Where Can I NEW! Download Meteor Garden
Carmela Stadtler
-- Is it just me, or are there constant confessions, that somehow seem like a big reveal each time? Whenever Si confesses his feelings to Shancai, she seems genuinely surprised. And in the early-ish episodes, she seems confused about why he's being nice to her, even though he's said he likes her several times. I am thinking there may be some elements of 'lost-in-translationism' going on? Is he confessing slightly different things each time? For example, "I like you", "I have feelings for you", "I love you", etc? This same question also applies in a later episode where Si is recovering in the hospital and tricks Shancai into "confessing" - but hasn't she already told him she loves him by this point? Why is this, once again, treated like a big revelatory thing??
Lastly, Huaze Lei. Always a fan favorite, I remember fangirling over Oguri Shun in the Japanese version like crazy. In my imagination, Lei has to be a flower boy rather than an ikemen, so I think casting-wise, this was the best choice ever (I always thought the Korean version was a bit too plastic). Darren Chen fascinated me appearance-wise, because I had a hard time accepting that he was real (lol). His face is just so aesthetic. He has this doll-like, angelic boy face. I have to say I really liked Lei in this version because apart from his established personality, he was such a TROLL. When there were group scenes or scenes where he was just sitting/chilling in the background, he added this unexpected element of either sass or something else which made me laugh out loud time and time again. I love that he put in something more than just his character, which is written to be very calm and serene all the time. Honestly, I think all of the actors added something to the characters, which is hard because they have been played so many times before by so many different people. So good job there, guys.
Even Mrs. Yu Sao, I wish she was there too. She was very supportive on Ah Si and Shancai. I cringe on that dance, I wish I could unsee it. I kinda prefer the wedding where Shancai had a dream and Ah Si spun her around. Have you seen the Japanese version?
The continued presence of the two mean girls is the worst in this episode. Every Cdrama has the mean girls somewhere, but they had remained pretty far in the background up to this point, and I had so appreciated that. This episode brought them to the forefront in just the most unnecessary way. Ugh!
In short, I am a fan girl of this series and to complete my fantasy, I decided to dedicate this whole day of our travel in visiting the places where Meteor Garden shoot back in 2001. We went to National Chung Cheng University in Chiayi province of Taiwan and PS Bubu in Taipei.
We took the 9:10 Train to Chiayi with ETA of 10:40AM in Chiayi Station. It is our first time to ride a High Speed Train and it is fascinating. The top speed of the train is 300km/hour, with this speed, it amazed me that we do not feel any bumps inside the train; I can compare the experience to the Amtrak trains in US minus the speed. The inside of the train is nice, since we had our seats reserved we were able to secure a good seat, we saw that in other part of the train for non-reserve car there are people who do not have a seat, they need to stand until someone free up the space. Just like airplanes, they are selling food and drinks in the cart. There are no chargers on the seat, but they do have a public charger in cars 4 and 12, there is a booth where you can charge your device. The individual charging port per seat is only available for business class.
Next we went to the Activity Center, that wide stairs is where F4 walked several times in the series. The bridge where San Chai and Sing Ha first met in Ying De University. There are a lot of students in this area since they have an activity in front. So after few pictures we decided to go and look for the next spot.
While walking and looking for the NCCU Library we saw the Administration Building near the Central Fountain. I took a photo in front of the Admin Building. The rooftop where San Chai and Lei went is on top of the Auditorium building but we decided not to go there since there are classes on going.
We continue walking to look for the Living Road which is located at the end of the main road of NCCU. The Living Road has tall trees facing each other that makes the road unique and beautiful. This is the scene where San Chai drives her scooter and usually breaks down. This is also the road where San Chai and her friends are walking. We took some photos here and had a Facebook live video as we walk back to the bus station.
We arrived at PS Bubu at about 7PM the usual dinner time. This the place where Asi and San Chai had their first date, inside the Pink Bubu (pink Car). The place still looks the same in the series, there are few people occupying the car type tables so we were only placed in one of the usual tables they have. When the couple in the Pink car left, I asked the server if we can transfer in the Pink Car but she said no, you can only use the Pink Car if you reserved prior to your arrival, but she said that we can take pictures before the next guest occupy it.
Back in 2003, I was a freshman at a prestigious university in Manila. My school was just a walking distance to Morayta Street where it was full of vendors selling wallet size photos of the F4 members. It was funny to see college students especially the girls to buy this kind of stuff as if the F4 was also studying in their respective schools.
There were two things I need to accomplish during my visit to NCCU. The first was to search for the legendary lockers where San Chai and the other students of Ying De received their red cards from the F4. My second task was to identify the romantic rooftop where San Chai and Lei have their sweet moments. With these two things in mind, I walked over the bridge built over the Tranquility Lake to start exploring the campus. Just looking at the view from the bridge gave me a glimpse of the beauty of the Ying De University.
I couldn't contain my happiness as I gazed my eyes upon the lockers. I'm a fan of the series but never in life that I imagine that I would be standing in front of the lockers that was used in the drama. But in spite of being happy with the experience, I refrain myself in touching, again and again the large cabinet. I knew and I could feel that there is a CCTV camera somewhere and I don't want to leave a bad impression in NCCU and be the cause of banning outsiders from seeing the lockers.
After taking photos of the lockers, I went back to the Auditorium and tried to convince myself that this building was the location of the rooftop scene. I was not yet sure at that time so I focused my energy on my next location: the place where San Chai was kidnapped. In the drama series, our beloved female heroine was kidnapped by two men and put inside a car. The vehicle then ran in a zigzag motion because San Chai wanted to get out. Later, it was revealed that it was Dào Míng Sì who was the mastermind of the kidnapping.
I also wanted to find that famous sidewalk on the campus where San Chai and some of her friends enjoyed their talk while walking. The sidewalk was lined with tall trees on both sides with a lane provided for passing cars. I was clueless on where to find this spot and I even forgot to take a screenshot of that scene in the drama. But I was still lucky because I remembered a large photo on the glass wall of the Auditorium building. It was similar to the sidewalk in Meteor Garden and I used that to show to the students in NCCU.
Living Road circles around the campus and it was beautified with tall trees great for walking. A special lane for biking made it terrific to stroll around the campus while burning some calories. The road was flat in the area behind the College of Management and I was not convinced that this was the place where San Chai was kidnapped. The sidewalk here has only tall trees planted on one side making it not the location of the scene where San Chai was talking with her friends. I then remembered what the student told me that I should turn right. So I walked back and passed the Parking Lot and the College of Social Sciences building.
I already passed by the Activity Center and the Living Road seemed not to end until I noticed that the road was beginning to slope downward. I investigated further up to the University dormitories and the sidewalk became adorned with tall trees on both sides. I found it! This was the place where San Chai was seen walking with her friends in the drama. The road beside it goes downward in an endless fashion and it must be the same road where the kidnapping scene of San Chai was filmed. I recorded videos of cars going to the Track and Field area and my theory was correct. Watching vehicles as it goes downward on the road is a perfect place to capture an unforgettable scene in a drama series.
Do you still remember Shing Ha Ha (Chen Qing He)? He was the childhood friend of San Chai and they first met somewhere in Ying De University. At that scene, San Chai was walking on a bridge and she saw her friend on the other side. Shing Ha even tried to run just to meet his love interest.The two friends were on the bridge when they saw the F4 on the ground. Hmmm.... My intuition tells me that the place must be the Activity Center. There were lots of students on that scene in the drama and I remembered when I was walking along Living Road there were Indonesians or Thai people who came out from that building.
Now before we move to the closing paragraph of this blog post, let us solve first the mystery of the famous rooftop where San Chai and Lei had their sweet moments. I was already back in Taipei when I reviewed again some of the episodes of the drama. There was a sequence of events when San Chai got her first red card from the F4. Her life became miserable in the university and was even going to be raped by two men. San chai was lucky to be saved by Lei but later found out that it was Asi who planned the idea. She eventually got angry and punched Asi when she met him on the campus. Our female protagonist then went to the rooftop and shouted that she would never succumb to the F4. Her moment at that place clearly shows the Library building. It was so big that if the same scene was filmed in the Auditorium it would be too far away. Had it been that way the Library would then be so small on our television screens. My observation was also consistent with the scene of Lei on the rooftop. He was fond of sitting on the balcony and if you are a keen observer you would see that that Central Fountain was on his right side. So what's the verdict? The rooftop scene was not filmed from the Auditorium but rather on the Administration Building. It was the Business Ad building that the two students at the bus stop told me. I also conclude that there was no rooftop but the scenes were probably taken on the balcony of the second floor.
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