Blogs from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Asia - page 4

North of Kaoshuing is a derelict Sugar Factory that was one of the first built by the Japanese when they took over Taiwan. Situated in a nice part of the city, and has been developed into an recreational park, but in an interesting way: outlying buildings have been converted to galleries, cafes and studios, but there has been no attempt to convert or preserve the main factory complex beyond putting in a few walkways for visitors, so it has become rusted and ramshackle (the old machinery rattles creepily every time there is a breeze). It must be a great site for a film or photography shoot. There were few visitors so it was especially bleak and eerie, though there is an attempt to cheer up part of the site with some comical figures made from recycled ... read more

So wurde dieses Land im 16. Jahrhundert von portugiesischen Seefahrern genannt und bedeutet übersetzt: „Die schöne Insel“. Nach der Besatzungszeit der Japaner bis 1945 wurde sie anschließend wieder an die damalige Republik China zurück gegeben, bis Chiang Kai-shek mit seiner Kuomintang Regierung den Bürgerkrieg gegen Mao Zedongs Partei verlor und auf die Insel flüchtete. Wie nicht anders zu erwarten betrachtet man in Mainland China Taiwan heute noch als eine abtrünnige Provinz – ganz im Gegensatz zu den Taiwanern. Diese nutzen, wie mir auch schon während meines Praktikums in Peking aufgefallen ist, China hauptsächlich als Wirtschaftspartner. Als ich am 20. Januar in Taipei ankam verabredete ich mich am selben Abend noch mit meinem taiwanesischen Freund, den ich vor zwei Jahren in London kennengelernt hatte – Facebook hat demnach auch was Gutes. Das erste was mir in diesem ... read more

Even een kort berichtje want ik spring zo weer op de fiets om dag 2 van de 180km scenic east coast tour te starten, jaja, je bent Nederlander of je bent 't niet ;-) Inmiddels weer heeeeel wat meegemaakt. Zo ben ik met mijn hostfamily naar een bekende tempel geweest. Kreeg daar uitleg en een rondleiding van een monnik. Ik mocht ene rvaag stellen aan de god, twee houten halve maantjes laten vallen en verrek, het antwoord was 'Ja' . Moest nogmaals vragen of dit 'echt het antwoord was (you'd better be sure..) en ja hoor, hoppa, weer een Ja gegooid. Dag kon niet meer stuk. Offer gebracht, wierook aangestoken (bij afwezigheid van een kaars) en op naar het treinstation. Kreeg een heel overlevingspakket mee van de familie (incl poncho...euhm..het is 34 C en blue sky....maar ... read more

Thursday, 19th May 2011 After loitering around at the National Stadium and posing pictures with the 2 mascots for the Kaohsiung World Games 2009, Gao Mei (高妹) and Syong Ge (雄哥), we were off to the Lotus Lake Scenic Area (莲池潭) by 4 in the afternoon. Getting to the Lotus Lake from Zuoying Station took us a good 30 minutes by footwork. Along the way, we liked to acknowledge a couple of people for making this journey possible :- 1) We liked to thank SS for using her IPhone Google Map Application to guide us through the way. Without which, we might had lose our bearings. 2) We liked to thank ourselves for ordering a huge portion of egg omelette lunch @ 新光三越 food hall to prepare ourselves for the long legwork ahead. 3) We also ... read more

Learning from the Kaohsiung Experience This 1-minute amateur video was taken onboard the Kaohsiung Metro (aka MRT) during our final evening in the city. Train announcements were proudly made in 4 different languages (Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka & English respectively) even though Taiwan is a predominantly Mandarin speaking society. I guess this truly demonstrates a world class public transportation system that is affordable & accessible to all segments of the society regardless of race & literacy levels. More importantly, a 人性化 public transport system that truly cares for the end-users. This is one of the many aspects that our profit-driven transport operators could reflect and learn from the Taiwanese experience. .... read more