[TW; 2015] Solo Backpack Series | Part 6 - Kaohsiung
DAY5
After a long discussion with the accommodation owner the previous night, it seemed that taking the train is the best option to reach kaohsiung.
Reached Kaohsiung after a long ride! I wanted to stopover at Pingtung Station to visit Ms C but I wasn't sure where is her cafe located, and I regretted not to visit her, as her cafe's foods seems to be good!
Kaohsiung is rather easy to navigate around. As the hostel, Ahiruyah Guest House, is just one metro stop away from the train station, and the thought of going up&down the escalator and etc was so troublesome, I decided to walk to the hostel instead.
Asked for some simple direction from the train station staff to make sure I am not reading the map wrongly; instead she was doubting on my intentions of walking over and not taking the metro. Hahaha, anyway it was just a 15-20mins walk.
Some pictures of the hostel taken when I came back at night.
I would highly recommend this hostel, I realised it was just a stone away from Liuhe Night Market and 7-11 is on the ground floor. (I booked the accommodation solely because it was operated by a Japanese, and I did not even look at the location!)
2. Ahiruyah Guest House > Formosa Boulevard Station
The hostel was located at EXIT10 of the station, and I'm meeting my friend who was having her exchange in Kaohsiung, shall name her Ms E, and her roomie at EXIT1!
Did some last minute research on nice food around the station while waiting for them. And we came to a conclusion over at LINE to have our lunch at some stalls located directly at EXIT 1.
The foods over that weren't that bad! Popular dishes are Dumplings, Chicken Rice, Spring Wraps and Mushroom Chicken Soup （種子、雞肉飯、春捲、香菇雞肉湯）!
3. Formosa Boulevard Station > Nanhua Street
Ms E did some homework and showed me this Nanhua Street located near Formosa Boulevard Station. Although Ms E has been living in Kaohsiung for 1-2months, but she doesn't know the location, so me as a tourist had to read the map and be the guide.
She read somewhere that claimed the clothes over there were fashionable and cheap. Shall not comment on the fashionable statement but I don't think it is cheap hah, average street clothes pricing I would say.
And at night this street will turn into a night market - Nanhua Tourist Night Market. So anyone who needs a second round of night market shopping/eating after Liuhe Night Market can consider coming over. I believe it will not be so "touristy" like Liuhe. According to the official website, it claims that "Due to its close proximity to Liuhe Night Market vendors have the slogan "Eat at Liuhe, but dress at Nanhua!"" Sounds cool?
4. Nanhua Street > Dream Mall > Ruifeng Night Market
Metro-ed to the shutter bus going to Dream Mall. I went Dream Mall several times so for further instructions on how to go and etc, please refer to:
I preferred Ruifeng NM over Liuhe NM; IMO Liuhe NM is too touristy.
5. Ruifeng Night Market > Ahiruyah Guest House
As I will be meeting Ms E and her roomie the next day, so we decided to end the day early to get ample rest and energy. (Actually.. to do more last minute homework for the next day trip!)
I went back Ahiruyah and picked up my bag from the counter, the friendly staff did a guide tour around the hostel explaining to me the facilities and etc. And I love the place so much!
Around 75% who lived in the hostel were Japanese, and 15% Taiwanese, 10% of others. I have to compliment, Japanese girls were very polite and tidy. In the bathroom, they will smile sweetly at me and some would say "hello", and they don't mess up the common areas.
Long story of my hostel experience ahead!
After having a bathe, I decided to do some laundry, and I got "搭訕"/stopped by a Japanese uncle, shall name him Mr F. And he started speaking to me in Japanese with a Kaohsiung map... but I'm totally clueless with Japanese. (I only know "Thank You", "Hello" and "Cute" hahaha) So he started speaking me in broken Mandarin, but I'm still clueless, all I can understand was he was looking for golf clubs. Then came along a Korean girl, shall name her Ms G, who treated me a biscuit over at the counter an hour ago. (She's a Korean who studied in China for 10 years and now studying at an University in Japan, so she is super fluent in 3 languages!) So Mr F shared his life-stories and Ms G translated. Sometimes Mr F spoke in Korean and I can understand abit of it, and I replied back in simple Korean. (I guess this is the pros of knowing different languages?)
I really admire Mr F courage to leave Japan and solo travel around Taiwan for 40days at the age of 68 years old! And not forgetting his determination to master Mandarin, also able to speak Korean so fluently despite just mastering it!
But Ms G had to meet her friends at Liuhe Night Market so she left around 10+pm. When I thought my conversation with Mr F would come to an end, a dad&son Taiwanese and a group of 3 Japanese uni graduates joined us. So we were like having a culture-sharing session in the kitchen when the rest of the people in the hostel was preparing to/in their sleep.
The 3 Japanese graduates bought Taiwanese beer from the counter and treated everyone! I don't like to drink but since everyone was in good spirits, so out of courtesy I accepted the beer. And they got chips and Mr F got his seaweeds to share with everyone. One of my best night in the 19 days trip I would say!
Disclaimer: I do not promote drinking with strangers. Please do a self gauge, especially females traveling alone!
Route Info: Fangliao Train Station > Kaohsiung Train Station > Ahiruyah Guest House > Nanhua Street > Dream Mall > Ruifeng Night Market1. Fangliao Train Station > Kaohsiung Train Station > Ahiruyah Guest House
(枋寮 > 高雄 > 鴨家青年旅館 > 南華街 > 統一夢時代購物中心 > 瑞豐夜市)
After a long discussion with the accommodation owner the previous night, it seemed that taking the train is the best option to reach kaohsiung.
Fangliao to Kaohsiung, NT$89, 1hr 50mins, http://www.railway.gov.tw
Reached Kaohsiung after a long ride! I wanted to stopover at Pingtung Station to visit Ms C but I wasn't sure where is her cafe located, and I regretted not to visit her, as her cafe's foods seems to be good!
Kaohsiung is rather easy to navigate around. As the hostel, Ahiruyah Guest House, is just one metro stop away from the train station, and the thought of going up&down the escalator and etc was so troublesome, I decided to walk to the hostel instead.
Asked for some simple direction from the train station staff to make sure I am not reading the map wrongly; instead she was doubting on my intentions of walking over and not taking the metro. Hahaha, anyway it was just a 15-20mins walk.
Ahiruyah 鴨家青年旅館, 高雄市六合一路158號5FI booked this accommodation through Agoda, not because it was cheaper or having promotions, just that when I wanted to book directly, the staff wanted me to reveal my debit card number through email/phone to reserve the bed. I felt it was very unsafe to do this, so booked through 3rd party site instead, and I got a 7% discount for using POSB/DBS card.
SGD$30.91(NT$660)/night/bed, http://ahiruyah.com/
POSB/DBS 7% discount, Agoda, http://www.agoda.com/promotion/dbs.htmlAs I arrived an hour before the 3pm check-in time, so I can only place my bag at the counter. This hostel was operated by a Japanese, and I have this conception that Japanese keeps things neat and tidy. And it was quite true; I was quite impressed when I saw the staffs diligently wiping and cleaning every corner of the hostel!
Some pictures of the hostel taken when I came back at night.
I would highly recommend this hostel, I realised it was just a stone away from Liuhe Night Market and 7-11 is on the ground floor. (I booked the accommodation solely because it was operated by a Japanese, and I did not even look at the location!)
2. Ahiruyah Guest House > Formosa Boulevard Station
The hostel was located at EXIT10 of the station, and I'm meeting my friend who was having her exchange in Kaohsiung, shall name her Ms E, and her roomie at EXIT1!
Did some last minute research on nice food around the station while waiting for them. And we came to a conclusion over at LINE to have our lunch at some stalls located directly at EXIT 1.
The foods over that weren't that bad! Popular dishes are Dumplings, Chicken Rice, Spring Wraps and Mushroom Chicken Soup （種子、雞肉飯、春捲、香菇雞肉湯）!
3. Formosa Boulevard Station > Nanhua Street
Ms E did some homework and showed me this Nanhua Street located near Formosa Boulevard Station. Although Ms E has been living in Kaohsiung for 1-2months, but she doesn't know the location, so me as a tourist had to read the map and be the guide.
She read somewhere that claimed the clothes over there were fashionable and cheap. Shall not comment on the fashionable statement but I don't think it is cheap hah, average street clothes pricing I would say.
And at night this street will turn into a night market - Nanhua Tourist Night Market. So anyone who needs a second round of night market shopping/eating after Liuhe Night Market can consider coming over. I believe it will not be so "touristy" like Liuhe. According to the official website, it claims that "Due to its close proximity to Liuhe Night Market vendors have the slogan "Eat at Liuhe, but dress at Nanhua!"" Sounds cool?
4. Nanhua Street > Dream Mall > Ruifeng Night Market
Metro-ed to the shutter bus going to Dream Mall. I went Dream Mall several times so for further instructions on how to go and etc, please refer to:
- [TW] Kaohsiung 2011 (Refer to Day 3)
- [TW] CNY Kaohsiung 2013 (Refer to Day 3)
^^BBQ-ed salted prawns NT$300
^^Duck Wraps
^^BBQ Chicken on stick
^^BBQ Chicken stuffed with rice
I preferred Ruifeng NM over Liuhe NM; IMO Liuhe NM is too touristy.
5. Ruifeng Night Market > Ahiruyah Guest House
As I will be meeting Ms E and her roomie the next day, so we decided to end the day early to get ample rest and energy. (Actually.. to do more last minute homework for the next day trip!)
I went back Ahiruyah and picked up my bag from the counter, the friendly staff did a guide tour around the hostel explaining to me the facilities and etc. And I love the place so much!
Around 75% who lived in the hostel were Japanese, and 15% Taiwanese, 10% of others. I have to compliment, Japanese girls were very polite and tidy. In the bathroom, they will smile sweetly at me and some would say "hello", and they don't mess up the common areas.
Long story of my hostel experience ahead!
After having a bathe, I decided to do some laundry, and I got "搭訕"/stopped by a Japanese uncle, shall name him Mr F. And he started speaking to me in Japanese with a Kaohsiung map... but I'm totally clueless with Japanese. (I only know "Thank You", "Hello" and "Cute" hahaha) So he started speaking me in broken Mandarin, but I'm still clueless, all I can understand was he was looking for golf clubs. Then came along a Korean girl, shall name her Ms G, who treated me a biscuit over at the counter an hour ago. (She's a Korean who studied in China for 10 years and now studying at an University in Japan, so she is super fluent in 3 languages!) So Mr F shared his life-stories and Ms G translated. Sometimes Mr F spoke in Korean and I can understand abit of it, and I replied back in simple Korean. (I guess this is the pros of knowing different languages?)
I really admire Mr F courage to leave Japan and solo travel around Taiwan for 40days at the age of 68 years old! And not forgetting his determination to master Mandarin, also able to speak Korean so fluently despite just mastering it!
But Ms G had to meet her friends at Liuhe Night Market so she left around 10+pm. When I thought my conversation with Mr F would come to an end, a dad&son Taiwanese and a group of 3 Japanese uni graduates joined us. So we were like having a culture-sharing session in the kitchen when the rest of the people in the hostel was preparing to/in their sleep.
The 3 Japanese graduates bought Taiwanese beer from the counter and treated everyone! I don't like to drink but since everyone was in good spirits, so out of courtesy I accepted the beer. And they got chips and Mr F got his seaweeds to share with everyone. One of my best night in the 19 days trip I would say!
Disclaimer: I do not promote drinking with strangers. Please do a self gauge, especially females traveling alone!
So everyone had their own story to share despite the language barrier; hiking in China, introducing Singapore, flowers in Japan, solo travel philosophy, clubbing dance movements (LOL) etc.. Busy midnight with full of laughers; trying to understand body languages, drawings and broken Mandarin/English!
I'm so fortunate to be the only female among the guys hahaha! And one day I shall travel to Japan to see whether those Japanese guys will bring me out to sightseeing as promised!
I quite a shy person towards people I am unfamiliar / uncomfortable with. But that night when I went back to my dorm and saw the other travelers fast asleep, I realised I may be shy to protect myself, but I am actually quite courageous to step out and mingle around with completely strangers, allowing myself to experience the exciting portion of being a solo traveler. At that point of the trip, I've no regrets traveling alone. So glad Mr F stopped me at the kitchen that night. I guess everything is fated. (':
And I officially love hostels stay now~
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