In Search of Adventure in Kaohsiung pt I

I'm writing this as I'm rolling in high fashion with Ahola Busline back towards Taoyuan. I had heard about the service through Brian Perry, aforementioned long-time friend, classmate, and author of In Search of Adventure who is also currently living in Taiwan. The service has surpassed my wildest imagination with super, duper, comfortable, larger-than-life sofa seats, TVs, movies, power outlets, and last but not least, a rather attractive curvacious stewardess! That's right, she brings you food and water/tea/coffee! Anyway... let's begin...


This adventure begins rather spur of the moment. I knew I wanted to visit Southern Taiwan sooner, rather than later, so I called Perry up, who lives in 高雄 (Kaohsiung), and told him to expect me soon. Very soon. For, about an hour later, I'd be on the midnight train, hurtling through the night in his direction. After a sleepless night on the train, ferociously typing up the blog that should have been done two weeks ago, I arrived in Kaohsiung exhausted, but excited.


I knew that Perry lived in an extra room in his friend, Kay's, mom's hospital, but I guess I was expecting something a little smaller... and more hospital-y. It turns out, that he actually lived in a penthouse above the hospital. A gigantic 3 bed, 2 and a half bath, floor plan with a huge kitchen and balcony to boot! At first, I didn't plan on wasting any time on sleep that day, but when I saw the king-sized, ultra-comfy, tempurpedic bed begging to cop a feel of my soft, sexy skin, I just couldn't turn it down!


I woke up about 6 hours later as Perry was coming home from a Muay Thai workout, and he took me out for a walking tour of the city. I honestly have no idea where he brought me, but one thing I did notice was the ridiculously wide roads! I mean, these roads would be big for the suburbs! But where we were going.. we wouldn't NEED... roads.


A few turns later, and we found ourselves hiking up 壽山 (shou shan). Well... more like walking up the mountain. Along the way, we ran into some random, interesting things... like a one armed man...


中山大學 (zhongshan daxue Sun Yat Sen University)


The Martyr's Shrine


A giant cock...


We also got a great view of some extreme sports on the beach down below! Not pictured are some windsurfers...


Aaand... some carnal monkeys...


...before we got to our final destination 西子灣 (xizi wan), where we had a fantastic view of the Taiwan Strait.


Had we stayed, we probably would have had a great view of the setting sun, as well, but that was still a couple of hours away, so we opted to head back towards civilization. Our timing was rather spectacular, I might add. Just as the sun was setting, we passed a very popular viewpoint among young lovers! Personally, though, I think the couples would be better off spending the romantic evening at the top of the mountain!


While we probably could have easily walked the way back home, one of the activities I had on my to-do list in Kaohsiung was to ride the subway! I had heard some good things about it from some of the Kaohsiung-ers at my kung fu school. Indeed, the ride was nice and smooth, and the cars were cleaner and more ergonomic than those in the Taipei MRT. However, because of the high cost (20nt+/ride) versus the low cost of driving a scooter (100nt/week), few locals make use of the metro... probably a dominant factor in the smogginess of the city!



Aaand, of course, no adventure is complete without a taste of the local cuisine! In the case of an adventure in a major city, let alone a Taiwanese one, that meant a night market! Oh, the delicious snack foods you can get in a night market.


I daresay there couldn't have been a better way to cap off the evening! For, the next day... would be another adventure all its own. Stay tuned!