Hey there,
Had a week off as it was Spring break and the boss and I took a little trip. Went to the spot we like on the island and am always amazed that in chatting with folks that have been here as long or longer than us they say they have never been. Better for us as it is so relaxed and the beaches are empty, but feel bad for the people trying to make a living off of tourism.
The drive is a tad over 6 hours and we always stop 1/2 way for lunch at Salt Lick, which is a midwestern food restaurant in Hualien. They have legitimately decent deep dish pizza, but as we had that a week before at our baseball tournament, we got the other food they do well there, which is BBQ. The second half of the drive is the real attraction as it is a good two hours of hugging the coast...lovely water to the left and sheer mountains to the right. Not as spectacular as the Pacific Coast Highway, but that vibe. And you pass through the Shiti Fish Port
Our days in DouLan consist of waking up late, eat a breakfast the BnB prepares from stuff from their garden, go to the beach, nap, then go out for dinner. We have been going to the same restaurants there for years and made reservations for two of them for our first two nights. At both, we show up and they have decided that they are gonna be closed for the night and not tell us they were. Fuck you guys...we found other places and we liked them better. Good luck with that hippie aesthetic
The highlight of this time was the Sanxiantai Bridge. We've been going to this area since the first month we were in Taiwan, so 2012, and we always target crossing this footbridge, but in the 6-7 times we've gone previously, we have never made it as it was closed due to weather or construction, It reopened on New Year's this year and we finally made it across.
We don't retrace the lovely drive back to Taipei as there is an 11km tunnel that is always a traffic nightmare going north, so we loop around to the west coast and drive on the heavily populated side. We now try to see something new on the way and this trip we decided to check out Kaohsiung (KHH).
Did some research and expectations were low, and KHH did not disappoint. Visually a little nicer than Taipei as they have a mess of new buildings with some interesting architecture, but mostly the same nouveau bomb shelter style that is popular here. The streets are wider as it appears to have been built later than Taipei and with a civic engineering model that incorporated cars. The city has a river running through it called the Love River and they incorporate it into the town in a nice way. It's not the Danube, but for Asia...pretty good. They also have a lake in the center of town called the Lotus Pond. It has a mess of temples around the shore and is a lovely wildlife refuge and we saw variety of migratory birds, turtles and fish. All in all, a decent town, but not one I would go out of my way to see.
One area that is super and not to be missed is called Pier-2 Art Center.. They took an area of old port warehouses built in the 70's and turned them into a multiuse space for artists. Some cool shops, performance venues and public art.
That Devil Dog has a giant penis with a human head as the tip. The Boss was told a restaurant in the Art Center was good so we made reservations. Called Artco, it is billed as Italian, but think it leans more Spanish. The Boss thought it was quite good and I thought it was OK...felt it could have had more flavor/spices and would not be the place in town I'd recommend.
What I would tell you not to miss is the place we went on our second night. Looked around on the internet and determined that Croatian Kitchen was worth a try
One of the sites we went to see was the Dome of Light. It is located in a subway station and is said to be the largest public art installation of individual pieces of colored glass. There is always a largest/biggest of something everywhere. Designed by an Italian and made in Germany, it is like the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup of colored glass art installations. It was pretty and colorful, and I tried to follow along with the themes of light and dark/birth/death rebirth, but gave it a "meh" on the excitement meter. What was interesting was that underneath it is a covid vaccination center.
Business for the shot was booming. Covid got loose here the last couple of weeks. After being in the teens for weeks, it went to the 80's, then triple digits. Last Monday the 11th, the authorities said that we might be at 1000 cases a day by the end of the month and I said we'd be there by the end of the week. The country recorded 1209 cases on Friday the 15th and I hate always being right.
So far, the place hasn't freaked out. Vaccination rates are good and people aren't dying. They haven't put many new restrictions on stuff and it feels like they are prepared for letting it wash through the society. They are not being cavalier about it...masks are still required everywhere and there are some school closures (kids under 12 are not allowed to be vaccinated) including at our school. We even made the newspaper. I, along with everyone, has had a gripe about some restrictions here, but when you look around the globe, hard to see a place that has managed it better. I mean, we could have gone to Shanghai American School and have been locked in our apartment by the government for the last month. The world has realized that we are vaccinated and to open up and live with the thing to various degrees, but these Chinese are still thinking they can go zero cases. I keep wondering why and it has to be that they know their vaccine is shit and that if it gets out, the death rate would expose them for all their lies. What else could it be?
In other local news, a bi-partisan Congressional delegation arrived in town today. They love when American officials visit here and the mainland hates it, so I can still be happy even though the delegation includes douchebags like Lindsey Graham and Dr. Ronnie. At least President Tsai tortured them a bit by welcoming them with local snacks. Here is the description of what she provided...
The gua bao, known also as the Taiwanese hamburger or “tiger biting pig” due to its appearance, traditionally consists of a folded bun containing a slice of braised pork belly, picked mustard greens, cilantro, and ground peanuts. The dish signifies “making a fortune” due to its shape resembling a filled coin purse and “biting down on luck” as the phrase’s pronunciation is akin to “tiger biting pig.
Meanwhile, the snow fungus lotus seed soup is known to be a healthy type of sweet soup served both hot and cold. Snow fungus is high in dietary fiber and polycarbohydrates, while lotus seed contains abundant protein, dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
I hope Lindsey chokes on his snow fungus lotus seed soup. With that out of the way, he said some decent stuff.
“We have a strong military, not to take other people’s property but to protect our freedom and the freedom of the world. We’re here in this part of the world not to conquer but to be a good ally.” He added, “The last century taught us, when good people give in to evil, you live to regret it. If America abandons Taiwan, it will change the world fundamentally for the worse. Who would be our ally in the future“
To abandon Taiwan is to give in to the rule of gun versus the rule of law. To the [Chinese Communist Party] (CCP): we do not seek conflict, but we will fight for our values. Choose wisely.”
You never stop surprising me Lindsey.
Finally for today, want to talk about friendship. I feel pretty lucky to have a lot of friends and even more so in that I have them scattered all over the planet. That we live in an age where I can stay connected with them so easily makes me feel like I am living in the greatest time to be alive. But I do have some sadness in that I don't feel that I have that core group of friends that I would do anything with/for and they would do the same for me. I felt this way after reading this article about four friends in India. They were arrested for gang raping a monitor lizard. I know that is so horrifically disgusting and beyond the pale, but those guys have to be so tight to not only do the act, but just that they could even talk about doing it shows a closeness that I can only dream about.
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