Michelle had her first Halloween that she participated in this year. The Disney Channel Taiwan held an event down at the new Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department store and Irene signed Michelle up for it.
The rain has continued on and off today, but it wasn’t so bad as to stop us from going. There was a small crowd, hardly surprising for a new, imported holiday. All the kids were in costume (Disney did tend to encourage Disney-type costumes) of all types and Michelle was the cutest of them all, if only she’d smile.
Strangers were asking to take her picture and lots of people commented on how cute she was, but Michelle was in a daze to begin with, and by the time they were halfway done with the parade of kids around the block, she was ready to go home.
The Disney Channel had video cameras all over the place, taking shots of the parade and the kids, but they managed to completely bypass Michelle every time. At first I thought I was just being conspiratorial minded, but the parade was just one static shot of the kids and their parents going by, being projected up on the jumbo plaza TV so everyone could see the kids in costume.
Just before Michelle would have been on camera, they panned away to show the hosts being irrelevant on the stage, and when they panned back, the got a nice picture of Irene’s back. Michelle was completely excluded. I honestly wonder if they were intentionally excluding waiguoren kids.
We did take pictures of Michelle with the scariest Minnie Mouse ever. Taiwanese girls can play it young and cutesy a lot longer than most western women, but the woman dressed up as Minnie looked more like an over-age prostitute dressed up for a specialty trick. Peter Pan just looked like a goof-ball.
The Chinese Wiggles showed and did a few numbers, but Michelle isn’t interested in the Wiggles anymore. They grow up so fast.
On our way over we discovered the “easy” route to get to the Taipei 101, 1 bus, no trains, no running. It also passes next to the “The Frying Scotsman”, an authentic fish & chips shop from Scotland. I’ve been meaning to eat there, as that’s the way fish was meant to be served, since I arrived. Today we stopped to give it a try.
Closed until 5 on Sunday. If you ever go, check their hours online beforehand.
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