We started today off with yet another hotel breakfast followed by a starbucks trip and then packed up all of our belongings to head to Kaohsiung. We rode on the high speed rail once again, however it hasn’t moved at full speed yet. When we go back to Taipei, we will be traveling at close to 180 mph!! After getting off the high speed rail, we had lunch basically at the station. I got dumplings and shrimp fried rice.
Afterwards, we went to the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts. Kyla and I started on the top floor working our way down to the first floor exploring every exhibit. I really enjoyed all of the art on the top floor that was done by Chang. The first pieces we saw were a part of his self-portrait series. He painted these as a way to express and process his emotions, and as a quiet act of healing. I found this super interesting as it seems like he used painting as both an outlet and as a way to get rid of or accept the emotions that are bothering him. This made me reflect on the methods I use to process my emotions, and they typically include exercise or talking things out with my family or close friends. I also really enjoy the One Day: Seeking Paradise Within painting as was created to encompass how a single moment can hold an entire world. This was super cool to me as I feel like no one really ever stops to think about how much goes in throughout the world in a single second.
Another of my favorite exhibits was the Footprints of the walker: Tsai Ming-Liang because I thought both the concept of the actual art and the way in which it was displayed in the museum was super cool. This film contains collections of a man in red clothes slow walking through different parts of the world. He is on his journey in search of his Dharma. I think it was super cool because you do not know where he is coming from or where he is going just that he is on a meditative journey. I think this reflects. a central belief in Buddhism of living in the present, not focusing on the past or future, but on finding your Dharma.
After leaving the museum we checked into our new hotel and then decided to go explore around. We walked through the night market, and then headed to the Qianjin District where we rode on the love boat for a short tour around the river. It was pouring down rain the whole time but we all still managed to get a bunch of good and silly photos.
