On Saturday, I met up with another friend that I had met during our last trip, Angie. Since she knew about my predilection for noodles, we went to a beef noodle spot near her old college. The day was hot and muggy, and she wasn’t feeling particularly well after a weekend spent on a high mountain hike. The whole day stretched ahead so after eating, we took ourselves over to Xinyi (again) to catch a showing of Dracula Untold. This was my first proper Taiwanese movie experience and I have to go into the differences.
First, there are lines for the line. You buy your ticket and then wait around until about five minutes before your movie, and then they let you in. You can reserve your tickets beforehand, but you need to pick up at least thirty minutes in advance, otherwise you lose them. Also, all the seats are assigned seating, which is nice. And if you go to the major theaters, they are invariably very crowded.
The great thing though, is that despite the packed houses, people are not talking or doing obnoxious things during the movie. I dread going to watch movies in America with other people, but in Taiwan, it’s quiet and respectful. Also, they mix salty and sweet (caramel) popcorn together into the same tub. That small innovation is just outstanding. I do miss the major butter and salt I usually throw onto my popcorn, but the sugar and salt mix are totally worth the trade off.
When the movie ended, we were starving so took up Angie’s friend’s recommendation to go upstairs to Eslite Cafe. It goes without saying that everyone I’ve met in Taiwan, before or since, I’ve seen in person like once before we became “friends." The intervening month served as getting to know you time, through the power of social media, texting, and Facebook. While sometimes that initial re-meet is awkward, it usually just serves as an extension of a friendship began online.
That’s how most of my friendships are nowadays, the new ones. Meet once or twice, likely in a group. Exchange information. A barrage of digital conversation, and then an eventual re-meet to seal the deal and become “real" friends.
After a nap, I had plans to go out with Daisy and her cousins. And boy does she have cousins. Veronica and I met Daisy and her family in the Xinyin area (again again) and we attempted to get into Spark, one of the more popular mega-clubs. Before that though, we visited Barcode to meet and greet everyone: what seemed like ten of Daisy’s Taiwan cousins. She also had other visitors from the U.S. so it ended up being a decently sized group. The problem was, Spark wasn’t letting people in until 1AM, and we were there at least an hour and a half early.
Even after going to 7-Eleven and housing some drinks — you can drink on the streets in Taiwan — we still had plenty of time. Then, disaster of disasters, right as we decided to leave Spark, the elevators to the floor started emptying out with scores of cops. A month ago, right after I left, there had been a fight outside Spark and a police officer was stabbed and killed. Since then, the cops had been showing up at the clubs around 1-2 AM to check IDs and to generally show everyone that they were pissed off. Rumor had it that the gangs were hiding the attacker, and the police would continue to interrupt nightlife operations until the suspect was turned over. What that meant, in practice, was that all of Xinyin was shut down for about an hour each night.
Unfortunately, we were stuck upstairs by the elevator area when the cops came, and couldn’t get out until 2AM, after at least a hundred cops had flooded into Spark. At that point, we worked our way to Chess, a louge that was rumored to have good music and dancing. Daisy (and I) had been Tindering all week and one of the dudes she met was the DJ at Chess. So upon his advice, and with his help, we got into the spot and ended up having a successful night out.
First, there are lines for the line. You buy your ticket and then wait around until about five minutes before your movie, and then they let you in. You can reserve your tickets beforehand, but you need to pick up at least thirty minutes in advance, otherwise you lose them. Also, all the seats are assigned seating, which is nice. And if you go to the major theaters, they are invariably very crowded.
The great thing though, is that despite the packed houses, people are not talking or doing obnoxious things during the movie. I dread going to watch movies in America with other people, but in Taiwan, it’s quiet and respectful. Also, they mix salty and sweet (caramel) popcorn together into the same tub. That small innovation is just outstanding. I do miss the major butter and salt I usually throw onto my popcorn, but the sugar and salt mix are totally worth the trade off.
When the movie ended, we were starving so took up Angie’s friend’s recommendation to go upstairs to Eslite Cafe. It goes without saying that everyone I’ve met in Taiwan, before or since, I’ve seen in person like once before we became “friends." The intervening month served as getting to know you time, through the power of social media, texting, and Facebook. While sometimes that initial re-meet is awkward, it usually just serves as an extension of a friendship began online.
That’s how most of my friendships are nowadays, the new ones. Meet once or twice, likely in a group. Exchange information. A barrage of digital conversation, and then an eventual re-meet to seal the deal and become “real" friends.
After a nap, I had plans to go out with Daisy and her cousins. And boy does she have cousins. Veronica and I met Daisy and her family in the Xinyin area (again again) and we attempted to get into Spark, one of the more popular mega-clubs. Before that though, we visited Barcode to meet and greet everyone: what seemed like ten of Daisy’s Taiwan cousins. She also had other visitors from the U.S. so it ended up being a decently sized group. The problem was, Spark wasn’t letting people in until 1AM, and we were there at least an hour and a half early.
Even after going to 7-Eleven and housing some drinks — you can drink on the streets in Taiwan — we still had plenty of time. Then, disaster of disasters, right as we decided to leave Spark, the elevators to the floor started emptying out with scores of cops. A month ago, right after I left, there had been a fight outside Spark and a police officer was stabbed and killed. Since then, the cops had been showing up at the clubs around 1-2 AM to check IDs and to generally show everyone that they were pissed off. Rumor had it that the gangs were hiding the attacker, and the police would continue to interrupt nightlife operations until the suspect was turned over. What that meant, in practice, was that all of Xinyin was shut down for about an hour each night.
Unfortunately, we were stuck upstairs by the elevator area when the cops came, and couldn’t get out until 2AM, after at least a hundred cops had flooded into Spark. At that point, we worked our way to Chess, a louge that was rumored to have good music and dancing. Daisy (and I) had been Tindering all week and one of the dudes she met was the DJ at Chess. So upon his advice, and with his help, we got into the spot and ended up having a successful night out.