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October 26, continued
Our hotel, the Lake Shore Hotel, is located just across the street from the Tainan Art Museum II, and today, things were hopping. There have been events taking place all over the city celebrating the 400th Anniversary of the city and, today, there were vendors around the block and a stage set up in front of the museum. Just as we were walking by the museum, a wonderful Procession of the Gods comesdown the street! The gods of the city are celebrating the anniversary and it’s quite a sight! We returned to the hotel for a short break and, in the afternoon, walk a few blocks to the Blueprint Culture and Creative Park where festivities are in full force! This is yet another park created from repurposed buildings; these were once judicial dormitories, that is, those who worked in the judicial system. We joined in with the party-like atmosphere, don cute hats and pose for photos! We’re probably a good number of decades older than most of these folks but it’s got such a lively atmosphere and everyone is welcoming us, so what the heck! After walking a bit, we sat down to rest, We were then approached by a young woman who asked us if we were involved in the event. It turned out to be a launch of a Nintendo or virtual reality game! Since we are pretty clueless about this, we had to admit that we are just enjoying the vibe, but we had a wonderful and long conversation with her. And she even told Michael that he spoke Chinese with good tonality! We thoroughly enjoyed our time with her. We weren’t up for a big meal but we ended up in a small food court that seemed very local and we had a surprisingly tasty fish ball soup! What a great day! |
Procession of the Gods
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And then we went off to the Blueprint Culture and Creative Park - lots of fun!
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And finally, dinner, at a very local place right behind the hotel
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Your October 25 report is amazing! How lucky that you were in Tainan during the 400th anniversary celebration. What a wonderful surprise! That has happened to us a few times during our travels when we happened upon a festival or celebration that we were completely unaware of. It makes the trip that much more special.
I especially love the treehouse. I love weird things like that. |
And your last day in Tainan is another amazing day. Wow! That parade of the Gods is so colorful and the costumes are spectacular!
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Did the fish balls have meat inside? I'm curious if it's Fujianese in origin (with meat) or Cantonese (without)?
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Karenwoo, our time in Tainan was truly remarkable! It’s a charming town even without all the festivities, but we definitely lucked into a good time to visit. We loved our time there.
tripplanner, the fishballs didn’t have any meat in them so I guess they’re Cantonese in origin. They were surprisingly good! |
Kaohsiung
10/27/24 Sad to leave Tainan but it was time to move on. We arrived in Kaohsiung quickly and easily and took a taxi from the station to our hotel. Taxis are remarkably inexpensive, by the way. We were struck by the long, long boulevards and how quiet it was. Perhaps because it was Sunday around noon, stores were closed, but it was strikingly different than the other cities we visited. We arrived at our lovely hotel, Silks Club, and told that our room would be ready in several hours, but if we upgraded, we could get a harbor view and be able to enter now. We were both hot and tired and the extra cost was minimal, so what the heck. Oh, and we got tokens for a small bottle of champagne per day! A waste on us since we barely drink, but a little bubbly doesn’t hurt! Kaohsiung Art Pier After getting settled, we went via the Light Rail to the Pier 2 Art Center, a former warehouse district with galleries, outdoor sculptures and shops. Since it was the weekend, there were a million food stands out, too. Too be honest, we were too blitzed and the heat and humidity were making it less than a stellar experience. We wandered a bit and then packed it in. My photo mojo was fried and I couldn’t bother taking many pix. The cool of the hotel was a welcome relief! Dinner was at the very traditional Chinese banquet restaurant about a block away from the hotel with servers wearing traditional Chinese garb. A good meal and fun experience. |
Silks Club
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...dc2980498.jpeg Lobby decor - I was mesmerized by this https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...29bcfe5ce.jpeg View from my hotel window. That tall tower is the Tai Urban Resort. I chose Silks Club because it was highly recommended and I was happy with it. But Tai Urban resort has good reviews, too, and certainly has the best view of the harbor! https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d496cbf48.jpeg Love the many different building designs! https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6a80ee11a.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e015f41aa.jpeg Tea with a view https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ac8778509.jpeg And a bath with a view! https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...74c0b6ddf.jpeg There are showers on the right https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...65bfae512.jpeg |
I'm happy to see and read your latest installment. I know trip reports are a lot of work so I appreciate your efforts. Your hotel room is gorgeous and luxurious! Love the sunset photo. You mention the heat and humidity. Is there a cooler time of year to visit Taiwan? Just yesterday my husband mentioned possibly visiting Japan and Taiwan but I still think I might prefer SE Asia first. If that's even if we return to Asia. At our ages I am concerned about the long flights. It's so much easier to visit Europe from the East Coast. And we still have lots of the US to see, too. So much to see and not enough time.
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Many, many thanks, Karen, for still following! I must admit I've been really struggling to finish this with numerous health and other situations going on and I haven't had as much energy as I would like. And I keep running into the weird "Database error" page in Fodors so can't access the site. At least not on my iPad, where I do most of my writing.
As far as traveling to Taiwan, the best time is probably November but then, that's probably the best time to visit Japan for foliage. Since I wanted to be home before Thanksgiving and maximize the possibility of foliage in Japan, I opted to visit Taiwan first and then Japan, but I knew it would likely be warm and humid. It's subtropical except for the most southern part, which is tropical. So it's hot and humid! January and February are cooler but I don't know what the general weather pattern is. We were fortunate to escape several of the late summer/early fall typhoons (same as hurricanes); in fact, one occurred right after we left Taiwan and followed us to Japan! Just after we arrived in Fukuoka, we had a torrential rain, but that was the worst of it for us. |
Well, I'm back (more or less)! With a not-great trip to Mexico behind us (due to illnesses), I'll try to get as much done on this before I have rotator cuff surgery! This 70-something body is not happy!!
Our visit to Pier 2 Art Center on Sunday afternoon - the busiest place we found in Kaohsiung. It was fun, but a bit overwhelming, and, as I mentioned above, the heat and humidity really caught up with us. We took the Kaohsiung Light Rail to the Pier 2 Art Center. From the hotel, it was a relatively short walk, though it took us a few minutes to orient and figure out where we got on the train. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ab44e026b.jpeg Kaohsiung Light Rail https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...670c3a5b0.jpeg A very busy food fair! https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b40952625.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2ec4ee896.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...93fffafd4.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...07a86c1d0.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...221771b1c.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b046bd9e2.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...04460bf45.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...010e13804.jpeg x-rated art? https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2d9462228.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...013878d2e.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...49bb72015.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...46f451b7c.jpeg In the vicinity, not actually part of the Pier 2 Art Centre. Lots of art in the region https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3b9751682.jpeg In the vicinity, not actually part of the Pier 2 Art Centre. Lots of art in the region https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c094889c8.jpeg In the vicinity, not actually part of the Pier 2 Art Centre. Lots of art in the region https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...15e870e01.jpeg In the vicinity, not actually part of the Pier 2 Art Centre. Lots of art in the region https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...54c30e8e3.jpeg In the vicinity, not actually part of the Pier 2 Art Centre. Lots of art in the region |
Taiwan Travels - Kaohsiung
Our first full day in Kaohsiung Kaohsiung is the 3rd largest city in Taiwan and an important harbor town. It’s very spread out but, at least in our experience, surprisingly quiet and less busy than anywhere else we’ve been. The exception is the very popular Pier 2 Art Centre, a redevelopment of former warehouses along the waterfront into a very busy commercial and arts area - at least when we visited on Sunday, the day that we arrived. Lotus Pond, another popular destination, is a man-made lake with over 20 temples dotting the lake area. Built in the 1970s, some of the temples are very kitschy - reminding us of temples we saw in India and in Thailand. The most familiar image from Lotus Pond is of the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas, but they’re under renovation for an indeterminate amount of time. But there was still plenty for us to see and do in that area. Entering the park, we came to the Confucius Temple, built in the 1970s, it’s the largest Confucian temple in Taiwan. But it was closed today. Oh well, one less temple to tour! We stopped at the very dramatic statue of Xuantian Shang-di, the Supreme Emperor of the Mysterious Heaven, whose feet are planted on a serpent and a tortoise, two monsters wreaking havoc on earth he’s said to have conquered. We passed a small group of older Taiwanese folks who were enjoying an afternoon of singing and dancing - one man was singing or doing karaoke (does one “do” karaoke?) while 2 women were having fun dancing. It was sweet to watch. And then we stopped at the lovely Spring and Autumn Pavilions, dedicated to Guandi, featuring the Goddess Guanyin riding a dragon. The coolest thing was actually walking through the dragon! Finally, we passed the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas now all wrapped in scaffolding! |
Lotus Pond
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Taiwan travels
Kaohsiung Last full day in Taiwan I’ll admit it, by the last day here in Taiwan, we were just not up for much. I had planned to go to the well-regarded Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts but our hotel concierge recommended the Alien Art Centre. So that was where we went. We figured if we had any oomph left over, we’d continue on to the larger museum. And the description from the website: “The ALIEN Art Centre was formerly known as the Kin-Ma Military Hostel. It was built in 1967 as a transit station for the National Army soldiers to Kinmen and the Matsu Front Line. By the end of the Cold War, the hostel was left in the late 1990s.” It’s a small building, though architecturally pleasing in a modern style. We arrived to discover that half the galleries were closed but it really didn’t matter since it gave us a focus and we didn’t have much energy anyway. And what we did see was satisfying. The first exhibit really touched me. A series of glass discs with quotes from several of the soldiers who transitted through the hostel - the cumulative effect of reading them was poignant and deeply moving. The next (and really only) exhibit, Infinite Voyage, was a show of the Kaohsiung artist, Shao Yung-Tien, showing his process over time, ending in a beautiful immersive experience with Pollack-like paintings hung around the room with a video of lights projected onto them. I was also able to look through the glass door of one of the rooms where the installations were about to come down. And checked out the display of jewelry in the cafe. After that, we were way too tired to immerse ourselves in any more ART and took the Light Rail all around the city to get the flavor of the city. To be honest, it was a long trip through parts of the city that weren't all that interesting to look at, but it was a relaxing way to explore. Back to the hotel, where the immersive experience was a true immersion - swimming pool, sauna, steam room and onsen! A perfect way to while away the rest of the afternoon and end our visit! |
Alien Art Centre
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...284e06158.jpeg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a5c231102.jpeg A series of glass discs with quotes from several of the soldiers who transitted through the hostel - the cumulative effect of reading them was poignant and deeply moving. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5dfd3ee0e.jpeg A series of glass discs with quotes from several of the soldiers who transitted through the hostel - the cumulative effect of reading them was poignant and deeply moving. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1fcefa9c4.jpeg Shao Yung-Tien, artist, clothing https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...11b37fc46.jpeg Shao Yung-Tien, artist, process https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f9db18469.jpeg Shao Yung-Tien, artist https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...166d3aeae.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ad2407122.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7d0a0efb2.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f25399d86.jpeg Jewelry on view - both an exhibit and for sale https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c64dac3ee.jpeg |
Hi Progol, glad to hear you back. Sorry to hear your rotator cuff injury. Wishing you a speedy recovery after the surgery. I always enjoy reading your reports. Thanks for making the effort to complete the Taiwan report. I enjoyed seeing Taiwan through your ventures.
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Cherthor,
Thanks so much! I really appreciate your kind words and I hope to get some more posts up shortly! Paule |
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