Taiwan - Day 7 (20 Sep 08)

To be updated...

Taroko Gorge

Part 1:

Taiwan - Day 6 (19 Sep 08)

To be updated...

To Su Ao - Cold Spring & Hualien

Part 1:


Part 2:

Taiwan - Day 5 (18 Sep 08)

To be updated...

To Taipei Zoo, Mao Kong & Shilin Night Market

Part 1:


Part 2:

Taiwan - Day 4 (17 Sep 08)

To be updated...

To Taipei, Wu Fen Pu & Raohe St Night Market

Taiwan - Day 3 (16 Sep 08)

To be updated...

To Cijin Coastline Park
- Cross the TRA platform (TWD 6)

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Part 2:


Event of the day:
Lehman Brothers bankrupt and Merrill Lynch bought over by BOA

Taiwan - Day 2 (15 Sep 08)

To Fo Guang Shan (Light of Buddha Mountain)
- Cross the TRA platform (TWD 6)
- Walk towards the Kaohsiung old Station (museum) to the Kaohsiung Bus station
- Purchase bus ticket to Fo Guang Shan (TWD 77)





The driver was very patient with the elderly and local folks carrying bulky items but he was not as tolerant with us, tourist. He got impatient when we took about 1 min to search for the tickets that we were supposed to hand over to him upon alighting. We really didn’t know cos someone has already checked our tickets when we boarded the bus at the station. But he was quick to divert his attention to a very young and sexy mother with her son.



Foguangshan is one of the world's most important Buddhist centers. The 40m high golden Buddha is surrounded by 480 smaller Buddha, all replicas of the Great Buddha.

The huge Buddha can be seen from afar and it’s also an indication to alight. The bus stop is at a shop house in a little village at the foot of Foguangshan.

Foguangshan monastery is the largest Buddhist monastery in Taiwan. We manage to cover most of the sites under the ridiculous hot water except for the Buddha Tooth Relic Shrine cos it’s closed to the public on Monday!

One of the must visit site is definitely the Pure Land Cave. This tacky place is like our Haw Par Villa except instead of the eighteen hells, they built the excellence and beauty of the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss which is a Cave of great Bodhisattvas of the Land of Ultimate Bliss, as well as the great Arhats, the Buddha’s ten great disciples, and others. Whether it’s the eighteen hells or the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, it has the same effect of frightening people so that we will not dare to do evil deeds.







On our way out of Foguangshan, we stopped by a convenient store to buy drinks. James took out a 100 dollar note which was refused by the cashier. It took us a while to realize that we have given a 100 dollar Thai baht! Haha… other than the picture of country’s president, both 100 dollar currency notes looked identical.

We had initially wanted to proceed to Cishan of sweet treats and Old Street but the next bus is scheduled to come an hour later. Having nothing much to do at the quiet little village, we decided to head back to Kaohsiung main station but the next bus to arrive was also an hour later. We were stranded. Lesson learnt: check the bus schedule!



After some wasted hours, we were back at Kaohsiung bus station. Our next stop is Dream Mall, a landmark in Taiwan and the first mega-shopping center in Asia.

Took MRT to Kaisyuan station (TWD 25) and catch the shutter bus to Dream Mall.

We had the most satisfying Jap meal (just TWD 550) and took the Hello Kitty Ferris wheel.















MRT to Famosa Boulevard station



Liuho night market




More Pictures - Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


Event of the day:
Nantou Lushan Kirei Hot Spring Hotel (綺麗大飯店) collapsed.

Taiwan - Day 1 (14 Sep 08)

SATS called us last night to inform that our delayed flight has been scheduled to 10am but when we arrived at 8am, they were not ready for check-in. We have to continue waiting…

It was in the news that Taoyuan International Airport announces all domestic flights canceled, as well as most of the scheduled international flights until 12 noon. All other airlines to Taipei have also been ‘delayed’ indefinitely.

We went over to T3, Wang Jiao for breakfast while waiting… waiting for SATS or Jetstar to call us.

Aiyo, the coffee & tea at Wang Jiao was so diluted. So disappointing. Next to us was Pan Ying, one of the Xinyao pioneers who sang Rang Ye Qing Qing Luo Xia (Let Night Fall Gently) having breakfast with her family.

About 10am, James suddenly decided to check the flight information display board and to our horror, it’s boarding!!!

We rushed to take the skytrain to T1 and ran to the check in counter. A couple of pple are stilling checking in. We than rushed to the gate which is right at the extreme end (you got to walk being cheapo… I mean budget). Most of the pple are already there. How the hell they knew the boarding time.

Granted that poor service is expected from the budget carrier but this is too much, it is their obligation to inform passengers of the “unconfirmed’ flight status. We were this close to miss our flight.

About 11am, we took off for Taiwan. The 4 hr flight was rather bumpy with plenty of clouds and rain near landing.





We decided to head south to Kaohsiung straightaway, staying away from Sinlaku.

Ubus to HSR Taoyuan Station
- Coming out terminal 1, turn left and walk to the end
- Buy bus ticket (TWD 30) at the counter
- Locate the bus at the bus platform
- Journey about 30 mins
HSR to Zuoying Station
- Purchase standard class tickets (TWD 1330) at the counter
- Journey about 2 hours

7-11 at the HSR Taoyuan Station is a must visit. They have such a wide range of yummy healthy products. The burgers are so much nicer than MacDonalds. We bought some snacks from 7-11 although food and drinks can be purchased on board the HSR.





From HSR Zuoying station, take Kaohsiung MRT to Kaohsiung Main Station. It was raining and it took us a while to find out where is King’s Hotel. Apparently it’s at the opposite side of the railway track and we have to pay TRA (TWD 6) to cross the platform.

After settling down, we went to the nearby night market. It was miserable. Probably due to the rain, there were only a few stalls opened and few pple loitering at the short street.





I glued my eyes on the TV and hands on the remote for the rest of the night. 100 channels of program to watch… madness!

More pictures...



Event of the day:
Hou-feng Bridge collapsed