Taiwan Travel Adventures 2011 - Day 4: Monga Film Locations

     I found a Taipei travel guide at the Taoyuan International Airport about places I should visit in Taipei.  Apparently, the filming locations of the hit Taiwanese movie, Monga, around the Longshan Temple MRT station is quite popular.  And why not?  The movie stars Ethan Ruan and Mark Zhao as teenage gangsters in the oldest district in Taipei, Wanhua.  The place is also known as Bangka or Monga to the locals, hence the title of the movie.  The film is set somewhere in the 80s, when cheesy Air Supply songs like Making Love Out of Nothing At All ruled.

The lead stars of Monga.

Mark Zhao and Ethan Ruan are second from the left and second from the right, respectively.

     I re-watched Monga before coming to Taiwan because I wanted to familiarize myself with the must-see places.  If I remember correctly, Bopilao, whose architecture dates back to the Qing Dynasty, was restored, and a lot of memorable scenes from Monga were shot there, including the scene at the restaurant.  It's sort of a museum right now.  And it was thanks to Perladipace's blog that I found about the filming locations of Monga.

     So, with enthusiasm, I made my journey to Longshan Temple in search of Monga's filming locatioon.

     I first went to Bopilao. If you're facing the main entrance of the Longshan Temple, it is just on the right side past the shops that litter the streets.  Up ahead you'll find a red brick building with arched passageways at the corner of an intersection.  It's going to be at the left side of the road.  Walk along the building straight ahead until you reach the entrance.  It's free admission, but I was not able to go inside because I went there on a Monday.  And on Mondays, Bopilao is closed.  Dang it.

It may seem familiar to you because it's the Longshan Temple!

Movie screen cap of the huge gang fight scene.

The restored Bopilao area.

     At least I saw some people filming on site; the second one I've witnessed in Taipei.  I guess it's an era-piece because the actors were wearing costumes popular some decades back.  And I have a short video here:

Photos from Bopilao:

     It is a good thing that some of the Monga film locations were shot outside Bopilao.  I found a poster on  Bopilao, a map of Monga's filming locations.   I took a photo of it and I used it as map to find the places mentioned there.  Also, before going to Wanhua, I asked the hostel staff to write down the names, in Chinese, of the temples featured in the movie and gave me directions going there.  Yes, they know the names of the temple as they all have seen Monga.  It's that popular in Taiwan.  After all, Monga was submitted as a nominee for the Oscar's Best Foreign Picture.

The poster I found at Bopilao which I used as my map for

location hunting.  Click on the photo for full resolution.

     So, I tracked down on foot the two other temples, aside from the Longshan Temple, in Monga.  The first one was quite easy to find because Eric from the Hostel gave me directions.  However, if what I found was not the same temple, well, then, I am very unfortunate.  Moreover, I could not remember how I got there; every now and then I'd ask someone to tell me if I'm headed the right direction.  Eric from the Hostel told me that I should only ask directions from store clerks, like in 7-11, the police...you get the drift, but not from passersby because they might be tourists like me who also do not know where to go.  Tee hee.

     This is the first temple.  I think it's called Qingshui Temple, or something.  It was about 15 to 20 minutes on foot from Bopilao.  I was walking really slow because I was afraid I might miss my landmarks.  If I remember correctly, my landmarks were a grade school, a pedestrian overpass, and a gas station.  And yes, the temple was almost deserted, and I felt really weird taking the temple's pictures; like a voyeur.  Hehe.

Compare the photos above with these screen caps from Monga.  It's the same temple, so yay!

     Anyway, the first temple was the one more prominently used throughout the film.  It was present from start to finish.  After all, this is the home turf of the gang.

     The second temple was quite a challenge.  I had to return to Longshan Temple because my directions start from there but I could not find the second temple. I think I was walking farther and farther away from the second temple my first time trying to find it.  I was able to reach a place where there are flyovers on a really big road.  But hey, after 30 minutes or so, I found the second temple. And guess what?  It was really near the Longshan Temple!  I was just stupid.  I was like, OMG!  I wasted energy, walked under the sun and looked like a complete mess.

I got lost here.  Good thing there's a sign pointing to Qingshan Temple.

     Good grief!  But here it is, the second temple and it's called Mengjia Qingshan Temple.  I think this is the more popular temple of the two because, first, they were more people in the Qingshan Temple.  Second, there are a lot of signs pointing to the temple (but I couldn't follow them properly that is why I got a little lost). Third, it was more grandiose from the outside.

     While looking for the Qingshan Temple, I was able to find the Herb Alley.  Lucky me!  It was just behind the Longshan Temple if I am not mistaken.

Drying the herbs on the sidewalk.

Screenshot of the Herb Alley from the movie.

     And of course, I have photos of the Huaxi Night Market where the huge gang fight culminated in the movie.

Yup, this is the gang fight.  These people passed by the Longshan Temple in the screen cap above.

Huaxi Night Market, without the gang fight.

     I was not able to find the Snake Alley and the narrow alley where some of the smaller fights in the movie occurred.  I was too exasperated by the time I got back to Longshan Temple, and it was midday already, so I wrapped-up my Monga movie location hunting.

     If you want a primer or brochure for the Monga filming locations, use this one I just found over the internet.  I think this is the brochure I was looking for but did not find at the Longshan Temple MRT Station.  It's in PDF but here's the link: http://www.taipeitravel.net/UserFiles/File/MONGA_ENG.pdf

     Probably, I would not have gotten lost if I had that brochure when I went to Monga.

         

   

Taiwan Travel Adventures 2011 - Sun Moon Lake, Part 4: Sun Moon Lake Ropeway

     After much debate with myself (I was alone, remember?), I pushed through with my plan to ride the Sun Moon Lake Ropeway, although I very much wanted to just stay at the Full House Resort and chill.  

     Finding the Ropeway is quite easy, but getting there takes a lot of steps.  650 meters seem near but quite far with the hiking/walking trail.  At least, the view is great.  Along the way, I passed by another lodging similar to the log cabin look of the Full House Resort.  It's called the Rich Forest, mere seconds from the Full House Resort.  Then, there are some food stalls and a couple of very quaint, very charming coffee shops.  Not long thereafter, I reached the start of a trail leading to the Ropeway.  The trail is well-maintained; it would be the perfect place for a great jog or walk.  It is near the water's edge but not too much.  There were not a lot of people around.  Just a couple of passersby, like me.  

Taiwan Travel Adventures 2011 - Sun Moon Lake, Part 2: Shueishe and Ita Thao Piers

Shueishe Pier

     So, I bought my Sun Moon Lake Pass for NTD 299.00 and I asked where I could board the ferry going to Ita Thao.  I was given directions going to the Shueishe Pier and was told to look for the Sun Moon Lake Pass booth and for the staff wearing a vest.  Apparently, the next ferry will be departing in a few minutes.  So, I rushed to the Shueishe Pier and I immediately found the booth.  It was located just below the steps, to the right, in front of a coffee shop.  I gave my pass, the staff tore my shuttle voucher and I was led to the boat which was about to depart.  I was among the last to get in.

Vietnam Travel Adventures - Day 1: Cu Chi Tunnels

     My friends were surprised when I told them that we had to wake up early for our Cu Chi Tunnels 1/2 day trip with the Sinh Tourist.  "How early?"  They asked me. I told them we needed to be at the Sinh Tourist office around 7:45 a.m.  Their faces just went blank.  After all, we just checked-in and it was 2 a.m. already.  We only had a couple of hours to sleep, and well, good luck to us.  

     Luckily, we all woke up on time, and we were even able to have our light breakfast at the hotel lobby.  I only researched where the eff is the Sinh Tourist office before we went down for breakfast.  I was banking on the computer and free internet inside our room.  As it turned out, the Sinh Tourist office is just less than a 5-minute walk away from our hotel.  In fact, the distance is less than 100 meters, as per Google maps.  

     I got our voucher from the Sinh Tourist office and we waited for 15 more minutes.  The bus was scheduled to depart at 8:15 a.m. Even thought it was so early in the morning, the Sinh Tourist was buzzing with activity; people were everywhere.  Some were fortunate to have seats inside the airconditioned office; others were standing outside.  Most of the clients of the tour office were caucasians.  There were only a handful of Asians, and there were some folks which I presume were Filipinos.  They were eating breakfast inside the office.  

     I took the time to browse through the shelves of tourist pamphlets.  I was most interested with their Saigon-Phomn Penh-Siem Reap-Saigon package.  I'd like to go back to Ho Cho Minh for that trip sometime.  Perhaps next year, around January or February when it is not that hot.

     Finally, at exactly 8:15 a.m. (9:15 on my watch), the bus arrived.  What do you know?  It was on time.  Yay for us.  We quickly climbed aboard the bus and we had seat assignments.  We were seated a few seats in front of the middle section.  My friends and I were excited...to sleep on the bus, lol!  It was not hard to do, really.  First, the bus was cruising at a very slow pace, coupled with the congested streets.  It was a Friday, a workday, at rush hour, so what do we expect?  But I think I fell asleep after we passed by a Jollibee branch somewhere.

     I think we travelled for at least 2 hours, and I woke up some 20 minute before we arrived at the Cu Chi tunnels.  Before I forgot, we shelled out VND 80,000.00 each for the entrance.  

 

Of course I've seen a jackfruit tree before; we also have it in the Philippines.

This one, though has so many fruits!

     So, what happened over at Cu Chi tunnels?  Not so much, really.  The place is a forested area, and we were shown the ingenious booby traps laid by the guerilla against the American forces during the war.  There were some demonstrations, and we we shown some of the tunnels used by the guerilla.  The original entrance to the tunnels was too tiny; almost just the size of a shoe box, but the Vietnamese, being slender and light on their foot, easily fits into the tunnel.  I could never fit inside those entrance, but some were dug out to accommodate tourists, like us.

 Apparently, this is a bomb crater.

There are a lot of these houses of some sort.

Booby traps.

 

Step on it and metal spikes would be waiting to pierce your flesh.

 Tinhe (did I get his name right?), our guide, explains the tunnel system.

Yup, we went inside the tunnel.

We got out in a similar tunnel.

      The most fun part came when were asked if we want to go down a tunnel.  Of course, we knew before hand that the tunnels were widened for tourists, so we went ahead.  Told my friends to let the others go in first so we wouldn't bother people behind us.  We queued at the entrance; it was steep going down.  Tinhe, our guide, explained to us that there are several exits; 20 meters, 50 meters, 70 meters, or something.  My friends and I decided that we'll get out at the first exit.  So, we were waiting patiently for our turn, like, for more than 5 minutes already, but the line was not moving.  We wondered why.  

     Let me tell you first how we were lined up.  The first to go down the stairs were the caucasians.  They were not so old; perhaps, around 40ish; some were 50ish.  At the end of the line were the Asians, like us.  Perhaps, the caucasians were enthusiastic to go down the tunnel and maybe, the Asians were bidding their time.  In all fairness, most of the Asians in our group were females; there were only at least 3 Asian males.  Some more than 5 minutes passed, and the caucasians climbed back from where they went down, despite the clear warning that once you go down you cannot come back.  Well, it's because people were still on a queue at the stairs, so it'll make it hard for those coming down if someone would force their way up.  The stairs were steep and narrow.  I think, there were at least 5 or 6 people who came up, all caucasians, except for one Asian male who was around 50ish.

     We finally got down the stairs and we saw a big room where most of the caucasians were standing.  They have not proceeded in entering the narrow tunnel; they were clearly bidding their time, perhaps, trying to gain some confidence.  We just went ahead, downwards.  First, I must tell you that I took off my glasses and it was dark.  There was only a candle light at a distance, then nothing else.  There was a caucasian man in front of us, directly behind my female friend.  Behind her was my male friend and I was the last.  Behind me were 4 or 5 female Asians, Singaporeans, I believe.  

     Anyway, I was yelling at my male friend that I couldn't see anything. My vision is 300/300 so I'm handicapped without my glasses in the dark.  My friends were both giving me directions because they know I'm the clumsy one.  Honestly, it was not hard to walk inside the tunnel; I just couldn't see anything.  I'm 5'6 but I only needed to bend my back down a bit, like a semi-duck walk stance, but I didn't need to crawl.  The caucasian in front was having a hard time and he barely fit into the tunnel; he was almost on all fours.  My female friend who was much more smaller, was almost walking upright. There was a portion in the tunnel where we needed to sit on the ground and drop ourselves to the lower ground.  It was at least a 2 feet clearance. I heard the Asian ladies in the back kinda on panic mode, so I waited for the first one to come near me and I told her to hold onto my hand so I could lead her safely to the point where they need to sit down and jump.  Then, we got out of the tunnel!  Yay!  But we had a picture taking first.  Lol!

 Guerilla mannequins.

These are bombs, not vases.

  Slippers!

 Tourists can experience live-action firing of heavy weapons for a fee.

Film showing about Vietnam and the Cu Chi Tunnels.

This was our last activity before we went back to our tour bus.

     Over-all, I'd say that the Cu Chi Tunnel experience was great, only if it wasn't that humid.  It was fun, and the bottled water the tour guide gave us really helped a lot.  Oh, we were given some roasted, or perhaps boiled tapioca with salt, sugar and sesame seeds, if I remember correctly.  It only reminded me of home.  We also have tapioca at home, only that we call it cassava or kamoteng-kahoy.

     We travalled back to Ho Chi Minh and I slept for most of the time.  I woke up when we were near Jollibee again.  And, for the nth time, I marveled at how slow the driver was driving.

Beijing Travel Adventures: Day 1 - Beijing Zoo's Panda Section [with videos]

     Pandas are kawaii...they're so cute, they can thaw the iciest hearts; at least they melted mine.  Heehee.  Pandas are like China's mascots, and in fact, they are.  Who can forget about Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying and Nini, the 2008 Beijing Olympic's mascots?  They're not only cute but they're perfect for welcoming the world to Beijing as their names, when combined, means, welcome to Beijing, or Beijing welcomes you or something like that.

     So, what's a Beijing trip without visiting the pandas?  Well, good thing it's included in our tour.

     The Beijing Zoo's panda section has seen better days but the pandas remain as cute as ever.  Some pandas were just munching on bamboo leaves, and I can relate very well; they're my fellow procrastinators, after all.  However, a trio of merry pandas started playing, humping (it looked sort of humping) and running.   And I caught their childlike behavior on cam:

Two pandas play while the other couldn't care less, content on chewing bamboo leaves.

Manila Chronicles: Greenhills Shopping Center's Christmas Display

 
     Last Sunday, my relatives and I went to the Greenhills Shopping Center in San Juan City, NCR, to see their Christmas Display.  It was set-up on top of the roof of the walkway going to the center of the mall, and it was made possible in cooperation with COD.  During the olden times, when I was a kid, COD, a department store in Cubao, had an annual Christmas moving and lighted display on their building and people flock to the mall to watch the display come to life.  Now, they showcase their display at the Greenhills Shopping Center.

     When we went to Greenhills, there were already a lot of people to see the display, especially since it just opened the other day on Friday, and it was its first weekend.  Also, the slew of people was concentrated  at the tiangge area (open-market stalls) in front of the display.  It was hot and humid but the little child in me wanted to see the display so a little patience was in order.

     The display was simple; it runs every 30 minutes from 6:30 pm until closing time, around 11 pm if I recall correctly.  There's a Santa's factory, a house with a chimney, a Christmas village, Frosty the Snowman, and of course, Santa and his reindeers.  While the life-sized mannequins were doing their dancing and prancing, their walking in the winter wonderland, or dancing on the snow, or heralding the birth of Jesus, appropriate Christmas songs to the scenes portrayed by the mannequins were being played.  It's a treat for the kids, and a lovely moment to reminisce those golden days when the show was still played at COD.

     Before I forget, I had been to Makati for a drive to see their Christmas display and lights two weeks ago but it wasn't fully finished yet.  I'll go back to Makati this weekend to view it again, particularly at the Ayala Triangle Park where there's a symphony of lights show from 6 pm to 8 pm, Mondays to Fridays.  I'll post it on Sunday or on Monday.

History Channel's Hidden Cities - Taiwan

     I have been swamped with work that I wasn't able to keep track of everything that I'm supposed to do.  But here it is, the synopsis for the final episode of Hidden Cities, featuring Taiwan:

N.B. From History Asia Channel's Hidden Cities webpage:

      Taiwan is an Asian economic powerhouse and one of the region's most liberal societies.  But beneath its modern facade lies a hidden world of secret fortresses, underground cities and tragic prison camps.


     In this episode, presenter Anthony Morse explores a 7-hectare fortress that served as former leader Chiang Kai-shek's secret military command center during the Chinese Civil War; discovers a forgotten WWII prisoner-of-war camp currently used as an aboriginal refugee center and uncovers an underground city stretching over several kilometers that was dug right beneath an 800-year-old village.


     Programme schedule:


     Premiers 14 November, 10:00 pm (GMT +8)
     Encores: 16 November at 11:00 pm, 21 November at 9:00 pm, and 03 December at 10:00 pm

     I have been to Taiwan several months ago, and I just instantly fell in love with it.  For sure, this episode will bring back the nostalgic memories I have of Taiwan.  I will be live-blogging the show, as well as the Indonesia episode which will be shown back-to-back tomorrow night, Sunday.

     I grabbed the promotional video of the episode from their website and you could watch it HERE:

Engine Troubles: A Plane Makes an Emergency Landing in Singapore

     Travelers' greatest fear might be plane troubles, and honestly, every time I ride an airplane, I always utter a short prayer before take-off.  I never seem to get used to turbulence; not at all.  That is why I always pick seats in front when flying with Cebu Pacific; in fact, I almost always buy those coveted first-row seats.  After all, Cebu Pacific's planes are small and every twist and turn, you'd get to feel it.  But if you're seated at the front, it is not so bad.

     This afternoon, I got twitter updates regarding a Qantas A380 plane bound for Australia from London which made an emergency landing in Singapore.  Apparently, while over Indonesia, the passengers heard an explosion of some sorts, and one of the four engines malfunctioned.  The airplane had to fly back to Singapore where it departed (on a stop-over).  And, debris fell from the skies down to Indonesian land.  Thank God, no one was hurt.  But it is still a very frightening experience for the passengers...

Shenzhen Adventure (Part III) - Splendid China and the Dragon and Phoenix Show (with videos)

     

     After going to two factories, the guide told us that she'll accompany us for some shopping.  We told her that we'd like to avail of their services for Splendid China so we'd see the performances later at night.  Touring with them wouldn't be cheap.  They charged us RMB 280 per person inclusive of the ticket for the show.  I know that the entrance is RMB 120, so, assuming the show is RMB 50 for VIP seats, the tour company raked in around RMB 110 per pax.  We'll I don't know if our tickets were VIP because, if not, general admission tickets should have been free. But we're in the middle section, very near the stage, and it was reserved by our guide beforehand, so what do we know? 

     Anyway, what matters is that we had a tour guide who led us to significant places to visit during our short period of roaming around the park.  And we had a chauffeur-driven van.

     According to our guide, the park is divided into two: the wonders of China (I made that description, I forgot how she said it), and the ethnic tribes of China.  We can only choose one because each part would take two hours to visit, and it was 4:00 p.m. already.  We chose the wonders of China.

     Having a tour guide really helps.  They know where to take you the easiest way possible.  We had an expedited wonders of China tour, and she said it was only a third of it.  We got to see the Potala Palace, the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City, the Xian warriors, and many, many more.  The tour guide told us  the names of each sight we visited but I wasn't paying attention, so there. 

     I know, I know.  I'll be in Beijing in two months' time for a six-day trip.  Yup, I'll get the chance to see the Forbidden Palace, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, and of course, the Great Wall of China, among others, for real. But it's still a treat to see these sites' mini-me versions, reminds me of  the former Nayong Pilipino  near the NAIA terminal 1 airport my family used to visit when I was just a little girl.

 

 

     It was nearly nightfall and our much-anticipated activity was about to start.  The highlight of the day: the Dancing of the Dragon and Phoenix performance.  The outdoor theater was packed with Japanese and Indonesian tourists; the stage was huge, and so was the video screen.  We settled in our seats early, and there were security people present to usher guests to their seats.  The video screen was playing snippets of the parks three performances: the Oriental Apparel (or something), the Horse-back Battle, and the Dragon and Phoenix  Show.  I have a video of the Horse-back Battle below (people around us were noisy):

   

     The Dragon and Phoenix Show? It was spectacular!  It had everything: comedy, dancing, folklore, customs and traditions, acrobatics, beautiful people and colorful costumes, fire, water, lanterns, flowers, dragon dance, battle scenes, weddings, feasts, horse-back riding, sheeps, and of course, magnificent fireworks, among others.  For one hour, I was transfixed by the show.  Suddenly, I felt that my RMB 280 was worth it.

    An excerpt from the show: