19 March 2017
Needed more time
The Hanshin department store
As the uncreative title above suggests, I needed more time in Kaohsiung. I thought 4 nights would be plenty, but there is more to see and do than I can manage in 4 nights.
I wanted to travel far into the hills to the big suspension bridges over the rivers that fall down every time theres a minor earthquake.
I wanted to travel south of the city (a long way) to Kenting beach and eat a deep fried battered cuttlefish on a stick. Actually you can have that anywhere in Taiwan but its better with sand on it. Apparently Kenting is a white sand beach.
Tomorrow I am changing locations, moving just up the road to Tainan. A city with a sensibly spelt name! But its still confusing, since Nan is South and Kaohsiung is further south than the city of the south.
Tainan was the capital when Japan occupied Taiwan, its very popular with tourists, and quite a large city. I have never been there before.
For my last night in Kaohsiung I went to the new popular department store to the north of the city. It was very popular on a Sunday night, particularly the basement, which in addition to having a humungous food court, had both Tim Ho Wan and Din Tai Fung and Three word name. It was the most Japanese department store basement I have been into in Taiwan, and they are all quite Japanese.
The name of the store, for future reference when I return, is Hanshin. And upon googling I now see it is Japanese, the original store being in Umeda. This is the only branch in Taiwan.
Before boarding the subway I toured the local youth fashion market. But since it was not quite dark yet, there was not a lot going on. Which means it was still possible to select your direction of travel rather than move in a sea of people.
I walked a bit further to board the subway at central park. Which was still quite busy at dusk.
Another very impressive Kaohsiung subway station. The new tram line will be a full loop of about 50 stops, and will make transport very convenient, I rode the bit of it that is open, the rest will open soon. So next time I am here, full loop on the tram.
The exterior of the Hanshin department store, quite impressive.
I was starving. The line for Tim Ho Wan (michelin star yum cha) was not too bad, but yum cha is no fun on your own.
The line for Din Tai Fung however, was ridiculous. 50 minute wait. They would not admit a party of one anyway.
I cant eat there, but I can watch the xiao long bao scientists do their work.
Lots of small dessert selling shops like a Japanese department store, because it is.
For dinner I had Jinan-Bou. It is popular in all food courts right now. It may be beef tongue but I think its just beef. I cant be sure!
It has 2 selling points, they slow roast huge slabs of beef at 60 degrees before fine slicing it and grilling it to make it more flavoursome, possibly a true claim, and they pile it really high to make it look like a beef mountain.
My mountain had collapsed in on itself by the time I found somewhere to sit. It was basically a more flavoursome gyu-don.
A bit more view from Hanshin. They dont let you onto the roof, and they tint the windows to prevent photos of the view, so this is the best I could do.
And because I cant get onto the roof, you get a photo of the top floor ballroom / wedding hall, which must be the size of a football field.
I decided to go for a lengthy walk along a main road following the subway, passing lots of flash car dealerships, and this absolutely massive gym. That is all gym, and theres more either side. I could not fit it all in.
And finally, this is a maid cafe. Just like Japan. Tonights writing theme is just like Japan.
So if you want to pay $20 to have a 30 year old woman dressed like a 12 year old girl feed you a $2 piece of cheesecake, Kaohsiung has you covered.