As promised, more on The Grand Hotel. I used to live near here and you could see it pretty clearly from my apartment. The picture above is of the hotel from my street. It was quite nice to live near the hotel as it was a great big beacon to know which way to go to get home. I would always enjoy seeing it as it meant I was close to being home.
Behind the hotel is some pretty nice light hiking as well. Depending on which side of the mountain you are on, you have a pretty good view of a different part of the city. I used to like to walk up there with my dog and stop to get a bird’s eye view of my neighborhood.
Also promised yesterday is the name of the American tv show that took place here. Well I must admit it’s kind of a cheat because not only have you probably never seen it, but it’s also a cartoon. So yes maybe they didn’t film here, but still I’m giving them credit for having some scenes take place here. That cartoon is called Young Justice. One episode took place in Taipei and while the other setting of CKS memorial hall wasn't very accurate, the part that took place in this hotel was pretty authentic.
This episode also taught me one new word in Chinese, the word for “protect.” However every time I think of this word I think of it as an American voice actor saying the word very poorly, as opposed to the way a Chinese native speaker would say it. So I’m not sure if I should thank this show or not.
It was also the setting of a stage in the American video game Alpha Protocol. Like the cartoon mentioned above, this took place at CKS memorial hall and the Grand Hotel. And just like the cartoon the memorial hall part was not redone well, but the hotel was done fairly well. Then again I was just happy that it took place in Taipei. With so many games now which take place in finely detailed recreations of real life cities, I always feel a bit jealous since I know that will never happen for Taipei. Which is kind of a shame because videogame-wise Taipei has a great layout and variety of settings.
Well I didn’t learn any Chinese from that game, but I did learn that it’s surprisingly easy to be a CIA agent in Taipei. However recently a game came out that takes place in Hong Kong. So I picked it up to encourage companies to do cities other than NY, LA, London and Tokyo. Also it’s great Chinese practice. Granted the speaking is in Cantonese, but all the writing (subtitles, menus, info, etc) is in Chinese, so it’s good review and picking up new words. I’ll take any excuse I can to not feel guilty for playing a game. Like a lot of my hobbies, I’ve given them up so that I can focus on my Chinese learning. It’s been almost half a year since I last played a videogame, and I need my medicine!
