Kaoshiung, Day 2 - Dome of Light and Ciaotou Sugar Refinery

My second day was filled with walking and a heck of a lot of sightseeing. I saw a lot more of Kaohsiung, the people, sights and sounds. I have also been eating like food's running out of fashion, so I'm considering devising a list of foods I have every day, a "food roll" of sorts.

Woke up early in the morning to catch the MRT to the Ciaotou Sugar Refinery with Joan (elder sister to Paul) and her 11 year old daughter, Emily. It promised to be a brilliant day - the sun was shining brightly and Joan, having taken classes in photography, offered to take photos. One look at her professional looking SLR camera told me it would kick my sorry digital camera's ass, so I happily said yes. Unfortunately I haven't got my hands on those photos yet so you will just have to be satisfied with my amateurish ones =)

Breakfast by the MRT station. They're deep frying 'yau char koay' (this is what it's called in cantonese) - a form of floury dough.

The Dome of Light is widely featured in Kaohsiung tourist pamphlets. Situated in the heart of Formosa Boulevard MRT Station, it is an expression of modern art.

Ciaotou Sugar Refinery was the first sugar refinery in Taiwan and was built during the Japanese Colonial Period. At the time, it made a great contribution to the economy. The spacious sugar refinery also houses a colonial building influenced by Dutch architecture, as well as some artwork made with spare parts from the sugar refinery.

My favourite photo of the day - Joan taking a photo of Emily on the train. It was named the English equivalent of the "half train" because the links between the carriages were only half the length of the links between the carriages of the MRT.

Some ancient graveyards peppered the railway track. The boy on the bicycle seems oblivious, absorbing it as part of every day life.

These trees with purple flowers dotted the track along the way. I don't know what they're called, but they're pretty.

There are many more photos of this place, but I'll update when I pilfer them from Joan. The sugar refinery was large - many people were milling about, cycling their bicycles and chatting. It was rather quaint.

Funny moment when the guy operating the train asked me the difference between "getting on" and "getting in" the "car" (what he really meant was the train). I thought he was speaking mandarin, before Joan explained it to me. Got me thinking about the complexities of the English language for those who do not speak it as a native tongue. We "get on" a train, but we "get in" a car when the activity is really one and the same.