Many Unforgettable Things to Eat & See in Kaohsiung & South Taiwan (Day 3 & 4 Itinerary)

I am now in Kaohsiung Taiwan with AirAsia's inaugural flight between Kuala Lumpur KL and Kaohsiung. Follow me as I share with you LIVE all the delicious food, beautiful places and nice people I meet in Kaohsiung and around southern Taiwan. (This is a summary update while I am on the road; detailed posts will follow, once I am at home base.)

For days 1 and 2 of my southern Taiwan visit <- click.

Day 3 - Hengchun to Kaohsiung.



From Eco Spring Eco-farm in Hengchun City we drove 1.5 hours to Dapeng Bay.




Live oysters harvested from Dapeng Bay.



The huge fresh oysters were prepared by simply blanching with hot water.



The voluptuous oysters were tender, tasted of fresh ocean brininess and was naturally sweet. Every creamy oyster I ate made me hungrier.



We took a slow scenic cruise on Dapeng Bay. This is the folding Dapeng Bay Bridge.



After Dapeng Bay we proceeded to Donggang City for lunch at a popular seafood restaurant. Besides the uber fresh sashimi and usual delicious seafood dishes, we were introduced to a local shellfish known literally as "Imperial concubine's tongue". This popular shellfish tasted similar to good oyster but with a slightly firmer texture.



From Donggang City, we drove another hour to Meinong Hakka Village where we learnt a lot about the migratory history and culture of the Hakka people.



The historical artefacts bring the story of the Hakka people to life for all of us.



We then stopped by at a local restaurant at Meinong to sample some authentic Hakka dishes. We ordered several Hakka dishes to try and we loved all of them.

Though there are Hakka people in Malaysia and Singapore, our group was surprised that we have never tasted any of these Hakka dishes before. One example is this braised head of cabbage and winter melon. It tasted mildly savoury and complemented by the cabbage and winter melon's natural sweetness.



We stopped by Cishan Old Street briefly to walk around the historic railway station (now disused) and the old street where many of the heritage buildings are preserved.

Our dinner was at Shianye restaurant in Kaohsiung City that specialises in "kampung" chicken dishes (though it also serves good seafood and vegetable dishes).



We love this chicken soup with bamboo shoots where the natural sweetness of "kampung" chicken is layered with sweetness of bamboo shoots.



Chicken pieces fried with garlic cloves. The garlic cloves were like fried potatoes, only crunchier and sweeter. The fried chicken had a slight crisp and were still slightly juicy and sweet with chicken flavour.



The grand finale of the day was our gondola ride on Kaohsiung's romantic Love River. The boat captain gave us a safe, comfortable and enjoyable ride. S/he also serenaded us with brilliant, passionate renditions of Taiwanese and Western love songs. The captain even mesmerised us with his interpretation of the Italian opera classic O Sole Mio (don't know why I didn't take a video of it 😂 ).

Day 4 - Kaohsiung.



Our first stop after breakfast at the hotel was the small market for dried seafood in Cijin District 旗津 which is in the same building as In Young Hotel 旗津道酒店.



In this market, there are over 50 stalls selling tidbits and dried seafood like fish, squid, prawns and shellfish. We bought a lot of dried seafood as the prices are very reasonable.



After the shopping, we climbed steps 10 minutes up a cliff where there is an old fort and lighthouse. (We actually wanted to climb up to the fort and lighthouse first but went shopping instead as it was raining heavily earlier.)



From the old fort and lighthouse we can get magnificent panoramic views of Kaohsiung City, the harbour and also the beach battered by white surfs.



I spotted this ship leaving Kaohsiung Harbour, making its way through the narrow channel into the sea.



From Cijin 旗津 we took a short ferry ride back to Kaohsiung City.

Our next stop was Ten Drums Ciaotou Creative Park 高雄橋糖文創園區.



We had a sumptuous lunch of Chinese dishes at Ten Drums. This pork roll with preserved plum in the middle was most memorable. It's my first taste of this unique plum and pork roll. The savoury sweet pork was balanced with the slightly sourish sweet preserved plum and completed with its fruity fragrance. I liked this dish.



The Ten Drums Ciaotou Cultural Village is rebuilt on an abandoned sugar mill in Ciaotou District 橋頭.



The finale of our visit to Ten Drums was a heart stopping drum performance of classical Chinese pieces.



After Ciaotou, we proceeded to the famous Dragon and Tiger Pagodas 龍虎塔 in Kaohsiung.



From the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas we took a short 10 minutes walk to Joy Well Cake Shop which was founded in 1925. Here we learnt how to make Joy Well's signature 棋餅 or "chess biscuit" which are mung bean paste cakes shaped like Chinese chess pieces. We learnt that hand making these "chess biscuit" required a lot of patience and skill.



We did some shopping for traditional and modern Taiwanese style pastries. Today, Joy Well is run as a social enterprise giving employment to people with disabilities.



Dinner was at Liu's Traditional Juancun Food 劉家酸菜白肉火鍋 which is extremely popular with locals.



Liu's serves charcoal fired steamboat with lots of cold side dishes, steamed buns and fried dough and rolls. Their signature is an appetising broth make fermented cabbage giving the soup a slight sourish tang.



We rounded up the day with shopping at Yuzhu Street/ Datong262 玉竹商圈. The young ladies in our group went into frenzied shopping mode as there were lots of clothing, cosmetics and gadget shops here. I was a little bored as this shopping district catered mainly to the young (young at heart doesn't count here woh 😝  ).

Day 1 & 2 itinerary here <- click.
Day 5 & 6 itinerary here <- click.

Come back to this post everyday as I am visiting Kaohsiung/ southern Taiwan till 21 Jul 2015. Please share with me the things I must eat, see and do while I am in Kaohsiung.



AirAsia AK 170 departs KLIA2 for Kaohsiung at 8:30am and 1:00pm every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

AirAsia AK 171 departs Kaohsiung for KLIA2 at 1:30pm and 5:50pm on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Dates visited: 16 - 21 Jul 2105

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