My Taiwan Trip 2016 - Day 2

Cijin Island, Rainbow church, Takao Railway Museum, Hamasen Railway Cultural Park, The Pier-2 Art Center, Love river, Ruifeng night market

Woke up at 7am to start day 2 of my Taiwan adventure, as our hostel do not provide breakfast, I went out walking out the neighborhood to find any nice place to have our breakfast. There is a lot of shop selling breakfast around Taiwan, so don’t worry about not having anything to eat.

Just around the corner of our hostel there is a shop that was selling breakfast, there were a lot of local eating there, so at least I know the food there should be nice. 

Around 8am, we left our hostel and went to the shop to have our breakfast. The shop has plenty of food to choose, and it’s self-service. The food was quite nice and reasonable price. 

 

Bacon egg pancake

Soy bean milk with a few dish

bun fill with a lot of vegetable

After breakfast, we head out to Formosa Boulevard station to take the rapid transit through the orange line to O1 Sizihwan Station. 

Creative rapid transit guide

Kaohsiung rapid transit map

After reaching Sizihwan station, you will find a small booth that is selling ticket for bicycle rental before exiting the station. There are plenty of other shop that you can rent bicycle when exiting the station that might offer cheaper price, but we decided to buy the ticket for bicycle rental from the booth since the shop to get the bike from is the closest to the station. Also it only cost NTD100 (RM12.50) for the whole day which is very CHEAP!!! They were having some promotion that day that we bought the ticket only for NTD 90 (RM11.25).

Bike rental ticket

After exiting the station, we walk over to the shop to get our bike. The one we rent was the single person bicycle that come with a basket. They do have other type of bicycle such as sport bike, couple bike, and electrical bike if don’t feel like paddling. Each bicycle come with a lock to lock your bike for safety. 

single person bicycle with basket

Price of different bike rental

After picking out our bike, we start cycling to the Gushan Ferry Pier where we will be taking the ferry across the river to Cijin Island. Upon reaching the pier, we use our Easy Card to pay the fare then we cycle our bike up to the ferry. 

Ferry Fare and schedule

The ferry ride took about 10 -15 minutes before we reach Cijin island ferry pier.  

Cijin Island ferry pier

After reaching Cijin Island, we use the map gotten from our bike rental shop to decide where we want visit first. We decide to cycle around the left side of the island before heading the right side of the island where we will be having our lunch. Since it was a sunny, do remember to put on your sunscreen to prevent sunburn. 

Cijin Island map guide

While we were cycling, we stop at one of the temple on the island to visit. There are quite a lot of temple to visit on Cijin Island, we pass by at least 10 temple while riding around. Since it was summer, the heat was no joke especially in the morning, luckily there were shaded area where we were riding to visit places.   

After visiting the temple, we went to Cijin Coast Park where a few attraction were located. The one attraction I wanted to see was the Rainbow Church which was quite colorful and beautiful especially on a sunny day. Next to the rainbow church is the Rainbow Arc which was also quite unique. If you were visiting Cijin Island, I would highly recommend to visit the Rainbow Church. 

Rainbow Church and Rainbow Arch

Locate not far from rainbow church is a statue of two shell facing the ocean. And of course we stop to take a picture before going to our next destination.

Our next destination was Cijin Windmill Park. The distance between Cijin Coast Park and Cijin Windmill Park has quite a distance. Once you see 7 pillar with windmill of top of it, you know you have reach your destination. Luckily it was a windy day, so it was quite cooling. 

Cijin Windmill Park

We walk around the park and took some picture before leaving to have our lunch near the Cijin island ferry pier. There were quite a lot of seafood restaurant but we decided to have some simple lunch at a nearby shop. The food was quite good and cheap, drinking a coke after riding the whole morning in the sun was a good way to cool down.

After lunch, we decided to head back across the river to Gushan Ferry Pier. Before heading back, we stop by the Cijin island ferry pier to take our last picture on Cijin Island. 

Cijin Island ferry pier

After crossing the river, we head to Takao Railway Museum which is locate next the Sizihwan station. At the museum you can see some old train and historic item that were used in past at the train station when it was still operating.

Our next destination was The Pier-2 Art Center, at first I thought of giving back our bike to the shop and take the rapid transit to O2 orange line Yanchengpu station where it was closer to The Pier-2 Art Center if you were to look at google map. But since we have rented the bike the whole, we decided to ride to The Pier-2 Art Center.

Luckily we have made that decision because while on the way there, we pass by Hamasen Railway Cultural Park which has a lot creative art. Locate at Hamasen Railway Cultural Park is the upside-down house and you need to pay entrance to fee to enter the house. There were lots of statue made of metal throughout the grass field.

Upside-down house

Lugage bag made out of metal

After taking enough picture, we continue riding to The Pier-2 Art Center. After riding for about 5 minutes we have reach one section of The Pier-2 Art Center. It was in a building and there were quite a few statue in it. Across the street was other sections of The Pier-2 Art Center. 

After visiting The Pier-2 Art Center, we headed to love river. Take note that if you check out love river on google map, you be confuse which part of the river you should visit. From The Pier-2 Art Center you can ride your bike to Wufu 4th Road, Yancheng District Bridge and start riding from there along the river to Hexi Road, Yancheng District Bridge. You can check out the google map below for the direction.

Love River bike riding guide

After riding along the love river, we head back to shop we rent our bike from and return our bike. Then we took the rapid transit back to our hostel to rest and freshen up. After resting for a few hour, we head out to Ruifeng Night Market by taking the rapid transit to R14 redline Kaohsiung Arena station. We took exit 1 and keep walking straight until we reach Ruifeng Night Market.

If you have only one day in Kaohsiung, I would recommend to come to Ruifeng Night Market as there variety of food for you to try. Even on weekday, it was pack with people and we have to squish around to get by. Even though we would like to try all the food there, our stomach just could not handle it.

After we fill up our stomach, we head back to our hostel to rest and await for tomorrow to come. 

Tomorrow we will visiting the famous Lotus pond before taking the train to Chiayi. 

Thank you for reading and there will be more Taiwan adventure to come!!! 

My Taiwan Trip 2016 - Day 1

Taoyuan airport, Taoyuan HSR, Kaohsiung City

It has been two years since the last time I visit Taiwan, back then I followed my university summer exchange program to visit Taiwan for 3 week. Even though I was there for 3 week, most of the time was spend in class, so I did not explore Taiwan that much.

This time I have decided to visit again Taiwan and to explore what Taiwan can offer. This time we are going to Taiwan in a group of 8 people including me. After months of planning, finally the day to fly off to Taiwan has come.

KLIA 2 International Departures

Our flight to Taiwan was at 10.00am in the morning, since we need to be at the airport 3 hour earlier, we have decided to meet up around 7.00am since we are coming from different places. Since each of us did not bring much thing to Taiwan, we have decided to only bought 60kg (around 7.5kg per person) for luggage check in and utilize the 7kg hand carry up the plane. 

After boarding the plane, you will be given an “Arrival Card” that you need to fill up and submit it at immigration counter at Taiwan airport. 

Arrival Card

The flight took around 4.50 hour and the flight journey was not pleasant as the weather was windy which make the plane shake a lot. Since we arrive at Taiwan airport safely, I could not complaint much.

After getting down the plane, before you reach the immigration counter, you will see many Taiwan booth that is selling phone data plan. It doesn’t matter which company you sign up with as all company has good connection. The one I sign up was with Chunghwa Telecom and I took the 15 day 3G data plan which cost NTD 700 (RM 87.50) (including NTD100 airtime credit). Also if you are traveling in group, its best 2-4 people share one data plan as it is unlimited.

Throughout the entire trip, I have no problem with the Wi-Fi connection. If you need more airtime credit, you can visit any convenient store to top up. Do make sure you Taiwan sim-card is activated before leaving the counter and if not mistaken the data plan is only offer at the airport only.  

You can visit Chunghwa Telecom website to know more about their data plan.

After we collect our luggage, we went to the bus station one floor below the arrival hall to take the bus to Taoyuan HSR station. Take note that Taoyuan airport and Taoyuan HSR is not located in the same building, you need take a bus which take around 15 min to reach. You can just follow the signboard to find the counter to buy your bus ticket and each ticket cost NTD 30 (RM3.75). Do ask the counter which platform you need to take the bus. Our platform was at platform 12, so we line up to wait our turn to go up the bus.   

Ubus ticket to Taoyuan HSR station

Bus Platform to Taoyuan HSR station

After 15 minute bus ride, we reach Taoyuan HSR station. From the station, we plan to take to the train to Kaohsiung where we are staying for the night. For those who are planning to explore Taiwan from the south to north, I would highly recommend you to buy your flight ticket to arrive at Kaohsiung airport and fly back to your country from Taoyuan Taipei airport, then you don’t have to waste time taking the HSR from Taoyuan to Kaohsiung.

But if want to experience riding HSR, then I would recommend to purchase your ticket ahead of time through their online booking platform. Buying the ticket ahead of time allow you to confirm your train seat as the ticket might be sold out if you plan to purchase on the spot and you can enjoy discount up to 35% for certain train time schedule. You can purchase your ticket 1 month ahead of the date you plan to ride HSR. Take note that once you book your train ticket, the ticket is not refundable if you miss your train ride, so do plan your time properly. Make sure you are at the train platform 10 min before the train arrive.

The HSR online booking platform is easy to use and only require one person passport to purchase for multiple ticket. After you complete your online purchase, you will be given an online booking receipt with “Reservation number” which you will need to key in when getting your ticket at the kiosk machine. Do remember that the last 4 digit of your booking ID is your DOB (MM/DD), if you need any assistance, you can ask the customer service counter for help next to the kiosk machine.

Since we arrive 1.30 hour earlier, we decided to get our HSR ticket at the kiosk machine first, then we had our late lunch at 7-eleven.  

HSR ticket

Every transport at Taiwan is very punctual, so remember not to be late. After arriving at Zuoying HSR station, we took Kaohsiung rapid transit from R16 red line Zuoying station to R10 redline Formosa Boulevard station where our hostel located. While exiting the station, you will surely come across the famous Dome of light. 

We took our time to admire the artwork before taking exit 2 to our hostel. Our hotel is called Rest Twenty-Two Hostel that we book through Agoda website and it is locate at a strategic location as it is located near the Formosa Boulevard station and Liuhe Night Market. The hostel location might be hard to find but you can follow the guide below to find the hostel. 

Prior to reaching the hostel, I have notify the hostel owner through WeChat ahead of time to let him know what time we will reach.  When I notify that we will reach around 9pm, the owner told us he might be out and unable to let us in to the hostel. Luckily the owner told us the password to the hostel main door and the where the room key is located, so we help our self in to the hostel and our room.

The hostel is quite nice and it has washer machine facility which is great for washing and dry our cloth. What I like about Taiwan is that most places has washer machine and dryer machine which allow you to wash and dry 100% of your cloth. 

Rest Twenty-Two Hostel lobby

One of the hostel Bedroom

Washer & dryer machine

After settle in, we immediately head out to Liuhe Night Market which locate 10 minute walk from our hostel. Liuhe Night Market is one of many night market in Kaohsiung. Liuhe Night Market is quite busy even around 10.00pm, we walk around and had our late dinner. Around 11.00pm when the shop started to close, we head back to our hostel to rest. Tomorrow we will have a full day to explore Kaohsiung.

Stay tune for more of my Taiwan trip 2016, Thank you!!!