Kaohsiung was a port city. And a large one at that.

They went to the trouble of booking me into a hotel in what's claimed to be the world's second-tallest skyscraper? But as someone prone to acrophobia, I couldn't enjoy the view from up high; my backside was too fidgety. I really prefer to feel grounded, like I'm in a single-story house.

So, I went to the night market in Kaohsiung, which I'm sure I wandered through eight years ago on my first visit. It's a night market that unfolds every single night. It's cheap. Cheap. Cheap. But sometimes, it stinks. Thanks to a single stall selling fermented tofu that smelled like rotten tofu, my appetite was completely gone, as I couldn't get used to the odor. Perhaps it was also because I had already filled up on delicious, inexpensive, and fresh seafood before coming. And it might also be influenced by the fact that I was made to eat something like... a certain animal's testicle.

And I found myself captivated by the practiced hands of the woman expertly preparing grass jelly drinks at a popular stall. The fact that it wasn't too sweet was also a bit anticlimactic. And it only cost sixty yen.

Is it good for you, or not?

I was reminded of all sorts of things I used to eat at the candy store in my distant childhood. Back then, they were probably twenty yen or fifty yen, right?

Taiwan makes me feel nostalgic.

Kaohsiung's kindness and laid-back atmosphere, yet somehow a sense of melancholy... or loneliness, a gap in the heart, like wind passing through, I feel a small anxiety.

Giant structures are about to be born, one after another.
In a small alleyway beside them, I decided to get a foot massage.
Huh? Why? A foot massage for elementary school girls too? With their mothers? It felt like everyone here was laughing and chatting, their voices never ceasing.
Broken English? Even if we don't speak the same language, if it feels good, you can tell by looking at their faces. That's why it felt so at home.
Asia, and especially Taiwan, Kaohsiung, might be my mother.

That said, honestly, I probably won't know until I live here for a while. But maybe I should give it a try.



There was a time when people didn't shave their armpits... wasn't there?
Gah, speechless Asia.
To be continued.

← Diary-T 243–248