I went online this morning (Thursday Dec. 31) to try to book tickets at the IMAX 3-D showing of the movie Avatar in Taipei. I could see it locally at a non-IMAX theater, but that would be like going to a 5-star restaurant and ordering a hot dog.
Anyway, I was hoping to watch it sometime during this long 3-day weekend. There are six showings each day, so I figured 'no problem.' But, I forgot—this is Taiwan. At 9:00am this morning I tried to book a ticket, and everything was sold out except for the 10:20pm show on Sunday, where there were 58 seats available. However, by the time the movie lets out sometime around 1:00am, there'd be no trains back to Taoyuan. Damn :-(
Out of curiosity, I just checked again (10:30am), and now there are only 20 seats remaining for that showing.
In the U.S., shows would occasionally sell out when I was a child. Back then we didn't have the Internet, cable TV, etc., so I guess more people went to the cinema. But since I became an adult, I've never experienced a sold-out movie in the U.S., so this is a bit disheartening.
The ticket price for the IMAX 3-D version is US$13, which is expensive for here, and so I refuse to pay an additional US$30 for a taxi ride back home. Guess I'll just have to wait until next weekend.
My favorite show (姐妹會 Sisters Meeting) had a Christmas episode. Here's a clip where they were having some fun with the host, and you can (once again) see some foreigners speaking Chinese. The guy is from Canada, and the girls are from Belarus, England, China, Brazil, and Papua New Guinea.
About an hour and a half ago, around 9:00pm, I was eating at a BBQ restaurant with some friends, when an earthquake hit. I've felt about 8 or 9 earthquakes in the past 20 months that I've lived here, but this one was the strongest and scariest for me. During the previous earthquakes I would sit and wonder if it would get stronger, but this time it actually did get stronger. The USGS reports that it was a magnitude 6.4, but Taiwan news reported that it was 6.8, so I'm not sure.
I was sure of the panic in the customers' and employees' voices, though. Most of us were looking up at the roof, which wasn't a roof proper but a series of steel (?) beams covered with some kind of heavy fabric material. There were no ceiling panels to fall on us, but I think we were wondering if the beams would buckle and fall down. Some of the folks ran out of the restaurant. In those few seconds I was weighing my options: Either run outside (which American earthquake experts say is not a good idea), or get under our table. The table, while very sturdy, had a barbecue inset in the center, so there really wasn't much room underneath. Besides, there were two children in our party and I didn't want to take the space from them.
The entire quake lasted a good 30 seconds, with the strongest middle part about 10-12 seconds, during which I truly began to get afraid. Fortunately, there were no injuries or damage that I could see. I don't know yet about the east coast, where the epicenter was located.
I went online this morning (Thursday Dec. 31) to try to book tickets at the IMAX 3-D showing of the movie Avatar in Taipei. I could see it locally at a non-IMAX theater, but that would be like going to a 5-star restaurant and ordering a hot dog. 
