Day 1
A whole day of travelling: Kch -> KK -> Kaohsiung. To keep myself occupied, I make full use of my sister's kiddy meal box.
At night we're ferried to Kentington Cowboy Resort through pitch-black highways, punctuated only by car headlights and almost-ghostly towns lining the street. The van-driver says it's a coastal road, and the sea sometimes comes very near, on the right. The only indication we get of the sea is the mighty winds that buffet our tiny van, disturbing our otherwise smooth ride with invisible speedbumps and ocassional rattling of the van.
Day 2
1st full day in Kenting, Taiwan, and the first time we see our cowboy-themed resort. The chalets are quaint affairs, rustic and homely.
After a morning of on-resort exploration, in which my grandparents get treated to a pony ride,
we head to the nearest town, Heng Chun, for lunch - Taiwan's ever-popular beef fare. No one really knows why they eat so much beef, they just do. (No food pics though, it was hard to take inconspicuous food pics in front of the grandparents and parents.) 6 heaping dishes of beef cooked in 6 different ways was enough to satiate us, and we headed to the Marine Park. Although mainly in Mandarin, the selection of marine life, the display methods, and the smattering of English signs here and there made it interesting enough to keep us all occupied. They even had a few young whale sharks, a penguin exhibit, and an interesting touch pool. We saw this interesting fish there - the cousin to narwhals, perhaps?
What would a trip to Taiwan be without having their famous zhen zhu nai cha? Here's my first cup, first of many in the whole trip.
We also bought this funny-looking fruit: it was tart and rather sour, with a tinge of sweetness and juice.
Day 3
It was time for the all-out tour of Kenting and the southern-most part of Taiwan. We first stopped at chu huo, literally fire comes out.
It's actually a volcanic area where natural gas comes out from under the rocks and combusts, producing tongues of flame, which supposedly can't be put out by rain. The actual area is just in a circle about 4 feet in diameter, and within that area a man and woman in japanese slippers build stone ovens, cooking eggs and sweet potatoes to sell at "special" prices. It was a blustery day and the warmth from the fires was very welcome.
We also stopped at the hua tian (flower fields) along the way.
The villagers cultivate whole fields of flowers to send into the cities and we had come at the time when the flowers had just bloomed. However, the cold caused them to wilt faster than normal and what we saw was just a shadow of the full abundance of colours and flowers.
Our journey took us to the two southernmost tips of the island - Maobitou Point: where there was this rock that supposedly looked like a cat's head and/or nose - it was very windy, so windy that my sister and I almost got blown away (hee hee) but lovely scenery;
and Eluanbi Park (if I'm not mistaken Penguin Bay? not sure...) where there was a colonial-white lighthouse, lonely on the hill; and meandering paths under shady trees and cliffs, sometimes hugging the shoreline. Those cliffs inspired the Taiwanese to give them odd names, thus try and guess the name of this scenic spot (my mom and sister act out a valuable clue).
On the way between those two points we stopped continuously to visit spots or just get down and take in the seascapes. With the wind tousling our hairs, we couldn't get many decent sea-shots, so here are some architectural and cultural shots instead.
Our last stop before returning to the resort was to Jialeshui, over a kilometre of a path bordering the Pacific Ocean and its rough surf. The walk was as if neverending, but the sights and sounds while walking accompanied by this tempestuous might that is the Pacific Ocean was magnificent - surf breaking, wind whistling, sprays of mist that could be seawater or rain, the untamed look of the rocks and the water continually battling it out. My sister, climbing on the rocks for a while, took the opportunity to morph into a mermaid.
That's not all the fun my sister had. When we went back, she went a-jumping on the trampoline, as if daring the skies to open up on her (they did, eventually, but not on her). On a later day, she also rode a bucking bull. I jest about the bucking part, although it could have bucked.
Day 4
Nothing special today, as it was a take-it-easy day, recuperation from the day before. We did make an excursion up to SzeChong River Hot Springs, but the only free and available hot springs was Japanese onsen style, and open to public. You can guess why there are no pictures.
This is as good a time as any to tell of our little schedule at the resort. Dinner is at this cowboy bar that is right next to the "casino", and we play darts while waiting for the dishes to come out. After dinner, we escort the grandparents back to their room, and make for the computers, arcade games, bowling alleys, pool tables and table-tennis tables to while the time away. This went fine until this last night, when we were swarmed but not one busload, but about 20 busloads of primary and secondary school children. They had come there as a pre-exam outing of sorts, and they took over the place. No more quiet idyllness for us - it was a good thing we were leaving the day after next.
Day 5
Leaving the resort at the mercies of the school children, we travel to Alishan to catch glimpses of the aborigines of Taiwan. There are about 10-odd tribes in Taiwan, some of them ferocious head-hunting territorial people, and some peace-loving coastal people. Hmm, sounds familiar. They even have something close to a certain Melanau's heart: the tibou; only they call it something else. Sheena, I took this pic specially for you :>
We drive up and down the narrow treacherous roads of Alishan mountains, seeing little pockets of the aborigine way of life - black slate shingle houses, large tile murals quite akin to the Iban or Dayak decorations. Unfortunately, typhoons brought many of the old houses down, and the aborigines today choose to stay in cement houses and export the slate for good money.
They also have something like the Sarawak Cultural Village in Kuching, showcasing the many different tribes in Taiwan. Here we were struck again by how similar their cultures were to some of those in Malaysia and the surrounding countries, proof the maritime trade and migration were very much part of life then as it is now.
Day 6
We left for Kaohsiung in the morning to do some sight-seeing, but it was a lacklustre affair, with the weather so hot and windless, especially after the cool and refreshing winds of Kenting. As the temples and shrines held no real draw for us, we skipped them, stopping only at a lake garden, before going to see the sea views. A treasure-find was the British Council of Kaohsiung, perched on top of a hill which gave it a birds eye view of the rivermouth and the sea below. What was a stern fort was given a facelift and turned into a charming cafe, complete with prison maze!
At night was a visit to the Kaohsiung Night Market, with all the delicacies you could eat and more. It was rather like what we have here - rows and rows of shops peddling their wares displayed boldly in the front of their shops. zhen zhu nai cha,Taiwanese beef mee,Taiwanese oa chien (oyster omelette), Taiwanese wo tieh (meat dumplings), etc. What caught my fascination was this spread - guess what it is. ;>
Besides the obvious (and not-so-obvious) foodstuff, they had a little store with the cutest pets, including a tiny pig, where my sister and I spent a good few minutes ooh-ing and aah-ing.
Day 7
This was the last full day of our trip, and we used it to go to Tainan to see old buildings, more notably ruins of two forts - one inland and one coastal, built by the Dutch when they occupied Taiwan.
Tainan is also supposed to be famous for its xiao chi (literally small eats, or snacks lah) but we only ate lunch there. However, lunch was great, because we had these juicy luscious deep-fried prawns (it figures doesn't it?) and they were quite cheap. Incidentally that place was like a fast-food restaurant, with chain outlets around Taiwan. Wouldn't it be nice to import it here? haha All for the prawns.
So there you have it, the Taiwan adventures. Although it's a nice place, I doubt I'd be going back anytime soon, unless my Chinese improves by leaps and bounds and I have a fitting reason to go there. My memories are enough for this one.
And if you're wondering: why "adventures across a latitude"? Well, it's because my travels in this holiday of mine have been, and will be up and down within the latitudes that Malaysia is in - roughly 100 to 120 degrees East. A curious fact. I'm trying my best to use all the time I have in this place at this latitude to visit places nearby, and which I can't visit when I change my latitude.
Next up, KK Trip 2006!
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