Around the Globe: Kaohsiung

After a brief stay in Kenting, we headed to Taiwan's second largest city, Kaohsiung. We stayed at the beautiful Chateau de Chine Hotel and dined at the Harbour Restaurant.

Taiwan can be termed a melting pot of all the great culinary traditions, both Chinese and foreign. Throughout our trip, we tried to taste the diversity of the food that the country had to offer. The Harbour Restaurant specializes in Cantonese cuisine. Cantonese cuisine originated from the areas of Guangdong Province and Hong Kong in southern China.

Cantonese sauces are mild and subtle so as to not overpower the freshness of the ingredients. In the restaurant, you'll find classic Hong Kong style dim sum (meaning touch the heart) in traditional push carts in a chic dining ambiance.

It is super fun when the cart comes around and you get to pick off the dishes you want to taste. We didn't even use a menu. We tried the suckling pig with crispy skin, 

drunken chicken (I'm not a huge fan. It is served cold and is really hard to eat with chop sticks because of all the bones. Also, I don't like the way the skin looks.), 

turnip cakes (Turnip cake is a popular dim sum dish as well as a common appetizer served during Chinese New Year dinner in Cantonese region. They are surprisingly really good.) , 

fried tofu, 

pineapple shrimp (my favorite), 

chicken feet (Yuck! They love these things. Our Taiwanese guides got two orders.) and, of course, 

more Taiwan Beer! Overall, dinner was delicious.

After dinner we went on a Harbor Cruise. Our excitement died when we found out the tour was not in English. We couldn't understand anything that was going on, so essentially we just rode around on a dark boat. I wouldn't recommend this for tourists that don't speak Chinese.  I ended the evening with another foot massage.  They weren't as cheap as Thailand, but $30 for an hour isn't bad. You can never go wrong with a massage.  Check back for more about the Fo Guang Shan Monastery and more!

Photos by Kristen Finn