Neiweipi Cultural Park (內惟埤文化園區)

Today was a very full day. We woke up early to do some much-needed catching up on Skype, then immediately hit the streets in search of a courier to send a letter to Taipei. We really wanted it to get there on a specific date. Brett had already Google Earthed a UPS depot within walking distance, but when we reached it we were dismayed to see the entrance was an open garage door with a delivery van and apparently no employees inside. We had to wander in - unsure if we were trespassing - only to be told by a woman in broken English that they only received international packages there. Very specific purpose for your only depot in this district, UPS. One more reason for your status as my least favourite mail courier service.

The UPS lady herself was nice. She pointed us in the direction of a regular post office. Once inside, we took a number and stood in line, only to realize that we were waiting for banking services - not postal services. Waddled over to the postal service desk only to learn the lady spoke no English. Brett is my knight in shining armour. He recently learned the days of the week in Chinese, as well as how to explain that our letter needs to get to Taipei in five days. The transaction went smoothly, and we were only charged NT $75 for what we were told was overnight service! Yay!

On our way home from the post office, we stopped at a Taiwanese fast food restaurant and had excellent service, delicious sandwiches, and cold apple tea all for only NT $120! $4 CAD. Unbelievable. We also enjoyed some grocery shopping which is still a novel and luxurious activity!

After a brief stop at home to decompress and de-sweat-ify, we headed back out for a nearby park we’ve been wanting to visit. I’ve mentioned a few times the park by our house. This is called Aozihdi Nature Park. Aozihdi Nature Park is beautiful, but it is fairly recently developed and can get quite crowded with families, joggers, and cyclists. At night it’s filled with music from different dance and exercise classes. Today we were at the Neiweipi Cultural Park which surrounds Kaohsiung’s Museum of Fine Art. The park was so well-shaded and peaceful. Brett took a lot of pictures but already wants to go back when there’s different lighting. There were so many sculptures and weird benches and fountains and wild birds and cute bridges and gorgeous flowers... Not to mention the museum itself! I’m sure he’ll be posting pictures of our adventure at the park when he’s ready.

After the park we headed to our new favourite place, Foster Hewitt’s. It is a Canadian-owned pub with Toronto decor on the walls, English-language music in the speakers, and a menu full of delicious spins on pub classics. Wednesday there is wing night, so we were very excited to sit down to a mountain of Hot and Canadian Maple BBQ wings as well as some cold drinks. I may have overindulged on Taiwan Beer there last week so I stuck to the soft stuff, but it was SO lovely to have Canadian-style lemon iced tea for a change.

PS - Cutest moment of the day: When we were walking to the park a pet store was cleaning out the bird cages and there were about ten parrots chilling out on perches on the sidewalk just squawking and staring and being adorable. I want one.

There was a row of flag poles immediately behind this sign. The sign says "Pole dancing is prohibited".

Amanda trying to pose eyes open for this shot... unsuccessfully. It was a bright day in all fairness.

There are a number of art pieces throughout Neiweipi Cultural Park as it surrounds the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine art.

No worshipping... or yoga, presumably!

"Oh hi. I didn't notice you standing there."

Can you guess what happens when you pull the finger?

Ryu and Ken must be lurking in the bushes. M. Bison, pay particular notice.

We found this fish having a nap on a small bridge. He seemed fast asleep so I didn't disturb him.

There were some art installation pieces with cut out Chinese characters. I took a picture of this character. I have no idea what it means in isolation.
Post script, June 20th: We met with our Taiwanese friends Milton & Jenny yesterday and they told us that this character that I took a picture of is the character ​fēng 風 which means wind.

DO NOT make fun of the ducks!

Amanda gets a joke... that I told three weeks earlier - not really.  :)