Tianmu is a neighborhood in northern Taipei that has never quite felt like the rest of the city. Shaped by American military housing in the 1950s and decades of expat culture, it became the place where foreign food, foreign faces, and foreign ideas landed in Taiwan. Today, some of that energy has faded, but some things stayed.

Eddy Gonzalez is one of them. Born in Canada to Mexican parents, Eddy came to Taiwan in his twenties and eventually opened Eddy's Cantina in Tianmu in 2010, after starting with a small burrito stand at Tamsui Old Street night market in 2007. In this episode, Eddy talks about building a restaurant from his family's recipes, what it felt like to watch the neighborhood change around him, and why, after fifteen years, he's still here: https://www.eddyscantina.com/en/

Jim Chiang is a graduate student at the International Master's Program in International Communication Studies (IMICS) at National Chengchi University (NCCU).

“Speak Up” is a podcast program by College of Communication students at National Chengchi University in Taipei, Taiwan. Season 1 features student work from the class, “Podcasting: Audio Journalism & Branded Podcasts” in Spring 2026. Supervising teacher is adjunct associate professor Emily Y. Wu.

Music credit: Snow Drift by HoliznaCC0, Latin Groove by Victor Samalot, 1909 - Venetian Love Song by Victor Herbert Orchestra, Sad walk with sad melodica by Komiku from Free Music Archive dot org.

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