Taiwan 2023 (Part IV)
Let's see how much I can get through today!
We started by going to the Formosa Blvd metro station which had a fancy ceiling dome. According to Wikipedia, it's the largest glass work in the world. I thought it was interesting as it appeared like mythological scenes of life/death/rebirth.
Cosmic or mythological scenes? I don't know much about Chinese mythology.
Details that make me think it's about death/rebirth/etc
Then we headed out of Kaohsiung, but with a nearby stop at Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum. It's known for having a giant Buddha statue, but on the way there, you could see another statue over the building line.
That gold statue in the middle. I didn't get a good picture and thought we'd be able to get one at the actual site, but was wrong.
Entrance to the site
Funny enough, that entrance pavilion, we super modern. There were shops, restaurants, a hotel, and even a Starbucks in it. It was odd; I'm not sure how Buddhist that is, but again, I know very little about Buddhism. But after you go through the pavilion, it was a beautiful site with the giant sitting Buddha with eight pagodas lining the path.
This is the respectful picture (not where someone is trying to pose in the same manner)
We went into one of the pagodas where they made us watch a video about the purpose of this complex (to teach Buddhism to a modern crowd and provide a place to disconnect from the city). It was nice to see that they were embracing modern things and as a sign, I saw they had gacha machines with Buddhist themes!
We only went into one of the pagodas and headed towards the museum/giant Buddha. The museum (in front of the giant Buddha) has three major artifacts: a tooth of Buddha (which this whole site was built for), a jade reclining Buddha, and a golden statue. Inside, it was more like a temple/shrine so I don't have photos as I was trying to be respectful. But of course, there were tour guides who were talking very loudly.
In front of the museum, there were statues of key figures (sect leaders) and arhats
We believe there was a hiking path up the mountain (to get to the other golden statue), but didn't want to kill Angie's mom so we didn't elect to do it. So we headed out to our next location.
On the way out, there were animatronic dinosaurs for some reason
Our next stop was Tainan, which is a city in Taiwan that gained a bump in popularity due to a drama (Someday or One Day) featuring it. Since it's probably my favorite drama (and Angie very much likes it too), we visited many sites that were in the drama. The first of which was a noodle shop, which we stopped for lunch. The noodle soup was pretty good: light with a variety of ingredients. On the wall, there were signed plates from the cast.
Memorabilia on the wall, but the shop was still very small (had to go to another building to use the bathroom)
Then we went to an old street with shops and such. This was for a street vendor that is featured on the show. The churro-like snack was okay. It was pretty sweet at first, but then became less sweet as you get to the middle.
Basically everyone in that line got the same thing, maybe took a photo, and left. Angie's mom actually ordered other stuff since she probably didn't remember the drama.
This is the reverse angle from the drama, but we sat on those benches to eat.
There was even this sign in front of the stall that shows various filming locations (we didn't do them all)
Afterwards, we walked around the shop area for a bit before checking into the hotel. We also didn't want to drag Angie's mom all over town just to see these locations that she didn't care about. The hotel was UIJ Hotel and it was super hipstery (more so that RA House). Like when you checked in, the receptionist gave you books ("recommended", but I assume random) and each floor had a selection of books displayed by the elevators. It was kind of okay (since I'm a stupid hipster).
Outdoor balcony area. There was a communal lounge/kitchen area (to the left)
Next Angie and I went out again to continue or Someday or One Day tour. We walked to our next location through windy little side streets (very reminiscent of the drama). Through one alley, there was some nice art (Tainan seemed to have a decent amount of street art/art in the alleyways).
Just a random alley way that we walked by so I had to snap a picture
We went to the record shop from the drama, unfortunately, it's not an active business anymore. But it looks just like it does in the drama.
You'd think you could just make it coffee shop or restaurant that cashes in on the drama
Record shop in the drama
We wandered around Snail Alley, which supposedly had many snails drawn in the alley. But I liked this design.
It's like a cat Tiananmen Square! (Cat standing up to a line of dogs)
We eventually made our way back to the hotel and went with Angie's mom to the night market. I'd say this one actually reminded me of a flea (or farmer's) market where it was in a parking lot and there were rows and rows of fairly tightly packed vendors.
There was a giant Squirtle for some reason
We ate at the night market, then ate at a beef place (recommended by a taxi driver), and then ate at an ice place (had a banana and chocolate ice, which was really good).
The next morning, we started our trip back to Taipei. On the way, we stopped at The Tree of Life, which was a giant tree statue in a salt flat. It was a nice stop to walk around a bit since the main road was pretty far from the statue (like you had to walk through the flats).
From the distance, but also to show the area...
... (from the drama) We found the area with these parapet like walls, but I didn't take a photo
After a walk, the Tree of Life
For lunch, we stopped at a restaurant that Angie's mom recommended. It was a roadside, open air restaurant that had all you could eat oysters. Basically, the tables had a grill in the middle and you roasted unlimited oysters. They gave you two buckets (one with raw oysters, one to put the shells afterwards) and you could request more oysters. We ate two buckets of oysters along with other food.
Oysters in the middle with vegetables, fried rice, and fried oysters
Our bucket of finished shells
I'd say this stop was really good as the oysters were really good and it was nice to just sit around, eat, and drink. It did get incredibly salty though.
When we arrived in Taipei, our first hotel was a hot spring resort (SweetMe). Basically, we checked in, then Angie and I went to return our rental car which was at a different part of the city. I was kind of intimidated to drive in the city, but it actually wasn't too bad. We took the metro back towards the hotel, but stopped at Angie's favorite night market (Shilin) where she had lots of her favorites such as oyster noodle soup, stinky tofu, and ice at her favorite place. I finally found a crabapple stand, but it wasn't very good. Maybe there's a big difference between crab apples and hawthorns or something.
The hotel's private hot springs were segregated by gender, but you could also have hot spring water into your tub which was actually pretty nice. So we soaked in our room.
The next day, Angie's mom had some tasks to do in the city, so we went to Thermal Valley, which is one of the sources of the hot springs. Apparently, there's also a story about Angie's brother severely burning himself here, so Angie's mom "doesn't have good memories" of it.
Thermal Valley, supposedly when Angie's brother burned himself, those guard rails didn't exist
Didn't get a picture of the water but they call it Jade water because it has a green tint, but Asians love jade
After Thermal Valley, we decided to climb a bunch of stairs and hike up the Phoenix Trail. It likely wasn't the most strenuous hike/climb, but with the heat and humidity it was pretty tough at times. But it was kind of fun since there were parts that were very overgrown and not well maintained. Plus when we were trying to leave, the exit was closed and we had to back track and find another exit. It kind of make me think of survival horror, we even exited through a school or temple.
The walk up...
A view from above
The city through the green
Since we were soaked in sweat, we headed back to the hotel to shower. We met back up with Angie's mom and headed to lunch.
I still didn't finish. And I actually want to update on recent happenings so maybe I'll take a break from vacation updates.