14. dan - Kaohsiung (golf, noćna pijaca)

Today we went golfing and the adventure began at the check-in. The time and number of people were correct, but the lady wanted to tell us something that we didn't understand. A golfer who spoke a little English translated for us - there are no clubs available for rent? Matt (Carolin's classmate from Taiwan) made the reservation for us and asked about it - something went wrong here! Matt's phone number was in the reservation, so the lady just called him to talk. They spoke for what felt like 10 minutes and we were waiting, not knowing what was going on. The result was -> there are only men's clubs for rent (which we didn't mind!) and we had to pay cash for part of it (thankfully we had some cash on us) and the rest we could pay with a credit card. So about 35 minutes later, we started with our pink caddy woman -> who obviously couldn't speak English except for 'good shot' and the yardage. However, she always offered us a selection of clubs for the appropriate distance and showed us the approach position on the green. The advantage of playing with a caddy is that there is hardly any loss of balls. The course is located on the hillside of the city and was okay. Very well maintained but not very challenging, but the bunkers are very deep.

What struck us right from the beginning -> the driving range was packed. The Taiwanese are probably world champions in practice! I have never seen so many people and balls on a driving range before.

In the evening, we met Matt at the night market (he lives in Kaohsiung). He showed us the best stand with stinky tofu and we tried it. It doesn't stink, it has a completely different consistency than at home - much softer, and you can eat it with cabbage and spicy seasoning. Papaya milk was a must - even Uwe wants to have his own, which shows its quality 🫣 We also tried an original Taiwanese kebab. Due to different spices and different bread, it tastes really good.

We also visited a temple on the way back and observed the spectacle in the temple. We don't understand the whole procedure, people take the incense sticks and go from one statue to another, occasionally throwing the blocks, then the offering money is burned or left as an offering, fruit baskets and flowers are also offered. All very confusing.