My officemates and I were supposed to book the HSR to Zuoying (Kaohsiung Station) at 6:30am, first ride out. Unfortunately, the early bird discount of 30% was already sold out then so we decided to take the 9:36am train and stayed at Yi An Ju (益安居) for the night. In case you want to stay in a cheap clean hostel, this is a good place. I'm not so sure if Mr. Huang speaks English, but you can try e-mailing him here: (hcs1205@yahoo.com.tw ). Actually, as of August 16, 2012 the Taoyuan Airport Terminal 1 is half reconstructed and there are benches where you can sleep, but paying 400 NTD /pax for an overnight stay with pick-up ride from the Airport is not bad than sleeping on the benches. You'll get a good night's rest and a bath in the morning, then continue your journey with fresh snaps and unoily T-zone. Also, an additional 400NTD for a taxi ride to Taoyuan HSR is much more convenient, so don't forget to tell Mr. Huang if you need one the next day!
Taoyuan HSR is 30 minutes away from Yi An Ju, while Yi An Ju is about 20 mins away from Taoyuan Airport. We left at 8:30AM and arrived around 9:00AM. I retrieved our prepaid tickets from the vending machine and bought breakfast from 7-11.
How to buy HSR tickets online to avail the 30% early bird promo?
Go to: HSR Online Ticket Purchase
Some tips on booking the online tickets:
-Book as early as 2-3 weeks before your trip to avail of the 30% discount, there are also discounts upto 10% so you need to book earlier. July-August are vacation months and September is start of school for Taiwan so the chance of getting an early bird discount of 30% is slimmer.
-If you're not yet familiar with the vending machine thing, go to the HSR an hour earlier so you can buy time figuring out the system. Do not forget to print out your confirmation email as you will need your passport no. and your confirmation no. to retrieve the tickets from the vending machine.
-If you're coming from Taipei Main Station, make sure you have ample time to walk and retrieve your tickets as TMS is a big station. The walk from the MRT to the HSR is quite far, but nearer if you are coming from the front lobby. :)
The Seven (Say-ven as the locals pronounce it)
Do not underestimate their 7-11. 7-11 is like a National Treasure. There you'll see lots of food of all kinds. There's the Mapo Tofu which I love (Rice meals), the Onigiri's (Get the 泡菜one- it's delicious), the Tea Eggs, the soup wherein you'll see lots of shrimp balls, pig's blood, wintermelon, tofu, etc (Just look at the pics below it and you'll know the price of each, there are two kinds of soup, the clear soup and the ma-la soup which is spicy), don't forget to buy the Xiao Long Bao in seal (湯包) It's just so wonderful you won't need to go to Din Tai Fung to eat them! Also, don't forget to try the dried squid with the label "Bento". By the way, you can always take these Onigiri's and Xiao Long Bao's home, just hand carry them. :)
Going back to our Kaohsiung trip, we took the 9:36am train and arrived at the station around 11:18. Perfect! We took the taxi because we had lots of luggage and it did cost us 230NTD split 4 ways. Before you take the MRT, check the fare table coz you might end up spending the same amount if you took the taxi instead. We stayed at Icon Hotel, a very cozy and artistic hotel which was where I stayed at last December 2011.
Icon hotel: http://www.iconhotel.com.tw/
Icon hotel is what they call a Boutique Hotel, you can choose from their unique selection of rooms. If you come in at 12:00p.m. they will just let you choose what's available, but if you waited until 3pm, you can choose whichever room is available. I've been wanting to see that 4-pax bedroom with slide 'coz I thought it'll be cool to have my pic taken there, I guess I expected too much lor~! haha~
We checked-in at around 12pm but the rooms are not yet ready so we went for lunch. There's a small resto just 2 blocks away from Icon Hotel (from the hotel's door, turn right then walk straight ahead until you see a 7-11). It's quite visible 'coz a lot of people are lining up. Tips in Taiwan, when there's a line, it should be good stuff! Ate that bento box by the right and it's just about 65NTD (It's a ricebox containing adobo egg, mapo tofu, fish fillet and vegetables). The one at the left was from 7-11, the oh so yummy Xiao Long Bao!
Went back to the hotel to check-in and ate our lunch there. Afterwards, we headed for the shuttle to E-Da Themepark.
Later on that night, I took a shot of the theme from from every floor but I think I missed out 1 floor... and I think it was our floor's theme. xD
E-Da Themepark
http://www.edathemepark.com.tw/Website/index.aspx
The official website's all written in Chinese. Apparently it's not yet accessible to foreigners so if you can speak and read Chinese, well, then... let's go! We'll try it the bahala na way and enjoy the Themepark while it's still new. :)
At the HSR, you will see a line of tables with staffs behind it. Find the one for E-Da Themepark (you will see a Little Twin Star look-a-like doll on the table). You can purchase your tickets there, it's ride all you can.
For adults it's 899NTD for the whole day, but if you plan to go in after 2:00pm, it's only 650NTD (limited until 9/2/2012). Since it's not Disneyland, I would suggest you guys to buy the 2:00pm tix only. It's a Themepark but it is NOT Disneyland. Don't expect too much out of it. Children below 110cm are free, for those with kids 120-150cm it's 599NTD.
Shuttle: When you buy your tickets, the staff will give you a ticket for free shuttle ride, just a friendly reminder that the ticket for free shuttle ride is only applicable when you ride from Zuoying Station (HSR). We weren't informed of this so we went to the nearest drop-off and waited for almost an hour because we were given the wrong direction, and when we gave our free ticket ride, the bus driver said that the tickets are valid if we ride from Zuoying. The bus driver was quite considerate and didn't charge us for full, instead, he just asked us to add 19NTD each. If you didn't alight from Zuoying Station's shuttle, one way bus ride for 30-45mins to E-da Theme Park is 58NTD.
The theme park has more activities for children, most especially their indoor rides. The outdoor rides are quite nerve-wrecking and not for the faint hearted ones, so beware! :)
After our E-da Theme Park Trip ended at 8:00pm, we strolled the Night Market at Liu He. Just get off at Formosa Boulevard Station and look for the Exit to Liu He Market. It's very accessible!
Alright, I'll be posting again my next few adventures in Kaohsiung in a separate blog. Didn't realize that just creating this blog post has lasted me for 4 hours. whew~
Next: Formosa Boulevard's Dome of Lights, Ikea and Dream Mall tour.
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