Taiwan: Day 3

Rise and shine! It's day 3 of my trip. We will be going on a 3-hour journey on Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) to Kaohsiung which is down south of Taiwan. The destination station is called Zuoying. Ticket price about NT2600.

 We took a cab at around 9am to this train station, Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA).

 Goodbye, Taipei!

Before boarding the bullet train...let's take a selfie!

Some interesting structures we saw along the way. Ain't the chimney cute?

 We arrived at Zuoying railway station. There wasn't much people.

Yours truly got caught selfie again. Locals here looked at us semacam because of how we dressed. It's warmer by 10 degrees here.

We arrived at Kaohsiung 85 (Tuntex Sky Tower) where we stayed for 2 nights. The name was taken from its height which is 85 floors. Construction completed on 1997 and it was the tallest building in Taiwan until Taipei 101 bagged the title. The design was inspired by the Chinese character Kao (高) meaning tall and also the first character of the city's name. The whole building comprises of offices and minsu of different hotel companies.

The elevator system was kinda weird so do ask the lobby and read the notice carefully. Turn left after entering the main entrance on the most ground then take the elevator up to the floor that has offices. I remember there was only one button in that elevator. After you check in to your minsu do ask them which elevator to take to your minsu. There are certain rules in this building since there are too many minsu:

1. Make sure you know your floor well to avoid getting in the wrong elevator.
2. Doors leading to elevator will be closed at certain time so you may need to scan or get help.
3. Hot showers will cut off after the 4th person bathing so use it wisely.
4. Other rules may apply, consult your minsu helpdesk.

 As soon as we entered the west wing, we saw this whe we looked up however the offices were so empty. Check in time was 4pm so we left our luggage in the office first and head out for lunch.

From our minsu, we turned left and walked along the pavement and reached this noodle stall.

 The interior of the shop was like a cafeteria. The milky noodle soup did not taste milky at all but salty, meaty and smooth. Just enough to satisfy your taste buds. I had dumpling noodles while hubby had beef noodles.

 Can see our hotel as we walk. I call it the king kong building coz of the structure.

We were on our way to the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit (MRT). You can click on this link to refer to the MAP. Here's a swordfish statue in the middle of the park. Sogo was just opposite.

Kaohsiung hosted The World Games in 2009. The stadium looked like a snake, will show to you in a bit. They even have a station named World Games. 

We went into a mall called FE21 to go to the underground subway. We also saw a 7-Eleven in the underground. What's unusual here is the herbal egg, pig intestine and other cooked food served on the counter in front which you don't see in Malaysia.

We bought a one day pass to get around Kaohsiung.


Just a random poster.

 In the underground station.

We randomly reached a station called Sugar Refinery station. Honestly I don't really like the place because it was secluded so it was kinda creepy.

 I would love to ride this coz it looks fun!

There's a sugar factory museum here so you can see displays of old train and machines.

This one looks like a teapot.

A shrine we saw somewhere in the woods.

 Wooden tablets with wishes somewhere near the shrine. Taiwanese loves to practice this wish  thingy culture.

There's a lily pond in that area.

 

We went into a weird tiny museum which costs us RM5 per person but even when it's so cheap it was not worth it.

 Don't know what was written but seemed like we commit some nasty crime.

 My mother told me that this picture looked so real she thought my butt had gone so big.

We got on the train again and randomly stopped at other stations. While there's no one, I did pole dancing!

 We stopped by The World Games Station but since there was no time we did not visit the unique snake shaped stadium. Here's the stadium from afar.

 After we got off at Ecological Station, we hopped on red bus 51. We are now heading to Lotus Lake which is famous for its Tiger Dragon pagoda and other temples and pavilions. Do read all about it in the link.

When we finally arrived, this place was magnificent! I suggested to visit Lotus Lake after reading review from blogs but didn't expect the lake to be so enormous and beautiful.

 This is the 9 Curve Bridge leading to the two pagodas.

The entrance of both dragon and tiger. There's a sign leading you to enter the dragon's mouth and come out of the tiger's mouth for good luck and fortune.

 Enter dragon first.

Let's head up!

Bird's eye view of the 9 Curve Bridge and Cihji Palace (the temple opposite).

 Scary!!! Don't try to sit by the window like this.

Enjoying the view from 3rd floor only. Highest floor you can go is 6th floor although there is a 7th floor.

 Come out from the tiger's mouth. Omg I'm so in love with the colour of the sky.

This is the temple opposite but we did not enter.

 

 We then strolled on the boardwalk towards Spring and Autumn Pavilion. So relaxing!

This is the entrance to Spring and Autumn Pavilion. If you don't wanna go through the long dragon tunnel you can simply take the shortcut from another entrance but we walked all the way for the experience. There is a Guan Yin (Goddess of Mercy) statue in the middle with two shorter pagodas.

  Choose either the long path on the right (dragon tunnel) or short cut through one of the pagodas on the left.

 Inside one of the tunnel.

Yours truly and the sunset. It's barely 5pm.

We waited and waited for bus 51 to come to take us to the train station but all buses were other numbers. It was 5 minutes past 6pm when we finally got into the designated bus but the sky was already dark. We checked into our minsu at last but the hallway to our room was so far. Isn't this room beautiful! Check out the great view too. It's barely RM150.

Took a bath and rested awhile before we head to Ruifeng night market for dinner. The room is awesome right? There were also colourful LED above our bed but forgot to on for this picture.

We took the same route to FE21 Mall, sat on the train and got off at Kaohsiung Arena Station to reach here.

I think there's a hundred of stalls in Taiwan night markets.

After a few snacks for dinner, I tried this stall where a lot of people sat down. You can choosevege, meat and pasta then they will fry for you ....very very delicious. However hubby nagged me for this because we lost our group when we sat down to eat. Sigh!

 Gambling lane.

Arcade games.

 My first bubble milk tea in Taiwan. What is the meaning of visiting Taiwan if you don't try this? It's less sweet compared to bubble tea in Malaysia. But I dare not try stinky tofu though.

Goodnight and see you tomorrow where we will be cycling at Cijin Island.