We're in Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung, August 8th, 2017
I don't know how it is possible to live
with sweat on your forhead all the time
I just can't
I need to start walking with a piece of fabric
We're looking for some breakfast
There are some sweet rolls
I think
Something that pretends to be a sweet roll
Sandwiches
What is this?
Just like in Beijing
There is a lot of these French bakeries
This one's called 'La Bonne Vie'
[Jan] Do you want a sandwich?
What kind of sandwich is it?
No, I prefer a sweet roll
The best thing about those bakeries
is the fact that they're open even after midnight
Today we're going to the Tiger's Pagoda
And the Dragon's Pagoda
It's located on the lakeside
in the city of Kaohsiung
They have some kind of holiday/festival here now
But I don't know what holiday it is yet
But I'll get to know it soon
But I know that they have one more holiday right now
Which last all year round
This holiday
Christmas
Maybe I'll take one zhenzhu and one boba?
Seventy-nine
Attention please
We ordered two kinds of bubble tea
What is the difference between them?
These are the simplest ones, without any flavoring
One is this - zhenzhu naicha
which is the one with 'pearls'
and the other one is boba naicha
This one also comes with the 'pearls'
but they are bigger
The pearls are balls made of tapioca
same as these
Because we were wondering what is the difference between zhenzhu and boba
So now we know
It's the size of the balls
We're only going to the next station
Here
Such a complicated rule
About transporting a bike
I think it explains why Asians are so good at maths
How can you tell apart this subway and the Beijing subway?
In Beijing there is a baggage check
They check if you have any liquids
You take out a water bottle
And you say:
'It's water'
And they're like
'Aha, OK'
Unfortunately we won't get the chance to experience it here
But to be honest, it makes me happy
It shortens the process of travelling
We're going to check out the city bikes here
'cause we liked it a lot when we were in Tainan
I didn't record much of it
Because I can barely ride the bike at all
So I can't imagine me letting go of the wheel
to indicate that I'm about to turn
and that's why we're only riding in the safe places
because of me
for example we choose bicycle lanes in stead of the busy Asian streets
So there's no way I could record anything while riding
Maybe you could ask Jan to do it
But before this episode gets published
We're probably be leaving Kaohsiung by then
Look, this is what the city bikes look like here
I think they're called C bikes
Because it's City Bike
They look different in every city
But you can always pay with the easycard
which is also the subway card
So today I'm going to show you
how to rent a public bike
In this case, in the city of Kaohsiung
So first of all, you need to find a station
It's not hard to do, as the stations are all around the city
They're practically outside of each subway station
So you need to come here
You need to have an easycard
But you can also use a different method of payment
In the beginning you need to register
So... Maybe zoom in
We'll show you the English version
to make it easier
You can also pay by credit card, as we can see here
Ok, but we want to...
Register
Now you have to accept the terms of use
Hit the left button
The one on the left means cancel
And now what...?
Oh no, they want our ID numbers
Oh no
Hi, I'm in Kaohsiung right now
I'm a foreigner, can I rent your bike?
Right, 'cause I'm using the easycard
Is this same as the (another card's name)?
Yeah, but when I was trying to register
I came across a problem
They're asking me for my Taiwanese ID number
OK, thank you
I couldn't do it
I would need a residence permit number
But we don't have residence permit
And the number.... Jesus, it's too hot!
You wan't be able to see my face
But maybe it's even better that way
So at the bank
In order to exchange 200 euros
Half of the bank's staff came
All of the workers who were downstair came
And they started asking questions
But not in an official manner
They're were very nice
Where do I come from?
What am I doing here?
How did I learn Chinese?
And they asked if I have a passport
They were a little shy to ask it
But they asked
if I had a passport
So of course, I gave them my passport
And they're looking at it, and looking
There were five of them looking at that passport
And there were looking, and looking
And they found the American visa
And that's were usually the problems begin
'Oh... So you're from America'
I'm like 'No, I'm not'
'This is a Polish passport and it's just a visa'
Besides, it was the old expired visa
'Aha.... OK, so...'
I told them to look further and they will find the Taiwanese visa
'OK, and where is your residence permit?'
'I don't have a residence permit'
and I told them that I don't need to have a residence permit
because I'm just studying here
'OK, so where do you study?'
They asked me for the address
I told them I was staying in a hotel here
And I don't know the address
Generally speaking, I live in Taipei
(But I've never been to the place where I'm supposed to live')
I really don't know the address
So I told them I live at the university
But I don't know the university's address either
And I think that they found the address online
And they filled it in
And then they went and scanned my passport
They scanned all of the visas
Unfortunately, including the Chinese one
So I'm already a suspect
But eventually they exchanged the money
And when the lady was writing down the numbers
To show me how much Taiwanese money I'm going to get for these euros
Three girls were looking at it
And they were saying one digit at a time
And she was copying it
And then they checked it four times
To see if it's correct
And the security man
at some point he took one of the papers
which are the queue numbers
that come out of the machine
And he started writing something
He went to the corner of the room
He took a pen and he started to write something down
And finally he wrote
some 'CERTIFICATE'
Something like...
RESIDENT PERMIT CERTIFICATE
And he showed it to me to make me read it out loud
So I read it
And he's like
YOU HAVE?
I said 'No, I have visa'
And he was like 'AHA'
OK
And he went back to the corner of the room
And threw the paper to the trash bin
And that's it
And as I was walking away
He was smiling at me
So, I made it
And now we're at the lake
That's where the Tiger and Dragon Pagodas are
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