @. The same fish would have run $65 @ a year earlier. I'm a fairly regular customer so he cuts me some slack.

Wahter, if you had gone in at a civilized hour, say 4 pm, the treatment would have been totally different. They would ask you to sit down and enjoy some tea. This store has a high end stereo system that plays classical music for its select clientele. You would chat a bit and casually glance around the store. Then you point to a tank, the store owner sizes you up, and gives you a quote.

I saw a tankful of the famous "Circles" type of lepards there about two years ago. These were leopards in which the spots are so big, they were distinct circles. I asked about the price and he just said that I couldn't afford it.

This was the best store I found in Taipei. It caters primarily to Japanese tourists. The breeder actually specializes in wild crosses and has won prices for Inca Red types. Most of the fish comes from hatcheries in the South of Taiwan.

Willie

Wahter
11-23-2002, 09:11 AM
Hi Willie, they did offer us some tea while we were there. :) I think next time I go, I'll ask them to show me some dance steps. :)

Walter