The Roads That Are, the Zoo That Wasn't, and the Mall that is: Wow! 2/21/09

This past weekend found Ted and me doing some exploring of Kaohsiung City--on our own! Again, the weather is relatively comfortable, high 70's but not as much humidity as when we first arrived!
Thought we might share first the types of roads (not counting those steps!) we encounter every day; one really has to look down as much as forward when walking, because the terrain is so uneven! Look at all the different types of walkways!

Now for the fun stuff we tried and did, some with more success than others!! First, yesterday (Saturday for us), we thought it would be fun to go to the Kaohsiung Zoo! We hired our special cabbie, Mr Chen, who picked us up right at our villa door and dropped us off at the Zoo entrance. The gates were open, so walked the very colorful path (see Ted standing on the graffiti artwork on the walkway) up to the ticket office. The ladies there sort of waved us off, indicating, we thought, that it was a free day. Great. But when we started to walk into the zoo gates (which were open), they rushed to us and waved us away, finally managing to make us understand that the zoo was closed!! (We later googled the zoo and learned it had closed Feb 9th for renovations!! It won't open again until July! Drat!)

So, that was the Zoo that wasn't. But the adventures were not over, oh no! We quickly called our cabbie friend to come back and take us to a shopping area downtown that we had heard about. Fine, he said. Rather quickly, a cab appeared but not with Mr Chen. However, Mr Chen had said he might send another driver. We asked this cabbie if he was from Mr Chen and he said yes in the ONLY English he spoke. Now, we realize that asking him if he worked for Mr Chen was probably akin to asking him if he worked for Mr Smith. Any way, we hopped in and off we went;ZOOM! This cabbie did not believe in brakes, in stopping for any obstacle whatsoever that might be in his way, nor in obeying anything remotely like a speed limit. We almost had five accidents en route; I have never been so glad as when we arrived at the shopping district. Furthermore, as we were careening around corners and whipping down streets, Mr Chen called us on our cell to ask where we were!! Yup, we somehow were in the wrong cab! We tried to explain to him that we thought we were in one of his cabs, but we don't think he understood, and we thin either we, or he, has lost face. We desperately need Janet to extricate us from this by explaining, when we see her on Monday, to Mr Chen how sorry we are!! Any way, when we finally arrived in one piece, we headed for the Pizza Hut for a very tasy American meal!
Today was totally a blast! We took the subway (they are clean, well lit, have both Taiwanese and English signage, really easy and safe to ride!)to the so-called "Dream Mall!" What a neat place! It has , besides a million high-end stores (all Western stuff everywhere, from toys like Thomas the Train and Lightening McQueen to fashionable brand names in jewelry and clothing: that was disappointing to me; I want to see Taiwanese crafts etc, nut maybe somewhere else)), totally fun stuff/activities for kids of all ages. The HUGE complex,with 11 floors, has arcades, craft areas for kids to make stuff while waiting for parents, bumper cars, this bubble-like pond where kids ride in clear bubbles on the pond and, inside the bubbles, they push their bubbles around the water, lots of restaurants and an enormous, famous (for here) FERRIS WHEEL. We waited until night time to take that ride; the wheel is lit up with an ever-changing array of colorful lights and, from the top of it, you get a great panoramic view of the city! Tyson, Kyra and Maya would LOVE this mall!!!
Dinner too was an adventure! We wanted a place to be able to sit down (as opposed to one of the many stands available) and we wanted Taiwanese food, not MacDonald's etc. Well, we found a perfect choice. No menus in English, of course; so Ted and I just pointed at pictures of food that looked interesting and ordered! The food was great. I THINK I had a beef dish with rice marinated in a soy sauce,and Ted, a pork dish. First, though, we were served a big bowl of maybe cabbage, some sort of white crunchy stuff, over which we were to pour what the waiter pointed to :some tasty sauce. After the main meal, we were served "dessert," namely, orange juice and a very sweet tasting red bean soup. What a fun adventure!