Kaohsiung kaos

After Tainan it was down to Kaohsiung for an overnight stop to visit some relatives and have a quick look around. Kaohsiung is the second largest city in Taiwan, and was (and still is) a major shipbuilding center. Kaohsiung of old was a pretty industrial town, but like much of Taiwan, has been seriously greened up and looks nothing like it was before. 

Ai He (or Love River) wasn't originally somewhere where you'd take that special someone without bringing along a couple of gas masks. But it's now a very pretty place, rivalling any similar riverfront. It's also a bit unusual in that the water level comes fairly close up to the banks (or maybe it was because it was the high tide?) Unfortunately for us, rain put a dampener on on any such thoughts during our short stroll there last night. 

One thing that hasn't changed over the years is the massive scooter population, still the primary means of transport over here. It's a great place if you like the smell of 2 stroke exhaust and living dangerously. Never attempt to second guess a scooter rider's actions or you'll end up as road kill. There's no safe haven on the pavement either. One really has to be on high alert all the time.

Lunch was another sit down affair. I've learnt to stop fighting for the bill with elder relatives, having been admonished far too often for my efforts. This restaurant specialises in seafood with ingredients flown in fresh from the Penghu islands daily. Penghu lies in the Taiwan Strait off its western coast. You'll have to take our word for it that the quality of the food was excellent.

One new thing that we tried was a soybean based cake. Instead of normal flour, ground soybean is used. This particular cake had a red bean filling, and tasted just like a normal light sponge cake. Which is to say, nice.