A different MRT station in Kaohsiung (Taiwan 2011, Day 2)

After we finally found Wu Pao Chun Bakery, we decided to shop and eat till we drop. We went to Shinkuchan (新堀江) to shop. It’s quite a good place to shop with many MIT (Made in Taiwan) and Korean fashion at affordable prices. After we are done with our shopping, we made a move to Urban Spotlight (城市光廊), Love (爱河) and finally to Liuhe night market (六合夜市) to satisfy our hunger.

I’m not going to write about Liuhe night market here as I think there are already many guide books and blog entries on it. Instead, I want to talk about the MRT station that one gets off at to go to Liuhe night market – Formosa Boulevard station (美丽岛站).

The station is a piece of artwork. The entrances/exits are made of glass, kind of reminds me of Lourve. The most special part is its “Dome of Light” inside the station. It is the world’s largest one-piece of stained glass artwork and is designed by Italian artist Narcissus Quagliata.  The artpiece presents 4 themes: water, earth, light and fire, each representing birth, growth, glory, destruction and rebirth respectively.

Beside this beautiful artpiece, there is also a 3D pavement art by Su Chia-Shian. The 3D art is entitled “Magnificent Temple˙Apelus”.

For those of you who’s going to Liuhe night market, don’t forget to stop by the station to take some photos of the artwork!

Searching for Wu Pao Chun in Kaohsiung (Taiwan 2011, Day 2)

Who’s Wu Pao Chun? He’s the Taiwanese who won the title of Bakery Master in the bread category of 2010’s Bakery World Cup in Paris. This is a prestigious competition in the baking industry. In other words, he’s the world’s bakery champion! When I say we searched for him, we really did. To look for his bakery, we walked for at least 20 min, across many streets before finding it. I’ll tell you more as I write about our adventures for Day 2.

We started the day by going to Sanduo Shopping District (三多百货商圈) as we think that MRT station, Sanduo Circle station (三多商圈站) is the nearest station to Wu Pao Chun Bakery. As we were too early and the shops were not opened yet, we decided to walk around and discovered Kaohsiung 85 Building (高雄85大楼). It is a hotel with some shopping. The shopping was nothing fantastic (very 90s/80s feel) but there was a pleasant surprise for us. The building had a observatory level whereby we could see view the cityscape.

 

After taking some photos at the 85 Building, we went back to the shopping malls to shop for a while before we looked for Wu Pao Chun Bakery. We followed the address we gotten and walked down the streets for 20 min before we found the shop.

There was a long queue outside the shop and we queued for about 10 min before we got into the bakery. Once inside, we were greeted by the aroma of the freshly baked bread. We started placing all the interesting bread onto our trays and before we knew it, both of us bought 8 pieces of bread altogether! It was a pity that we didn’t get to try his award-winning Lychee bread with millet wine and rose petals. But buying his other creations was good enough to satisfy our taste-buds.

After we stepped out of the shop, we took photos with our “victorious trophies”, the bread that we bought! Well, I think most of you can guess what our breakfast for the next few days would be! =P

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Wu Pao Chun Bakery address:

 高雄市苓雅区四维三路19号

Do as the locals do in Kaohsiung (Taiwan 2011, Day 1)

Upon arrival in Taipei, we dropped our main baggage at our Taipei hotel and took the high speed rail to Kaohsiung with our 2nd baggage. The high speed rail is very new and reminded me of the bullet train in Japan. The journey took about 1.5 hours.

We stayed at King’s Town Hotel (京城大饭店). The hotel is located near the Kaoshiung train station (TRA) and MRT station. However, we need to cross over the platform in order to reach the hotel. To do that, we need to buy a platform ticket at the counter to gain entry to walk across the platform. When we reached the hotel, we asked the counter staff for free admission cards to cross over the platforms.

After we freshened up, we decided to go to the Anning wholesale shopping area (安宁街成衣商圈) near our hotel and later to Rui Feng night market (瑞丰夜市) for dinner. Anning wholesale shopping area is like Taipei’s Wu Fen Pu (五份埔). But maybe because we reached Kaohsiung quite late, most of the shops were closing when we explored the area. So, we didn’t have a good shopping experience there.

Next, we took a cab to Rui Feng night market to immerse in the local’s favourite night market.There were many things to eat and buy at the market. There were even retro game stalls where young children and those young at hearts gathered. Different from Liu He night market (六合夜市), this is the night market that locals go to.

Recommended food:

• Fried cuttlefish (酥炸大鱿鱼)
• Prawn cake (高月传说 – 月亮虾饼)
• Chicken feet (卤凤抓)
• Fried spare ribs (盐酥排骨)

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Getting to Rui Feng night market by MRT:

Take the train to Kaohsiung Arena station and get out at Exit 1. Walk straight ahead for 5 min to reach the night market.

Important things get done first! (Taiwan 2011, Day 1)

The main mode of transport for our trip was to travel by trains – Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) and Taiwan Railways (TRA).

As we were travelling during the festive seasons of New Year, we decided to buy our TRA train tickets on the very 1st day we arrived. This was advised by the information counter personnel at the airport. As for THSR, it was alright to buy on the spot as there weren’t many people travelling by THSR due to the higher train fares.

To make the job easier for the ticketing personnel, my friend had listed all the dates and timings of the train that we need. This really shortened the time as we did not need to ask for the timings. So, one word of advice, if you are travelling on TRA trains very frequently, it’ll be a good idea to check the timings online before you fly off, decide on the timings you need and buy all the tickets you need on the 1st day you arrive.

We managed to buy most of the tickets we wanted except for the tickets on 01 Jan. There were no more reserved seat tickets available and we ended up buying free seating tickets, which means we had to stand and move around to look for empty seats, and most of the time there weren’t many. So, this kind of tickets are also called “standing tickets” (站票).

High speed rail to Kaohsiung, Zuoyin

Taiwan trip itinerary

I just went on a 15-day trip to Taiwan. The main purpose of the trip is to attend the Countdown party at Taipei. So during our planning, we must make sure we are in Taipei on 31st Dec. For the places we want to visit, most travellers will usually plan to travel in a loop: Taipei > Miaoli > Taichung > Kaohsiung > Guanziling > Alishan > Sun Moon Lake > Qing Jing > Ao Wan Da > Hualien > Yilan > Taipei.

However, to make sure we are back in Taipei on the 31st, our itinerary is as follows: Taipei > Kaoshiung > Guanziling > Alishan > Sun Moon Lake > Qing Jing > Ao Wan Da > Taipei > Miaoli > Taipei > Yilan > Huanlien > Taichung > Taipei.

Hope that the itinerary will be helpful to those who are planning to go Taiwan.

Back from Taiwan

I’ve finally went for my trip to Taiwan and I’m back home now!

The two weeks that I’ve spent in Taiwan is splendid and I’ll put up highlights of the trip here. Meanwhile, you can enjoy some of the photos I’ve taken during the trip.