Weekend in Taipei

Friday Sept. 13^th since we were in Taipei I had never been to the Taipei Zoo I wanted to go before I left. But first we took the Maokong Gondola (cable car) that started at the entrance of the zoo and went up to the top temple and rode until we were in the zoo and then started from the top and went down. I got to see all the animals I wanted from Giraffe’s to the Panda Bears and Koala Bears.

After we were done at the zoo we needed to find the American Consulate so Lana could renew her passport. However since there was no map indicating where it was we used google maps which had proved to be very useful. However, when we got to the consulate since their website said they were open we couldn’t go directly in the building since a guard was outside who had to make sure we were American citizens by showing our passport’s. Since he made sure we were Americans it turned out that the consulate wasn’t even open on Friday’s but we still got to go inside and ask the process of renewing a passport.

The next stop we wanted to find GTV which is where Xiao Zhu (小豬) filmed his variety show 100% Entertainment (娛樂百分百). Though we found the right mrt stop google maps failed as in we were wondering the street until we started looking at the street signs and finally found it and took pictures. I wanted to make sure it was the place they filmed so we went inside and asked the reception desk. But when we went in to ask they were very rude because they told us no outsiders are allowed where they film except we didn’t want to watch filming we were just inquiring. They also said we couldn’t even take pictures of the outside of the building so we then left because by that time it was time for us to go over to the 4Dx movie and get our seats. For watching a 4Dx movie it had effects such as moving seats, mist and wind to make the movie more exciting. However I prefer Gold Class movies instead where people sit in comfy recliners but it was still a fun experience. After the movie the landlord and his wife wanted to take me out to dinner in Taipei before I left for the states then it was time to go back to the hostel and get ready for Saturday.  

Saturday Sept. 14^th since we had a fan meeting/ concert at night we went to the Revolutionary Martyrs’ Shrine mid morning because it was something neither of us had visited. When we got there we really didn’t know much about it but 2 workers came over and asked us if we were from America? Apparently not many Americans visit the shrine so they explained what each of the buildings meant which was very nice and helpful. Then we headed back to the hostel to take a nap in preparation for Lee Seung Gi’s fan meeting/ concert that night. We then got ready and went to the mrt stop we thought it would be held at however, turned out that it wasn’t at that mrt stop. So we needed to take a taxi there because the fan meeting was going to start soon and we wanted to get to our seats.

When it started we noticed that the announcer looked really familiar turned out it was Calvin Chen from Fahrenheit a Taiwanese Band and I had always wanted to see a member before I left so it was really exciting to see him. Since I had never been to a “fan meeting” before I wasn’t really sure what to expect but during the fan meeting Lee Seung Gi interacted with the fans through games and trivia. He also sang some of his songs from his many albums it was really fun. Toward the end of the show they decided that they would pick 50 fans from the audience excluding section A because they had already bought hand shake tickets to get the chance to shake his hand and we were both luckily and got chosen. 

The fan meeting got over at around 10 pm and the landlord and his wife wanted to take us to a club in Taipei to see the difference from clubs in Taichung. But first we had to stop over at the hostel and pick up their gift of chocolate that we got in Korea  for everything they did when I was here. I probably wouldn’t get the chance to see his wife before I left either so we were a little late in meeting with them.  After the club we went back to the hostel because then on Sunday we headed back to Taichung so I could get ready to pack my suitcases.