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 just a summary update while I am on the road; detailed posts to follow, once I am at home base.)
Day 1 & 2 itinerary <- click.
Day 3 & 4 itinerary <- click.
Day 5 - Kaohsiung
After breakfast, we drove about an hour to Fo Guang Shan Monastery 佛光山 in Kaohsiung's rural Dashu District 大樹區. We visited the museums in the monastery and learnt about the history of Fo Guang Shan and the principles of Buddhism.
We had our lunch in a restaurant with a magnificent view of the monastery.
We tasted many vegetables and vegetarian dishes. I love the dishes as they were healthful and delicious.
From Fo Guang Shan we returned to Kaohsiung City and spent the afternoon roaming the Pier-2 Art Centre 駁二藝術特區大義倉庫. Pier-2 Art Centre is a trendy hub of artistic shops and studios created from old Japanese era pier side warehouses.
We stumbled upon Now & Then Cafe by NYBC. Now & Then Cafe is Kaohsiung's interpretation of hip - the good coffee and food, the industrial warehouse style decor and the trendy looking people inside made us nuah (lazed or lepak) nearly two happy hours at the cafe.
Of course, we cannot leave Taiwan without trying their famous mango with shaved ice 芒果冰. We had our Mango Shaved Ice at Gushan Ferry Pier (to Cijin Island) where there are many shaved ice shops. Shaved ice is a popular cold dessert in sunny and humid Kaohsiung.
After enjoying our Mango Shave Ice, we proceed to the historic Kaohsiung Martyrs' Shrine which was built in 1910. From the shrine we can get a panoramic view of Kaohsiung City and also watch the sunset.
Our dinner was at the Banana Pier which are shops and restaurants rebuilt from the old disused banana pier (hence the name). We enjoyed our dinner while watching the boats in the harbour.
We had many Chinese dishes for dinner, all of which were well prepared and delicious.
The most memorable was this signature Banana Crisp - it's like a fried wanton with banana filling. The wanton skin was fried to a crisp and the small slice of banana was slightly "melted" from deep frying. The "molten" creamy banana was very sweet. The banana wantons were drizzled with a Thai style sweet and very slightly spicy sauce. This interesting style of pisang goreng is a must try.
After dinner we went to visit the Liuhe night market 六合夜市 which is located next to the R8 Meili Dao 美麗島站 Kaohsiung MRT Station. The award winning R8 KMRT station with its hand painted ceiling is recognised as one of the most beautiful in the world.
Of course, no visitor should leave Kaohsiung without visiting one of its famed lively night markets.
At this short 300 metre stretch of road, there are at least 200 street side stalls selling many types of local street food. Many are based on Kaohsiung's abundant seafood such as oysters and squids.
Day 6 - Kaohsiung to Kuala Lumpur.
Our AirAsia flight leaves Kaohsiung at 1:30pm, so we had some time to experience a local breakfast place. It's a mom
The lady boss makes burgers, sandwiches and these delicious crepes with various types of fillings such as eggs, tuna, ham and corn. Tender slightly chewy mouth feel and mildly savoury sweet flavours. Lovely start to our last day in Kaohsiung.
There is also a wet market just around the corner from the food shop. I am glad to have the chance to visit a local wet market just before boarding the plane at Kaohsiung International Airport 😄
A unique way of selling live fish by tying them up with strings.
Day 1 & 2 itinerary <- click.
Day 3 & 4 itinerary <- click.
Six days in Kaohsiung and southern Taiwan, we all left Taiwan feeling happy and hope to be back soon for more interesting places, delicious food and warm people.
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 to 21 Jul 2015
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That's a huge bowl of mango shaved ice!
ReplyDeleteTaiwan night markets are the best.
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