Kaohsiung
Monday, July 09, 2007
In Taiwan, Kaohsiung is the second largest city to Taipei. I might have been there in the summer of 1994 when I went on a Love Boat wannabe camp for 6 weeks which included an island tour at the end, but I don’t remember. It’s on the south end of Taiwan, and since all my relatives live in Taipei, I don’t get down there much. The day we went was really hot and sunny, but also pretty. We took the recently completed Taiwan High Speed Rail, which has stations as big as airport terminals and runs at 208 mph. It cut our travel time from 3 hours to 40 minutes.
Clockwise: (1) one of several factories with painted ducts we saw flying by on the high speed rail; (2) a clock at Zuo Ying, the southernmost high speed rail station; (3) a Taiwanese cement factory; (4) a lifesaver at Chengching Lake in Kaohsiung.
We rented a car and drove to Chengching Lake, a scenic spot with a nine-cornered bridge connecting the two shores. It was nice and breezy on the bridge, and the other side had a landscaped garden and walking paths.
Clockwise: (1) Dave and his mom on the nine-cornered bridge; (2) Dad’s dad climbing the tree house steps; (3) me and Dave on the Taichung high speed rail platform; (4) Dave’s uncle, parents, and me on the other side of Chengching Lake.
Craving air conditioning, we then drove into the city, past an Ikea and Costco, to the largest mall in Asia (for now), Dream Mall:
We ate lunch there and ended up spending almost the rest of the day wandering about its 10 floors. We left for about two hours to see the Ai (“love”) River and the historic British Consulate at Ta Goh, but it was so hot that we returned to Dream Mall for dinner.
The mall was glorious, as you can see – Clockwise: (1) I found myself running toward this giant Pikachu when we passed by the children’s floor; (2) the impossibly cute logo for Mister Donut which had the chewiest yummiest donuts I’ve ever tasted; (3) just one of countless examples of Asian English we’ve seen so far; (4) red bean frappuccino at the ubiquitous Starbucks where one drink costs more than most meals.
I can’t wait to go back!
woww so fun!! i would spend a whole day in that mall, too. 10 floors! insane…
You should definitely tour Kaohsiung if/when you visit Taiwan… weren’t you thinking of going there to teach English at one point? Taiwan has really changed in the last few years. It’s more modern and convenient to get around than ever.
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