PS Bubu – The restaurant in Taiwan where Dao Ming Su and San Chai had a date. One of the best places to relive your memories about Meteor Garden. Cars cut in half, the retro vibe, and the feeling of being the center of attention of everyone. I'm very sure that every fan of the Taiwanese drama dream of going to PS Bubu someday, sit on the famous car and eat banana split ala San Chai.
This restaurant in Taipei is already known as filming location of the drama, even before the craze about National Chung Cheng University (aka Ying De University), started to spread like wildfire among fans of the drama. To keep the passion of the fandom burning, I made this travel guide on how to experience Meteor Garden at PS Bubu.
Table of Contents
1. HOW TO RESERVE A SEAT FOR THE PS BUBU CAR
You can send them a message through their fb fanpage (www.facebook.com/PSBUBU/) and tell them about the day and time that you will arrive at the restaurant. Don't also forget to mention that you want to sit on the car where Dao Ming su and San Chai had coffee. The keywords that you should not miss in your message: Meteor Garden car
Expect more visitors during spring when there are lots of tourists visiting Taiwan to see cherry blossoms. Remember that you are not the only Meteor Garden fan on this world and they would also want to sit on the car of PS Bubu. So it's better to reserve a slot than go there and get frustrated.
| Address: | No. 1號, Lane 140, Section 7, Zhongshan North Road, Shilin District, Taipei City, 111[Google Map] |
|---|---|
| Opening hours of PS Bubu: | 12:00 noon to 9:00 pm from Sunday to Saturday |
| Weekdays: | not crowded, only a few customers |
| Weekends: | expect a lot visitors, some would even bring their pets |
| Set meal price per person: | ~NTD 700 |
| Time alloted to eat at the PS Bubu car: | 1 hour only |
Expect more visitors during spring when there are lots of tourists visiting Taiwan to see cherry blossoms. Remember that you are not the only Meteor Garden fan on this world and they would also want to sit on the car of PS Bubu. So it's better to reserve a slot than go there and get frustrated.
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| My Travel Buddy and I arrived before PS Bubu opens, so she took her time taking selfies. |
2. HOW TO GO TO PS BUBU
2.1 by MRT then bus
Board the Taipei MRT Red Line and get off at Shipai Station. Walk to General Market stop [Google Map] and ride Bus R19. Get off at Tianmu New Village [Google Map] and walk to get to PS Bubu.
2.2 by tripool taxi
You can also get to PS Bubu via tripool taxi (www.tripool.app/?utm_source=luomuji). There's a certain advantage of booking a car in tripool taxi because you can schedule your time of arrival at the restaurant. Since PS Bubu is strict when it comes to time, you are expected to come early so as not waste your reservation. Don't expect PS Bubu to adjust for you if you arrive late. With tripool taxi, there is no fear of being late. The car would also stop right in front of your hotel in Taipei.
| Pick-up point | Drop-off point | Distance | Travel time | Estimated tripool taxi fare (NTD) | Suggested pick-up period at the pick-up point | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # of passengers | ||||||||
| 1 or 2 | 8 | |||||||
| Taipei Hotel Midtown Richardson [Check price] | PS BUBU | 12.2 km | 26 mins | 558 | 973 | 11:00 am to 11:30 am | ||
| amba Taipei Ximending [Check price] | 12.3 km | 27 mins | 565 | 984 | ||||
2.3 via Klook's Meteor Garden Sightseeing Tour
You can also get to experience PS Bubu via Klook's Meteor Garden Sightseeing Tour. Just choose the Taipei. Through this package, you will also have a chance to see another Meteor Garden School, Tamkang University.
3. ORDER IMMEDIATELY AFTER ARRIVING AT PS BUBU
Once inside, instead of taking photos, you should browse the menu and decided immediately what to eat. You have only 1 hour to spare so maximize it by telling your order to the waitress. After that you can take pictures. It was a good thing that I went with her, so my Travel Buddy browsed the menu and ordered the food, while I get busy with my camera recording videos and capturing photos.
If you're on tight budget, you can just order pasta or just the banana split. Since this is a lunch date, we both chose the set meal composed of vegetable salad, mushroom soup, steak and cheese cake. Since the seat meal only has coffee or tea for the drinks, we requested a lemon juice add-on. We also ordered a banana split because this is a very important food in the Meteor Garden Taiwan Universe.
4. PS BUBU AS A FILMING LOCATION OF METEOR GARDEN
PS Bubu is definitely one of the top 10 places to visit to experience Meteor Garden. While the lockers of Ying De (which is NCCU in Chiayi) serve as the holy grail of our Taiwanese drama world, the restaurant reminds us of the happy and sad times our favorite couple, Dao Ming Su and San Chai. I consider two things here in PB Bubu which is a must try for every Meteor Garden fan, especially if you're going there with your loved one.
4.1 Sit on the PS Bubu car ala Dao Ming Su and San Chai
The light pink convertible placed in the middle of the restaurant plus a lovely couple are the main ingredients for a Meteor Garden scene re-enactment. I can still remember how Dao Ming Su in the drama felt very shy because everyone in the restaurant was looking at them. I too felt the same. Haha!
The cabriolet being located at the center of PS Bubu gets the most attention of all the customers. It as if everyone who enters the restaurant wants to sit at this centerpiece car. Because we were there on a busy weekend, there were lots of customers and newcomers check the car if it's empty or not.
4.2 Order a banana split
In the drama, Asi was seen sipping coffee. Facing him was his girlfriend San Chai who ordered banana split. You can see from the eyes of Barbie Hsu (or Da S) how excited she was upon seeing her food. It's such a joy to watch the couple, especially when San Chai scoop the ice cream and brought it to the mouth of Asi.
The next thing that she did was to wipe the spoon with the tissue of PS Bubu. Haha! Quickly, Dao Ming Su asked why San Chai have to wipe the spoon. But she quickly shouted because of stress. It was so loud that everyone in the restaurant could hear. Another of their usual love and hate scenes in Meteor Garden, like a cat and dog who are always on a fight.
The next thing that she did was to wipe the spoon with the tissue of PS Bubu. Haha! Quickly, Dao Ming Su asked why San Chai have to wipe the spoon. But she quickly shouted because of stress. It was so loud that everyone in the restaurant could hear. Another of their usual love and hate scenes in Meteor Garden, like a cat and dog who are always on a fight.
But if you will rewatch the scene again, you would notice that after San Chai wiped the spoon, she put it again on her mouth and her eyes changed as if she has some lust. Haha!
Those were there happy times. But in Season 2, happiness turned to sadness when Asi lost his memory. One day San Chai went again to PS Bubu, ordered banana split but this time she was alone. Dao Ming Si was seen looking from the glass wall. They sat together and talked at the PS Bubu car but Asi could not remember anything about their relationship. :(
5. FINAL WORDS FOR PB BUBU
I think the 1 hour time limit is too short if you want to eat the set meal. But if you're just going for pasta, that will be ok. We felt lucky to be given an extension. We ordered the set meal plus the banana split so 1 hour is not enough to finish everything. So the staff told us after the first 30 minutes had passed, that we have an extension of one more hour, for a total of 2 hours dining experience at PS Bubu. With regards to taste of steak in the set meal, Andrea told me that she will give it a score of 4 out of 5. It tasted better than the restaurants in Ximending.
Our total bill for two seat meals + lemon juice + 1 banana split was NTD 1,881. If it's too expensive for your, just opt for the banana split or pasta. It will not be costly and also enough to be consumed within an hour.
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