A Trip Down to Meteor Garden’s Memory Lane

Before there were Lee Min Ho, Song Jong Ki, Lee Jung Suk, Kim Soo Hyun, we fell in love with Dao Ming Zi (Jerry Yan), Hwa Ze Lei (Vic Zhou), Ximen (Vaness Wu), and Mei Zuo (Ken Chu). Likewise, before Song Hye Kyo, Park Shin-hye, Bae Suzy, Yoon Eun-hye, we adored San Chai (Barbie Xu) first.

I felt a certain kilig when I mentioned the cast of Meteor Garden. I suddenly remembered the cat-dog-like argument of Dao Ming Zi and San Chai. Imagine how the writer and director disappointed the fans when San Chai chose the rebellious and spoiled-brat Dao Ming Zi, instead of the angel-like Hua Ze Lei. How about the heart breaking scenes of Meteor Garden 2, or the short episodes per F4 member especially that of Ximen and Xao Yu? My so-called hangover on the said series is undeniable even if it was aired more than 10 years ago!

This is my third article about my Taiwan trip. Did I mention that the country was never on my bucket list? You read it right! If not for the free visa, I would have taken this country for granted. But yes, should I have a chance, I will still not miss the opportunity to visit the shooting locations of Meteor Garden.

So right after Ate Mane and I parted in Taichung, I got my luggage from the smart lockers and rushed to Ximwuri Station of Taichung Railway to catch the THSR going to Chiayi. I was in a hurry because it was already 1:30PM, and I had to be in Taipei by 7PM. Fortunately, THSR took me 45 minutes to the said destination. I arrived there at around 2:10PM, placed my luggage again in the smart lockers, and looked for the bus station that would take me to the National Chung Cheng University (NCCU). I was late though, and the next bus was to leave at 3PM. Time and budget constraints led me to reconsider going, but since I was already there, I decided to go and tried my luck.

I was at the train station’s exit door when I heard a familiar call from our native tongue, “Ate, Ate”. I turned around and saw the two (2) Filipinos I had met at the Flower Market that morning.

“Sa’n punta mo?” they asked.

I knew for sure that we were heading to the same place, so I offered to share the taxi with me to which they agreed. We were happy when we got inside the taxi because we knew that it was not an accident, that God orchestrated our meeting. Their names were Jamz and Roan, and they were best friends. Roan happened to be a nurse abroad and was on vacation. We declared how blessed we were to have met each other!

“Bigla ka na lang nawala eh!” they uttered.

I really went ahead of them intentionally to meet Ate Mane and the fact that I was in the Flower Market for one and a half hours already when they arrived. Anyway, we reached NCCU after 30 minutes.

Because of the internet’s capability, we already had an idea on where the actual shooting locations were. It was a huge university by the way! The first place that we really wanted to visit was the basement of NCCU’s library. It was where student lockers were located and the similar lockers where F4 put red tags. The building on which the rooftop scenes of San Chai and Hua Ze Lei were taken, however, caught our attention wondering if we could take pictures there. We held our excitement for a while as we headed to the library. On our way, we saw the fountain area where San Chai and F4’s graduation took place. It was a nostalgic feeling! More so, we wanted to cry when we were already in front of the lockers.

“Eto na ba yun?”

“Sa’n yung locker ni San Chai?”

“Talaga ba, nandito na tayo?”

We took a lot of pictures and posted it on social media immediately. Mission accomplished! When we were about to leave, we heard a group speaking in Filipino so we approached them, greeted them, and even took selfies with them. They were our modern heroes, our OFWs! We were lucky that they guided us where the other shooting locations could be found. What a blessing!

We took pictures in their canteen, even in unknown buildings which we thought were significant, in the hallway, and on San Chai-like scooter. We also took pictures on the road, on the bridge where San Chai and Shing Ha usually hung out, at the lake, etc. Our favorite part, however, was when we attempted to go to the rooftop which was on the 5th floor of the Administration building. We didn’t inform the personnel on the ground floor that we were going up thinking that they may not understand us because of the language barrier.

We took the elevator and headed to the exit door going to the rooftop. It wasn’t locked, so we set our foot in happily and excitedly until the alarm rang and made us run downstairs in haste. Whew! That was a five-second mini-heart attack! One person saw us, but didn’t say a word. We went down as if nothing happened while praying that we won’t be reported and that our passport will not be confiscated. Thank you Lord for saving and taking care of us!

We stayed for more minutes because the expected time of arrival (ETA) of the bus that was to bring us back to THSR Chiayi station was 5 PM. Unfortunately, no bus passed by. We tried to research and understand the instructions posted on the bus waiting area but to no avail. We went outside the university to call for a taxi, yet no taxi passed by as well. We went back to the waiting area and decided to just take the long route which was three (3) hours when a taxi came. We ran after it, but were disappointed when a student got inside. We tried our luck though….desperately and signaled the driver to stop. He then gave us a leaflet which was about the Grab-like taxi operators, but we insisted that we should get in. The passenger, fortunately, could understand and speak English and informed us to go with her because she was also heading to our destination. Mapapa-“Thank you Lord” ka na lang talaga! We glorified the Lord while inside the taxi! We can’t express how blessed we were and that was one of the best experiences that we had in Taiwan!

As much as we wanted to exchange more stories, separation and departure had to come. We thanked the student/passenger for allowing us to go with her, and yes, the taxi fare was lessened when we divided it into the four (4) of us. My new friends and I hugged and promised to catch up soon in Manila.

To Jamz and Roan, if you happen to read this article, I’d like to say THANK YOU! God is good for allowing me to meet good friends like you. See you soon!