Kaohsiung

So this weekend I headed down to Kaohsiung. I took the Taiwan High Speed Rail (高铁) to Hsinchu to meet up with Lucy, Hatuyen and Kurt, then head down to Kaohsiung. In total the ride is about 2 hours. Taipei to Kaohsiung is almost the entire length of the island. But it is the full length of the rail from the first stop (Taipei) to the last (Kaohsiung). Tickets were kind of expensive, by Taiwan standards, at $3000 NTD round trip. On our first day there, we went to Cihou beach. There were many bodyboarders there. I wonder if the waves are big enough to surf in the early morning hours. Kaohsiung also has a ferry to carry you accross the harbour. It's a nice ride for only $15 NTD. We also stopped by the lighthouse. Up in the hills and on the edge of a cliff, it has an excellent view of the city. After that we went to the famous Liuhe night market. It was definitly big, but most of the stalls served the same food. Most the stalls were food and there are limited store fronts and not many clothing merchants. It's one long and wide street. So overall not that great compared to what I get around here in Taipei. It does have one redeaming factor. They have breaded and fried King Oyster Mushroom (杏鮑菇). So it's crispy on the outside like fried chicken. The in 杏鮑菇 Taipei is still good but the oil just heats it up, it doesn't have that cripy skin that breading gives. After the night market we headed to Tuntex sky tower observation deck. Another disappointment. You can't go outside, the windows were dirty and there isn't much to see other than the view. We ended the evening with a boat ride down the love river. It's a nice slow 30 seat boat ride down the river illuminated by riverside cafes and lights on bridges. It's a relaxing boat ride with a speaking tour guide. So it's not a romantic boat ride as the "Love" river would imply. But the riverside bars, cafes, dining spots would be better for a more personnal time between friends than a 30 seat boat ride. See you Sunday.