Kaohsiung

With just a short flight away from Manila, I touched down in Taiwan's southern point, Kaohsiung, in just about 3 hours. It was already night but the night was young and I had a lot of time still. I got an Easy Card with an adorable capybara print and took the metro to Formosa Boulevard where they had the beautiful Dome of Light.

I had thought it would be an immersive moving light spectacle but it was actually just a bunch of lit-up artwork on the domed ceiling. Still, it was pretty impressive and I was going to be passing by either way. My hotel was just a few minutes away and I ended up passing by Liouhe Night Market as it was on the way. There were plenty of tantalizing scents and food but nothing grabbed my attention that much until I reached the end of the road where the smell of fried chicken was enough to make me end up buying a bag. Right across the road was a performer dressed in all sorts of colors, sporting a peacock attire playing bamboo flutes and panpipes. I put the coins I got as change from the chicken into his box and sat down and ate the goodies while he played and danced, not bad.

After he was done performing, he thanked the crowd (literally just me) and with that I continued on to Skyone Hotel. I got room number 333 and the interior was pretty chic. I still had much energy so I opted to go out for the night and visit some nearby temples. The nearest one was Sanfong Temple. I was just expecting the usual Taoist temple but this one definitely raised the bar pretty high. It had bost Taoist and Buddhist deities at the back and I believe this syncretism is pretty common around here. I saw Amitabha and Guanyin along with some local deities I couldn't recognize. The main draw for this temple however was the long rows of lanterns hanging above the main courtyard. If went up the stairs and onto the pavillions to see the sea of vermillion spreading across me, the view itself made coming here so worth it.

Excited for what else the night has in store, I made my way to another nearby temple, Gaoshi Tiangong. With two giant yellow pagodas flanking the entrance, it wasn't as huge as the first one, nor did it have hundreds of lanterns but the interior was still quite beautiful and ornate. I liked the circular gates and was able to capture uniquely framed shots with them of the dragon-painted lantern.

I was already thinking whether to go back to the hotel or not but I took one last look at Google Maps to see if there were still any areas of interest and saw Chiankim Banheng Temple which had an amazing painting of a dragon on its staircase. It was enough to convince me even though it was like a 20-minute walk away. Sure enough, when I got there, I got to see the impressive dragon for myself. There were also statues with red lanterns behind them, providing an interesting backdrop. The scent of the incense was so amazing, I almost wanted to take some home with me.

With three temples out of the way, it was finally time for me to head back to the hotel but Central Park was calling since it was on the way. I thought to just take a peek and that curiosity was well rewarded. They had some Christmas illuminations ongoing and passing through the tunnel of light was such an invigorating experience. The main square had a violinist playing Christmas song and a giant Christmas tree. Definitely a good detour.

On the way to the hotel, I stopped by FamilyMart to buy a bottle of water and saw that there was an altercation between a beggar and the staff. It was a bit alarming as he was quite mad perhaps because he was being asked to leave. He was just barefoot though I couldn't understand what he was so angry about. It was also interesting to see the proliferation of alkaline bottled water, something I've seen only in Taiwan so far. When I got back to my hotel, I realized that there were two bottles of water already prepared so it was unfortunate but hey, at least this bottle was bigger. I prepared for bed but realized that the noise could be heard from the hallway. Thankfully, my noise cancelling earbuds are always there to save the night.Read more