10D9N Taiwan Trip: Dream Mall, Kaohsiung

After spending few hours taking pictures and having fun at Pier-2 Art Center, it is time to seek shelter from the sun while thinking what to eat for lunch. Since we were thinking of chilling inside an air-conditioned building, we decided to visit the largest shopping complex in Taiwan, Dream Mall.

If you think you have seen Dream Mall before, you may have really seen it at some Taiwanese dramas. The one that I can recall clearly is Black and White where Mark Chao is busy chasing down some bad guys across the lobby of Dream Mall. He looks so cool doing that but on the other, I kinda like Zai Zai too. I was so torn between the two hot guys. Hahaha. 

Dream Mall is one heck of a very huge mall so you can really take your time to check out every levels here. If you want to have some food to eat, you can start from the basement level first where the eateries and restaurants are located. Despite the availability of many restaurants at Dream Mall, we were lured by this white cat holding waffle instead. 

Kuko is a waffle stall and oh my gawd, I have never seen this many type of waffles in Singapore before. Kuko offers both savoury and sweet waffles. The selection for savoury waffles include cheese, chicken and ham, etc. 

It also has the sweet options like matcha, chocolate glaze, strawberry, caramel, etc. I ended up trying the savoury flavour because not everyday you can eat chicken and ham waffle. It tastes so good. Yumz. I can eat this for breakfast everyday in Singapore if Kuko ever thinks of expanding internationally. Hahaha. 

The next stall that I saw got me pretty excited because it's Coco bubble tea. I have made a mental note to drink as many bubble teas as possible from three bubble tea brands in Taiwan, 50lan, Ten Ren and Coco. But this is the only chance I bumped into Coco so I should really not wasted this chance. Charge!

Coco gives you English translation of its menu so you don't have to scratch your eyes and brain to figure out which drink you would like to order if you don't understand Mandarin. 

But I ended up ordering special flavour which is not part of Coco's fixed menu at the end. It's strawberry season because it's spring and Coco was selling Strawberry yoghurt milk with real pieces of strawberries given inside the drink. Oh my gawd, a 700cc cup full of sweet strawberry milk + jam + fruit pieces make the side of me who is strawberry lover went crazy to be honest with you. My travelling buddy chose for less funky option, Yakult Green Tea. Yeah I know she's such a bore but then again, Yakult Green Tea sold in Taiwan is really dope too. 

If you thought we have had enough sugar intake for the day, you may be in shock because the next food stall that we visited is Mister Donut, which I think sells the best donuts in Taiwan. Why is there no Mister Donut in Singapore???? Can someone bring this brand in please?

What I like the most about Mister Donut is their QQ mochi donuts. These donuts have mochi mixed in the dough and they give you QQ chewy feeling when you bite into them. To make these donuts even more sellable, Mister Donut often has tied-in promotion with cute characters from Sanrio or whatever other cute brand available in the world (okay, mostly Japan). Wait, I think Mister Donut originates from Japan after all. 

Say Ni Hao to my cute pinky donut which has eyebrow, eyes, nose, mouth and blushed pink cheeks. Nomz!

 Dream Mall is located at:

No. 789, Zhonghua 5th Rd, Qianzhen District

Kaohsiung

Opening hours:

Monday to Thursday 11AM - 10PM

Friday and Holiday Eves 11AM - 10.30PM

Sunday and Public Holidays 10.30AM - 10.30PM

 How to go to Dream Mall:

(1) Take MRT to Kaisyuan Station

(2) You can walk for 15 minutes to Dream Mall or alternatively

(3) You can take shuttle bus right from the exit of Kaisyuan Station

10D9N Taiwan Trip: Pier-2 Art Center, Kaohsiung Part 2

"Cause you and I both loved, what you and I spoke of."

I wonder if I have started to miss Taiwan again because before I know it, I have already had a cup of Gong Cha's milk foam alishan tea and crispy fried chicken at both hands for dinner. Seriously, eating crispy fried chicken and drinking bubble tea is a superb combination when you are watching nice TV show. Nice TV dinner, albeit Taiwanese version. LOL.

Let's continue our morning walk to Pier-2 Art Center in Kaohsiung. If you continue your walk toward the pier, you will be able to see more art pieces as that's the premier spot for exhibition at Pier-2 Art Center.

Welcome to Pier-2 Art District. If we did not know better, we would have thought this place is just some random abandoned industrial area of Kaohsiung since this 2nd biggest city in Taiwan is known for its industrial economy. 

The local residences are also painted with some kind of artsy wall mural. It kinda makes life's pretty interesting huh if you stay in some artsy building? Just random saying but I will feel proud if my house has become part of the preserved art district in a particular city. 

Since this is not gonna be where I stay (for now, unless I find a Taiwanese hubby), let me just pose and chill for a while here. 

Further down the road we saw a scary red monster which is about to attack someone who looks like Guan Yu (in a glance) but he's holding a...mop? Hmm, I don't really get what is the meaning behind this art piece. Treat your problem like it's not a big deal? Clean your shit? Hahaha I'm lost. But interesting nonetheless. 

The water tanks are not exempted from some artsy touch of the Taiwanese artist. 

Oh what is this structure that we are looking at? There seems to be an exhibition's going on here at Pier-2 Art Center. Let's check them out more in the next post. 

Pier-2 Art Center is located at: 

No.1 Dayong Road, Yancheng District, Kaohsiung  

  How to go to Pier-2 Art Center:

 You can take MRT to Yanchengpu MRT station and exit via exit 1. Walk along Dayong Road toward the south for 5 minutes and you will reach the exhibition area.

  Opening hours:

 Monday to Thursday 10AM - 6PM
 Friday to Sunday 10AM - 8PM

10D9N Taiwan Trip: Pier-2 Art Center, Kaohsiung Part 1

"I won't worry my life away"

There are so many uncertainties going around in the office now with the announcement of new reporting structure in the company. No one is certain if they are still going to work in the office in the next few months but seriously, it is kinda pointless to keep on thinking and assuming on what the next boss is going to do. Because she herself is probably not sure of what she's gonna do since the whole situation is still as fresh as a cake which just pop out from the oven. Of course there are rumours that we may get replaced by the boss' trusted fellas but oh well, it does not worth the worry because I know that Jesus will take care of me anyway. Woohoo!

Intermezzo is done and now we are back for another morning in Kaohsiung city. It was a fine morning day in March and oh boy, how I love the weather so much when it's not so hot and yet not so cold. The beauty of spring, I suppose.

Since the weather is so nice to wander around, we decided to visit Pier-2 Art Center, a used-to-be abandoned warehouse turned into fine arts exhibition and cultural centre.  The warehouse has been touched by artistic hands of so many artists, each with their own dream and vision of what they want to see becoming of Pier-2 Art Center. I'm sure that there are many conflicts and hardships especially when creative minds try to work together but the end product of those struggles is the famous artistic streets and a stretch of artsy warehouses at Pier-2 Art Center. 

These statues seem to be the fixed settler at Pier-2 Art Center because I think I saw them before at the exact same location four years ago. But I think they change "clothes" every now and then. 

Ooh I definitely did not see these three new friends before. I love how they are in front of me and yet, not talking so talkatively to me. I've gotten pretty tired of entertaining "fake-friendly" people who can't wait to backstab me every now and then seriously. So yeah, this was pretty refreshing. Hahaha. 

You can walk toward the end of the street and you will see the painting of what seems to be MRT station on a building. It's kinda amazing to see that kind of painting on a house really because I don't think I can paint with such details on a complex structure like houses. 

Could not help not posing in front of such nice artwork. Pardon my just-wake-up kind of pose. I was really just waking up like one hour ago to be honest with you. Yawnnn, what a beautiful morning~~~ 

Pier-2 Art Center is located at:

No.1 Dayong Road, Yancheng District, Kaohsiung  

  How to go to Pier-2 Art Center:

 You can take MRT to Yanchengpu MRT station and exit via exit 1. Walk along Dayong Road toward the south for 5 minutes and you will reach the exhibition area.

  Opening hours:

 Monday to Thursday 10AM - 6PM
 Friday to Sunday 10AM - 8PM  

10D9N Taiwan Trip: Hanshin Arena Shopping Plaza, Kaohsiung

"You can count on me like 1, 2, 3...I'll be there."

Hello! I was away for 2 days 1 night trip and before I knew it, it's already Sunday night again. Monday's workloads have been flashing around in my mind but since there's no point thinking about those paperworks, let's just enjoy the remaining hours left of this lovely Sunday evening. Let me turn on the Versace on the Floor and continue my write-up on Kaohsiung trip~~~

We had just finished our foodie adventure at Liuhe Night Market and we were still hungry because we were kinda disappointed with the night market. Boo! So we did a last minute research and found out that there is a big shopping mall at Kaohsiung Arena Station.

It did not take long for us to walk from the exit of Kaohsiung Arena Station to the shopping mall, Hanshin Arena Shopping Plaza. The weather was so good for evening stroll. Comfortable cool breeze. Whee~~~

Hanshin Arena Shopping Plaza is huge but since it's already 8+ at night, we did not want to waste time wandering and deciding what to eat for too long. So, we have come to immediate decision upon chancing upon this cute xiao long bao mascot from Din Tai Fung. 

Din Tai Fung is actually nothing new for us because there are a lot of Din Tai Fung's branches in Singapore and I eat there sometimes with my lunch buddy. But do you know that Din Tai Fung was originated from Taiwan? Ironically, we had not tried eating Din Tai Fung in Taiwan before so this was our great chance to try the original Din Tai Fung dishes. We ended up order the same old favourites though. 

The best appetiser in Din Tai fung (my personal preference, of course) is the Oriental Salad in Special Vinegar Dressing. It is just a simple mix of seaweed, bean sprouts, chili, beancurd strips, and rice vermicelli tossed in a tangy vinegar dressing. The combination of them all? Refreshing and fresh. 

Since it had been days since the last time we eat something green, travel buddy decided to take a motherly-approach and ordered spinach despite my are-you-kidding-me look. But I guess, we do really need some veggies for once. 

Finally, something different and this dish could not be found at Din Tai Fung's branches in Singapore, guo tie (or potstickers). If only Din Tai Fung in Singapore have this, I can probably just order this for dinner and be satisfied enough. 

The rice dish which will not ever disappoint you, the pork chop egg fried rice. Ultimate goodness for fried rice and carbo lover i.e. Me.  How am I gonna reach that 48 kg goal?

There are many branches of Din Tai Fung in Taiwan but the restaurant that we ate in Kaohsiung is located at: 

No. 777, Bo'Ai 2nd Road

Zuoying District, Level B1F

Hanshin Arena Shopping Centre

Kaohsiung

 Opening hours:

Monday to Friday 11AM - 9.30PM

Saturday and Sunday 10.30AM - 9.30PM

10D9N Taiwan Trip: Liuhe Night Market, Kaohsiung

"When we look back now, will our jokes still be funny?"

Ahh the past. It's really something which may be nice to look at and yet, you can't repeat the good and simple times. With so many things going on in life, I, too, often get trapped in this nostalgia mode. Those days where I eagerly look forward to school holidays because all I wanted to do was waking up late and playing my good ol' Playstation all day. Bliss. Hahaha. 

My new bliss now is travelling because this is the chance for me to be me, doing what I like, with travelling buddy which I definitely like/ love. You ain't gonna spend time with those people that do not worth your time after all, right?

Okay, we are now checking out our first night market in Kaohsiung, Liuhe Night Market. The night market is not that big as it is located along Liuhe Road but it does have some interesting stalls to check out. 

For instance, this is the first time we saw this kind of food at night market. For a moment, we were kinda wondering if we were in Taiwan or China. Well, at least there is something for everyone here at Liuhe Night Market, including bugs lover. Me? I'm gonna skip this one thank you very much. 

Ah, finally we saw something which looks...hmm, safer to eat. I think I saw something similar to this at Raohe Night Market before but not sure if the black pepper buns are the same with the stall which forever has long queue there. 

The production line for the black pepper buns seems to be very productive. These two ladies alone can produce so many buns at one go. Looking at how many buns these two are making, it seems that black pepper buns are quite popular in Liuhe Night Market. 

Based on my observation, I noticed that there are many stalls selling noodles at Liuhe Night Market. But I was not in the mood to eat noodles that day so I just looked at the stall without really buying anything. If you love noodles, you may want to give it a try though. Who knows Kaohsiung is famous for noodles? Hahaha. 

Kaohsiung version of big sausage wrap small sausage. But I have eaten this street food at Fengjia Night Market in Taichung before so I wanted to try out other food if possible. Oh my gawd, I sound like a picky eater half way on my trip. LOL. 

Some seafood delicacies are also available here but lazy to eat stuff with shells. Hahaha please don't start to throw rocks at me. Lazy foodie I know. Before I knew it, I was already at the end of the Liuhe Night Market and have only eaten the black pepper buns. I wonder why but this night market is kinda boring to me. Oh well. It's just my personal opinion though. 

Liuhe Night Market is located at:

Liuhe 2nd Road, Xinxing District

Kaohsiung 

Opening hours:

6PM onwards (although some stalls are opened from 5PM)

10D9N Taiwan Trip: Very Thai Noodle, Sanduo Shopping District

"These are crazy days but they make me shine. 

Time keeps rolling by."

Yup, these are crazy days. You can't even put your security on anything that's natural including your career, money, or even loved ones. Because all these things that are natural are well...temporary. I don't mean to sound religious but nowadays I am at the most desperate moment of my life when I totally have no solution whatsoever so I can only do one thing, look upon Jesus and let Him do the wonderful works in my life. Amen~~~

Right let's go back to where we left off shall we? After getting amazed at the wonderful glasswork of Dome of Light at Formosa Boulevard MRT Station, we proceeded to our next destination in Kaohsiung, Sanduo Shopping District.

Despite the name contains the word "Shopping", Sanduo Shopping District seems to be Central Business District area as well. I saw a certain bank which I...uhh, did not really want to see on a holiday, to be honest with you. LOL. 

We went to the nearest shopping mall which we saw after we exited from Sanduo Shopping District MRT station, Shinkong Mitsukoshi. This shopping mall from Japan seems to be very popular in Taiwan because I think there are several branches of the same department store in Taipei. There should be at least one store for sure in Taichung and there are a few branches of Shinkong Mitsukoshi in Kaohsiung as well. We checked out the food directory but could not find something that we really wanted to try so we ended up resting our legs and filling our tummy at Very Thai Noodle. 

We tried to use our barely-there Mandarin to make an order but thankfully the young waiter is able to speak basic English. So happy! The Thai noodle looks so good especially when you are starving. 

I feel like drinking bubble tea but was already so thirsty when chilling at Very Thai Noodle so I decide to just order a glass of Iced Thai Milk Tea. Do you often hear comments from your friends who have just visited Taiwan saying stuff like "every food in Taiwan taste so good"? While I think this is the case for Japanese food due to the close historical ties that the two countries are sharing, I kinda have my skepticism on other type of food. But the Thai Milk Tea taste so damn good, my skepticism is kind wavering now. 

My friend's order of Beef Thai Pho comes first. I could not immediately pinpoint if this dish is Vietnamese or Thai or fusion. And there is a touch of fried green veggie too but the whole noodle soup taste so comforting and yummy. 

But I think my order is definitely more exciting than my travel buddy's order. The Seafood Tom Yum Goong Noodle is so filled with so many generous seafood ingredients like prawns and fish balls. There is a touch of fried enoki mushroom too which creates a whole different dimension to this seafood tom yum goong. I love this dish so much and my skepticism on Thai food served in Taiwan has totally disappeared. 

Wanna take a bite?

Very Thai Noodle is located at: 

213 Sanduo 3rd Road, Qianzhen District

Kaohsiung City

Opening hours:

Daily 11AM - 10PM

10D9N Taiwan Trip: Formosa Boulevard Station, Kaohsiung

"想回到过去 试著让故事继续"

"Want to go back to the past, to try to allow the story to continue."

But I think the past is meant to be left in the past. No matter how beautiful the story seems to be back then. Unless it's a travel story, I suppose? Three days in Taichung passed by so fast but I do not think there are anything left to do in Taichung if you stay for more than three days two nights. So the next morning, we checked out of our hotel and took the cab to the HSR station again to go to our next destination Kaohsiung.

If you are taking high speed rail (HSR) to Kaohsiung, do note that the name of the HSR station in Kaohsiung is not Kaohsiung Station. It is Zuoying Station. But since it's the last station on the HSR route, I don't think you will miss it anyway. 

It took us one hour to go from Taichung HSR Station to Zuoying HSR Station. Despite its more expensive price-tag, taking HSR is indeed the most efficient way to travel from the north to the south part of the island. We took the train (i.e. KRT) to arrive at Formosa Boulevard MRT Station and once we have alighted the train and proceed to the ticketing area, we were in awe of this magnificent glass work named Dome of Light. 

Dome of Light is apparently the largest glass work in the world (thanks, Wikipedia). It was designed by Italian artist, Narcissus Quagliata. 

The artwork is made of 4,500 glass panels and each side of the panels seems to tell a different story. Not really sure what the story is about though. 

But since the station is pretty much deserted on a weekday afternoon, I might as well take picture with the Dome of Light. #touristpose

Our hotel, The Cloud Hotel, is located a few blocks away from Formosa Boulevard MRT Station. When we reached the hotel building, we were actually stunned for a while because the hotel looks pretty dodgy/ deserted from outside. But anyway, don't be deceived by the appearance of Taiwanese hotels from outside because the inside of the buildings are actually so nice. The room at the Cloud Hotel is nice, bright and clean. Could you believe that the room rate for one night at the Cloud Hotel is around SGD 52? Awesome max!

The bedroom is way spacious than our hotel bedroom in Ximending but the aircon is kinda cold and we had a little trouble adjusting the temperature. Up to the point that we had to turn it off for a while and then turn it on again when the room got a bit stuffy. Other than that, we did not have any other complain about our stay at the Cloud Hotel. 

The Cloud Hotel is located at: 

No.18, Minzhu Road, Sinsing District

Kaohsiung