To Kaohsiung, or not to?

I had planned to spend a few nights in Kaohsiung, but as I mentioned last week, decided to stay in Taipei, which was a good decision. Still, on one hand, the idea of making day trips appealed to me. On the other hand, being lazy and not moving around too much, especially in the rain, was also appealing. It turns out that even though Kaohsiung is almost all the way south, it is quicker to get to than other cities further north. I went to bed Monday night saying to myself, that I would make a decision last minute.
I woke up Tuesday morning, to a forecast of rain in Taipei. I looked at the forecast for Kaohsiung, which showed just some showers in the afternoon. Decision made! Going to Kaohsiung!
So let me show you where everything is. I took this picture of a map of Taiwan:

Taipei and Kaohsiung are 356 km, or 221 miles apart. On the High Speed Rail (HSR) train, it takes 1.5-2hours. My main interest in going to Kaohsiung was to go to the Pier-2 Art District, which is a group of 25 warehouses that have been converted into galleries, shops, etc. There is also a fair amount of art outside, on the grounds, on the buildings.
To get there, I took the MRT to the Taipei Main Station, took the HSR to the main station in Kaohsiung and then transferred to their MRT (which looks, and is organized, the same as Taipei, although with fewer lines.) Given how frustrated I get when things don't go smoothly, I told myself to expect a mishap or two. I am traveling almost the entire length of a country after all.
After all my psyching myself up, I have to say, it was flawless. I am almost offended by how easily it was for me, some random person from the states, to get ALL THE WAY DOWN THERE. I mean, you might want to make us work for it, Taiwan. Do you really want us running amuck in your fine country? (Granted, so far my 'running amuck' has consisted of me going back for thirds at the breakfast buffet, but still.)
Oh! And this is the HSR train:

They have vending machines and a person to come by with snack cart so you can buy food. The seats recline much farther than on a plane. And after spending the entire trip listening to the announcements to make sure I didn't miss the stop, I realized that there is a screen at the front of the car that shows the arrival times in each of the cities. Why did I not see the screen? Because I was to reclined!
A woman near me on the train saw I was looking around and assured me that Kaohsiung was next (actually the station name is Zuoying.) She asked me where I was from and if I was visiting a friend. One of my responses to travel is to be humbled by the kindness of others. I am from NY and now live in SF, both of which see their fair share of tourists. And I don't know how the Taiwanese people talk about us when we are not there but they have been lovely to my face. They have come up to me and asked if I needed help finding stuff; they have sung to me (stay tuned for today's post); and they have either spoken English, or tried, or apologized when their English is not that good (also not the first time I have encountered this.) And this is not because of the tourist industry. This is often the kindness of citizens who are just passing by. This leads me to consider when I have been generous and not-so-generous with my time and attention. When have I lost patience with someone who did not speak the language? When we encounter people who don't speak English, it could be a tourist, or it could be an immigrant. How might my impatience have affected someone struggling in a new place? The most I struggle with is to find a meal that doesn't have too much rice in it, or to find a museum that's been closed. The stakes for me are quite low, and still I am treated with so much kindness.
Anyway, I got to the Zuoying station and then to the KMRT station. I bought a one-day pass which I later realized was a waste of money. I only took it to the area of the pier and back. I spent a good portion of the morning beating myself about this decision, even though I knew it wasn't a big deal, even though I knew I did it to be better-safe-than-sorry. These are the little things I expend way too much energy on.
One of the must-see things in Kaohsiung is the Dome of Light in the Formosa station, which happened to be where I had to transfer trains. It was created by an Italian artist.

It was beautiful. I didn't spend time staring at it because I wanted to make sure I made it to the pier okay. I will say the KMRT stations were pretty empty, as was Kaohsiung, at least in comparison to Taipei. But then again, I was only in one section of the city.
I got to the area of the pier and went into the informational area. Immediately I was given an English map and oriented as to where I was. Here is some of the cool stuff I saw during the afternoon:

This red animal's penis, inexplicably, has a face. It reminds me of that scene in Nightmare on Elm Street when Freddie is pushing his head through the bedroom wall.

I went into a mall and bought a small bowl I did not need because I was so overcome by how beautiful everything was. It's a good thing I have only a little room in my luggage.

I went to a bunch of other stores but didn't buy anything. I went into stationery store Lonely Planet recommended. They had at least a dog and two cats there; the cats looked identical except one had part of its ear missing.
I had lunch at this brewery (I had a Coke Zero because there is no Diet Coke here) and watched Ice Dancers on the TV.

I attempted to see some Lonely Planet-suggested places, with mixed results. I was not able to find the shopping arcade, although I think I found Love River (although the signs said Love Port.)

I was on my way back to the KMRT station by 4:00pm. When I got back to Zuoying station, one of the employees on the platform suggested I take a slightly later train because it made less stops and would get me back to Taipei earlier. This time I watched the screens. We got back into Taipei Main Station at 6:29pm.
At this point, nothing seemed better than eating in my hotel room. I went to Ooh Cha Cha (for the fourth time) and got a rice bowl, a veggie patty and a piece of mocha cake. I ate it in my room while catching up on The Patriot Act. Yes, it turns out I can get Netflix in Taiwan.
Oh and here is the Guting MRT station, where I go to get the vegan food. They got art hanging from the ceiling.

Right now it's Wednesday night. Tomorrow is my last day which I intend to spend being mostly lazy.
By the way, I'm on my fourth book. The first was YA and then two short books of poetry, both of which I loved.  Now I am reading a novel Howard gave me. All of these books were either given to me or recommended by friends. My friends have great taste!