Good morning, Koahsiung (but without the view of Kaohsiung. hehe)!
1. We had our breakfast at ground floor of the hotel's restaurant, which was provided by the Garden Villa Hotel, Kaohsiung.
There were a variety of decent spread for breakkie with Dumplings, fried rice, herbal egg, bread, sausage, ham, yogurt drinks and many more. The dining area was very spacious.
Ginger bread deco at the hotel
The porch area of the hotel entrance before we departed for Fo Guang Shan monastery.
2. We reached Fo Guang Shan before noon (known as Light of Buddha Mountain, one
of the largest temple complexes which looks like a mall: consisting of a food court area, shrines for the deities, memorial hall) located at the mountain area in Dashu District, Kaohsiung which is also known as the largest Buddhist monastery in Taiwan.
The entrance area to the temple complexes.
Our shadows :D
Our local Taiwan guide explaining to us about the map of the location.
Inside the temple complexes. We had to pass through the food court area before getting outside of it and reaching the memorial hall/ monastery area. If I were not mistaken, Starbucks is inside the complexes as well. ;)
The scenery area at the Fo Guang Shan, overlooking the huge Buddha statue.
The Light of the Buddha statue. Amitabha.
Climbed up to get an exclusive view of the huge statue.
Nature and its deco.
Statues of lion.
3. Then we went for our lunch @ a Taiwanese or Chinese styled restaurant at nearby the temple area (around 10- 15 min drive) with a pot of Tang
Yuen (glutinous rice flour balls in sweet soup) served to mark the Winter Solstice celebration (which is also celebrated across the world by the Chinese communities) on that day itself. Dongzhi (冬至) is pronounced in Mandarin language. It is the day when everyone in the family will get together to eat this glutinous rice flour balls which are round in shape and sweet in sugary soup (sweetness= represents happiness in life). It also marks that the Chinese communities who consumed this will be one year older and wiser. I read from one site that back in those traditional days, Winter Solctice marks the arrival of winter for the farmers and that they would celebrate their harvesting by going back home to their families.
Tang Yuen or Dongzhi sweet soup. Yayyy, I'm one year older and wiser now! :D
Boiled chicken and fried fish.
Stir fry cut tofu and stir fry kailan.
I would like to conclude that actually, after eating in a few of the Taiwanese restaurants, their cooking style are usually non-spicy. ;)
4. E-Da World Themepark connected to an outlet mall (we were left for ~2 hrs to play at the themepark) which is located at Dashu District, Kaohsiung. It was just a decent themepark, not too much of a variety of rides at there, as compared to HK's Disneyland and England's Alton Tower.
The exterior look of the themepark.
The themepark's map
Not sure what is it named but I tried that. It was going for a 360 degrees spin and on top of it, it has a mini 360 degrees within its carriage. My head was spinning as well. LOL~
But the view was simply amazing, overlooking Kaohsiung. ;)
The exterior look from the carpark.
The panorama view.
5. Next, we left for Taitung County before evening. On our way, we stopped by Pintung County (Southern Taiwan) rest area for a toilet break. There, we were told by the M'sian tour guide that the ice-cream was so good and so tried it. They have a couple of stalls selling fruits as well. I also bought their seaweed snacks to try. I did see similar kind of crispy seaweed with sesame seeds and etc. selling at our local Tesco now too, but with local brands of course.
Overlooking the local Kaohsiung bridge from the highway, when we were on our way to Taitung Country. Drought was spotted at almost everywhere in Taiwan. Supposed to be flooded with river water or sea water on the ground.
Seaside view of the Pacific Ocean. *almost sunset*
The fruit ice cream recommended by our local tour leader. The price was equivalent to a Grande ice blended from Starbucks. I felt cheated and it wasn't worth the money I spent.
It had mango cubes (bottom), cuts of dragonfruits, papaya, cornflakes and a scoop of ordinary vanilla ice cream>.<
TWD150 for the fruit ice cream.
Pintung County rest area.
Sunset overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It gives me hope in life :)
BBQ Taiwan sausage at TWD30/each bought at along our way at one of the rest house. *yum yum*
My main intention when traveling to Taiwan is to try their sausages as much as possible!
I love it!!! It is different than our normal (local or European sausages).
6. Alas, we've reached Taitung County area. The road trip to this hotel was dark, dangerous up on a mountainous area. On our way here, we opted to watch a ghost movie which was quite funny and scary at the same, accompanied with the total darkness environment on our way up had just blended into it.
Dinner at Zhiben Hotspring Rainbow Hotel's restaurant (Taiwanese style food again) =.=" haha
Dinner at Zhiben Hotspring Rainbow Hotel's restaurant (Taiwanese style food again) =.=" haha
Our view during dinner. Hotspring!!
Some spread of the food on our table of 10 ppl.
Exterior of Rainbow Hotel, Taitung County.
The map of the hotel area.
Surfing at the lobby area for free internet. haha
Table design.
Toy soldier!
Real bloody red flowers ;)
7. Overnight @ Zhiben Hot Springs Rainbow Hotel, Taitung County
Our decent room.
With the sofa chair.
The shower and toilet area. From far, it looks decent. However, their steel/ metal stuffs were mostly rusty and was told that it was due to the hotspring mineral water.
The water had this sulphur smell or also known as albumin eggy smell.
It is believed that soaking your body into this hotspring water is good, therefore I played inside the longtub for like a 10 min. :D
The amenities provided.
Good night Taitung and Hotspring!
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