{{ a little treasure a ferry ride away }}

Saturday night, my parents and I met up with my uncle and my little cousin Jeff for dinner. We went to a Japanese restaurant called "Fubaku". The sushi there was delicious, especially the beef rolls. I haven't eaten anything that I didn't enjoy since I've been back, which is a pretty good thing!

Instead of going to my uncle's place for delicious coffee after dinner, my parents and I decided to go for a evening walk at Chijin Island. It's a long-striped island off the Port of Kaohsiung and it is a popular place to go for seafood. There is a tunnel that goes to the island from the mainland, but most people (walk-ons, scooter-ers, cyclists) take the ferry instead.

The ferry costs $15NT per person and a little bit more (not that much, maybe $35 NT) per scooter. I'm not sure about bikes. Anyway, the transportation department of Kaohsiung City has made it convenient enough for MRT users by permitting the use of MRT passes (MRT is the subway system in Kaohsiung). The ferry ride is only about 8 minutes - maybe not even. It's lovely to go in the evening because you get a beautiful night view of downtown Kaohsiung. There are many ferry terminals on the mainland and a popular place to take it is by Sizihwan, where Sun Yat-Sen University is close to.

This area is famous for their shaved-ice-in-a-huge-bowl-topped-with-whatever-toppings-you-want (usually fruits). We were too full from dinner to have any, so I'll save the details for another post.

This temple on the island is celebrating its 337 year anniversary this year.

All in all, it was a very busy day. Other than families with young children, there were a lot of young couples out walking about. Chinese Valentine's Day is coming up. It falls on July 7th every year on the Lunar Calendar. There is a depressing love story that explains the origin of this holiday, but I'll elaborate on that later.

There is a lighthouse on Chijin Island that is supposed to be quite beautiful. It was too dark to visit on this particular evening. I plan to purchase a bike, perhaps second hand. I can then bike around the island with a biking group that I've recently joined (on facebook).