Taiwan Trip: Kaohsiung - Journey of Enlightenment & Kenting - FoodBreeze

Kaohsiung (高雄)

By the time we checked in at Wo Chia Hotel (1080 yuan for quad room), it was already 11pm. The hotel is strategically located nearby a mall with a mini theme park at the rooftop. We cleansed ourselves and called it a day. Was rather amused by the brand of the TV in our room, "Proton".

Fo Guang Shan Buddha Memorial Centre

Packed our breakfast at MOS, we drove for 40 minutes before reaching our next destination. This Buddha Memorial Centre is the biggest of its kind in Taiwan. Aspired by Hsing Yun to preserve the tooth relic (and the base design is done by him too), the building is opened to public in 25 December 2011. It is free to enter the centre.

The main entrance is rather lavish with Starbucks on your left after the main door and there is a high end vegetarian restaurant. There are shops selling "mochi" and souvenirs. Exiting the building and there it is, the iconic eight pagodas (four on each side) with a sitting Buddha statue at the end. Apparently at one of the pagoda, if I don't recall it wrongly which is Pagoda 5, people can have their wedding reception there. Pressed against time, we only went in to Pagoda 1 which shows the history of the centre.

 Pagoda 5 is the one on the right, second row. (and that's me trying to be sacred).

Walking along the side corridor, the wall displays some of the Buddha's teachings and also list of contributors who aid in the completion of the centre before reaching the main hall. No photography is allowed inside. There is one section of the hall shows the origin of Buddhism which interests me the most (I believe it is applicable for another 2 of my friends). They have a short 3D screenplay of the life of Buddha. Before this all I know is Siddharta Gautama who is the founder of Buddhism in which I learned from History class back in high school. At least now I know a bit more of his life and the beginning of Buddhism.

The major highlight of this visit will be the huge statue sitting on top of the hall, located at Level 3 which can be accessed by elevator. The statue is enclosed by another four pagoda which signify four noble truth.

The sitting Buddha (now I have learned how to recognise a Buddha statue).

Overview of Fo Guang Shan Buddha Memorial Centre with my friend who was extra elevated on this trip

We spend close to 3 hours there, that which covers the first pagoda, origin of Buddha section and the sitting statue. There is one particular section of the hall which displays the famous Jade Buddha Shrine but it has specified time to enter and we missed the window. Regardless, we get to see the Golden Buddha Shrine and Avalokitesvara Shrine. I would recommend at least half day to those who wish to explore the whole place.

There's a temple you can spare time to visit at the exit in which we we opted out during our trip. Had our vegetarian lunch (not at the fancy restaurant) before we left.

Lotus Pond

Heading back to the city to have a quick visit at Lotus Pond, just to have a look at these two Tiger and Dragon Pagoda. No entrance fee is charged.

 I'm not really sure the story of these two pagodas but it's picture worth it.

Taa Lee

We have been so curious about the mall that is located nearby to our hotel. Before departing for Kenting, we dropped by at the mall and played few rounds of pirate ship.

 We have a quick overview of Kaohsiung City playing this ride. It was 45 yuan per ride, per person.

Kenting (墾丁)

Initially planned for a beach evening here but due to late arrival, the plan was aborted. Our hostel is located in the middle of shoplots which is rather hard to locate. Kenting Surf Shop (2500 yuan for a quad room) is really, literally, a surf shop as our room is accessed via it. Please be noted that no free parking is provided at this place (despite booking.com says otherwise) and the nearest parking space is less than 5 minutes walk which costs 100 yuan per entry.

Since the night market is just right in front of our accommodation so the-no-parking-space thing isn't a real concern as we can just walk around, but we have to pay it. We tempted to walk to the beach but it was too dark for a stroll. Hence we proceed with our usual night market routine. The night market in Kenting stretched along the main road. There were clubs along the way too. (And there is one shop in which I believe, has build-up guys and hot girls shows, literally translated). Due to early drive the next day, we didn't go into any.

Happy friends at the night market with our snacks

I miss fresh oysters! 8 pieces for 180 yuan.

The conversation below is translated.

"Hong Kong?"

"Malaysia!"

"West Malaysia?"

"East Malaysia!"

"Sabah?"

"Sarawak!"

 Don't think we are going to forget this uncle that quickly.

Special kind of "xiao long bao"

 Fried fresh milk. Milky-ly oily or oily milky.

Long drive ahead of us on the next day. Trust me, it's worth it.

Taichung → Chia Yi → KAOHSIUNG/KENTING → Hua Lien → Jiufen/Shifen/Yehliu→ Hsinchu → Taipei

Taiwan Trip: Alishan - Getaway to Greenland

CHIA YI (嘉義)

This little town is 99km away from Taichung. The reason to transit at this part of the country is due to its proximity for our next pit stop: Alishan. Checking in at Ron Gong Hotel (1300 yuan for quad room), we had a quick bite at Wen Hua Night Market which is about 10 minutes walk from our place.

Google Maps calculated the distance from the city to Alishan is 60km. We thought, oh, we could reach the place in one hour. However, the friendly old lady at our hotel mentioned it would be a 2-hour car journey to get there due to hilly road. The thought of seeing sunrise was sort of aborted almost immediately as the sun rises at 5.30am, meaning we need to depart by 3.30am, that excludes the hike. Regardless, we were adamant to make the trip happened (we didn't plan for the sunrise in the first place).

Alishan (阿里山)

"阿里山的姑娘美如水呀

阿里山的少年壮如山"

"The lady of Alishan is as pretty as the water,

The guy of Alishan is as strong as the mountain"

My friend has been humming this song after knowing Alishan is included in our itinerary. Had dumplings for breakfast at opposite of our hotel, checking out and we started our journey uphill. No kidding, the road is pretty steep with sharp turns, one shall not speed here. The view is very scenic but I have to pay attention to the road most of the time (me and my friend took turn to drive and it happened to be my turn to driving on the day we are going up the mountain). Paying an entrance fee of 200 yuan each, we arrived at the destination after 2.5 hours of driving. The temperature drops to 16 degree Celcius there.

The place is well-equipped with amenities: Bus Station (you could actually use bus from Chia Yi to get up here. There were plenty of buses when we were on our way up), restaurants, souvenirs shops and 7-Eleven (Oh, 7-Eleven is almost everywhere in Taiwan. No matter how small or big the city is, you won't fail to find them around). Stocked up our bag with necessities such as snack and drinking water, we began our little hike. 

阿里山的少年

阿里山的姑娘

Friend's attempt to blend with the nature

Sun Moon Lake is not included in our overall Taiwan itinerary. However, we did come across a number of lakes in the park, well, not as enormous but it still does the job. We picked the route that led us to Cao Ping Garden which eventually brought us to this Sister's Lake.

The sisters

Walked further along the lake and up the hill would bring you to Cao Ping Train Station. The train provides shuttle service to and from Alishan Station (the place we parked our car). One can actually ride train from the city to Alishan too. From what I read, it cost 400 yuan per way.

This train is believed to be of the same specification as it was before World War 2.

We were informed that Zhusan is the popular spot for sunrise view, 40 minutes walk from the train station. However, since it was already 2pm and the mist was rather thick in which we believed we couldn't see anything anyway, we agreed to detour half way when we came across another view point.

Can't help but to take photo with the railway

Waiting for train that will never come..

Final pose at Chao Ping Garden before heading back

We didn't make it to the peak but we spend around 4 hours enjoying the greenery of Alishan. I may not know how to differentiate the types of forest but I still could feel the distinctiveness of Alishan compared to our tropical rainforest. Being an amateur hiker, I should come back next time to conquer the peak for its sunrise.

We rejuvenated ourselves by having cup noodles at 7-Eleven before getting to our next destination, which is 130km away.

Tainan (台南)

By the time we reached Tainan, it was already close to 8pm, just about right time for dinner, which is our initial intention anyway. We were guided by a local friend to try the food around the city. He claimed that most of the famous Taiwan food originated in Tainan, for it used to be the capital before being taken over by Taipei. We didn't go to night market but went to the specialised shops instead as recommended by him.

 

Wan Guo (Meat-filled rice pudding)

The sweet pudding blended with the meat, it is quite an appetizer

Guan Cai Ban (Toast served with seafood gravy)

A unique combination, I must say

Yu Geng (Fish served with gravy)

The gravy is viscous and tasted fishy. I guess I was a little full that day to enjoy this meal.

I found myself already felt full after having 3 courses of meal and concluded my dinner with a cup of Guan Yin Milk Tea. We called it a day when we checked in at Kaohsiung (40km away from Tainan).

Taichung → CHIA YI → Kaohsiung/Kenting → Hua Lien → Jiufen/Shifen/Yehliu→ Hsinchu → Taipei

Taiwan Trip: Taichung - Tapestry of Colours

Taichung (台中)

Landed at 9.00am after 3 hours flight from Kota Kinabalu, we hopped onto U Bus from Taoyuan International Airport (Fare: 30 yuan) to get to Taoyuan High Speed Rail (HSR) Station to board onto their fast train (Fare: 570 yuan) to Taichung. Comparing to bus journey which may take around 2 hours, the train ride is just less than an hour. HSR tickets can be purchased online in advance for cheaper rate or can be bought over counter or at self-ticketing machine at the station. There are two types of tickets: reserved and non-reserved seats. Non-reserved seats are relatively cheaper but there is a risk that you might not get a seat due to peak hours but the journey between the cities are rather short and hence there is always a chance to grab one when the passengers hop off at subsequent station.

Upon our arrival at Taichung, we settled our car rental with the dealer in which we have made appointment earlier via online. 8500 yuan for 8 days is a good bargain. The dealer was kind enough to lend us one of his phone Sim card so that we can use it for internet while we travel around the island. Subscribed unlimited internet package for 500 yuan, our road trip kicked off pretty smoothly. 

One thing is to get a car but it's a different matter to drive it around. The traffic rules are completely opposite of what we used to in Malaysia and there has this weird left turning rule. That excludes the fact that there are many motorcyclists to watch out on the road and abundance of traffic lights. After a while, we are kind of getting a hang of it.

Checking in and settling down at The Enterpriser Hotel (1725 yuan for quad room) at 3pm, our Taiwan adventure begins.

Rainbow Village (彩虹眷村)

22 minutes drive from our hotel, this village is believed to be painted by a retired soldier. In the beginning, the old chap only painted his own house and eventually, spread out to the neighbourhood. The beauty of his work has prevented the government to abort their plan to demolish the place. It's free to enter this area. The village is quite small which can be easily covered in an hour.

We welcome you to Rainbow Village.

 The famous wall for photoshooting.

 There are rainbows on the tar road too.

Gao Mei Wetlands (高美湿地)

Driving for 36 minutes to catch the sunset at this spot but apparently it was already too late. Sun sets pretty soon at this part of the earth, at this point of time. It was rather cloudy and very chilly as the sea breeze blows. Still could enjoy the view of wind turbines by the beach. If I recalled it correctly, some of these wind turbines are damaged due to recent typhoon.

You could actually step onto the wetland.

Yours truly enjoyed the cold wind and the view despite of missing the sunset

Fenjia Night Market (逢甲夜市)
As the night falls, it calls for dinner and hence we headed back to the city for our very first night market. Before we could get off our car, it was a challenge to find parking as we weren't familiar with the rules which eventually cost us 200 yuan to park at designated area (portable double-storey car park). Parking caretakers seem to be doing a good business there.

Exiting to the main road, a stream of unpleasant smell rushed us through and only then I realised smelly "tofu" is a thing there. The smell was rather repelling and I couldn't comprehend how one could ingest to begin with. I didn't even give it a chance to try. Nonetheless. we tried plenty of snack as we stroll along the market.

 Sausage comes with rice cake and pepper

Porky serves with sauces and vegetables

French fries served with vegetables (one of us is a vegetarian)

Translated to English, this is called "Massaged chicken" and the texture is really soft!

Other than food stalls, apparently Taiwanese are pretty fond of arcade and games station as you can spot quite a number of them throughout the market.

Flower Market  (中社觀光花市)

Had our breakfast at the hotel which is inclusive in our room package, checking out and we proceed to Flower Market at Zhong She District.

 

Windmills in a flower garden, are they trying to imitate Keukenhof, Netherlands?

 

Flower girls

There has this piano in the middle of Lavender field for you to take photo with.

 Spotted a bee collecting nectar from sunflower, I think

To be honest, this garden is smaller than I thought it would be as the literal translation of the chinese name is "flower city". Even so, the flower arrangement is still quite a sight. The garden is accessible with a fee of 60 yuan.

Xin She Castle (新社古堡)
38 minutes away we visited another garden which is located at Xin She District.

Overview of the main garden

 A European-theme garden in the mid of Taichung

Goddess of Fountain (seem to be promoting my blog)

The iconic old castle of the garden

Apparently, there is no real history behind this garden. Loving the landscape and is a good spot for photography. Entrance fee is 250 yuan (personally I think it is quite pricey).

Xin She Mushroom
Had a fair share of adrenaline rush when we played go-kart for 200 yuan before having our dinner. Xin She is famous for its mushroom. Abundance of mushroom farms can be seen when you are going around the area.

This fried mushroom is rather scrumptious and the texture is like meat (and look like one too).

Bidding farewell to Taichung and we head to our next destination.

TAICHUNG → Chia Yi → Kaohsiung/Kenting → Hua Lien → Jiufen/Shifen/Yehliu→ Hsinchu → Taipei

Taiwan Trip: 欢迎光临

"超级星期天! Super!"

Recalling one of my childhood memories watching their entertainment shows (Super Sunday, Guess, About Romance etc.) and drama series, listening to their songs which are often sung by my peers during our karaoke session and the country becomes more prominent when their tallest building dethrones our dear twin towers. Sharing history with mainland China, Taiwan is in my Oriental countries bucket list to be ticked off, which has been done recently.

Me and the girls at our first pit stop

No visa is required for a visit of 30 days. Currency that is in used is New Taiwan Dollar (NTD) or the locals are more comfortably to call it "yuan" for simplicity. Exchange rate is MYR 14 for 100 NTD and this is valid during my visit back in early September. The notes come in 1000, 500 and 100 whereby coins go by 50, 10, 5 and 1. The weather was rather favourable during our trip: sunny during the day and gets chilly but still bearable as the night falls. No major showers and we were told there were minor earthquakes in which all of us happened to sleep through them. Taiwan shares the same time zone as Malaysia.

There was no shower from the sky but there was this fall we immersed ourselves into.

3 hours flight from Kota Kinabalu, our trip spanned for a total of 11 days and 10 nights: staying at 8 different accommodations, driving for more than 1000km, cruising through almost all the counties (and spending almost all my money). Landed at Taoyuan International Airport, our trip kicked off in Taichung and we went further south to Chia Yi, Kaohsiung and finally Kenting, the most southern part of the country. The journey continued along the east coast, one of my favourite ride, passing by Taitung to Hua Lien, stopping over at Jiufen and went to Hsinchu before concluding our trip at the capital.

Each city offers different experience which shall be narrated in a short while. Our itinerary comprises both indoor and outdoor activities, makes this getaway a rather happening one. To top that, it was my very first experience to drive overseas, other than getting acquaintance with a totally opposite traffic rules (till now I was still confused mistakenly turning my wipers on when I intended to put on light indicators).

Miss this black transporter which accompanied 80% of our journey.

Undoubtedly it is a Mandarin speaking country. Their accent/slang is more comprehensible compared to China. All the signage are in Mandarin but in major cities they do come with English translation. With our proficiency in speaking and reading Mandarin, there is hardly any constraint in communicating with the locals (and talking like locals).

The roadway system in Taiwan has to be one of the best in the region where all the counties are well connected which makes our road trip relatively convenient. The view, on the other hand, is another eyes-pleasing experience. What impresses me the most is their ticketless toll system. There is no toll station at all the entrances and exits of the highways.

Follow us on this incredible 10-day journey:

Taichung → Chia Yi → Kaohsiung/Kenting → Hua Lien → Jiufen/Shifen/Yehliu→ Hsinchu → Taipei

Korea Trip: Annyeonghaseyo!

Little I know about Korean traditional culture as to compare with Chinese. My knowledge on Korean culture is rather limited to their entertainment industry. Who can deny the wave of KPop and KDrama, where one can be so fanatic and the other end shall utterly reject. Me myself is quite a fan of their music too, even though I have no idea what they are singing about. (Confession: I'm a SONE). I guess there is something about their music that get me hooked. Other than that, what inspires me for this trip is my personal bucket list to travel to the oriental countries.

No visa is required for visiting South Korea. The currency that is used in Korea is won. 10,000 won is approximately equal to 30 MYR. The notes come in 1000, 5000, 10000 and 50000. During our trip it was end of March, the end of Summer and the beginning of Spring. Sakura (or Cherry Blossom) which is more famously known in Japan can be sighted in Korea as well. Even so, the weather was still rather chilly at that point of time, around 20 degree Celcius during day time and falls below 10 degree as the night falls. Jacket is necessary if you decided to visit at this time frame. The time in Korea is one hour ahead of that in Malaysia.

Sakura spotted at Jeju Island

Our trip lasted for 8 days which covers three cities in Korea: 4 days in Seoul, 2 days in Jeju Island and 2 days in Busan. It takes 6 hours of flight to reach Seoul from Kuala Lumpur. Using midnight flight from KLIA2, we kicked off our trip in the city right after settling down at our hostel. All parts of the city are easily reached via subway, including trains to and fro airports and famous theme park that is 2 hours away from Seoul. There are two airports serves Seoul: Incheon International Airport (most international flights transit here) and Gimpo International Airport (mostly for domestic flights and with limited international flight routes). We traveled to Jeju Island and Busan via Air Busan,  one of the local airlines. Other options include Jeju Air to travel across Korea. Early booking may permit cheap fares for both airlines. It is recommended to rent a car in Jeju Island for its public transport is limited to buses and taxis, considering the location among places of interest are rather distant from one another to save time. Busan, being the second largest city, is fully equipped with extensive subway network as well which makes commuting very convenient.

Me and the famous Metasequoia footpath at Nami Island

It will be best if you can pick up some Korean language before coming to Korea although most of the locals can understand English. Language is one thing, Hangul is another.  Hangul is basically Korean alphabets in which I believe it is easier to learn compared to the language itself (regret didn't do that earlier) as most of the signage is in Hangul. You may not understand what it means but at least you get to know what it says, especially the name of the places. Anyway, our trip is pretty enjoyable with this limitation. 

Korea Trip Journey:

1. Seoul - The Culture Capital

2. Jeju Island - The Island of Romance

3. Busan - The City of Beaches

Beijing Trip (Final Chapter): Gastronomical Hunt

Beijing is rather famous for its choices of exotic food. During my trip, I can't help but to encounter shops that sell dog and donkey meat (there is even a stall selling solely donkey meat), in which are too exotic for me. Insects are rather common in other parts of south east Asia though, so I wasn't taken by surprise when they have scorpions and such on the street.

Scorpions at Wangfujing Snack Street (and you can see starfish next to it)

I believe when people talk about Beijing food, the first thing that comes to mind must be the Peking Duck. I didn't get to try due to its serving size and the cheapest I could find was RMB98, which could be a bit much. I didn't leave Beijing with regret for not trying the famous dish but I did have a quite less than exotic yet interesting food hunt.

Zhajiangmian @ Wangfujing Snack Street

Literally means fried sauce noodle, basically a mix of soybean paste and noodle. The serving is pretty dry and the one I had was pretty salty. Not a fan of this one. Perhaps I picked up the wrong place to try.

Suan Nai  (Sour milk).

Afraid not, just because it tastes sour doesn't mean they are spoilt. (I don't think Chinese are that extreme).  In fact, this one is mixed with honey flavour so it is rather sweet. You can see them selling these everywhere. My favourite drink to quench my thirst. Most shops/stalls didn't allow you to take away the bottles though. So you must finish drinking it on the spot before you can leave. (or need to pay extra for take away, I can't remember but usually you will see a lot of leftover bottles at the place selling them).

Cao Gan (Bao Zi on the left) @  Yao Ji Cao Gan 

Located nearby Bell & Drum Tower, I love this one at my first taste of it. I'm not really a fan of liver due to the distinctive taste but in this dish it is compensated by the thick meaty gravy. Kind of reminding me the gravy of Loh Mee in Malaysia.

Bao Zi @ Bao Zi Pu

This one full basket of bun is suffice to recover all that energy lost after strolling along Nanluoguxiang.

Zhaguan Chang and Dalian Huoshao @ Zuo Lin You She

Walkable distance from National Art Museum, this top choice eatery  is located at the North-East of Forbidden City. It is very famous for the finger-shaped dumplings. I noticed the locals ordered half to one dozen per person. Judging by the size, I dare not to try that much since I wasn't sure if I'm going to like it. You are encouraged to order by the serving of 3 or 6 and so forth. I ordered one with pork-filling and it was very satisfying. I also had crispy deep friend garlic crackers to top my lunch. Noticed the bowl of yellow liquid in the photo? That is not for dipping. It's plain corn drink, which is rather bland, good enough to neutralize the taste of the meals.

Bing Tang Hu Lu @ Donghuamen

I heard of this sweet often from Chinese Series. It is sweet, very and sticky. Not the kind of sweet you can munch from one to another.

This post concluded my entries for 9-day trip in Beijing. I underestimated its size (may be due to I relied mostly on public transport) and it remains one of the most bitter-sweet adventure I ever had this date, exposure to its culture and people.

   

Beijing Trip Journey:

1. Beginning of Maternal Ancestral Journey

2. Trespassing The Forbidden City

3. A Summer Escapade

4. A Great Scam at the Wall
5. Mao's Legacy
6. Temples Hopping
7. Walks in the Parks
8.  Gastronomical Hunt

Next adventure: Annyeonghaseyo!