We have come so far in penning down our adventure in Taiwan. Never did we imagine this travelogue would stretch up to 10 blog posts. A word of thanks to some readers out there who were asking us if we are going to continue blogging on Taiwan. And there are still many parts of Taiwan we have yet to visit. Till next time. Hopefully soon?
Anning Clothing Street 安寧成衣街
It was our final day in Kaohsiung and we planned to do some shopping in the morning. We were recommended to visit Anning Clothing Street 安寧成衣which was reminiscent to Wufenpu 五分埔 in Taipei. It is located behind The Kaohsiung Railway Station，running parallel to Jiouru 2nd Road. The wholesalers feature the latest fashions and accessories. The clothings were real cheap! The best part of Anning Clothing Street was that it is just a few minutes car ride from Kindness Hotel.
The apparels, bags, shoes and accessories being sold in Anning Clothing Street come from China, Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan. Do you know that this is southern Taiwan’s largest off-the-rack clothing market with over 300 clothing stores?
The prices were up to 70% cheaper than standard retail. Some items cost as low as NTD $50!
When you visit Taiwan, remember to bring along a relatively empty luggage as you are going to shop till you drop.
Address:
Anning Street, Sanmin District. At the back of the Kaohsiung Main Station, runs parallel to Jioru 2nd Road.
How to get there:
Take the Red Line to Houyi Station (R12). Take exit number 2 then it is about a 10 minute walk.
Dream Mall 夢时代
The Kaohsiung Dream Mall is the largest mall in Taiwan as well as in East Asia. There are 10 floors of shopping in addition to a B1 and B2 food court/shopping space. Each floor of the mall is designated by type of store and product. For example, there are mostly children’s stores on the 5th level and sports apparels stores on the 6th level. There is a Japanese Department store at one end of the mall, as well as a Muscle Asia health club, and a large Ferris wheel on the roof. Another great aspect of the mall is the movie theater complex on the 8th floor.
If you have been to Vivo City in Singapore, this is how big Dream Mall is. We arrived here and headed for the food court which was really huge.
There was a section in the food court specially designed for family and kids to dine. Look at this tea-cup seat.
You will be spoiled for choices which level to go! For us, we would be going to the last level to a place where kids love … amusement park 🙂
This is the place where Big and Small M are looking forward to. Honestly, it is a far cry from Disneyland but if you were to think of having an amusement park inside a shopping mall where adults can dine and shop while kids can be entertained, it sounds great.
One of the most famous features of the Dream Mall is this Ferris Wheel. It is the only Ferris wheel in Taiwan that allows both city views and ocean views. After dark, the neon lights from the Ferris wheel continuously changes colors and patterns like the fireworks.
Kids being kids. Big and Small M simply love getting a thrill from the Viking.
Can we go again please?
Rides and more rides!
As it was a weekday, there were not many visitors here.
This means we do not need to queue up for any rides.
And off they go. It looked scary from this angle but rest assured it was totally safe!
They hoped it could be faster though. We guessed the park wanted the riders to ride slowly to admire the views of Kaohsiung.
By train -> Kaohsiung KRT -> Dream Mall Shuttle Service:
Take train to Kaohsiung Train Station (高雄火車站) -> Take Kaohsiung KRT (高雄捷運) from KRT R16 Station to KRT R6 Station -> Dream Mall Shuttle Bus (夢時代購物購物中心免費接駁車) at exit no. 3 of KRT R6 Station.
Falling in Love with Taiwan
Going to Kaohsiung airport was a breeze. So easy for visitors as all it takes is to hop onto the MRT to the airport station. We had so many sweet memories for the past one week plus in Taiwan. Many miles were covered and many places were checked.
It will be unjust to say which places in Taiwan are better. To us, every place is beautiful in its own rights. It symbolizes the spirit of Taiwan and the friendliness of its people. We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.
Memory notes written by a visitor in Kaohsiung International Airport
Video credits to Expedia on travel guide to Kaohsiung. Enjoy planning your itinerary 🙂
Till we meet again. Thank you Ms. Taiwan 🙂
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Disclosure: All photos, information and opinions, unless otherwise stated, in this post belong to Katong Kids Inc. Reproducing or copying them for use on third party sites without our written permission are strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.
So, we visited Cijin Island 旗津島 in our last blog and thought that would be our only encounter to get near the seas. In this episode, we surprised ourselves with much more places to sight-seeing. But first, we had to check in to our new hotel.
Kindness Hotel
Kindness Hotel is a chain of hotels in the Kaohsiung city. Ideal for fun and relaxation, Kindness Hotel – Kaohsiung Station Chen Chien is located in the Sanmin District area of Kaohsiung. Before booking this hotel, we were looking for one with cheap rates and good review. Looking at a review of more than 9 in Agoda, it didn’t take us too long to consider booking and here we are.
Kindness hotel is not posh-looking and some parts may look dated. However, we think they made it up with their good customer service.
After a long day of shopping, the hotel’s cafe is where you would like to chill out. If you are the hotel guests, free supper (Taiwanese porridge and usual food items) is included every night.
There is this soya-bean ice cream machine at the lobby. It is all-day free flow for the guests.
This is how our room looks like. Decent and spacious in the most important part – our beds! How much we paid for it? S$158.81 for 1 day.
The beds are soft and fluffy. How can they resist chilling out over here?
The view from our hotel room.
Good morning, everyone! Let’s try out Kindness Hotel breakfast buffet. Earlier on, we mentioned of the good customer service. Yes, the hotel staff would walk around the tables to ask the guests how was the food quality and anything they can improve or assist. We thought it was a very nice touch by the hotel. Thumbs up for them 🙂
Look at the spread. It seemed more than a lunch buffet.
Soya-bean milk
Nice coffee-making machine for the caffaine addicts.
We would call this as our brunch. The hotel is not stingy in the food servings. We were really full by the time we finished our breakfast and that would last us till the late afternoon.
Another plus of Kindness Hotel. One of the beautiful things of visiting Taiwan is the availability of bicycles for guests to rent and explore the city.
Our overall experience at Kindness Hotel was pleasant. The room could be better but what’s more could we ask for when the rate was just S$158? This is inclusive of breakfast and supper buffet as well. The hotel is clean and is the kind of no-frills stay many are looking for. This is Kindness Hotel address if you intend to book it.
Kenting National Park 墾丁國家公園
We booked a cab to bring us to the Kenting National Park 墾丁國家公園 in Pingtung. This trip took up to 4 hours travel on the road. This is so because Kenting is located at the extreme southern tip of Taiwan. It is famous for its beautiful beaches and lush vegetation, and plenty of differents corals. Along the way, we stopped at some rest points for toilet breaks.
Exhausted from the long road ride but the smell of fresh air and being near to sea waters brought great respite for us!
Kenting National Park is a tourist attraction and don’t be surprised to see flocks of visitors here. Low mountains and hilly terraces prevail over much of the land in the park, along with rugged high cliffs and sandy deserts. The swimming beaches with yellow sands and turquoise waters are wonderfully suited to recreation, and sightseeing on a scooter or bicycle is highly enjoyable.
Local shops lined up near the entrance. We had seen the best of Taiwan night markets so there was nothing much to shop here.
How good is this! Near to the sand, near to the beach. Head down to Kenting which boasts some of the most pleasant climate in the country. We don’t get such natural wonders back in Singapore. Treasured every bits of our trip.
The wind was so strong and chilly.
A further walk up will bring you to Maobitou Park. As a result of the movement of the waves on the limestone reef coast, the terrain of this area resembles a crouching cat looking out at the sea. The inshore fishermen of Taiwan used to refer to the prominent cape as a nose (“bi” in Chinese). Therefore, it was named “Mao(cat)-bi(nose)-tou (head)” (Maobitou), meaning “cat’s nose”!
Definitely relaxing to laze on the grass patch
Up next, we are going to get nearer to the waters.
Address: No.32, Ln. 125, Hengnan Rd., Hengchun Township, Kenting
Our driver drove us nearer to the coast.
Where we can get up close to the sea waters. Not a good idea to swim here as the currents were strong. It was winter season and definitely no go into cold water.
One trip but many memorable moments were captured.
Lunch at Kenting
On our way to Eluanbi Park, we stopped by at this restaurant for our lunch.
Ordered the local cuisines. A sumptuous spread of dishes right here.
Eluanbi Park 鵝鑾鼻公園
Eluanbi Park was created in 1982 to provide an appropriate venue for people coming to visit Taiwan’s southernmost point and one of the peninsula’s most notable landmarks, the Eluanbi Lighthouse, also called “The Light of East Asia”. It stands 21.4 meters high and is reputedly the brightest lighthouse in Asia.
The admission tickets cost NT$30 (adults) and NT$15 (children).
However, please note that the park will be closed during typhoons period.
This was the trip that we came to know Taiwanese love dogs so much. Many a times they would bring their furkids out together with them.
Take a stroll in Eluanbi Park. Honestly, it wasn’t that impressive when we entered. If we were to compare with Singapore’s Botanic Garden, it would be far fetch. But wait till we delved deeper into the park and find some really interesting spots.
One of the highlights of travelling overseas is to expect lots and lots of walking. When travelling with little ones, it would be wise to bring along your stroller.
Small M loves this shot very well. It looked so natural.
Visitors can choose to take a trail along the sea to enjoy the sea breeze and view or explore the Eluanbi Lighthouse.
The famous Eluanbi Lighthouse 鵝鑾鼻燈塔 right here. Another attraction checked from our list 🙂
The lighthouse was severely damaged on two occasions – during the First Sino-Japanese war in 1894 and allied bombing during the Aerial Battle of Taiwan-Okinawa in 1944.
An exhibition room at the park provides the history of Eluanbi Park.
Eluanbi Lighthouse gives a panoramic and unblocked view of the sea. This place is that serene and tranquil.
This is definitely a place to explore when you are in Kenting.
You should be here too 🙂
Eluanbi Park is open daily from 7 am to 5.30 pm. Hours of operation is extended from 6.30 am to 6.30 pm during the month of April to October.
Address:946, Taiwan, Pingtung County, Hengchun Township, 鵝鑾里鵝鑾路301號
Longpan Park 龙磐公园
Situated in Pingtung County is Longpan Park. With a wide range of grassland, Longpan is lying between Jiae road and the Pacific Ocean, and is a spacious place for visitors to watch the sunrise, sunset, and the stars. As a coral limestone tableland, Longpan is rich in slumping cliffs, caves, and fissures eroded by rainwater.
It was beginning to rain when we arrived.
Small M’s hair was flying in the wind! These were our adventures in Kenting before making a long road journey back to Kaohsiung. We were supposed to go firefly watching but had to give it a miss as all the kiddos were totally knocked out in the car. We wanted the kids to experience this one of these days. You can also watch fireflies in other parts of Taiwan. Click here to find out more.
Catch a video on Longpan Park 龙磐公园 here:
Address：Jia-E highway, Hengchun, Pingdong County
Kai Xuan Night Market 凯旋夜市
If you are taking the MRT to Kai Xuan Night Market, take the subway Red Line to the R6 Stop.
Walk out of Exit 2. Cross the street heading south and turn left. You’ll be at the night markets within 5 minutes. If you don’t want to walk, there is a free shuttle to and from the station to the markets.
We read in the airline magazine that Kai Xuan Night Market is touted as the largest night market in Taiwan. So we were expecting the “Shilin” atmosphere when we reached here but alas, it was a big disappointment.
The place was big but the stalls were few. Not the kind of thriving night markets we visited previously.
We did a bit of shopping and eating and didn’t spend much time here.
We couldn’t resist these buttered grilled prawns.
The highlight of our Taiwan trip is about eating and eating.
Big and Small M favourite flour balls. Is there any of these in Singapore? We have a craving for them.
Liu He Night Market 六合夜市
The Liuhe Night Market is a must visit market if you are in Kaohsiung. It is located in the heart of Kaohsiung and is easy to get to by MRT. To come here, take the MRT Red Line and alight at the R10 stop or Orange Line O5 stop. It is the famous Formosan Blvd. station. Walk to Exit 11 which is the Liuhe Night Market Exit and you will be at the eastern end of the market.
Our eyes lit up when we arrived at Liu He Night Market. It was bustling with activities and visitors were thronging the streets. Do you know that the market open from 5pm to 6am!
We find the local Taiwanese are very appreciative of street arts and performances. They would slow down and be entertained by street buskers. Fancy singing “Country Road”?
The best thing to do here is to try the local cuisine.
Hot from the ovenThis friendly stall owner invited us to try their soft oyster omelette and so we did.
Beef noodles stall.
We ate a lot and now we were craving for desserts.
Slurp down a bowl of warm beancurd in the cold weather. We also met a Singaporean couple visiting Kaohsiung and like us, stayed in the same hotel and travelled by the high speed rail.
This furkid was kind enough to allow us to snap a picture of him with Liu He Night Market in the backdrop.
Liu He Night Market has plenty of spaces for visitors to walk and overall it was a pleasant experience exploring it. If you visit Kaohsiung, never leave without visiting these night markets.
If you enjoy reading our travelogue, do give a like on Katong Kids Inc Facebook Fan Page by clicking here.
Disclosure: All photos, information and opinions, unless otherwise stated, in this post belong to Katong Kids Inc. Reproducing or copying them for use on third party sites without our written permission are strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.
You would have heard your friends sharing how fun Taipei is when they are back from their travel. Now that you maybe considering whether to visit Kaohsiung and our answer is a big YES. Kaohsiung is Taiwan’s second largest metropolitan area and its second city. While it may not be as happening as Taipei city, there are definitely pockets of interesting attractions that promise to mesmerize you. Continue reading “10D9N Taiwan Travelogue – (Part 8): Day 8 @ Kaohsiung 高雄, Cijin Island 旗津島 and Ruifeng Night Market 瑞豐夜市”→
Rise and shine. Early in the morning we packed our belongings and all ready to leave Taipei for Tai Chung. For this trip, we decided to visit 清境農場 Cinging. The journey is going to take more than 5 hours on the road.
A Long Journey
We booked a mini bus to bring us to Cinging as we had many luggages to load. Along the way, there were no lack of beautiful sceneries.
Taiwan is soooo beautiful!
Chingjing New Paradise Bed and Breakfast
Located in Cingjing, Chingjing New Paradise Bed and Breakfast is a perfect starting point from which to explore Nantou. Every room has wifi but it is not that strong. It is the cheapest minsu we can find by far so we have to manage our expectations.
I guess everyone who come to Cingjing is to stay in minsu.
The view from our minsu. It’s high up the mountains and it’s going to get very cold at night.
Chingjing New Paradise Bed & Breakfast
Address: No.9-5, Bowang Ln., Ren?ai Township
Nantou, 54641
Phone Number: +886492801260
Lunch
The Small Swiss Garden is also known as “Taiwan’s Little Switzerland” and “Paradise in the Mist”. The Qingjing cloudy mists at dawn is like a perfect painting; looking at it from a distance, it is as if the clouds and mists were floating, slowly coming closer, becoming one with the clouds on top of the distant mountains. So we are here for lunch.
Enter and there is a food court.
We tried their local dishes.
Yummy…
Chicken chop rice.
Look at the panoramic view of Cingjing.
Sheep and sheep everywhere. Symbols of Cingjing.
小瑞士花園 Swiss Garden
Just next to the 7-Eleven is the Small Swiss Garden. Actually this is the more prominent attraction to visit. We were not “wow” by it but anyway, it seems this is the only place to go here.
Live band to keep you entertained.
Enter the Swiss Garden and enjoy the garden layout. We took many pictures but don’t really enjoy this place. Sand flies could be seen at some spots and they were irritating.
We fed the ducks.
A cafe here to get your cup of coffee.
Address: No.170 Renhe Road, Datong Village, Ren_ai Town, Nantou, Taiwan
Let’s play UNO before we sleep.
We will be visiting Cinging Farm tomorrow so stay tune for the next blog 🙂
Disclosure: All photos, information and opinions, unless otherwise stated, in this post belong to Katong Kids Inc. Reproducing or copying them for use on third party sites without our written permission are strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.
More pictures added to this blog! Day 4 and our itinerary is fully packed. Just a look at the title post we wonder how are we going to visit so many places within a day. Well, we actually booked 2 cabs to ferry us around. It cost about NTD $4,500 per cab which is reasonable considering the distance we are going to cover and places we are going to visit.
Back again to continue blogging our Taiwan travelogue. We have many “quiet” readers out there and some of them actually messaged us that they look forward to see us completing to blog our travelogue. Thank you so much.
Day 2 of our Taiwan adventure and by the look of this blog’s title you can see it’s going to be a long day ahead for us! Just Day 2 and so many places to cover. How are we going to travel? Many of our friends booked personal drivers when they visited Taiwan. For us, we wanted to try taking their public transport. This is the way we want; travelling together with the locals.
西門町 XIMENDING
I mentioned before that Via Hotel is located right smack in the heart of Ximending. Not only it is just 3 mins walk to Ximen Train Station, there are many food carts located nearby in the morning selling light snacks.
Plenty of choices to choose from and the best was they were not expensive at all!
As you can see we did not book a personal driver for the first part of our trip. Apart from saving cost, we really wanted to experience taking their public transport. To us, that’s what experiencing the best of Taiwan is all about.
瑞芳 Ruifang
Taipei Main Station is just a stop away from Ximen. We had to switch to Taipei Railway Station to switch to Ruifang station to visit Jiufen.
The train ride was about an hour.
Here we are…outside Ruifang Train Station.
Many taxis are parked outside Ruifang train station. But we are not taking taxi to Jiufen.
You have to know that Taiwanese are very friendly and helpful. We asked a local on the cheapest way to reach Jiufen. She guided us to take a bus. The distance was about 15 mins walk. Along our way, we chanced upon some local eateries and stopped by to snack. This is one of them.
We walked for about 15 mins and finally reached the police station. The bus stop is just next to it.
Remember the “invisible bus stop” is right at this green coloured building. We made a dash to this bus!
You only need to pay when you alight. The bus ride is about 15 mins. 九份 Jiufen is very much a touristy spot. Huge crowds are expected all season round. So watch out for your valuables in crowded places.
九份 Jiufen
We reached, we saw and we were blown away at this sight. 九份 Jiufen is so beautiful!
Food galore. Now you know why we didn’t eat much in the morning. This is why we are here for. Smelly beancurd may not be a liking for many, but we wouldn’t mind to try.
Peanut ice-cream.
This is a popular fish ball noodle stall in Jiufen.
After filling our stomachs, we continued to explore the streets of Jiufen. Taiwan is heavily influenced by Japanese culture. While you are in Jiufen, don’t be surprised to see some shops or streets akin to that of Japanese concept.
This is just the front part of our trip but yet there are so many things to buy!
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We love dogs very much. This trip we were pleasantly surprised to learn that Taiwanese love dogs very much too. Often, we would come across dog-owners bringing their furkids out to do shopping with them.
We reached the top of Jiufen and were amazed at the panoramic sight.
This will surely etched in their memories for a long time to come.
Not forgetting to take a family photo as well 🙂
If you think that’s the end of our Jiufen visit, you are wrong. We made an impromptu walk down the village to explore.
A view of Jiufen from the village.
We explored the tunnel as well.
All of us were tired, not to mention the presence of mosquitoes. It was challenging fending them off. So we will remember to bring mosquito repellent the next time we travel overseas.
Direction: From Taipei, take the train north to RuifangStation. After exiting the station, cross the street to the bus stop and board the Keelung Transit bus towards Jiufen. The bus trip takes roughly 15 minutes, and the fare is NT$21 during the week, NT$15 during weekends/holiday.
饒河夜市 Raohe Street Night Market
We walked for up to an hour and were exhausted. We managed to get a taxi to bring us to 饒河街觀光夜市 Raohe Street Night Market. Big and Small M were completely knocked out inside the taxi. We were glad actually as they could catch a short nap before we reached Raohe.
Everyone was crazy with these meat buns. The queue was insane. Good that these buns didn’t strike a chord with us as we don’t like vegetables to be stuffed inside the buns.
But if you really want to try, be prepared to queue up.
I’m a fish fanatics as well. Same goes for Big and Small M.
They enjoyed long-kang fishing here.
Be a fisherman for a day!
This is an interesting sight. Grilling beef in real hot flames.
Yummy squid.
Beef stew for me.
Non-stop eating whole day.
Taiwanese sausages is a must-try for me.
We like Raohe Street Night Market very much because the stalls are very well-organized. While it may not attract so much crowds as Jiufen, the spaciousness of this night market made walking so much easier.
Hello, I love to travel with my humans 🙂
My humans asked me to stay behind to look after the shop.
Plenty of these game stores in Taiwan. Big and Small M were so excited that we could spend an hour here.
Can I buy these?
Let’s make a giant candy floss.
So huge …
Address: Raohe St, Songshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 105
Hours: 4pm to 12am
Direction: Take the Green Line 3 to the terminal station Songshan (松山), exit 5. The night market entrance is just to the right across the street next to the temple.
五分埔 Wufenpu
Have you been to Thailand Pratunam? Wufenpu is similar as well. Wufenpu is near to Songshan Station. Just 10 mins walk from Raohe Street Night Market, this place is a gigantic outlet that carries literally everything.
This is a apparel shopping haven for everyone. Prices are low and quality, surprisingly (honest), is good! Apparel prices can start as low as NTD $50.
Some of the apparels which were hung in the discounted rack were also of good quality. If you are thinking of a place to shop and stock up your wardrobe, visit Wufenpu.
Yes, we literally shopped till we dropped. It was late and we were the last few passengers in Songshan Station. Do you know that Ximen Station is just 7 stops away from Songshan? Better still, they are in the same green line.
Back to Via Hotel and we had a light snack at the complimentary snack bar.
It’s complimentary 🙂
Sweet dreams. Let’s get ready for Day 3 🙂
Location: Next to Songshan Railway Station
Opening Hours: About 11:00 – 22:00
Keep your eyes peeled, as we continue updating details of our blog@Katong Kids Inc Facebook page – expect more activities and giveaways coming your way! 🙂
It’s finally time to start my blog on our recent Taiwan trip. Before delving into our unforgettable adventures, there are 10 tips to share when you plan your trip to Taiwan:
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