For a very lovely anniversary gift this year we took a trip to Taiwan. Instead of going to the largest city in Taiwan we went to the second largest city, Kaohsiung. 
My first comment once exploring Kaohsiung was “this is really Asia.” Being that I have only been to Korea and Japan which are very developed countries, I guess I have been spoiled. Taiwan fulfilled all my expectation of what Asian countries would be.
1. HOT
The first thing you feel when you walk off the nicely pressurized air conditioned plane is the Heat. It is so crazy hot. But not just regular heat because I have been to Kuwait and Iraq, this is a different type of heat which brings me to my second point.
2. Humid
The level of humidity is incredible. Humidity renders your sweat useless. When there is so much moisture in the air the condensation on your skin is not coming from within, which makes it impossible for your body to release heat, which is the reason we sweat, to allow for evaporative cooling. Well this does not happen. You walk around hot and sticky and when the weather report states that there is an 80% chance of rain that includes all the moisture in the air, so it may not be droplets coming from the air but you are bound to get soaked.
3. Scooters
This is the fun, Scooters are everywhere. It is the main form of transportation. We found a scooter service station on every block, with there little mini lifts, like legit mechanic shops for cars just mini. And they park everywhere. Is that a sidewalk or a scooter parking lot. Really there were tons of scooters.
And Monkeys.
Well I didn’t get to see any monkeys on this trip because we didn’t go out to the national parks, But there are little monkeys which I thought I was going to see at least one, even if it was on a leash.
But Dogs!
We happen to see a lot of dogs. No leashes either. At one point a dog just wondered up to my girlfriend’s leg, licked it, and walked away. This wasn’t the only encounter. Dog just seem to roam around in the city, or lounge around on the sidewalks in the heat. But I will say we didn’t have an aggressive encounter with one but still always be careful with unfamiliar dogs.
In Conclusion
Kaohsiung does have an array of activities to do on your visit. Their metro system is excellent which we used the iPass for 2 days that gave us unlimited travel on the metro, some buses and the ferries. We visited the Love River, Pier-2 Art Center, Art Museum of Kaohsiung and the Music Hall. Also on the To-Do list is the Night Markets, since it is so hot during the day we noticed that people do get out much but at night the streets come alive. It’s not that much cooler but the sun is not out anymore so that helps. And if you have a chance while your at the Pier-2 Art Center fly a kite. This is something we haven’t done since we were children but it is so much fun. Plus the winds make it very easy to do.
How high could you get your kite?