Kaohsiung Day 3: The Southern Coast

高雄(Kaohsiung) is 台灣(Taiwan)'s largest southernmost city; she boasts a thriving city center, rustic suburbs, a bustling fishing port and even tropical fruit plantations. The weather is less humid than that of Singapore's (read: pretty darn warm) Pineapples, guavas, wax apples(jambu), bananas and coconuts are some of the more famous exports. To her southeast, the seaside resort of 墾丁(Kenting) awaits--a popular surfing and picnicking destination for locals and tourists alike. 東港(East Port) the fishing port even has a 鮪魚(tuna) auction not unlike that of Tokyo's 築地(Tsukiji) Fish Market. To my untrained palate, the quality of 東港's tuna sashimi is comparable to that of 築地's and of course, less expensive.

The 3rd day began with a solitary trip to the corner breakfast place because the Chen's were gone to run errands by the time I was up. Only 小J was snoozing. Did I mention that Kaohsiung's residents were all very friendly and everyone we asked for directions obliged with a smile? The breakfast lady was no exception; she actually remembered me from the day before and we chatted happily while she prepared the yummy sandwiches. I wanted to get a burger but she actually advised me not to! Because, "Your marginal utility won't be all that great by the time you get to the burger," or something to that effect! Wow. Best of all, she actually asked me to help open a tightly-shut new jar of sauce... to me that was a sign of acceptance into the neighborhood.

I mean, people in the food & beverage business are trained to be polite to customers and all, and usually one wouldn't ask a customer for help. At least I can't imagine something like this happening in Japan, where good service is taken for granted yet a well demarcation exists between store personnel and customers. In a way, being asked to unscrew a jar made my day. (Isn't it nice to be so easily satisfied? ;P)

But I digress... on this day, we are headed for the southern coast of Taiwan, a tropical region of smaller towns, beaches and natural sights. Kenting, a famous surfing resort town, awaited.

Hopped into the car, placed a potted plant in the driveway to deter illegal parking, and off we went, driving past 東港(where the best 鲔鱼 or tuna could be found) and 恆春(Eternal Spring).

For lunch, it was imperative that we stopped at a place that sold Chinese medicinal herb-flavored dishes like vermicelli or

藥膳面線

Their 龟鳞糕(Guilinggao) was also very good and the ladies were particularly happy to partake of this herbal jelly which purportedly was beneficial for one's complexion. The origins of 龟鳞糕 were always interesting to read about.

Anyone who has been around fumaroles, mudpots and steam vents in places like Yellowstone Nat'l Park probably cannot fail to be awed at the forces that laid just beneath our earth's crust. Well, Taiwan also has many hot springs and other traces of simmering underground activity, for we encountered an interesting phenomenon next:

Natural gas fire.

Someone (don't ask me how!) found natural, flammable gas emitting from the ground and took a lit match to all available fissures, ensuring a perpetual campfire over which the local residents could roast yams and sweet potatoes. Recently, that area became a designated natural monument sort of place.

"佳樂水(Jialeshui), 佳樂水," Uncle and Auntie Chen kept saying along the way. Catchy name, but what on earth was it, I wondered, as YJ and 小J snored away beside me on the backseat. We entered Kenting National Park, a vast expanse set aside for recreation and conservation.

The answer came shortly as we drew up to an arched entrance and a ticket booth. "Welcome to Jialeshui" signs adorned the simple yet fitting entrance along with pamphlets advertising a very intriguing "Flying Fish season." Flying fish, eh?! But I still had no idea until we drove through a narrow road lined by palm trees and arrived at a huge parking lot overlooking the ocean.

"Quick, the tour bus is just about to leave!" shooed Auntie Chen as we scrambled onboard a refurbished pickup truck. Pictures of weird rock formations revealed the nature of the tour and I finally realized, oh, we're going on a coastal drive!

And... the driver started speaking in Taiwanese, which always sounded very nostalgic but cryptic to me because my grandparents used to speak a variant of it. To think I would hear it in the present day on a national park tour! :D

So the geography and language lessons began...

Pig on its side, with trotters in the air

A Snail

The Frog Prince

Portrait of 觀音, the Goddess of Mercy

Oink!

Map of Taiwan

Mickey!

In a nutshell, this was:

Jialeshui

No time to lose, if we are to be back in Kaohsiung's 東港 by dinnertime, we should start driving towards the southern tip of Taiwan. Rain drops started splattering on the rocks and with 小J muttering that it always rained whenever he visited Jialeshui, we hit the road again. Too bad we didn't see any flying fish...

Southernmost point

There we were, as far south as one could go on Formosa. It reminded me of Key West in the Florida Keys and the "Southernmost point" there. The Philippines laid just a few hundred kilometers away and we could almost glimpse her coastline. Around us, occasionally, radar installations poked their heads out from amidst the foliage in the surrounding hills. The rain had long since stopped, leaving just a hint of moisture in the now cooler air.

As we made our way back up north, little towns mostly inhabited by 客家人(the Hakka ethnicity) and by the 原住民(Taiwan Aborigines if you will although I find the term slightly condescending for people who lived on the island long before the first European colonists. But perhaps long ago they had taken over the place from someone else. We territorial humans...). Like native Americans, 原住民 have a history of oppression and one joke "they" quip is that 外省人(people who moved to Taiwan from mainland China) bully 客家人(also from the mainland but were living in Taiwan long before the mass Kuomintang exodus) who, in turn, bully 原住民 and finally 原住民 "bully" the animals of Taiwan. BUT, due to recent animal conservation and poaching laws, even the animals lord it over 原住民 nowadays!

I think 原住民 rock.