Episode 7: Taiwan, Hidden Jewel of Asia

Let Your Love Light Shine: Constie

Ashley and Constie take a romantic train ride through the natural beauty of Taiwan to a charming little town that is celebrating a lantern festival. People write their wishes on lanterns and release them into the sky to come true. Ashley insists on calling it a ‘love wish’ and pushes Constantine for any wedding bells in the near future: Should we draw rings? A family? Longevity? Let’s be realistic, how about just a miniscule amount of self-respect intact after this crazy process? NO IT’S A LOVE WISH!!! Anywho, the resulting effect of so many lanterns floating through a still sky looked exactly like the love scene from Tangled- a Disney film natch- and it was incredibly magical, a visual representation of hope.

It was the most romantic thing Constie had ever seen and he was so moved he “was open to the idea of loving Ashley.” He’s ready to share his life with ‘someone’ and has never been happier.

One on One: Ben

Outdoor date chock-full of mopeds, suspension bridges, hiking and picnicking. Beep beep!

Then off to dinner. Ashley made a vast improvement from the tragic onesie with a kelly green one-shoulder blouse and kicky black skirt. I don’t remember what Ben wore in this episode, but it was probably as quirky as Ames is “unique.” In fact, we saw another costume change because- surprise!- this somehow turned into an overnight date, although Ben deflects Lucas’ questioning with "There was no physical activity and we had separate rooms." But did they actually stay in their separate rooms? Million dollar question. Only Chris Harrison knows. And that rascally holder of the Fantasy Suite ™ card keys never tells. Details be damned!  JP could care less about details. He doesn’t want to hear anything and he is MAD. JP SMASH!

Meanwhile…Ryan finally gets his first one on one date card:

“There’s so much energy running through me!” …solar energy?

Group Date: Wedding Photos

JP, Lucas and Ames get dragged on this torturous idea of a date. I’m going to go out on a limb and say most guys probably don’t even like taking REAL engagement photos, much less pretend ones with two romantic rivals watching. What is it with this girl and wedding prep? Just do something normal and put the guys out of their misery. Lucas and Ashley pose in traditional Taiwanese wedding clothes. Ames  and Ash go retro in 80’s duds. Sulky JP rocks a tuxedo and his mood brightens momentarily.

The only memorable thing about the drinks and hors d’oeuvres following the photo shoot were how much Ames’ red pants contrasted with Ashley’s green racerback dress.

Aw cheer up JP! Here, have a rose.

 One on One: Ryan

Ryan reminds me of Chris on Parks & Req...lit'rally! 
He’s so upbeat all the time. The date is a taste of Taipei and the couple witness temple-chanting and try tai chi, which Ryan calls a mix of dance, martial arts and channeling energy. Ryan and Ash gamble with wish bricks: if the bricks show one heads and one tails, then your wish will come true. But both were same side up, so Ryan didn’t get his wish. Ryan doesn’t care! Nothing can rain on his parade: “I’m on cloud 10!” Ryan launches into a conversation about tankless water heaters and asks what Ashley has done for the environment lately. In response, she told a story about how she got dumped for lack of recycling.

Ashley: I’m  not feeling it. I respect you too much to put you through the rose ceremony. Hiyah! See ya Ryan.

Ryan: I want to find that person, real love, unconditional love, someone I can be myself with, who shares the same joy in life and wants to do great things. I want to be a dad. *tear

Rose Ceremony

No mixer says Queen B, straight to the rose ceremony.

Roses for:

Constie

Ben

Ames

Happy trails, Lucas.

“Even though we built a connection slower than others, I wasn’t ready for this to be over.”