Thursday Night
Anthony and I both had to work a regular school day on Thursday but we knew that after what felt like such a long week, we would get to vacation in a much larger area of Taiwan than we have been living in. We are city people, just having lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the last 4 years, and I know that I have been missing the happenings of urban life. We both got home, packed our backpacks quickly, and headed out to door to catch the first bus that was supposed to pick us up in front of our neighborhood 7 Eleven and take us to the High Speed Rail Station in Taichung where we had tickets to then go to Kaohsiung. Unfortunately, that is not how the night played out.
Now dark, we were waiting outside, carefully reading the little traditional characters and symbols we knew to look for so we got on the correct bus. After almost getting on the wrong bus twice, we finally saw the one we wanted. Like we’ve seen many people do in the past, we waved the bus down, indicating that it should stop, but it did not. The driver waved back, and sped right by. Confused and a little anxious about the timing of our arrival to catch our next trip, I called a coworker from my school, a native Taiwanese and ask her advice and what we did wrong or what we needed to do. She thought that maybe we needed to just go to the bus station and since she was out picking up her son from something, she swung back and got us. Driving up to the bus station though, we learned quickly the problem that we should have known in the first place: we had a 3-day weekend because it was the Mid-Autumn (or Moon Festival) and so did EVERYONE. Since everyone on the island had time off, everyone wanted to catch the bus to Taichung to go on their own vacations. She warned that it would be probably an hour before we could get on a bus. What she did next truly embodies the hospitality and absolute kindness that I have learned is just the Taiwanese way of life: she called the PTA president of my school (who we’ve also spent time with before), asked if he could take us the hour drive to Taichung, and he said of course. These people are too much! We didn’t even know she had done this until she got off the phone because like most conversations around us – it was in rapid Mandarin.
After an hour in his Porsche (and many, MANY thank-yous which didn’t feel like enough), another 40 minutes on the High Speed Rail (about half of it standing because we made it JUST before the HSR left), and about 20 minutes in the taxi from the station to the Hotel, we were finally able to check into our hotel for the weekend, The Holiday Garden Hotel in Kaohsiung’s Qianjin District.
When we first talked about taking this vacation, I wasn’t certain that we were going to get a chance to find a beach, so I wanted to make sure that we could escape the heat if needed with a pool, and man, this hotel’s pool was awesome!
The photos online shows a lot of the rooms with hilarious decor, all different so we knew that whatever room we would get would be a gamble and I think we won. This was a funny thing to come back to every evening.
We chilled out a little bit after our unconventional means of getting to this vacation, but wanted to do something before turning in for the night, so we hit the street in hopes to find a bar or at least somewhere to relax. What we found blew us away.
What I can only describe as a dark, narrow alley led us to Times Antique & Bar 時光古董酒吧, a young man’s home turned Americana club that he told us was designed and decorated all on his own with the help of inspiration and items from a Native American friend he had in the states. The menu included many drink favorites from America like gin & tonic, margaritas, amaretto sours, and a whiskey list that allowed Anthony to try expensive aged whiskeys that would have been triple the price if we actually had them in the states. The menus were in picture frames and oldies were playing on a record machine. It felt like home in a way that I have been craving ever since I got to Taiwan. Plus, there was a small dog that also lives there that became our friend immediately, so +1 million bonus points.
After sharing a few cocktails and some warm conversation, Anthony and I crashed at the hotel, ready for another very full day ahead of us that I knew I wanted to start off first with lounging by the pool.
Friday
We started the morning by grabbing breakfast at the hotel (which was honestly just okay) and then hanging by the pool, something that could only be done for about 10 minutes before jumping in because of how truly hot the weather was that day. Every so often, I had to stop and really savor the fact that I was hanging in a pool surrounded by palm trees, something that I had never done before in my life or dreamed of doing for years to come. I am a Midwest girl through and through and had never taken any trips to a tropical place before; now, I was living in one.
After showers, we journeyed to the Dream Mall, Taiwan’s largest mall to check out an amusement park that located on top of the 12th floor. There, we were able to go on a Ferris Wheel and see city and ocean views at 336 feet up, but first we did a little walking around and grabbed something to eat.
Towards the end of daylight, we headed to the top of the mall where the amusement park was, played some games, and checked out the amazing views the Ferris Wheel could allow us. This day was so incredibly hot, we were very thankful that each individual car had it’s own air conditioning which is really telling of the average temperature here. We grabbed a cold drink before leaving the mall and heading back to the metro, but our day was far from over!
On our way back to the area of Kaohsiung we were staying, we came across “The Dome of Light” inside Formosa Boulevard metro station’s center, made from 4,500 glass panels making it the world’s largest glass work. We actually were also able to see it tell the story of the pictures, creating a light show while we waited for a bar to open we wanted to check out. Unfortunately, the story was in Chinese so after a brief sit and water break, we headed back out into the city streets to have some nighttime fun!
We started the night out at 小岛公寓/小岛茶酒 or what read as “Island” in English on the sign outside the bar. We probably walked past it like 3 times before I spotted it because just like the bar last night, sometimes these gems are hidden treasures. This place really reminded of a place that I used to go to in Milwaukee called “The Jazz Estate” because of their expertly crafted cocktails and relaxing atmosphere, smooth music playing softly in the background. The prices were a little higher than what I am used to in Taiwan (because up until this trip, things have been soooooo inexpensive) but still, our drinks were probably average Milwaukee prices. They were so unique and delicious, there are no complaints here!
After a one drink each, we traveled a little further west to see the Liuhe Night Market in the Sinsing District, where we admittedly got a little tourist-trapped. We have been to our own local Night Market in Puli about three times so we knew that it was all about but the prices for this one were definitely targeted at us and the many other tourists we spotted in the crowds. Still, the prices were nothing compared to the average fair or carnival in the United States so we still indulged in the exotic fruits and snacks they had to offer us. Even at 11pm, Kaohsiung is so hot, it was hard to eat anything savory but we kept moving forward, and so did the masses around us. There were so many people there but then again, it is one of the most popular Night Markets in all of Taiwan.
Finally, we caught the metro back to the hotel where we CRASHED as soon as we got to the air conditioning with the thought of trying to catch a bus to Kenting the following day but if there is one thing I learned from this trip, it’s that we needed to remain flexible and go with the flow.
Saturday
With squinted eyes, I rolled over to check the time, realizing that we had slept way too late to actually sit on a bus for 2 hours to get to Kenting and go to the beach there. Maybe next trip? But then Anthony totally saved the day. We packed up a backpack with our swimsuits and towels and headed out the door for the day. As he led me through the metro again, we walked in the blistering heat to catch the ferry to Cijin (or Qijin) Island, a literal 5 minute ride that cost about $2 for the two of us to this little tropical slice off the main island. Right off the boat, I bought a sunhat and we walked through the stand lined streets to the beautiful, black sand covered beach of the South China Sea.
I became a child again here. I had never seen an ocean with my own eyes (other than from the plane window when we flew in) so this was my first time – and I even got to swim in it too! Now, living in Milwaukee for the last 4 years, I did frequent Bradford Beach, but since Lake Michigan nears the size of the whole country of Taiwan, it takes a brave soul to take a dip. Not here. I was able to run in, playing with the waves and floating in this salty water that had never touched my skin before. I laughed so long and so loud that afternoon. It was busy with other foreigners (and natives), but I didn’t mind; I was having the time of my life. After a while, Anthony and I walked over to a little shack off the beach where we met a man from Maryland that had opened and ran this small bar and restaurant with partnership from the local business bureau to create more revenue from tourism. By the looks of things – it was working! We got a local “Fish and Chips” and some onion rings off the menu and with a Tequila Sunrise (and probably about 4 bottles of waters because we started feeling dehydrated from how HOT it is here), we relaxed under the large awning, saying hi to all the friendly beach dogs that came up for some love. I ran in the water one more time before we changed and went for a nature walk around the coast and through the Cijin Star Tunnel.
We wanted to walk up to a famous fort and lighthouse that the island has, but our bodies and the horrible heat brought us to getting some local desserts instead. Anthony was able to read and order it but we weren’t sure what we would get. It was basically shaved ice, fresh fruit, and sweetened condensed milk – DELICIOUS. It really did the trick giving us the energy to head back to the hotel for a rest and a shower before doing more that evening.
That evening we hit downtown and decided to go for a boat ride. Love River is a long canal in southern Taiwan, acting as a spine to the country, similar to the River Thames of London. We were able to go on a tour along the river, Anthony catching little things here and there to tell me what the tour guide was saying. Because it was the Moon Festival, fireworks were going off every so often in the distance and music was being played all along the shore.
After the ride, an aimless stroll brought us to a little hotpot restaurant called “Lemongrass” where we were both able to get individual bowls at our own heating stations, meat for Anthony and vegan for me. Hotpot is fun. I don’t think we have anything like it (as far as an American equivalent) in the US, but Anthony and I used to live close to a place that did it and we never partook – now we got the chance. Delicious.
A walk around the block took us to a bar where they were blasting Taiwanese pop, some that Anthony recognized, and a room of people that looked like they were blowing off stream from a long week of working. We got some drinks that were familiar to us, like a Rum & Coke, and some that were local, toasted the last night of our vacation, caught a taxi and headed back to the hotel for the night.
Sunday
The end of vacations suck. I was having the time of my life and I didn’t want it to end, but it made it easier that we woke up early to spend a little more time by the pool and got some brunch nearby before checking out that morning. The hotel called us a taxi back to the High Speed Rail station, we bought our tickets for the next reserved seats, and off we went to then take a bus from the station in Taichung that would take us back to Puli. I didn’t take many pictures because I was tired and my grumpy face coming back home didn’t need to be shown 😂
Overall, Taiwan is a wonderfully easy place to take a vacation for an extended period of time, or even just make the absolute most of a long weekend. I mentioned to Anthony and when people think of tropical designations, Asia is probably not the first thing that comes to mind, but it really has so much to offer. Taiwan has a national holiday in October called Double Tens Day where we will get a 4 day weekend so stay tuned if we travel to another part of the island then… spoiler alert, we probably will.
Thanks for reading! I know this one was a long one but it’s insane how much stuff we are able to cram into one day around here and everything is new – I feel like there is always something to talk about. Tune in for one next time!
Until next time, this has been,
Emma Eiden, An ESL Teacher Abroad
An ESL Teacher Abroad 