The Beach House is an unassuming scruffy structure tucked tightly between two modern buildings. It overflows onto the broad pavement where an aging wooden table, two benches on either side, a swing seat at the one end and a log on stilts on the other end, are covered by a roof of sorts littered with bamboo-like leaves and surfboards. The name Beach House, painted in bright yellow letters on a bright red surfboard, is perched atop this littered covering.

Just below this extremely casual exterior beat the warm hearts of two of the most welcoming proprietors I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Joyce and Er Geh (Second Brother) are a middle-aged couple who moved from Taipei three years ago to seek their fortune in Kenting. Initially, things were difficult and Joyce held down three jobs at the same time, including working in a restaurant and selling homemade goods at a night market stall. They now run a very successful surfboard business and have converted their rented home into a modest hostel.

The first floor of the house is a workshop and is also where the shared bathroom and the kitchen are situated. Upstairs are three rooms, one with four bunk beds in it and the other two contain four sleeping mats each. Jia Hui and I and two of our friends, Jennifer and Teresa, shared one of the sleeping mat rooms for two nights. At NT$300 per person per night, this is an unbelievable bargain. Value is added to this bargain by Joyce and Er Geh's company at practically any time of the day and night and the fact that the Beach House is appropriately named, as directly across the street is a beautiful beach.

The constant flow of interesting people past and in and out of the Beach House is a fascination that rivals any of Kenting's other activities. People plop themselves down at the outside table, order a drink, join in conversations and card games already in progress, take pictures of each other, or in two cases, of me with them, even though I had no idea who they were. I felt like a Kenting tourist attraction. I just needed a booth that said "Take Your Picture with a Foreigner"!

The Beach House is not merely accommodation - it is entertainment.

3 August 2002

Dion Marc Delport

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