Kaohsiung

I started to grow a little weary of the constant rain, clouds and (relatively) cold weather here in Taipei, plus I still hadn't visited my old friend VY despite being here for 3 months now - therefore a trip to Kaohsiung was far overdue! After a brief 1.5 hour ride on the bullet train, I was on the other end of the island, some 345 km away. There's something to be said about going to a beach in 29C sunny weather at the end of January.

Much about Kaohsiung had changed since my last visit, 3 years ago.  First, there was a MRT system - brand new and very convenient - I was at my downtown hotel within 25 minutes (walking in the wrong direction for a few minutes thanks to a rare Google Maps mistake - don't always trust 'the cloud').  Second, many new buildings, condos, and malls had sprung up seemingly overnight.  Why there was a massive infrastructure development here but not in Taipei is out of this blog's scope (and my knowledge).  Everything seemed quite new and fresh here (or could just be massive photobleaching unexperienced in the north).

As for what I did here - it was quite random - going along on a trip to pick up a cute new puppy for a friend, driving around, being in the exact same club as Rain (the Korean megastar), and then speaking with some locals about life until 7am in an outdoor coffee shop in 100% broken Chinese (mine).  Touristy things were also if course pursued - visiting Cijin island, going to the beaches and parks, climbing a small hill, and visiting an old fort.

I also had lessons in Taiwanese politics and history from a taxi driver - in a unique southern perspective. I was entirely surprised I could understand him because 1) my Chinese sucks and 2) his Chinese wasn't 100% either [extremely thick regional accent and was visibly stumbling for words in Taiwanese before speaking them in Mandarin!]. Great fun for all :).