TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — An illustration of female office workers from Taiwan strutting past a typical local eatery went viral on social media this week.
On Wednesday (Dec. 16), a user of the social media site Reddit posted an illustration by Taiwanese artist Skyfire (天之火) showing two young Taiwanese office women in short skirts and high heels briskly walking past a ubiquitous mom-and-pop restaurant. In the picture, which gained over 1,000 upvotes, one woman clutches a bag of Taiwanese tempura while her coworker sips a cup of milk tea.
According to the original caption by the artist, the woman on the left is asking her friend "What do you want to eat later?" In the next line, Skyfire joked, "Don't ask me ah ah ah ah..."
Skyfire told Taiwan News the illustration is part of his "Taiwan Office Lady" series and this particular work was completed and published in July of 2017. As for the inspiration behind the illustration, Skyfire said that office workers in the city center often look for food in the alleys because compared to the department store food courts, "they are cheaper and taste better."
The artist added the red plastic chairs in the snack bar and the umbrella forgotten by a customer "are all from everyone's memories." Five days after first releasing the illustration, Skyfire uploaded another version in which it was converted into a magazine cover listing "101 Things to Do in Taiwan."
Early draft (Skyfire illustration)
(Skyfire illustration)
Faux cover for a magazine (Skyfire illustration)
