I mentioned four days ago that one of my favorite Taiwanese movies is "What Time is it There?" It's about a man who sells watches, and a lady who buys a watch from him. She then goes to Paris for a vacation and while she is gone he keeps thinking of her, and is driven to change all the clocks to Paris time. At first it starts with the watches he sells, then clocks in other stores, he even goes into the control room at the train station to change the time displayed on all clocks in the train station.
The last clock he changes is the large clock on the top of this building. He goes on the roof and uses a very long pole to reach over and push and pull the clock's hands.This was my favorite scene in the movie. The main reason is that from the roof you could see all of the surrounding area, and as this movie was released in 2001, I was shocked to see how much this area of the city changed in the past ten years.
The area of the city is called Ximen. It's a very popular place for junior high and high school kids to go. In fact every time I go there with a friend, they always say "I used to be here all the time for hours with my friends, when I was young. I can't believe how crazy I was!" It has some clothing stores, some cute themed cafes (one where the seats are toilets, one where the seats are wooden swings), a lot of movie theatres, and a ton of KTV's. All in an area with quaint little brick paved streets, and buildings with bright lights around them. I think the best way to describe it is like the Shibuya area of Tokyo, but on a much smaller scale.
The area is pretty colorful and bright, especially at night, which quite a few modern buildings. I remember in my first apartment, I could see right down the street to all the flashing lights and excitement of this area of the city. And this is what made this scene of the movie so memorizing. Seeing how completely different this area was ten years ago. It was definitely not the shrine it is to hedonism that it is now.
Speaking of hedonism. This is also the place where it is said that late at night, young prostitutes stroll the streets looking for customers. There is a saying that some students who want to make extra money will turn to prostitution. While I have never personally seen any prostitutes on these streets (I have seen this in other parts of the city), I do know more than a few people who were prostitutes at some point in time during their school years.
Oh and as you read this you probably said to yourself "What the heck is KTV?" well no worries I'll get to that in another post. I can say that it's by far the biggest social and entertainment activity in Taiwan. So obviously deserving of it's own article.
And no no, i'm not an idiot. I know what you are actually thinking is "Well if this place is so happening, then just show a photo of it!"
