2013 October - Day 1 (Taipei台北 -> Kaohsiung高雄)

Today's itinerary: 

1. Taipei台北 
2. Kaohsiung高雄 
3. Lotus Lake 蓮池潭 
4. Yellow Duck 
5.  Love Pier真愛碼頭 
6. Love River 爱河 
7. Ruifeng Night Market 瑞豐夜市  

Arrived in Taoyuan International Airport in the early morning (6+am) which was kind of early as the Tourist Service Center and the Prepaid Phone Plan Booth are not open. 

• Tourist Service Center in Terminal 1 (Level 1F) has the office hours of 07:00 ~ 23:30 daily, 
• Prepaid Phone Booth opens at 08:00. 

Once you step out of the immigration hall, turn right for the Tourist Service Center and Prepaid Phone Booths

Tourist Service Center will be on the left

Prepaid Phone Booths and Car Rental Booth will be on the right. 

While waiting for the shops to open, we walked around the airport and noticed that they do have a number of seating areas and these seating areas do have power charging points. (Life saver!)

This charging point is found in the "Education Area" on the right when you exit the immigration. 

This charging point is at the seating area beside the travellator.

As it was still early, we decided to grab breakfast from the mart, Hi-Life (an equivalent to our 7-11) that is just one level below. 

Travel down this travellator to the mart.

The mart that sells a variety of foods! 

Some breakfast we grabbed as a set

After eating, the Tourist Service Center is finally open and we went to apply for our Youth Travel Card which gives us discounts at certain attractions. 

The Youth Travel Card which comes in a form of a key chain. A good souvenir for yourself! 

After getting the cards, we proceed to the Prepaid Phone Booth. There are a total of 3 different telcos available (FarEastOne, ChungHwa and Taiwan DaGeDa). Their prices of the packages are somewhat similar but it seems like everyone goes for Taiwan DaGeDa. 

The long queue for Taiwan DaGeDa.

The prepaid card manual and receipt. 

Do try to get your phone data at the airport. You just have to provide a photo ID (can be your driving license) and your passport, and make the payment while the person help you to set up your phone. Even though there is a manual provided, the words are in traditional chinese and you need to activate the card by calling a number. So, to save the unnecessary trouble, let the person to help you set up the phone correctly.

After getting the data plan, we proceed down the travellator to take the bus to Taoyuan HSR. The level is a whole row of booths that sells bus tickets to different locations in Taiwan. The second booth is the Ubus booth which the bus 705 takes us straight to Taoyuan HSR.

Purchasing the tickets

Board the bus! There are areas for you to place the luggage!

Less than half an hour, we reached the Taoyuan HSR Station, in which we dashes in to purchase our tickets as the HSR we plan to take is leaving in 5mins. The reason for not purchasing online (which is cheaper) is that we are afraid that we might have any delay and miss the HSR as it means we will have to purchase another ticket for the next HSR.

Entrance to Taoyuan HSR Station. 

Self-purchasing machine

Over-the-counter purchase of tickets

The HSR. The led screen shows the final destination of the HSR.

All on board! With the HSR ticket. 

And 1.5 hours later, we reached Zuoying HSR Station! And we start to look for the baggage storage for our luggage before heading out to Lotus Lake 蓮池潭 for a walk. 

A baggage storage that is within the HSR Station, however it was fully used. 

The first baggage storage area we found was fully used and we kind of panic as we really do not want to lug our luggage along with us as we go walk about. Thankfully. a new mall (kind of like our MRT Xchange but much bigger like a mall) was set up beside the Zuoying HSR Station and XinZuoYing Railway Station. We found another baggage storage area near the toilet of the mall.

Do try to go early as the bigger storage tends to be snapped up fast and the storage are limited, as by the time we placed our baggage in, all the storage are taken up. Good thing of this storage is that it is charged by per use, regardless of the duration. So, do remember to take out whatever you need before you lock your items in.

To use the locker:

1. Choose and input the locker number in the system in the middle. 
2. Insert the coins and the locker will start a countdown, in which you will have to place in your items and hold the door close for a few seconds. 
3. You will hear a click and the door will be locked. 
4. A receipt will drop below the system, which you have to keep as it contains the password to open your locker. *Take a picture of the receipt in case you lost the receipt. 

The baggage storage area

The receipt which contains the password to open the lockers.

After putting in the luggage, we decided to settle our lunch at the mall before heading out to Lotus Lake, and we found a store which sells train bento and happily bought a set each. (The bento looks yummy but the taste does not suit us.) 

After eating the bento, we started our walk to Lotus Lake. From the feedback of my travel mates, it will be a smarter option to take a bus there as sun was BLAZING. (To get to the lake, take bus R51 or 301 from Zuoying MRT station from Exit 2 which cost about NT12.)

The view that greet us once we exit the mall. 

The route we took to walk to Lotus Lake  . 

After walking about 30mins, we finally see the sign of the Lotus Lake! But... it is still a distance away (5mins) from the main attraction. 

Map of the Lotus Lake

Lotus Lake is a man made pond which housed a number of temples. For our trip, we spent about 5 hours, starting from walking out of the station to completion of a side of the Lotus Lake as we took our time to walk and rest. 

The side of the Lake which has more temples.

The map we used for our Lotus Lake tour. This is not the most accurate map as it is a map grabbed from online of an event that happened previously.

The first building we saw is the Confucian Temple 孔廟 which happened to be closed for renovation so we carried on with taking picture outside the building.

Some background of the  Confucian Temple 孔廟 that I googled online:

• The Old Confucius Temple was originally built in 1684. However, in Japanese colonial period, due to lack of maintenance, Chong Sheng Shrine, which located in the west side of Old City Elementary School nearby Lotus Pond, was the only one that was preserved. 
• The new Confucius Temple was located in northwest corner of Lotus Pond; then, it was relocated and rebuilt in 1977, located in North Shore of Lotus Pond. 
• It is the largest Confucian Temple 孔廟 in Taiwan. 

Us, outside the gate. 

The view of Lotus Lake.

The day we went for the walk around Lotus Lake was a day of celebration for the locals as there were many streets stall and a festival atmosphere. (Went to google and found that the festival is "Zuoying Wannian Folklore Festival" which is held in October every year since 2001)

Next building that we saw was the Tianfu Palace 天府宮 which was established in 1660. Tianfu Palace is not only a head of temple of worshipping The Central Camp Marshal, but also a champion of all temples in Zuoying which the number of pilgrims came to pilgrimage.

Tianfu Palace 天府宮

Next, we saw the Pei Chi Pavilion 北極亭 which worships ‘North-pole Hsuen-tien Sharn-ti’. It belongs to Zuoying Yuan Di Temple and Feng Gu Palace. It claims to have the highest water statue in Southeast Asia.

According to legend, Xuantian the God ordered directives on psychic to build this pavilion which is a height of 72 meters and made from grout; and the Seven Star sword in his hand is length of 38.5 meters which also known as the first sword in the world. It constructed peaks with gullies and fountain to serve as background, and it used arch bridge with statues. The place of worshiping and office of temple are under the statue.

Along the street, there were many game stores which were our childhood games! Those that we normally found in Pasar Malam when we were young.

Following on is the Spring and Autumn Pavilions 春秋閣 which was established in 1953. The two octagonal pavilions are dedicated to the God of War, Guan Gong 关公. Each of these two is four stores and octagonal, green tiles and yellow walls, like an antique pagoda reflected in the water. Chinese called it as pavilion 阁, because it’s below than 5 storeys. They are connected with each other by 9 bend bridge.

In front of the pavilions is a statue of Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin 观音 riding a dragon. According to local legend, the Goddess of Mercy had rode the dragon appeared in the clouds and instruct followers to build icon as the form of its coming out between the Spring Pavilion and Autumn Pavilion; therefore, there is a Guanyin statue which is riding a dragon.

Spring and Autumn Pavilions 春秋閣.

Connected to the two Pavilions is the WuLi Arbor 五里亭 which is situated further out in the middle of the pond. A cooling and relaxing place to rest your feet before you continue the journey.

Wuli Arbor

Qiming Court 启啟明堂 was right opposite of Spring and Autumn Pavilions 春秋閣. It is also called Southeast of Dili Que hall. It is the most spectacular temple at Lotus Lake, built in palace style architecture. Its existence is to maintain the traditional virtues, lead the people & society to a better life; and it is for the worship of Confucius 孔子 & God of War, Guan Gong 关公.

Located in the west and facing the east, the temple was rebuilt in 1973 as a three-story, palace-style grand architecture. Those who founded Qiming Court constructed Ming De Hall under God’s will by tossing divination blocks. Those great founders have dedicated themselves to Qiming Court ever since in the hope of maintaining the traditional virtues and saving the society from corruption.

Qiming Court 启啟明堂

Cute little vans, along the street, selling foods! 

Next is the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas 龍虎塔. It has the 9 Curve Bridge 九曲桥 connecting it to the shore, which is there as sharp turning is believed to help us to throw the evil spirits off track. Being 7 storeys high, it is known as a pagoda 塔 as for Chinese we called a tower as pagoda if it is 5 storeys and above.

Dragon and Tiger Pagodas 龍虎塔

*A point to note is to enter through dragon and exit from tiger for it symbolize auspicious as dragon symbolizes good luck which you walks into while tiger represents bad luck, so one walks away from. The inside of the Dargon pagoda is painted with Filial Piety illustration while the Tiger pagoda is painted the twelve Magi and the Jade Emperor’s thirty Palaces.

  

The last building is Ciji Palace 慈济宫 which is located right opposite of Dragon and Tiger Pagodas 龙虎. The architecture is a bit different from Wen Wu Temple which this has Fu Lu Shou 福禄寿 on top and the roof corner is turning up sharp with colorful carvings. Rebuilt in 1960 and it worshiped Baosheng Dadi 保生大帝, Black Tiger Marshal and other gods. In 1974, Baosheng Dadi ordered to build Dragon and Tiger Pagodas. *Do remember to enter from the right door and exit using the left door as the middle door is close for God.

There is also a Dragon tortoise statue at the opposite, in front of the entrance of 9 Curve Bridge. It is a statue with dragon head and tortise body which carry money at the back. It is a guardian for Ciji Palace 慈济宫. (Was not able to capture a picture of the statue as there were many people around it) *Do remember to touch the head & money then put your hands with closed palm into pocket for good wealth.

We cabbed back to Zuoying HSR Station as we were too tired to walk all the way back under the sun. And after picking up our luggage, we made our way down to Sanduo Shopping District Station 三多商圈站 via KMRT.

Purchasing of single journey tickets for KMRT

Single journey token

The tallest building, Tuntex 85 Sky Tower 高雄85大樓, in Kaohsiung was seen once we stepped out of the KMRT Station. To get to Tuntex 85 Sky Tower, walk out from Exit 1 (which is in the mall), then on to Sandouo 4th Road 三多四路 and  turn left on to Ziqiang 3rd Road 自強三路, walk down and the building is on the right.

Took the lift up the building to the SkyLobby at level 12 to check in on our Minsu. We stayed at Kaohsiung 85 Sky 高雄85天空 for a 4pax accommodation. At the SkyLobby, you will be able to see a number of different minsu available.

The room we stayed in 

The room turns out to be exactly the same as what we see in the picture. 

The view from the big window!

Spot the yellow duck? It is the last two days of it being in Kaohsiung. 

Little decoration in the room

After freshening and resting a while, we head out to find the yellow duck, which is parked at Glory Pier 光榮碼頭 from 19th September 2013 to 20th October 2013, by the Love River 爱河. We cabbed down but was dropped a distance away as the place around the duck was cordoned off as there were too many people trying to go and see the duck. 

Selfie with the yellow duck!

Kaohsiung’s duck was 18m high, making it the second-tallest in the world after Hofman’s 26m original, created in 2007 for display in Saint-Nazaire, France

Yellow duck with Kaohsiung Tower 

We walked around to the Love Pier 真愛碼頭 but we find that there is nothing much for us to do and we head off to our next destination which is the night market! Alight at Kaohsiung Arena (R14) KMRT Station, and use Exit 1 and walk straight for Ruifeng Night Market 瑞豐夜.

The way to Ruifeng Night Market. 

Most food are eaten by us before we remembered to take picture and here are some of the food that we remembered to take a shot before eating:

This is nice! 鸡腿卷
(literal translation: Chicken thigh in a roll)

Steamed dumpling and Fried Oyster.

And of course, trying out the games available!

Loots of Day 1! 

Day 2 in the next post! 

Overview: Kaohsiung高雄 - Taichung台中 - Taipei台北

Day 1: Taipei台北 -> Kaohsiung高雄

Day 2: Kaohsiung高雄

Day 3: Kaohsiung高雄 -> Puli 埔里 -> Cingjing清境

Day 4: Cingjing 清境 to Taichung 台中 to Taipei 台北

Day 5: Taipei 台北 (Jiufen)

Day 6: Taipei 台北

Day 7: Taipei 台北

Day 8: Taipei 台北

Day 9: Taipei 台北 -> Singapore 新加坡