Janet Hsieh Puts the ‘Fun’ in Fun Taiwan

RD: To start off the interview, would you tell us a little bit about the latest season of Fun Taiwan? JH: As of late, social media has been doing very well and has been an important aspect in our lives. Therefore, we wanted to focus more on social media as a lot of people are getting their content through that platform which is why we decided to select vloggers from all over the world to join this season. We made sure that we had a diverse group, so we selected the contestants from various backgrounds such as beauty bloggers and chefs from all over the world. It would be interesting to see them together.

RD: That sounds great! So, are there any new changes to the show this season? JH: For this season, you are definitely going to see a lot of really funny personal interactions between the bloggers because everybody comes in with such a different personality, and some questions that might seem so silly to one person are genuine questions for somebody else. At the same time, because everybody is thrown into this random group of people, you get so many funny reactions and different reactions that you wouldn't necessarily get from just one person.

RD: What was one of the worst moments on the show? JH: In one of the episodes, the prize for the winning bloggers for their video challenge was that I get to be their personal chauffeur. And somehow down the line, it turned into, not just me being their chauffeur, but me being their personal slave. I don’t know how I got convinced that that was a good idea. So for the full day I was the personal slave of some of the bloggers. They literally took it to heart and treated me like a slave; I had to do every single thing they asked me to do. For one of the videos, we decided that I would be a rebellious slave, and so I just flipped out at the end. We all had such a fun time filming it, it was hilarious.

JH: There were plenty! Especially during the car rides, I wish we had a camera in the car. But the funniest moment would probably during an episode where we had to visit a mangrove. One of the girls kept thinking that the mangroves were the Mandrakes; the plant that exists in Harry Potter. And so the whole time she was thinking – ‘Wait, they exist, the Mandrakes exist?’ When we finally arrived there, we realised what she had meant. We laughed so hard, because we were so confused at why she was so shocked that something would exist, but really she just got the words mixed up.

RD: You’ve been doing this for quite some time, so could you recommend top three places to visit in Taiwan? JH: Taitung is one of my favourite places. You get to see the sea, the mountains, and aboriginal culture. On this trip we took the bloggers to go on a hot air balloon ride, the scenery was just gorgeous because you’re going through a valley where you have two mountain ranges on two sides.

Second would be the central mountain range area. You should go to Nantou, where you can relax at the Sun Moon Lake. It has a chill-out vibe to it. At the same time, you can also visit Dongpu, where they have a hot spring that’s also in that area. And if you happen to love hiking, there’s an intense hiking trail that you could try as well. But for those who have never been to Taiwan, I would recommend you to go to Taipei. For our first episode, we took our bloggers to the outskirts of Taipei, Danshui, which is, kind of, the river mouth. We showed them around the different parts and neighbourhoods in Taipei.

RD: The places sound amazing! We hope to visit Taiwan one day. JH: Yes, you should!

RD: I guess we've come to the end of the interview, Janet. Thanks for your time! JH: You're welcome.