Monday morning, October 30, Bo, Rick and Marj went swimming at the hotel pool. There is almost no other activity that Bo likes more.
Marj was experiencing a sore leg from earlier walks, so she rested at the hotel while the rest of us headed out on an exploratory walk.
First, Rick showed us some of his discoveries along Ximen Road from earlier in the morning when he was searching for breakfast items. Christine and Brenda were happy to find a bubble tea shop and partake of two teas on offer there.
We made our way along Yonghua Road. One significant difference here compared to Taipei is sidewalk navigation. In both cities, the buildings have their second floor built out to the edge of the street, creating a tunnel-like feeling on the sidewalk underneath but open on the street side. Taipei sidewalks left room for pedestrian to walk; not so here in Tainan. The sidewalk areas are squeezed to a narrow opening with parked scooters or cars, and often they are completely obstructed, forcing pedestrians to walk out on the street.
Squeezed
Mostly obstructed
Completely obstructed
Our goal was the Shueipingwun Park to see if it had a children's playground - it did.
The park had multiple shaded areas with groups of seniors, most seated and quietly socializing over board games or just conversing, and others practicing Tai Chi.
Dogs resting in shade, waiting for their senior owners
This is also a park of fascinating trees.
On our way back, we saw a small fruit shop at the corner of Xialin Road and Yonghua Road and went to check it out.
Next door, open to the sidewalk was a 24 hour buffet-like display of traditional Taiwanese foods, some hot, some cold, no English menu listings and all staff Chinese speaking only. I watched a local getting a tray and a small cardboard container (three sizes available) and start along the counter, spooning his selections from the buffet into his container. (I learned later that this is a very local and traditional type of eatery, almost never frequented by tourists, and it is not like a western buffet; you only go through once per payment, and there are no price listings.) Upon arriving at the lady who was taking payments, she asked me a question in Chinese; I didn't understand. She pointed to a large pot of rice. I had seen a person in front of me carrying a small white bowl of rice, so, thinking that I understood fully, I pointed to a small stack of empty white bowls and said, "Yes, please." She shook her head, grabbed a small plastic bag of rice and placed it on my tray (I now think that my chosen cardboard container indicated that I was a take-out customer, even though that was not my intention). Then, she said what sounded like, "Bah!" I gestured that I did not understand. I looked at the woman standing beside her, and she repeated the same thing, "Bah!" I thought that they were stating a price, but there was no cash register to see a dollar amount displayed, and the ladies were not writing it down. I shook my head, still with no idea what they meant. A young man behind me in line leaned toward me and quietly said, "Eighty." Rescued, I handed over a NT$100 bill and received my change. Brenda and I shared the food, unaware of what most of the items were, but enjoying the experience.
By mid-afternoon, the Makowichuks were back in their room for rest time, and the Haneys were shopping for some necessities. In the evening we went to the basement food court in the nearby upscale department store (Shin Kong Mitsukoshi - there was one near us in Taipei also) to have supper. Affordable authentic Taiwanese food, thankfully with no KFC nor McDs in sight.
Taiwanese dishes all around, eaten with chopsticks
