Kaohsiung, Taiwan

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October 9th 2013

Published: October 21st 2013

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The Park across the Street

One Sunday morning, we watched a couple of police riders exercising their horses in the park. We see many people strolling, jogging, exercising, but this was the first time we saw horses.

October 6th, 2013

We are now well settled, and know our way about somewhat. Days start here very early, as this culture gets up very early. By 5:30AM everyday the park across the street is lined with scooters driven by people who are already walking, stretching and exercising. We have established a routine, up at 5:45, Linda does a mini workout and gets ready for school. Maurice makes breakfast, and an hour later, Linda drives her NEW scooter to school. It is now October, and it is still hot and muggy. We must use the AC, otherwise it is unbearable. It is still 30-32C during the day, humidity around 60%, and at night 27-28C, 80%+ humidity.

Let's backtrack a bit.

At the end of August, we were hit by Typhoon Kang Rui which caused the school to close and vacate by 1:30 in the afternoon. When typhoons hit here, the government regulates the closure of all schools. Kaohsiung is protected by mountains to the east, so we're usually protected from the worst, and such was the case this time. School resumed the next day, on Friday despite the rain, the wind had not materialized as was predicted. We

Dream Mall Scooter Parking

One whole floor dedicated to scooters only. We had to pay attention to the pillar number to make sure we'd be able to find it later.

did however, receive over a 1000 mm of rain as the weekend progressed. Yes, that is correct, over a meter of rain, or 40 inches in a 3 day period. There was some flooding, a few landslides, but nothing that affected us directly. We spent a quiet weekend getting caught up with school work, visiting with family, and watching "Dexter". Also, we were lucky enough to connect with Rick and Bea, and we watched our Roughriders play via Facetime. Rick trained his camera on the TV screen so we were able to hear the broadcast as well as visit with them at the same time! It was the next best thing to being there! Sunday, we rode the scooter to the south end of the city to the "Dream Mall", a new and extremely fancy 9 story high end mall with an amusement park on the roof. Wow! Even the scooter parking was an impressive experience, with a whole floor dedicated only to scooters, hundreds and hundreds of them. We visited the amusement park on the roof, then rode the elevators down floor by floor. The stores became more elaborate and high end as we dropped to the lower levels.

On the Roof of Dream Mall

They have an amusement park on the roof, complete with rides like a Ferris wheel, games and all the things we find at the summer fair.

It is an impressive place to visit.

September arrived in a blur as school work consumed most of Linda's time (16 hour days!) Linda's 16 students are so eager to learn and have picked up the new math program quickly. She was overwhelmed with so much marking. However, now that she is getting much more comfortable with the computer stuff, she has decided to mark less and that has helped. The kids are fun, very bright and eager to learn. They love setting off their homemade rockets and doing funky science experiments.

September 18th and 19th was a 4 day weekend for the school (Moon Festival). We decided to take the high speed train to Taipei to spend a night. We rode to the HSR (High Speed Rail) station, parked our scooter alongside the other thousand or so and headed for the massive overhead station. This station connects the High Speed Rail with the local trains and the city busing system. Opened in January of 2007, the 345 kilometer line runs from Kaohsiung to Taipei and serves 90% of Taiwan's population. The HSR hit speeds of 297 kph, and made the trip in 1 hour and 36 minutes

8th Floor

This floor shares this children's brightly lit play center with a cinemark theater complex.

including 5 stops along the way. The ride was smooth and quiet, with most of the line built way up off the ground to avoid local traffic and flooding during the rainy season. Once in Taipei, we walked to the Lan Ting Hotel where Allen greeted us in English. What at treat, to be able to make ourselves understood. He recommended eating places for us, showed us where the night market was, the subway station and how to get to Taipei 101. At one time Taipei 101 was the tallest building in the world. We met Yeni and Junior (teaching buddies) and headed over to Taipei 101. We rode the Guinness World Record elevator up 89 floors in under 37 seconds. We watched the clouds swirl past the tower as we peeked through the rain at the ground below. Afterwards, we ventured out to the night eating market. We first wandered through the entire market to see what we found appetizing, then decided on a few items and met at a table near the middle of the market to enjoy our food: squid, clams, noodles, sausage, shrimp and beer! We meandered back to the hotel looking for a massage on

Look Colette

Check out the names of these games

the way. However, because of the Moon Festival, the shops were open but no people were available to give us the much needed massages we wanted.

We slept in till 7AM, and went out for breakfast before heading back to Kaohsiung on the 1:30PM train. We napped, read and enjoyed the scenery. The land in Taiwan is divided in such a way as to encourage maximum use of space. There are canals or water ditches surrounding the fields as well as small roads where vehicles can go, with many types of crops being grown. There are clam, shrimp and scallop farms aerated by paddles mounted on platforms in each pond. There are also duck and chicken farms along the way. Various palm trees provide some shade and food. Fruit trees are typically covered with a mesh to keep birds, insects and the intense sun off of them. One town blends into another with fields in between. Before we knew it we were back in Kaohsiung. We found our scooter, zipped home for a fast change and headed to the school for a wedding.

Phil and Angel, two staff members, enjoyed their 3rd or 4th wedding ceremony (which is

Escalators

Opened on May 12, 2007, the Dream Mall is the largest mall in East Asia and contains 3 floors of underground parking, 8 floors of shopping as well as restaurants, movie theater, a gym, and banquet and entertainment facilities.

the custom) in style. The decorations were a blend of western and eastern style. KAS staff and friends attended an elaborate ceremony, followed by an even more elaborate meal complete with entertainment provided by their former students. The students were very talented, performing English and Chinese popular songs. We placed our money gifts in a 'red envelope' and received a box of wedding cookies as we left the school.

That weekend we expected a Super Typhoon to hit Taiwan hard, so a lot of things were cancelled. As it turned out, it did hit hard, but only on the East coast. The mountains protected us here, and it was little more than a reprieve from the heat. So Sunday morning, Chris and Annie guided us up Monkey Mountain, which is only about 5 or 6 blocks away from where we live. There are a number of hiking paths up the mountain. It was a great climb, taking a couple of hours, and providing peace and quiet. Lookout spots provided a great view of the city and all the while we enjoyed the troops of monkeys which roam freely. Fortunately, no one feeds them so they are not particularly aggressive,

Streets of Kaohsiung

Linda's shopping again. Maurice rests up.

though they do pass within a few feet of us at times.

On September 24th, KAS celebrated 25 years in Taiwan. It was an elaborate affair with many dignitaries in attendance. All 550 students were give new t-shirts compliments of the PTA. Tents decorated with massive bouquets were set up to protect the crowds from the sun, each one with fans to cool us down. There was drumming, dancing, speeches in Taiwanese and English, followed by food and drink for all. It was also the ground breaking for the building of the new school that will open in January 2015. Half of the school yard has been segregated, a fence built and construction has begun on the new building. This has posed a few challenges as the students have lost a lot of play area.

Friday September 27th was Teachers' Day here in Taiwan. The kids and parents presented me with decadent food in a large golden box, a HUGE bouquet along with warm wishes as they left the school for the weekend. Teachers are revered in Taiwan. I received emails from many of my students wishing me a happy teachers day and others from senior students from

High Speed Rail

Kaohsiung to Taipei, 90% of Taiwan's 23 million people live close enough to make use of this service. The 345 kilometer trip takes 1 hour and 36 minutes.

our school. How nice and how unexpected. Also on the 27th, an elaborate dinner was held in a banquet room at the top of the Hanshin Mall in honor of all the new teachers, students and parents to KAS. The 9 course meal was spectacular. Entertainment was provided by the talented students from our school. We were very impressed!

Linda Kuiken's husband Les is in the same situation as Maurice so they get together to go scootering and exploring. They usually meet at 8AM and head out of town. They have visited the mud volcano, the Big Buddhist temple, some waterfalls as well as the cultural village of Meinong. They're usually back late afternoon, depending on weather, rain, traffic, and other factors. They have discovered a few mountain top roads that provide fun riding and spectacular views.

On Saturday, September 28th, we boarded the Kenting Express Bus to go and spent the day at Kenting Beach, a couple of hours south of Kaohsiung. Generally acknowledged as Taiwan's most popular beach, it is not particularly large, though it is very pretty. The Taiwanese are not beach people, they don't like the sun or the water and so have not

Inside car 8 of the HSR

The ride is very smooth and quiet, considering we reach speeds of 297kph.

developed a huge beach industry, despite excellent snorkeling and scuba diving in the area. It was interesting to see how the local workers were covered from head to toe, including their faces, trying to avoid the sun while working or playing on the beach. Despite crowds of people laying on the beach under umbrellas, there were surprisingly few people actually swimming. The women wear shorts and a T-shirt. The men strip down to their boxers. Linda and Maurice were 2 of a handful of people in swimsuits. The warm water was a beautiful clear blue color with strong waves that pulled you into the water and insisted you wave jump. There were many people riding seadoos or being towed on air-filled tubes of all kinds. We spent a lovely day laying on the beach, watching Grace (from our school) learning how to surf while Linda and Pon (Linda's EA) swam and gathered hermit crabs to take back for Linda's students. Those 17 hermit crabs turned out to be a most popular event at the school. Students of all ages arrived to visit them for days after their arrival. Linda has used them as a teaching/learning tool.

And then..... on

Landscape of Taiwan

It's tough taking pictures at 290kph, we keep the camera ready, because when you say "look at that" you have to be quick or it's gone!

October 3rd, Linda finally received her NEW RED KYMCO SCOOTER! She claimed that she'd waited since 1986 to own a scooter!

The CEO of Kymco sends his children to KAS and he offered Dr Farrel, our superintendent, a tour of their factory here in Kaohsiung, as well as the option to buy scooters direct from the factory at a discounted price.
Kymco is a Taiwanese company that manufactures scooters, motorcycles and ATVs for worldwide distribution. It was founded in 1963 after splitting from Honda, originally making parts for Honda. The company began building and marketing scooters and motorcycles under the "KYMCO" brand name in 1992. In the 2000s, Kymco became the largest scooter manufacturer in Taiwan, and the fifth largest worldwide. Kymco currently builds scooters, ATV's and motorcycles. They also build some models for Yamaha as well as the engines for BMW's G450 X Enduro bike. On our tour, we saw the scooter parts being created, painted, assembled and tested. They work 2 shifts of 8 hours daily, and built 876 scooters the day we were there. We decided to buy a 125cc Cue, red of course! Kymco delivered Dr Farrel, Jen and Linda's new scooters directly to the

HSR Station Taipei

Transportation hub, and a huge mall combine in elegance. We are greeted by a bow at each store as we pass the stores on our way to street level. By the way, all these plants are real, they call them "living walls".

school, complete with all the necessary paperwork, registration and insurances.

After a bit of riding around our neighborhood Thursday and Friday, we decided that we should try a road trip. We left Saturday morning for Liuqiu Island just off the coast of Taiwan. Kevin, Linda and Maurice scootered from Kaohsiung while Les and his wife Linda, and Dan traveled by van. It took us an hour or so to cover the 35 kilometers to Dongang Ferry. We bought tickets and loaded Linda and Maurice's scooters and the other 4 people's bicycles on the Dongang to Liuqiu Island ferry. 40 minutes after pulling away from the dock, we arrived at the island. We walked off the ferry and waited for the ferry crew to walk our scooters back to us. The six of us wheeled through the busy streets of Baisha Tourist Port. Once away from the town, Linda and Maurice broke away from the cyclists and spent 2 or 3 hours touring the tiny island. The island, which measures 4 kilometers long by 2 kilometers wide, is home to some 13,000 people, mostly fishermen. We were able to circle it as well as scout out some of the interior.

Fun in the Rain

We couldn't help but get this shot. It rains considerably more in Taipei than in Kaohsiung.

We hiked a bit, had lunch at an outdoor local eatery, bartered and bought a few souvenirs before meeting the other four for drinks around 2 in the afternoon. Then, it was back on the ferry for the rough ride back to the mainland. Yep, another typhoon was coming in and the ride was ROUGH with many people ill. Then it was back on the scooter and onto the highway back to Kaohsiung. We ended up making just over a 100km on the bikes. Linda had no trouble keeping up to the guys either! We got back to the apartment around 5pm, exhausted but proud and happy.

Sunday morning we were woken thinking we were under fire in a war zone! Turns out it was some gods birthday and to scare the evil spirits away the people here set off firecrackers. There were huge cannon blasts going off almost right under our window. They were so loud, they set off car alarms in the neighborhood. The noise was followed by a parade and more firecrackers. That went on all day. Good thing we know that we aren't in a war zone.

It was back to school on Monday,

Taipei 101

Taipei 101 ranked officially as the world's tallest from 2004 until the opening of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010. In July 2011, the building was awarded LEED Platinum certification, and became the tallest green building in the world. It looks like Chinese food take out boxes stacked one on top of another.

October 6th, but only for 3 days. 10/10 is a huge holiday here, kind of like an independence day, with no school or government offices open. Luckily, our school is closed Friday as well, so we are looking forward to a 4 day weekend and a road trip with Chris and Annie to: TAROKO GORGE, Hualien, Taiwan!

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