The British Consulate at Takao, a historic monument near the Port of Kaohsiung, is Taiwan's first western building, which is now transformed into a restaurant operated by the Kingship Hotel. The skyline of Kaohsiung City and moving ships in the harbor are in plain sight when I ate my lunch at a wooden table on the veranda. This alone was worth my eight-hour commute between Taipei and Kaohsiung.