2014年12月13日--12月14日
From what I remember, the homie Jon asked me to meet him at Taipei Main Station at noon on Saturday, December 13th. We had just finished all of our finals concluding our semester at NCCU and had a week or so to kill before they were gonna kick us out of the dorms and go our separate ways. I was rockin a fresh cut from the homie Qudy and the lineup was on deck, bangs trimmed on my silver hair and everything.
As per usual, I was running a lil late and briskly walked, jogged, and ran throughout the different MRT stations in Taipei. I took the Brown Line from Taipei Zoo Station「動物園站」and transferred to the Red Line from Daan「大安站」. I recall seeing a classmate from the NCCU choir at one of the stations along the red line. As soon as we locked eyes, we waved at each other and he tried pushing the other people out of the way so he could get on the same train as me, but it was filled as the Brown Line is notoriously narrow, so we figured it was no use.
算了.
I think somewhere during my transfer from the Brown Line to the Red Line I had accidentally tripped up some stairs...? But I was alright. I got off on Taipei Main and met up with Jon to buy our tickets for the High Speed Train「高鐵」 to Kaohsiung. I believe we boarded a 1pm train to Kaohsiung from Taipei. If we had taken the normal train, I think it would have taken somewhere around 6 hours, but it took us only two hours to get from Taipei in the North of Taiwan to Kaohsiung at the Southern tip of the island. We met up with Jon's new friend, a bgirl he met at a jam in Taipei, named Phoenix. Phoenix asked Jon if we were more interested in hitting up Kaohsiung landmarks and significant spots or if we were more interested in eating what Kaohsiung has to offer.
...
Our first stop was at Pancho's, an American-Mexican restaurant. For Jon, a homie from Texas and for me, a native Southern Californian, it was a sight for sore stomachs.
From what I remember, the homie Jon asked me to meet him at Taipei Main Station at noon on Saturday, December 13th. We had just finished all of our finals concluding our semester at NCCU and had a week or so to kill before they were gonna kick us out of the dorms and go our separate ways. I was rockin a fresh cut from the homie Qudy and the lineup was on deck, bangs trimmed on my silver hair and everything.
As per usual, I was running a lil late and briskly walked, jogged, and ran throughout the different MRT stations in Taipei. I took the Brown Line from Taipei Zoo Station「動物園站」and transferred to the Red Line from Daan「大安站」. I recall seeing a classmate from the NCCU choir at one of the stations along the red line. As soon as we locked eyes, we waved at each other and he tried pushing the other people out of the way so he could get on the same train as me, but it was filled as the Brown Line is notoriously narrow, so we figured it was no use.
算了.
I think somewhere during my transfer from the Brown Line to the Red Line I had accidentally tripped up some stairs...? But I was alright. I got off on Taipei Main and met up with Jon to buy our tickets for the High Speed Train「高鐵」 to Kaohsiung. I believe we boarded a 1pm train to Kaohsiung from Taipei. If we had taken the normal train, I think it would have taken somewhere around 6 hours, but it took us only two hours to get from Taipei in the North of Taiwan to Kaohsiung at the Southern tip of the island. We met up with Jon's new friend, a bgirl he met at a jam in Taipei, named Phoenix. Phoenix asked Jon if we were more interested in hitting up Kaohsiung landmarks and significant spots or if we were more interested in eating what Kaohsiung has to offer.
...
Our first stop was at Pancho's, an American-Mexican restaurant. For Jon, a homie from Texas and for me, a native Southern Californian, it was a sight for sore stomachs.
Phoenix told us we were gonna go to a lot of food places, so at each spot we only shared a few dishes. We had these margarita-tasting lemonade drinks, along with Nachos and a wet Chimichanga. I wanna say there was something else but I forgot...? As we left Pancho's, we even heard Spanish being spoken in the back kitchen, so you know it was legit!
Anyway, I believe our next stop was at this roadside stall selling this sorta Taiwanese-style okonomiyaki...? Taiwan, as you may know, was colonized by the Japanese, and as such the food culture is reflected in that. Super dank, wish I took a photo.
Then, Phoenix took us to a place that I wish I remembered the name of, because we had the most delicious Korean food I had outside of Korea. I imagine the restaurant was owned by Taiwanese Koreans, as the only other people in the restaurant were other Koreans. It was definitely homestyle, and we had this ddeokbokki (떡볶이) dish in a buttery spicy sauce I just...it was so good. I still think about it. Oh man. Somewhere along the way we stopped somewhere near where Phoenix's friend worked (I think?) and got frozen hot chocolate, before going to yet another joint for traditional Taiwanese shaved ice「刨冰」with Taro Balls「芋園」, Azuki Beans「紅豆」, and Sweet Potato「地瓜」. Needless to say we were stuffed. Then, Phoenix took us to her dance studio where she sessions with her bboy friends, and they jammed together with Jon as they practiced for an upcoming show. I kinda just sat around and admired the talent, really. That night, Phoenix had us shacked up in a hostel and Jon and I went to bed in preparation for the next day.
~~~
The following day, Phoenix took us around some of the landmarks and sights to see「名勝古跡」around Kaohsiung and other areas in Southern Taiwan. I kinda sorta forget where everything was or what it was called, but here's some more photos!
Anyway, I believe our next stop was at this roadside stall selling this sorta Taiwanese-style okonomiyaki...? Taiwan, as you may know, was colonized by the Japanese, and as such the food culture is reflected in that. Super dank, wish I took a photo.
Then, Phoenix took us to a place that I wish I remembered the name of, because we had the most delicious Korean food I had outside of Korea. I imagine the restaurant was owned by Taiwanese Koreans, as the only other people in the restaurant were other Koreans. It was definitely homestyle, and we had this ddeokbokki (떡볶이) dish in a buttery spicy sauce I just...it was so good. I still think about it. Oh man. Somewhere along the way we stopped somewhere near where Phoenix's friend worked (I think?) and got frozen hot chocolate, before going to yet another joint for traditional Taiwanese shaved ice「刨冰」with Taro Balls「芋園」, Azuki Beans「紅豆」, and Sweet Potato「地瓜」. Needless to say we were stuffed. Then, Phoenix took us to her dance studio where she sessions with her bboy friends, and they jammed together with Jon as they practiced for an upcoming show. I kinda just sat around and admired the talent, really. That night, Phoenix had us shacked up in a hostel and Jon and I went to bed in preparation for the next day.
~~~
The following day, Phoenix took us around some of the landmarks and sights to see「名勝古跡」around Kaohsiung and other areas in Southern Taiwan. I kinda sorta forget where everything was or what it was called, but here's some more photos!
Various photos taken near the southern tip of Taiwan
After our trip to Monkey Mountain, we decided to stop at a cafe somewhere along the road for refreshments and to use the restroom. It was kinda cloudy that day, but I still managed to take decent photos. Anyway, I had videos saved up on my cloud but in the process of switching to different cell phones, different cell phone operating systems, and different cell phone service providers upon returning to the states, it seems I have lost the videos I took on my Nokia Lumia cellphone, which I solely used during my time abroad :c I have all my photos still, but for some reason the videos aren't there. Take this instagram video I yanked from Jon's instagram as compensation. (The link might not work bc I think his profile is listed as private but...? Anyway, it's just small clips of our trip set to Born Hater by Epik High lol).
But uh, yeah, here's more photos!
But uh, yeah, here's more photos!
More photos. Ignore the photo where it looks like I have eyeshadow on, my selfie camera kinda sucked haha.
That Sunday, we missed the original bus we were going to take back to Taipei and decided to hit up a few other places, like this Japanese restaurant owned by one of Jon and Phoenix's bboy friends. Phoenix then got us the hookup on this really dope charter bus back to Taipei, which left at about midnight and had hella legroom with personal entertainment systems as well as wi-fi on the bus. We awoke as we were approaching Taipei Main station at around 5 am, earlier than we had expected, and flagged a taxi down to drive us back to NCCU, since the subways weren't running yet and we really just wanted to get some sleep and be indoors. I forgot to mention the near twenty degree difference between Northern Taiwan and Southern Taiwan, so whereas it still felt like winter in Northen Taiwan, Southern Taiwan felt more like Southeast Asia with warm, humid weather, even during the winter time. Even though we were there for such a short amount of time, it was some of the fondest memories I have of my time in Taiwan.
After this, I might post about my short day trip to Jiufen, where Hayao Miyazaki got his inspiration for the scenery in Spirited Away.
Until next time,
和平/PK
After this, I might post about my short day trip to Jiufen, where Hayao Miyazaki got his inspiration for the scenery in Spirited Away.
Until next time,
和平/PK