In Kaohsiung -Buena Vista Social Club Concert

4-22-13  Mon.

I’m sitting on a promenade on the west bank of the Love River in Kaohsiung. The hotel we stayed in last night is just behind me overlooking the river and a side canal.

Leona is still upstairs in the hotel trying to sleep. Neither of us slept well. I had three hours of sleep. We came to Kaohsiung yesterday to see the 2013 edition of The Sound of Buena Vista, direct from Cuba. I wish Taiwan was like Cuba in socialism and independence. At least in music it was last evening. This is our second trip to Kaohsiung since moving to Taichung. The weather here is fine; a little cool and cloudy.

      We came down yesterday by HSR and arrived at 4:30pm. Luckily, it had just stopped raining. We walked straight to our hotel which was a fifteen minutes from the local Kaohsiung subway station. But we didn’t stay in the hotel room very long. We had to be off to have dinner before the show started at 7:30pm. I left the choice up to Leona and she decided we would have dinner at Outback steak house. I was pleased with her choice. We walked ten minutes along Love River and arrived at Outback on the same west bank promenade. She had baby back ribs. I had prime rib. We shared a ‘Bloomin’ Onion’ and each had alcoholic drink. We had leftovers which we brought along with us.

      The water on the Love River, which is actually a canal half the width of Sheepshead Bay and perhaps three times longer, is glassy and flat with only a slight ripple caused by the wind and outgoing tide south to Kaohsiung Harbor. There are no boats on the river and the three traffic bridges I can see are so low a boat couldn’t pass under. Two bridges down, to my right, is the old city hall, scene of a bloodbath on 228 and now a museum where, last trip here, we saw the classic Taiwanese record exhibit.

      Leona and I did a lot of dancing near our seats in the first row of the balcony. A staffer had to come and ask the folk in our row not to lean over. Teresa Garcia Catarla (Tete) the elderly Cuban singer, prompted most of the audience to get up and after the balcony people saw Leona and I get up first, they all followed. Leona and I had a wonderful time. One thing we miss here in Taiwan is the choice of western concerts so when there is a good performance, we go. Linkin Park will be here this fall but that’s about all.