Another factory visit to Kaohsiung in Taiwan was necessary. If I'm absolutely honest, it wasn't really necessary but I wasn't about to torpedo any chance of me being paid to escape the Philippines for a long weekend to spend time in my favourite city.
I arrived In Kaohsiung on a Thursday lunchtime and was met at the airport by mate Dave and his wife, and was taken to the hotel where I was to be staying.
The hotel was the Splendor which is located in the 85 storey Tuntex Sky Tower, which up until the completion of the Taipei 101 building was tallest building in Taiwan for several years, topping out out 1,140 ft or 1240 ft if you include the antenna. The hotel reception is located on the 38th floor with the hotel rooms located between floors 46 - 70 and so whichever room you are given you are assured of a great view.
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| Tuntex Sky Tower |
Thursday afternoon was spent walking around the city exploring camera shops. Whilst we were walking around we passed a dental clinic and as I still had a sore tooth I went in to see if they'd be willing to take a look. After a short and quick registration, and discovering it was a training school, I was in the dentist chair being looked at. At first the young dentist seemed to think that the tooth might be cracked so decided to x-ray it again. She then went off and discussed the x-ray with the guy who was in charge. He asked me when I was leaving and if I was planning to come back to Taiwan some time soon. I said I was leaving on Monday and although I was planning to come back I wasn't sure when that would be. The young trainee dentist told me that the tooth needed a crown as there was so little of it left but to do that would take several repeat visits. I remembered that the the cause of the problem stemmed from the tooth being damage and effectively sheared in half along its length, which occurred when I was kicked in the face in a disco in 1974, so I suppose it's done well to last up until now.
As a temporary measure she said that she would replace the filling although she said she wasn't sure how successful it would be as there was so little tooth left. She proceeded to do this (watched over by a couple of students) without giving me any anaesthetic and despite my trepidation I was surprised, not to mentioned relieved, that she didn't cause me any pain whatsoever. After drilling out the old filling, which there seemed to be masses of, I could feel with my tongue a huge cavity and barely any tooth. This was then repaired and I now have a nice, new, shiny white filling replacing the ugly grey mercury filling that was there before, all at a cost of less than £25. Moreover, the pain has now gone so I reckon it'll be good until I find myself with some time to spare in civilisation when I can have it fixed properly.
The factory visit was straightforward and all very amicable and as before I was met my the factory owner (Andy, to give his English name) in his classic Mercedes. I love that car so much I'm definitely going to get myself one when (or if) I end up back in the UK. After an inspection of the fabrication work for the chimney liners we went to visit the Andy's contractor that was doing the painting for the liners. This involved, as so often it does in Taiwan, drinking tea. More accurately, I should say the ritual of drinking tea. The process of heating the water, the cups, the pot. The adding of dried green tea leaves that look like thick, green wood shavings that swell up to almost overwhelm the pot itself . Throwing away the first brew and using it to soak the cups and tea holder. Once the tea has been allowed to brew for just the right amount of time in a small clay pot, it is transferred to a holding pot and then distributed to guests in little clay cups. The Taiwanese can drink gallons of this stuff and I must admit, it is very tasty and refreshing to drink but my bladder has limits.
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| Kaohsiung City (From The Hotel Window) |
From the factory we went to visit the Andy's brother, who is a building developer and we stopped off at a block of apartments that he had just completed in Kaohsiung city. His brother wasn't my stereo-typical image of a developer but was a tall, thin, elderly, polite and softly spoken gentleman. We proceeded to have tea in one of the apartments with his brother and friends and snack on tasty fruits that had been grown in his friends gardens and admire Chinese character paintings that another friend did as a hobby. I was asked to eat a small berry that resembled a rose hip in appearance, but was under very strict instructions not to eat the seed. The berry had no real taste to speak of but then I was immediately given a tomato to eat. The effects of the berry is to make everything else you eat taste sweet and sure enough, the tomato tasted really sweet. Quite an odd sensation. Whilst the conversation around the table was wholly in Chinese (Hokkien I think - it definitely wasn't Mandarin) I was impressed by the friendliness and welcoming attitude everyone showed me. After several gallons of tea we left and I returned to my hotel.
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| Kaohsiung Harbour |
The remainder of the weekend was spent wandering around the city, window shopping, looking at more cameras, eating well and generally taking it easy and as always, I was sorry to have to leave.
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