Big City

This weekend new friends, Melanie and Jared, invited people from church to go bowling for Jared's birthday.  Kristi and I were the only ones able to make it this certain weekend, which was just fine because we had a lot of fun anyways.

In Hsinchu there is a gigantic shopping center called Big City which I had heard about but didn't go visit until a month ago.  This was my second time going.

It's nine stories up, and all the games/bowling and arcade stuff is on the ninth floor.  (The eighth floor is bizarrely dedicated to San Francisco...more on that later).  So we all met up there and started bowling.

I haven't bowled in years but it was a lot of fun.  We were obviously a group to watch as we are Americans in an asian land, so we definitely gathered clumps of audiences at various times.  It was actually slightly intimidating!...aren't Asians, like, good at everything?

Anyway...I have a point, promise...

So, halfway through bowling the lights went dimmer and an employee with a microphone came on the speakers and talked for a few minutes in Chinese.  It was obvious they were doing some sort of competition/game with all the bowlers.  So she came over to us afterwards, as it was obvious we don't speak Chinese, and told us that each lane gets to choose one person to bowl one ball.  If that person gets a strike, then they win drinks for their entire lane.  If more than one lane gets a strike, then they have to battle it out until there is only one winner. 

 I was immediately volunteered by my friends to do it but I was hesitant; there were a serious amount of people watching and it really was intimidating, AND our lane was first, so I hardly had a chance to grasp the concept.

But I did it...

(getting ready)

 ...and wouldn't you believe it...

I GOT A STRIKE!!

This is my "WHAT JUST HAPPENED IS THIS REAL LIFE?!?" reaction.

Not that it was that big of a deal, but it was a fun moment of craziness.  And no one else got a strike so I didn't even have to battle it out.

(me, hostess girl, melanie, jared & kristi)

X = STRIKE!

We got free energy drinks.

(also, I bowled a 128, winning game #3!)

(typos everywhere)

We also quickly did a few rounds in the batting cages.  It was fun.

Ok, so as I mentioned before, the entire eighth floor is dedicated to San Francisco...

...complete with a mini-GG-bridge...

...and an ice skating rink with a roller-skating track circling it...

...and a giant SF mural...

...and a Fisherman's Warf area.

But the food is all Thai food.  You would think if it was dedicated to San Francisco they would have at least one restaurant with San Francisco food...(unless there's a ton of Thai food in SF and I don't know that!?).  Anyway, the entire floor is fun but completely random.  It's how they do things here.

Also...

...this arcade game looks way too difficult, and all for...a bag of doritos!?