Day One: Kaohsiung

Hello there, so onto our first day of our Taiwan adventure!

The itinerary for today:

1. Xinguang Ferry Wharf

2. Kaohsiung Tower

3. Dream Mall

4. Ruifeng Night Market

As the check-in timing in Taiwan is usually at 3pm, we were a tad too early when we reached our hotel. Was asked to explore around till the room is ready for us. So we decided to grab something light before returning to check in. Spotted some traditional Taiwanese brekkie and decided to give it a try! The Soya Milk and Youtiao combination is prolly their typical brekkie in Taiwan. Not forgetting their Shaobin, Xiaolongbao and Naicha (Milk Tea)!

  

We soon returned to the hotel, and thankfully the hotel staff was kind enough to allow us for an early check in. Took our short break at our rather comfy hotel room, before we embarked on our Kaohsiung journey!  Did some research prior to the trip on the attractions in Kaohsiung, so we roughly have some place we would liked to go. But for those who did not do any research on the places of attractions and are clueless about where to go, you can just ask the friendly hotel staffs and they are more than willing to share with you the places of interests in Kaohsiung. Beside, the hotel lobby has brochures available for tourists, with day tour planned out, so you don’t really have to worry about it!

For us, we were interested in the recommended bicycle city tour, so we decided to head to the bicycle rental station to see if we can rent the bikes for our city tour. It’s called the Kaohsiung Public bike rental station, which is available near most of the train stations in Kaohsiung. We went to the one at R8 Sanduo Shopping district (Kaoshiung MRT). As in case we were unable to rent the bicycle, we can visit other attractions within the Sanduo Shopping district vicinity.

We wanted to rent a double-seater bicycle as Shuwen can’t really cycle on her own, but apparently they only have the single-seat bicycle. Shuwen did tried her very best to ride the bicycle, but it was too dangerous for her to ride on the road by herself when she can’t really ride the bike in the first place. So we forgo the idea of the bicycle city tour. But anyhoo, did enjoy the short moment there, seeing Shuwen trying very very very hard to master riding of the bicycle. Hehe

 
     

As you can see from the way we dress, the weather in Kaohsiung is pretty much like Singapore. Prolly because it’s at the southern end of Taiwan, so it’s not as cold as the other parts of Taiwan. So glad it didn’t rain, as the rain would have dampened our mood there. Our main mode of transport is our foot, since we aren’t able to rent the bicycle. And I must say, WE WALKED A LOT IN KAOHSIUNG. The main reason for walking so much is because we were somehow always lost all the time! Each time we ask for directions, we were given another set of route to our destination. And, the road in Taiwan sounds so alike, they have Zhong San Lu at practically every town in Taiwan. Laughs. But kudos to my fellow traveling comrades, they sure can walk!

A group photo to mark our presence here! laughs

So glad the walking did not spoil the mood of my fellow comrades! But we really walked a lot, like A LOT… laughs. But this also gave us the opportunity to see Kaohsiung even better (I guess?). The interesting thing about Taiwan is that pet owners will bring their pets, especially their dogs, wherever they go. You can see them everywhere, on the road, night markets, shops, practically every where! Honestly, I’m not a fan of cats and dogs, I’m actually pretty scared of them. But after seeing the countless number of cats and dogs during this trip, I supposed I’m not as afraid as I used to be? Would really love to conquer this fear, cause these animals are no doubt adorable!

   

Did I mentioned the Taiwanese are amazingly friendly and welcoming? They are no doubt really, really friendly! Whenever I asked for directions from someone, they will make sure we were clear of the directions. And if they do not know the place, they will stop another passer-by to check the directions for us. Before the trip, some of my friends did share with me  about the friendly nature of the Taiwanese. But you really gotta experience it for you to believe it! laughs. Stopped by at Taiwan Da Ge Da to purchase some data bundle plan which will come in handy in our trip! Gotten the 10 days unlimited data bundle for about NTD600 (S$26), the four of us shared this, so it was pretty value for money.This data plan was actually only for GPS purpose since we do not have access to free WIFI during the day when we were out traveling.

And yes, the staffs that helped us in the purchase of the card was really nice and friendly as well! They recommended us to the must-eat street-foods at Ruifeng Night Market, and also other local delights in Kaohsiung. Kaohsiung is supposedly famous for their seafood, and also their seasonal fruit-mandarin oranges.  As iPhone 5 has yet to be released in Taiwan, I tried my luck to see if they have iPhone 5 screen protector. They were pretty in awed when they saw my phone, since it was not yet available in Taiwan. Like in Singapore, the majority in Taiwan uses Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy/Note, I think it’s prolly the two most popular phone brands today. Was so glad they had the screen protector, and the staff was kind enough to stick the screen protector for me. hehe

 

Onto our first destination in Kaohsiung: Xinguang Ferry Wharf! We took forever to find this place, and the place was not like what we have expected. But oh well, we finally reached the place after like 29493312002 km. Hahaha.

   

We saw the famous Kaohsiung Tower, also known as Tuntex Sky Tower. This tower was the tallest skyscraper in Taiwan until the completion of Taipei 101.

Our touristy shot again!

    

Moving on, we head towards our next destination: Dream Mall. Was supposed to take the train over to the Dream Mall, but I think my fellow comrades were addicted to walking or something, they decided to walk to the mall!!! It’s because we saw the Dream Mall from afar, so they thought it was a walkable distance from where we were. But…. again, it took us quite awhile to reach the mall. It was a pretty mall, which is famous for their Ferris Wheel, and their mini theme park in the mall. It is prolly one of the bigger mall in Kaohsiung, with foreign boutiques available in the mall. It’s something like the Vivo City in Singapore!

   

Dream Mall (Meng Shi Dai Guang Chang)

 No. 789, Zhōnghuá 5th Rd, Qianzhen District, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan 806

Nearest Train Station: R6 Kaishyuan Station

A shuttle bus is available at Kaishyuan Station to and fro the Dream Mall

The pretty Ferris Wheel, which has Hello-Kitty themed cabins!

  

It was a pretty ferris wheel, that pretty much summed up the ride up. hahaha. Not the best ferris wheel I guess, as there isn’t much night scene in Kaohsiung, so it was a pretty bleah ride up. hahaha. Thankfully for the Youth Pass, we got the tickets at a discounted price: NTD 120 (S$5). The guys relived their childhood by playing some shooting game as we had some time to spare. The mall was really quiet when we were there, prolly because it was a Thursday night?

And finally, we arrived at our FINAL destination for the day: Ruifeng Night Market! It was the much raved and recommended night market in Kaohsiung, and we were really looking forward to it! We skipped our lunch as we snacked a little earlier, besides, we were also looking forward to feast in the night market! Night Market is prolly one of the main attractions for our trip in Taiwan, as Taiwan is renowned for their night markets. And Ruifeng night market is one of the two famous one in Kaohsiung.

Ruifeng Night Market

Nearest train station: R14 Kaohsiung Arena Station, follow exit 1.

    

Some food we had for the night: Chicken roll (YY’s ultimate favorite), Teppanyaki chicken and beef noodle, Aiyu drink, Takoyaki, Curry & Mala Fishballs, Sweet potato balls, and some cold glutinous rice balls that tasted like muah chee!

We go from starve to stuffed! laughs. We were indeed super bloated after all the street foods. We shared everything, and despite it being in small quantity, I think we bought way too many stuffs. Hehe. But we were pretty satisfied with our meal! The reason why Ruifeng Night Market is popular among the locals and foreigners is because they have a wide array of street foods and also they have shops available for people to shop. After our dinner, we decided to hang around a bit, as we were wayyyyyyyyyyyyy to full to return to the hotel. And yes, this marks the end of our Day One in Taiwan, Kaohsiung. It was definitely an interesting adventure with my fellow comrades! Stay tune to more of Kaohsiung in my next post!

Adios!