Liuhe Night Market

"You will not be considered to visit Kaohsiung if you miss out Liuhe Night Market." With eager hearts, we visited Liuhe Night Market hoping to seek for a new experience, fun and a wide variety of local snacks. To our disappointment, the night market wasn't all that impressive. It was rather small and mainly consisted of seafood and fried food. After doing some research, I realized that Liuhe Night Market is actually full of 'hidden gems'. When scanning through the night market, one would never know many stalls actually sell delicious food! The reason being that the place is rather dirty and greasy, and also displays many large seafoods such as octopus. This is very unsightly and even disgusting to some thus giving tourists a negative impression. But putting aside all of that, quite a number of food stalls actually do sell delicacies. One that I strongly recommend is the famous papaya milk. At a higher-than-average price of NT$50, it still has many customers because the papaya milk is simply tasty! Even the president cannot resist to patronize this stall! All in all, the night market was mediocre as I didn't get to 'discover' most of the best foods. I suggest that one do some research beforehand so that they know what to look out for in the night market.

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Papaya milk: Simply awesome!

Huashan Elementary School

We were warmly welcomed by a choir of adorable violinists! I was very impressed by the group of talented students in which the school had produced. Learning the violin is already a difficult task, not to say learning it at such a young age. Still, the group of kindergarteners managed to put up a splendid performance for us. I felt very touched by their sincerity and effort in hosting. Afterwards, we were led into an exhibition hall where many art pieces were displayed. Each student was in charge of an artwork and would present about it in front of us. I was particularly amazed by a little boy who very confidently and fluently explained to us about the art piece he was taking charge of. He showed exemplary presentation skills, with frequent eye contact, confidence and appropriate volume. I think that even we as secondary school students ought to learn from him. This visit to Huashan Elementary School made me learn many things. Not only about the various artworks, but also about presentation and leadership. For the kindergarteners to have such talents and leadership quality, I must say the teachers have done a wonderful job in teaching them. I believe that this school would continue to nurture and produce more young talents who would grow up to be very successful people!

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Anping Old Street

The City Of Snacks! It is the fifth-largest city and Taiwan's oldest, with quaint streets retaining the flavor of the past and lined with stalls selling an excellent array of delectable goodies. A lot of delicacies and renowned street food can be found in the Anping Old Street. My favourite is the coffin toast I ate at 安平贵记. It may have a morbid name, but this unique delicacy is possibly the best bread you'll ever sink your teeth into. Coffin toast is made up of a thick chunk of bread which had been deep fried, with a hole cut out in the shape of a coffin. In the bread is filled with hot chicken chunks, seafood, vegetables and cream. Crisp on the outside and warm in the inside. Pure delight. Near the entrance to the ruins of Anping Fort lies a stretch of eateries that boasts a history of at least 50 years. One can find snacks like deep fried shrimp and oyster rolls, oyster mee sua, danzaimian and minced pork sauce. Prices are low at about NT$50 (about S$2.15). There lane also sells souvenirs and dried snacks such as nougats, preserved fruits and shrimp crackers. Last but not least, oysters sold here are much cheaper. One can get eight fresh, succulent ones for only around NT$100 to NT$150, a third of the price we'd have to pay in Singapore! Anping Old Street sells many local delicacies and one should definitely make a trip there try them!

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Oysters!

A small part of the street

Some yummy local delicacies 

British Consulate

No sweet without sweat. The flight of steps may seem torturous but the scenery at the peak of the hill is breathtaking! There are also a few food stalls at the top and the ice cream that was selling like hot cakes was especially appealing to the hot and panting tourists. A stick of refreshing ice cream to kick start the visit to the British consulate! The admission fee costs NT$30. Among the existing western style buildings in Taiwan, it provides an excellent example of technique and style and that possesses the value of historical architecture study and conservation value. The building brick and mortar used all continue using the traditional method of Fujian and Taiwan. Some parts are even filled with clay and soil, while wooden truss is built with complete western style. It is the portrayal illustration of modern Chinese and Western cultural communication, and also the first formal consulate built by foreigners in Taiwan. One should definitely go there during the evening to see and enjoy the sunset of Sichuan(Bay) and harbor view of Kaohsiung. The view is spectacular and this place is surely worth a visit to!

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Wonderful view from the top of the British Consulate

Meinong Hakka Culture Museum

In this museum, we learnt more about the culture of the Hakkas in Taiwan. We learnt about the migration of the Hakkas and that there were five different Hakka accents, hearing all of them using an interactive device, where the accents were played with the push of a button. We also learnt more about the different items that were significant to the Hakka culture, such as the paper umbrella and the oblation furnace. 

However, I feel that this museum could be a little more interesting. The guide who brought us around could be a bit more engaging. This museum may be quite an interactive and interesting one, but there is definitely room for improvement. 

OELP: Day 6

Day 6: 29 May 2014 Thursday

Weather: Sunny then Rainy then Sunny & Humid then Sunny

Places visited: 正心中学 • Places our buddies brought us to--> 台中!! :D

Today we attended some lessons with our buddies from 正心. While I was attending their 国文 lessons, I learnt many new things and also realized their standard of knowledge on Chinese (culture) as the students themselves made many references with many other Chinese poems. Although our English   may be better, their Chinese is definitely better than ours. I also found out from the students that the school specially prepared a cooking lesson for us (they don't usually have a cooking class) and I felt their efforts in making us feel welcomed and I am really thankful.

We also spent some time with our buddies and their family where they themselves organized a short "field trip" in Taiwan. I went to 台中 with my buddy, her mother, my classmates and their buddies and their buddy's father and had A LOT of fun! Although the "field trip" did not really go as planned because it started raining half way through, it was still EXTREMELY FUN because we got to spend a lot of time with our buddies! <3 I am also really really grateful to their parents who were very warm and welcoming to us and kept offering to pay for us even though we kept saying they shouldn't. 

In conclusion, I found out something that I can learn from the students at 正心. I also had a wonderful time and made some new friends with great memories. I can't believe the strong bond we built in just three days and I can't bear to leave them now. I miss our buddies already and will definitely keep in touch with them!

I had a lot of  fun cooking with the 正心 students:D

I had the best time with these people <3

Not to mention their incredibly generous parents too!

Lim En Yin (7)

OELP: Day 5

Day 5: 28 May 2014 Wednesday 

Weather: Rain, Sunny & Humid

Places visited: 正心中学 • Chinese Puppet Show Museum

Today we went to puppet show museum and from there I learnt how some Chinese cultures have evolved over time. For example the stage for the puppet shows have become bigger and the music for the puppet shows are no longer live. This made me wonder if the quality of these puppet shows have remained the same. I would really love to watch a traditional, authentic Chinese puppet show.

Today we also spent some time with the students at 正心中学. I enjoyed the balloon sculpting and magic tricks courses. It was fun learning to sculpt balloons with the students at 正心 as we had time for some fun interactions and also made new friends with fond memories. We also got to see a little of the 正心 campus and how they conducted their CCAs.

In conclusion, I enjoyed the day as I learnt some interesting things and also got to interact with the students at 正心中学.

I really liked the Yunlin Hand Puppet Museum, especially because of their interesting puppets!

Ballon sculpting with another very nice 正心 student ^^

 

Marching band CCA session over at 正心

Lim En Yin (7)