Taiwan! – Day Two

Today is gonna be extremely picture heavy for 2 reasons:

1) I went for a morning walk around the hotel I stayed at – super nice.

2) Nightmarket in 高雄!

Itinerary: 日月潭云品酒店 – 日月潭边 – 赤莰楼 – 台南 – 延平郡王祠  – 高雄 – 六合夜市 – 爱河 – 高雄莲潭国际酒店

云品酒店 had a pretty boss game room with sofas and go/chinese checkers/chinese chess

… and fooseball!

There was even an attendant playing piano at night!

Nice view early in the morning! (Around 5AM)

So to get a better view of the lake, I decided to go on a journey!

Boats and Debris Islands

There were these nice observatorial every once a while on the path around the lake

The benches up close

A dock for trips around the lake during the day

What a beautiful view!

Walking back…

Sat here for a while…

Of course, there are latent hazards around (that big dot in the middle is a spider)

After returning to the hotel, I found that there was an alternate route that had some more interesting things

The exploration continues!

A nice deck that leads to a rock climbing area (scales the side of a the hotel)

A patio overlooking the lake! I had the urge to go back and get some tea – but that would’ve been too hipster of me.

The view from the patio

The view from the hotel restaurant balcony

Super nice restaurant

Sorry, got a little angry…

So, we continued on south

And in the middle of nowhere, there was a rest stop – with a full blown food court inside

Of course, there was a 7-11 too – with EVERYTHING.

Koi Mobs!

… everywhere!

This was an old street where a lot of fortune tellers resides – now, there are only people who 算八字

The awesome thing about Taiwan is that in someone’s backyard…

There is a freaking temple.

Some food place in Tainan!

Had some Milk Tea at an upscale tea house

And them some 棺材板 (kinda like chicken pot pie in toast instead of a pie) at a small street vendor

Then, per Anthony’s suggestion, I found a 50岚 and got some black milk tea latte

A pretty cool museum that didn’t let me take pictures inside

Oh yeah, most of the bathrooms in Taiwan are labeled “cosmetic rooms,” which explains quite a bit…

And then we went to 高雄 to the most famous nightmarket in the south – 六合

Pork Kidney…

Fried foods!

Meats stewed in soy sauce! (卤）

Raw seafood!

They also had these shrimp in an egg custard kind of things…

Bought some fried mushrooms (tastes almost like 盐酥鸡)

Taiwanese Stinky Tofu!

Oyster Pancakes (蚵仔煎)

Kebabs! (I got a 鸡心，鸡胗　and a 米血糕)

Multicolored 烧卖

Rabbit buns

Of course, tons of exotic fruits! (well exotic in America)

OMG CORN DOGS THAT WERE FRIED WITH YAM PIECES, CRISPY NOODLES, ETC.

Some unique wallets

Awesome night scenery!

Wish you were here!

Mystery of the Day: There was no flash – why did I blink?

Some other things of note:

1) I heard about 槟榔西施 (pretty women selling betelnuts) in Tainan, so I decided to look around. Found a couple betelnut stands but all owned by 大妈 (imagine Susan Boyle). Am I doing something wrong?

2)  I think I’m going to start reading more about Taiwanese history.

3) I want a blunderbuss (saw one at the museum that did not allow photography)

4) 90% of females in Tainan wear mouth masks with varied designs. Is this a new fad?

5) 5 was added in here because I like round numbers and 4 didn’t cut it for me.

Until next time!