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Last Day in Kaohsiung!
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Today is our last day in Kaohsiung; we had nothing planned for a change, and just wanted to take it easy, after the exhausting nature of this holiday. Once again we were up bright and early, even earlier than we are in Australia, just wanting to fit in as much as we could.
Breakfast was actually rather nice this morning; the buffet had more western choices than usual, including baked beans and sausages. You do have to be careful here though, if you leave your breakfast plate unattended for more than a few minutes, it is swiped by one of the overzealous waiting staff. They are all terribly efficient of course, this is Taiwan after all, but they need to give you more time to finish your food, before taking the plate away.
Prompt plate clearing, does actually seem to be a thing here in Taiwan. Wherever we have eaten, as soon as your plate is clear, it is taken away quickly, before you have hardly had time to digest your meal. This may well be one of the reasons why I haven't felt as relaxed in Taiwan, as I would have liked. I believe that there is such a high turn over of customers in eating establishments, that staff are just trained to get you moved on, as quick as possible.
We did try to get some lunch today, but as usual, it just didn't happen. Strangely, it does appear, that most restaurants only open between 11.30am and 1 or 2 pm. This really does seem odd, and isn't something I have seen anywhere else. As a European, I like to eat a meal slowly, soak in the atmosphere, and maybe take a few hours to savour the food, with a glass or two of wine. This really doesn't seem to happen in Taiwan; maybe people just do eat faster and leave quicker, due to their rather hectic lifestyles? If you know, please let me know!
Darrell and I were out at 8.15am this morning, walking to our local underground station, popping into Starbucks on the way. I have noticed that the roads and the underground system is particularly quiet at this time of day, in complete contrast to Australia or the UK. This was rather confusing at first. Does Kaohsiung or Taipei not have a rush hour? Well, today, I found out why, at least in Kaohsiung; the shops don't actually open until 11am, closing at 10pm. Finally, the penny dropped. We were literally waking up, six hours before the shops even open… who'd have thought it!
In the end, we grabbed a quick bite to eat in McDonald's, to my horror, but it was either that, or eat nothing at all. This has been the one aspect of life in Taiwan I have found hard. Searching for a decent place to eat, where you can relax, eating at a normal time of day, has almost been an impossible task. It is one of the reasons why we preferred to eat at the hotel each evening. Here we could dine when we wanted, and not rushed to leave as quickly as possible!
Taiwan has been a learning curve for us; I would love to return in twenty years and see just how much it has changed. Tourism is important for all Asian countries, and I'm sure as Taiwan opens up, more and more to western tourism, some of the more outdated practices will be changed. Café's and restaurants need to be open all day, to cater for people, if they can't, then tourists and visitors will vote with their feet.
I suppose my blog today does seem rather critical of Taiwan, and in a way it is. However, I believe this country will be a tourism hub of the future — just not yet. I am a traveller at heart, and do enjoy experiencing new cultures, but I have to end this entry by saying, that Taiwan has probably been the most difficult country to navigate yet, even more so than South Korea — challenging is an understatement, however, I wouldn't change our time here for the World!
Taiwan is unique, friendly, and welcoming and its people are generous, helpful and extremely respectful, why wouldn't you want to come? A holiday is about making memories, and we have made plenty of those to take with us on our travels. If you have doubts about coming to Taiwan, then don't — come, enjoy, and soak up this amazing country, but just don't expect it to be easy!
Breakfast was actually rather nice this morning; the buffet had more western choices than usual, including baked beans and sausages. You do have to be careful here though, if you leave your breakfast plate unattended for more than a few minutes, it is swiped by one of the overzealous waiting staff. They are all terribly efficient of course, this is Taiwan after all, but they need to give you more time to finish your food, before taking the plate away.
Prompt plate clearing, does actually seem to be a thing here in Taiwan. Wherever we have eaten, as soon as your plate is clear, it is taken away quickly, before you have hardly had time to digest your meal. This may well be one of the reasons why I haven't felt as relaxed in Taiwan, as I would have liked. I believe that there is such a high turn over of customers in eating establishments, that staff are just trained to get you moved on, as quick as possible.
We did try to get some lunch today, but as usual, it just didn't happen. Strangely, it does appear, that most restaurants only open between 11.30am and 1 or 2 pm. This really does seem odd, and isn't something I have seen anywhere else. As a European, I like to eat a meal slowly, soak in the atmosphere, and maybe take a few hours to savour the food, with a glass or two of wine. This really doesn't seem to happen in Taiwan; maybe people just do eat faster and leave quicker, due to their rather hectic lifestyles? If you know, please let me know!
Darrell and I were out at 8.15am this morning, walking to our local underground station, popping into Starbucks on the way. I have noticed that the roads and the underground system is particularly quiet at this time of day, in complete contrast to Australia or the UK. This was rather confusing at first. Does Kaohsiung or Taipei not have a rush hour? Well, today, I found out why, at least in Kaohsiung; the shops don't actually open until 11am, closing at 10pm. Finally, the penny dropped. We were literally waking up, six hours before the shops even open… who'd have thought it!
In the end, we grabbed a quick bite to eat in McDonald's, to my horror, but it was either that, or eat nothing at all. This has been the one aspect of life in Taiwan I have found hard. Searching for a decent place to eat, where you can relax, eating at a normal time of day, has almost been an impossible task. It is one of the reasons why we preferred to eat at the hotel each evening. Here we could dine when we wanted, and not rushed to leave as quickly as possible!
Taiwan has been a learning curve for us; I would love to return in twenty years and see just how much it has changed. Tourism is important for all Asian countries, and I'm sure as Taiwan opens up, more and more to western tourism, some of the more outdated practices will be changed. Café's and restaurants need to be open all day, to cater for people, if they can't, then tourists and visitors will vote with their feet.
I suppose my blog today does seem rather critical of Taiwan, and in a way it is. However, I believe this country will be a tourism hub of the future — just not yet. I am a traveller at heart, and do enjoy experiencing new cultures, but I have to end this entry by saying, that Taiwan has probably been the most difficult country to navigate yet, even more so than South Korea — challenging is an understatement, however, I wouldn't change our time here for the World!
Taiwan is unique, friendly, and welcoming and its people are generous, helpful and extremely respectful, why wouldn't you want to come? A holiday is about making memories, and we have made plenty of those to take with us on our travels. If you have doubts about coming to Taiwan, then don't — come, enjoy, and soak up this amazing country, but just don't expect it to be easy!
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