Tainan: Taiwan's 4th City (1st Capital)

Wikipedia informs me that Tainan is actually a sister city to Monterey. Probably could have got some free tea or something, had I known. Considerably less expensive than Taipei, which is no surprise. My hotel room didn't have any windows, I considered complaining for about 3 minutes, which was how long it took for someone to set off some fireworks outside that came through as only a muffed roar. On second thought, the hospitality was A-OK:

Stirring sticks, a condom, several kinds of tea, and-- a-ha!-- business cards. "Happy Time for You !" indeed. Business cards are essential, because if you wander out and lose your way, you'll look long and hard for anyone whose English is good enough to help you find your way back to the "Hwa Mao Business Hotel." The maps in my guide book were very good, but only the big avenues were on them-- wouldn't have made a difference anyway, because the smaller streets didn't have any signs in pinyin. Always have a business card from your hotel!

So, I can't really tie this into a narrative, here were some interesting things I saw and happened to take pictures of in Tainan. Later I'll post separately about an incredible festival-type-thing I stumbled upon, and my "tourist destination" in Tainan, the old Anping fort.



1) That is most definitely not a cat. It looks a lot like a cat, but it is not a cat. What it is, I don't know. Could it be some variety of civet? Anyway, terribly exciting, all the good things this trip had to offer + bonus cryptozoology!

2) This is something you should all be familiar with, its a robotic version of a carnival game. This was on the street outside the train station. The thing that made me take a picture, though, was not the Hello Kitty doll, but the price tag. NT$200 was, at the time I was traveling, equivalent to more than 6 USD. Now, I like Hello Kitty as much as the next guy (let's just leave it at that), but nothing in that glass box is worth 6 dollars.

3) A blank strip of sidewalk, about 15 meters long, with one of these at each end. What are they for?

4) I haven't talked much about the moped thing, because I didn't get good photos of the phenomenon. But in almost any city block, they outnumber cars at least 3 to 1. This is a moped-only filling station. Unless it's something else, I didn't stand around and wait for a moped to stop.

5) Well, I've read the English, and the Latin, and I'm clueless, so perhaps the key must be in the Chinese.

And Finally: Hey, Popcorn!