Entree Kibbles

Sunday, February 08, 2026

Day Seven of the 11 Days, 10 Nights Taiwan Trip 2025

<<< Day Six

Detailed Postings for the Day

I would have loved to stay longer at Kaohsiung City but with just one night in Tainan City, we thought it would be beneficial to arrive earlier for better time management in Taiwan's oldest city! Hence, hitting the road at 9am after checking out of Chateau de Chine Hotel.

There's much more to explore in Kaohsiung and our 3-night stay was sorely insufficient! For example, what's the history behind the above "qiwen gate" which was built during the Qing Dynasty?

Historical wall of Fongshan Old City.

I briefly touched on it, on Day Six.

A tree taking over a building; a freak scene that speaks volume on the strength of mother nature! It's actually philosophical as well, begetting the question "would nature autocorrect after the demise of the human race?"

Climbing up the Turtle Mountain for the helicopter view of Lotus Pond, a major tourist attraction for many travellers to Kaohsiung City, where temples, pavilions, pagodas and gigantic statues captivate.

Given our limited time, I didn't even manage to check out the statue of Xuantian God!

Sun was too glaring for us though; our visit was purposely timed to be the winter season of Taiwan but I kid you not. The weather in January at Kaohsiung can be sweltering!

A painting workshop.

We don't have such things in Singapore right?

Cycling route; there's a robust cycling culture in Taiwan and some visitors would attempt circling along the eastern part of the island. Should I do the same thing too? It would have been liberating, although tiring as well.

While there were plenty to do and visit at Lotus Pond, a high percentage of visitors would just concentrate on the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas (龍虎塔)!

It's just too "traumatic" to go in from the massive mouth of one, to exit from mouth of another! The problem was, the two pagodas were closed for renovation. :(

Checking out Chiji Temple (左營城邑慈濟宮).

p.s. we needed to use the toilet.

Walking along the road, in the hot sun, towards the direction of another impressive temple that had a history spanning over a hundred years; Zuoying Chiming Temple (左營啟明堂).

Our intention, however, was to visit the Spring and Autumn Pavilions (春秋閣). Similar to the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas, there was a larger than life dragon sculpture that caught my attention.

And this time round, we managed to enter from the fang-filled cavity of the dragon, and exit from its ass! Do check out my post here for more photographs of the interior of the dragon!

Back to our rental car and finally exiting Kaohsiung.

ETC stands for Electronic Toll Collection and this explains why there's no toll station along the highways in Taiwan. It's similar to the ERP we have in Singapore, although it uses an "eTag sticker on the windshield for automatic, cashless toll payments".

Drive from Kaohsiung to Tainan didn't take us long; less than an hour via the national highway. Should time be on our time, I would be sure to take the state roads where we can explore the smaller towns not on the touristy map.

A dystopian building that I thought could only exist in anime!

Is it even structurally safe?!

Arrival at Tainan City.

Our intention was to have lunch first and the restaurant we were going to patronize was next to this extensive Chinese cemetery! I so wanted to go in but three things put me off; I am hungry, the weather was warm, and there were mosquitoes!

Food at Furong Eatery (芙蓉食堂) didn't disappoint and I can understand why it had been featured twice in two different food variety shows! Pity, there were just two of us; if not, I would have been able to order more dishes to try!

Within walking distance from Furong Eatery would be the historical precinct of Tainan City; now, that's actually something since Tainan is Taiwan's oldest city, with history going back to the 1600s! p.s. this restaurant with the long queue was A-Cai Beef Soup; not on my list since Alex is not keen on beef.

Proceeding to buy Preserved Fruits from 正合興蜜餞行, a request by a Taiwanese friend whom we would be meeting up the next day! His recommendation was good; even my mom was impressed by the preserved fruits I got from the store.

Street view for your reference; my intention was to check out Anping Old Street, and Google Map pointed me to this area. Turned out the old street was much narrower.

Damn, another white sugar cake stall.

I was so tempted yet, I was so full.

Aimlessly walking until we arrived at the foot of Anping Fort! Sadly, both Alex and I were not so much into spending hours in museums, preferring to stroll and soak in the environment instead. History matters, but how much we could remember after we return to Singapore would be a big question mark.

Ice cream stalls with a gaming element.

There's always a separate tummy for desserts.

So why didn't I go for a game?! Beats me.

A tidy yet messy garden.

Contradicting yet true.

How many squirrels did you spot?

Answer: there were three.

Finally, Anping Old Street (安平老街); where we had Anping Handmade Egg Roll (安平手工蛋捲), and bought some souvenirs from a Popcorn Store (豬飼料柑仔店). The name for the popcorn store was funny as it meant pig feed!

What surprised me more was that the popcorn store had another branch that was just a short distance from its Anping branch! Much bigger and spacious, with a lottery option that cost NT$80 per ticket, and guaranteed to win a prize!

Alex had endured too much walk.

Had to soothe his legs and mind with a cold beverage.

Back to the cemetery, where we got onto our rental car towards our choice of accommodation in Tainan City, for just one night! I regretted staying only one night as it was quite rushed for us!

Parked our car at the hotel's carpark!

Our hotel room at Princess & Elephant Hotel (P.E. Hotel); honestly, quite a small hotel and didn't have much amenities, although it still served us well for our one-night stay.

Well, temples were aplenty in Taiwan but this Bao An temple in the city centre, and near P.E. Hotel was said to have its origins from 1700s, and said to honor the white lotus holy mother, a goddess I have never heard of.

Not going to waste time!

Let's hit the streets!

Tainan was literally full of photo opportunities!

And it felt so artsy. p.s. not many tourists too.

An old school toy and snack shop but its main business was preserved fruits. Do you know that Tainan is famous for its preserved fruits; kind of apt given that it is an ancient city?

Random photographs taken along the way.

Our destination was another 170 meters away. Oh well, that's reasonable for someone who jogs about five kilometers everytime, and I love to walk!

Old school glasses shop!

Reached our destination; Shennong Street (神農街)! Said to be the most beautiful street in Tainan, there's a nicer vibe here than the much older Anping Old Street. p.s. had sweet potato balls from the nearby 金華特許加盟店.

包囍饅頭 - the thing that caught my attention was the size of the buns and prices were reasonable at less than S$2.00; some were less than S$1.00. Review score on Google Maps was 4.9 from almost 3,000 reviewers! Why didn't I buy one?!

More bustling here than Shennong Street.

The Spring (河樂廣場);a half demolished building converted into a community space. Again, like a scene from a dystopian period although Taiwan is known to be a beacon of free speech and democracy in Asia.

Orange juice from Mr Orange. Its other specialties were not orange related; chrysanthemum tea and old school peanut paste! Got an orange juice for NT$60; a good balance of sourness and sweetness, and seemingly healthy!

Known as Tainan's Asakusa Shopping Center, 淺草新天地 was a small, double storey, open-air mall that differed from the shopping centres we know in Singapore.

Surroundings seemed to be more popular though.

Of course, it was a Thursday we went.

This old looking yet refurbished building used to house the cloth market and due for re-opening back in January 2025. I guess it would have opened to much fanfare now.

Let's have Wang's Champion Rice Cakes (王家庄狀元粿)!

Continuing walking; poor Alex had to endure the almost endless walking from point to point. This last leg wouldn't take too long though since it's just about 800 meters away.

Most charming department store in the world.

Historical Hayashi Department Store (台南林百貨)！

Aside from being a department store with six floors of shopping that could have made me hooked for hours, there's also an authentic old-style dial elevator, and a Japanese shrine on the top floor! As this building had gone through world war, you can even find a stretch of damaged wall with bullet holes! Click here for more photographs!

Lanterns hung across the street bordering the Land Bank of Taiwan.

Decided to uber back to the hotel so that we can unload our shopping! Out again in no time as we shouldn't be wasting our time resting in the hotel, when the night was still young! The shop with queue was 保安路米糕; but I don't want glutinous rice for dinner!