continued from here…..
Kick-started the day with complimentary breakfast at a cafe cum bookstore nearby.
Sandwiches and hot chocolate is just nice in this cold weather.
A snip of the nicely decorated Central Park station.
If you are traveling by public transportation the whole day, remember to check out their MRT 1 day pass for only NTD200 for unlimited rides – MRT, buses and ferry to Qijin. Very worthy compared to a minimum NTD16 for a single ride.
Our 1st stop for the day was Lotus Pond, a popular tourist destination.
To get there: Take the Red Line MRT to Ecological District station (R15) and follow exit 2. Wait for bus transfer.
The Dragon and Tiger pagoda. You go in through the dragon mouth and exit from the tiger.
I saw this in almost every temple. It is believe the ball inside the mouth will bring you good luck if you touch it. Hmm, where is my luck now??
View from top of the pagoda overlooking part of the Kaohsiung city.
The zig-zag path leading to the towers.
Ahead of it was another pagoda and further on is The Emperor of the Dark Heaven God. Didn’t manage to walk till there… Walked till the GuanYin temple and we gave up. Thought of saving some energy for Qijin 😦 I wish I could hire a cab and drove us around.
The dragon head turtle body statue which means prosperity, wealth, luck, luck and more luck….
Without wasting more times, we hopped on a bus and travel back to the MRT station where we alighted just now. Our next destination was Qijin Island and according to source, you can either alight at Yanchengpu or Sizihwan station and wait for bus transfer to the pier. So we chose Yanchengpu station and followed either exit 2 or exit 4. We tried both but it is pointing to the same bus stop and the bus is going only to the zoo!! Confuse, we went back to the station information counter and asked for direction. They told us it is exit 1 and guess what, we ended up in the same intersection!! Difference is either you are at this side of the road or opposite. WTH!! Then a taxi driver saw us wandering around and offered us a ride claiming he will not cheat us and guess what, he charged us NTD90 for a 5 minutes ride. WTH2!! and on the way we saw Sizihwan station, so clearly the correct station was Sizihwan station…. WTH3!!! wasted the MRT 1 day pass. Yanchengpu station still need improvement!!!
To get there: Take the red line MRT to Formosa Boulevard station (R10) and then transfer to orange line MRT to Sizihwan station (01). Wait for bus transfer or you can walk to the pier.
NTD 15 for one way. Paid using MRT 1 day pass 🙂
The ferry that will transport you to the island.
Approaching Qijin in less than 20 minutes ride.
My 1st impression, similar to Pangkor Island in Malaysia except it is much bigger. An island which has nice view, traditional market, seafood restaurants and beach.
The famous NTD100 seafood concept. Pick your choice, wait, eat and pay NTD100 for each plate. Rice and tea/sky juice – FOC 🙂
If you want more, here’s the more expensive section.
Good business. Need to catch up the huge demand.
We ordered lala which was very fresh and tasty.
Black bean sauce fish… Yummy-licious…
Steamed baby squid – so so only… dunno how to enjoy…
After stuffing our bellies, we walk around exploring what’s nearby and then later decided to rent a bicycle for it is too big for us to walk anymore. I chose the double seat bicycle so that I can relax at the back… Hahahaa 😉 NTD200 for 8 hours if not mistaken. Just register and hand in your license and claim it back when you return it. They will provide you a basket and lock to secure it.
1st stop – The Cihou Lighthouse. Happily park our bicycle at the designated area not knowing what in front of us. Hahahaa~~~ Nothing scary la just that we didn’t expect we have to hike up a slope… Damm!!
After 1234567 steps, we saw this… Kaohsiung city and part of Qijin. Quite misty though but if you focus, you can see the 85 building.
That’s the Cijin beach.
Nah…. the lighthouse. Nice or not??
After spending like 45 minutes exploring and capturing the moments, we went to, NO… not to Cihou Fort – afraid of slope liao…
see the windmill… a small one!! have to cycle like dunno how many km only reach here… super duper exhausted. Packed with people cycling and playing kite.
Along the way, you get to enjoy beautiful landscape and scenery. Thank god it was winter else we will be sweating till mad.
And last but not least, I love this tree or half dead tree… Hahahaaa 😀
That’s all about Qijin. It was already close to 4pm so we decided to cycle back to the pier before the sky turn dark, We took the ferry back to Gushan pier and move on to our next destination.
Next, Former British Consulate Residence & Liuhe night market…
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