Kaohsiung is to Taipei is as Osaka to Tokyo, to me. More relaxed and less of the hustle and bustle of the Big City. We’re enjoying our week here, mostly meandering about and eating anything and everything that strikes our fancy.
DW’s dear girlfriends treated us to Hot Pot, never mind the 85°f temps.
Kaohsiung’s very famous for its seafood! I love the city - besides Mandarin, the locals speak Taiwanese-Hokkien, which is mutually intelligible with Penang-Hokkien and Singapore-Hokkien, except that theirs absorbed a lot of Japanese loanwords, whereas ours have a lot of English and Malay loanwords.
This vender was initially cool when we strolled up speaking English to each other. We asked for the smallest quantity of Peanuts and a single Ear of Corn, which didn’t exactly endear us to her.
She warmed up considerably after a short while. She smiled and appreciated that my talented wife can speak Mandarin and Taiwanese as well as that strange foreign tongue.
We often get this reversal in attitude here in Kaohsiung, especially from local street vendors. Gruff to chatty, in an instant.
The seafood is indeed amazing here, and very affordable. Cijin Island, a short 10 minute ferry ride, has so much great fresh seafood. Couldn’t make it on this trip, regrettably.
Lunch in a special countryside eatery. Not exactly Hot Pot in the usual sense. More a Seafood Soup. We arrived at opening, every table set identically with a heaping pot on a gas burner ready for fire.
A canopy of latticed Fried Egg covering a treasure trove of seafood. Help yourself to beer and/or ice tea from the fridge. Sliced meats and more to shabu shabu if one needs additional fare. We didn’t.
Firstly, fished out a deep hued Shrimp. Pure Shrimpy goodness, from head to tail.
Already stuffed to the gills by now, we couldn’t pay this centerpiece it’s due. Although tasty, not as good as the Singapore Curry version. Still fun, nevertheless.
The service was attentive and hospitable, quick to top off the broth and attend to any requests. The server packed our not so insignificant amount of leftovers in a plastic bag to go, and even offered to add some fresh broth. Nice touch.
A fun and enjoyable meal. Many families with kids sharing a weekend lunch together. Nice stroll through the village back to the car. So glad to experience this meal and share some memories and gossip with the wife’s classmate.
Kept this meal simple, to fully savor every single dish.
Raw Prawn Salad. Was not available our previous two visits. The ingredients worked so well together to complement the snappy Prawns. Together with Papaya Salad, sets the palate perfectly. Anticipation!!
