Walk on the bridge

Chan Brothers Customised Taiwan Tour


This is part 3 of Taiwan Escapade. The rest of the entries can be found at the following link.
Part 1 : Chan Brothers Customised Holidays : Taiwan - Tashee Blooming Oasis, Swiss Garden
Part 2 : Ever Green Grassland- Sun Moon Lake- Wen Wu Temple- Sun Link Sea Resort



Day 5Attraction : Lotus Pond Lake 蓮池潭

After 5 days of arduous traveling through the hilly terrain of Taiwan , we finally reached Kaohsiung. Nested at the southern- western tip of Taiwan, it the largest municipality with the second most populous population in Taiwan . Reaching there also meant that we have travelled by bus the length of Taiwan from the northern Taipei to the southern Kaoshiung.

Dragon and Tiger Pagodas

It was a mean feat considering a tour group with kids from age 3 to adults age 70,
The drop off point was at the Lotus pond lake. This man made lake is a popular tourist destination on the east side of Zuoying. It is famous for numerous temples such as the Dragon and Tiger pagodas and the Spring and autumn pavilions.
Given the limited time, we only explore a few temples. Most notable was the Dragon and Tiger pagodas. They are a pair of seven stories tall pagodas with a Dragon and a tiger statue. It is said that entrance via temples should be made through the Dragon side and exit via the tiger side to turn bad luck to good fortune. Do not do the reverse otherwise your good fortunes may disappear!

Tiger and Dragon

Attraction : Qijing Seafood Street
It was a stop at yet another night market. This time we stopped over at Qijing Seafood street to have a taste of Taiwanese seafood. The offerings was delectable with scores of seafood ranging from huge prawns to crabs to lobsters.This place would be a hit for seafood lovers.

Taiwanese seafood

Accomodation : Eda Skylark Hotel

Eda Skylark hotel

The accommodation in the evening was Eda Skylark Hotel.

Hugs

This was the biggest hotel we had stayed in Taiwan. Each room comes with 3 super single beds, a living room are and acres of space to ran about.
Since the night was still young, we decide to venture to Eda outlet mall located next door for a little retail therapy .

Eda mall

The mall has a host of international names such as Coach, Armani , RL. Prices are not as cheap compared to a US outlet mall. However the place is huge and relatively empty, so you do need time to do your rounds to get a good deal there.

Eda outlet mall

After an exhausting walk, it is time to head back and rest for a day of fun ahead!
Day 6 Attraction : Eda Theme Park 義大遊樂世界

Eda theme park

For this part of the tour, we call it kids time. This is where we are the boss of the tour for once. No more long bus rides or visiting scenic areas that we would probably forget in a day's time. It is time for fun aka Eda theme park!

In case you do not know, Taiwan has a lot of local theme parks to be discovered. The more popular ones are Leofoo Village theme parks and Formsa Fun Coast.

Thrilling rides.

Eda is a smallish theme park base in Dashu, Kaohsiung. Billed as a family attractions, it has rides for both young ones and adults.
The best part of this theme park are the rides suitable for younger ones. They have a whole building filled with rides and games suitable for ages 3 upwards.
Alongside the usual carousels and kiddy rides, there is also a mini version of the famous pirates ship and a mini water splash rides. This is the first time we had experienced such trills and we love it!It is a great way to introduce young ones to the 'scarier' amusement rides - mini style !

Pirates

We spend a good 3 hours in this Greek inspired mini theme park. There are a few notable adults ride but we decides to skip it.Given how much fun we had at the theme park, we were contemplating if we should do a theme park tour for our next visit to Taiwan.

Little Greece

After the theme park, we are off to pluck some tea leaves.

Tea leaves,

Actually this is one of the compulsory shopping trip we need to make. We have to make at least 5 such trips during the tour. Basically we were huddle to a room for a sales pitch and was expected to purchase some products.

It was a little too much for the trips. We may have actually spend longer time at these unnecessary shopping trips than compared to other attractions. So much so, the tour guide had explicitly said this is a shopping tour. We guess these stops are there so that the overall cost of the trip could be lowered... Even tough this was touted to be a customized trip.
Nonetheless we did bought some tea as we were looking for tea leaves from Taiwan. Guess some shopping trip has its value.
Accommodation : Inn One City Inn

In one hotel

Our Accommodation for the night was In one Hotel located in Tai Chung.

In one hotel

It looks like a budget hotel from the outside but it does feature some funky furniture and settings. Each room comes with different themes and we had the cloudy room for the night.

Cloudy room

Attraction : Feng Jia Night Market 逢甲夜市
Nearby within 5 minutes of the hotel is another night market. Fengjia night market is touted as Taiwan largest night market and is located next Feng Chia university.

This is our 3rd and final night market for the trip. Night markets are a must visit in Taiwan. With the wide variety of food ( some only found in Taiwan) , this vibrant night activity is one that you should experience to savour the flavour of Taiwan.

It is back to our starting point next... Taipei. Ready or not, here we come!

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