Hot pot was at this restaurant tucked away on the second floor. Why are Chinese restaurants always in these hiding places? The Peking duck place we went to was like this, too. They always like to be to the upper floors with views of the street.
This time around it wasn't just your average hot pot. It was my first experience with the traditional copper coal-burning pots. Apparently, you can stick your meat onto the sides of the chimney to try to pseudo-grill it. I had some success doing it, but I don't really understand the appeal. It didn't really taste any better than just sticking it in the broth.
We later saw this pro table next to us doing it properly by holding the meat up with soup spoons. Clever. Lunch was really good. I'm partial to spicy broths, but this place also had a special dipping sauce that was really good.
Lunch was over and we headed to the train station to get on the high speed rail. The wedding was set to start at 6 PM and our express train got there at 4:30, taking just over an hour and a half. We figured they would start late and that gave us about two hours to take in some random sights.
Two of the metro stations are attractively designed and so we headed to the first at the Formosa Boulevard stop. The Dome of Light there had quite the tranquil atmosphere. Street performers filled the space with some dreamy music. It was pretty nice; I totally could have taken a nap there.
Too bad we were on a time crunch. Next up, Central Park. Central Park Station opened up to this impressive courtyard. The South had clearly gone all out in its station design.
I was a bit surprised to find that the metro had only begun running in 2008. It kind of makes sense since everything feels so new. Actually, the area of the city we were in just felt really new overall. I feel like everything we saw was the result of quite a bit of metropolitan development and a huge overhaul. I did feel like there were a lot less people in general, and we had a strangely difficult time finding a convenience store.
We made our way back to the wedding and didn't realize we were in for a show. We were among the last to be seated and waited in the huge hall with 70 or so tables; biggest wedding I've ever been to by far. It started in a fairly normal fashion with the wedding procession entering with the worst videographer in the world failing to track them on the projection screens. After that it was anything but normal.
The first course entered with gold winged dancers and some trippy Arabic beats. They made it to the stage as we started to dig in. Our entertainment for the first few courses were a trio of a violinist, flutist, and keyboardist. They played a couple of songs and then several people went on stage and started to give speeches.
The bride, groom and family members were all up on the stage, but none of them were actually the speakers. Instead a pair of politicians got on stage and started to preach the praises of the wedded and spread misinformation about a couple they didn't even know. The parents of the bride and groom barely said a word and I don't think the groom gave a speech at all. Apparently this is somewhat of a tradition of the South, but the whole thing was pretty alien to me.
The meal continued with courses coming left and right. It was going to be another one of those ten course Chinese meals. We got a little break in the middle when the brother of the groom got up on stage to sing a song. I'm not sure if he knew all the words and halfway through they skipped through some of the music and he continued into the chorus. At that moment the lights dimmed and the bride and groom came back into the room in a lit up buggy.
They had changed clothes, and I had never known they even left. Then the emcee/wedding singer led them through the cutting of the fake cake and the pouring of a champagne waterfall.
That wedding singer in green was a true pro. She basically facilitated the whole event and didn't stop talking or singing for a solid two to three hours. We had to leave earlier than most, since Mama needed to catch a train and thankfully didn't stay for the last two courses. All you can eat for lunch and ten courses for dinner is overwhelming. I had tried to limit myself at lunch, but it was so damn hard, I tell you...
With a little time to spare before our train (about an hour after Mama's), we headed to our final sightseeing spot, the Heart of Love River. 愛河 - Love River is the name of the river that runs through Kaohsiung. They performed a multi-million dollar renewal of turning it from a polluted eyesore into the clear waterway deserving of the namesake. The Heart of Love River is a series of bridges that look like a heart from an aerial view.
Of course, we don't have an aerial view, but we walked the whole thing and took a billion pictures. It's quite a romantic place with mostly couples, a number of rowdy kids, and some puke on the side of the bridge. I was asked by a couple if they were at the Heart of Love River a few times, "This is it? This is it?" In Chinese of course. I neglected to answer and V told them they were indeed at the right place.
I'm really not too sure what else Kaohsiung has to offer. I think it's difficult to get around without a car and I would totally rent one the next time we want to come. V is frightened by the idea of me driving anywhere in Taiwan and refuses to let me. I'm undaunted and up to the challenge of weaving through mopeds of course. We ended our exhausting days by eating our wedding cookies (a traditional wedding gift in Taiwan, North and South) and then passing out on the train.
Well, I slept. V created a little photo booth out of her jacket and took artsy pictures of light out the window. For like an hour.
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