Taiwan2011 Day 2 - 151211

Day 2 - Kaohsiung > Fo Guang Shan > Meinong > Kaohsiung > Taichung

0600Hrs - We woke up early so that we could board the 0755Hrs bus.

This is the bus interchange.

From Kaohsiung Main Station MRT exit, turn left. There is also a bus interchange if you turn right but the buses there only round the city of Kaohsiung.  The bus interchange at the left fetches you to further places like Fo Guang Shan and Mei Nong Hakka Cultural Village.

NT$80 per ticket

We took Bus 8010/8011.  You can actually go straight to the counter and say you wanna a ticket to Fo Guang Shan and they will sell you the next seat.

 Not very well conditioned!

The bus was empty but later it will be full of people going towards Fo Guang Shan!

The good thing about Kaohsiung bus is that the driver will wait for the elderly passengers to sit down before starting off.  This is something Singapore bus drivers should learn from Kaohsiung bus drivers!






0900Hrs - We reached Fo Guang Shan

Map of Fo Guang Shan

 It is very hard to get lost in Fo Guang Shan.  There are alot of these maps around.

 There are alot of these golden Buddha statues at the Da Cheng Dian.

Da Xiong Bao Dian

 This is the Main Hall of Fo Guang Shan.

 This is the newly-built Fo Guang Shan Memorial Hall.  It is next to the main Fo Guang Shan but you need to take a shuttle bus from FGS to the Memorial Hall.  When I first enter the Memorial Hall, it gives me a very peaceful feeling.  The whole building is too majestic.

Highly recommended for you guys to explore the whole of FGS for 1 day.

Pictures at FGS Memorial Hall.

1200Hrs - We left FGS and took a taxi to MeiNong Hakka Cultural Village for lunch and Lei Cha. 30mins drive.

Hakka Lei-Cha Village

Do u know how to Lei-Cha?

After mixing some ingredients, this is the end-product.  Special taste of a mixture of peanut, sesame and tea.

 Some of the snacks that the Hakka Lei-Cha Village sells. The highlight is the Fried Intestines at the top left and bottom right of the picture.

It is actually tomato.

               

 There is actually a restaurant selling Hakka dishes at the Meinong Cultural Village but it was full house and the boss was very rude to us.  Therefore we asked a farmer who lives there and he recommended us to walk further down to this shophouse.

Ban Tiao - plain noodles

Pig trotters - One of the best trotters I ever ate!

Dong Gua Feng - Very tasty vegetable and it is a must eat dish too!

Fried Ban Tiao - Fried noodles

1600Hrs - We left Ah Xiang Eatery and waited for the bus back to Kaohsiung.  The lady boss wanted to accompany us to wait for the bus but we refused.  The wait was around 30min and from time to time, the lady boss came out of her stall to check if we are okay waiting and standing at the bus stop! How nice of her! Eventually the bus came and we waved goodbye to the lady boss and return to Kaohsiung Main Station.

1800Hrs - We took the HSR to Taichung and reached 1 hour later.

1900Hrs - We met our cabbie Mr Zhan and the journey to Shui Yang Min Su at Sun Moon Lake is around an hour.  During the hour, Mr Zhan was very friendly and chatted with us for the whole journey and he drives very comfortably and safely. We think that he could be Jay Chou in the movie Yi Lu Xiang Bei, driving with a cup of water and not letting the water spill over!

2000Hrs - We checked in at Shui Yang Min Su and went out to have supper as we did not have our dinner.  However, most shops have closed and we went to 7-11 to settle our supper.  We also strolled around the area before returning to our hotel to sleep.