Dome of Light (光之穹頂) @ Kaohsiung City in Taiwan

Many people told me that Kaohsiung City in Taiwan is not worth a three-night stay (I did anyway and was clamoring for more) since there weren't that many attractions.

One of those attractions was the Dome of Light (光之穹頂); said to be the "world's largest public art installation made from individual pieces of colored glass". And it was stunningly massive with a 30-meter diameter! 

It's like looking at a colorful universe as a teeny-weeny being; many adults staring at the "sky" seemed to transform into kids marveling at something breathtaking above them. Created by artist Narcissus Quagliata, the Dome tells the story of human life with four themes.

"Water: The Womb of Life; Earth: Prosperity and Growth; Light: The Creative Spirit; and Fire: Destruction and Rebirth". I was gearing to know more but the hungry stomach beckoned us to proceed to the nearby Liuhe Night Market for dinner! 

By the time we returned at 9.08pm, lights had dimmed, the colors had faded. From the expressions of those who were there,  I am not the only who was disappointed! According to Google Maps, operating hours ended at only midnight. Wait, is that the ending hour for the MRT station instead?! 

Well, the lack of that spectacular combination of glass, lights and paint didn't stop youngsters from making use of the space to take videos for their social media account. Gosh, I am getting old as I did realize many youngsters are doing that! 

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Address

115, B1, Zhongshan 1st Road,

Sinsing District, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

(within Formosa Boulevard MRT Station)

Map

As above.

Click HERE for 11 Days, 10 Nights Taiwan Trip: Summarised Itinerary for Chiayi Alishan (嘉义阿里山) - Kaohsiung (高雄) - Tainan (台南) - Taichung (臺中)

Private Limousine Transport from Sapa to Hanoi

There were a few options from / to Sapa to / from Hanoi, including sleeper bus, sleeper train (which we took from Hanoi to Sapa) etc. Given the essence of time, we decided to splurge on a private transport back to the capital city of Vietnam! 

Arranged with Hanoi Tirant Hotel for a limousine mini passenger van at a cost of S$321.00; averaging about S$54.00 a person. Best things about a private transport; it's a direct pickup from our hotel in Sapa, Aliana Boutique Sapa Hotel & Spa, and we had the whole vehicle for ourselves! 

Look at how comfortable the chairs were! One for each person, spacious, plushy and decked out with posh leather (I think) finish. Almost like a throne for each of us.

Plenty of space for shorties like me.

Came with Wi-Fi which seemed spotty, and even a USB charging port! While expensive, I personally think the pricing we paid for was worth it, for thee five hours long ride over 300 kilometers! 

Let's load up our luggage at the back of the vehicle! 

Started drizzling and we were on our way out of the mountainous terrain of Sapa! It was a 3-day trip and yet it felt extremely short; we didn't even manage to check out most of the attractions! Only checked Sun World Fansipan Legend and Cat Cat Village! Five days it shall be next time.

Views along the way. Problem started around halfway through journey, along CT.05 Expressway, also known as the Hanoi–Lao Cai Expressway; I needed to pee so badly, I almost had to tie my penis with a rubber band!! It got so bad; the driver was literally speeding towards the next rest station! 

Trust me, this was an agonizing three minutes! 

Trạm Dừng Nghỉ 117+ 500 Rest Station; not sure if this was the correct name. Picture was taken after I was done peeing! Immediately after the door opened, I sprinted to the toilet, ignored the request for payment to use the toilet, and took a long, relaxing piss! Of course I paid after that, although I thought it was funny to pay for toilet usage on an official rest station along an expressway! 

As with most rest stations, there were souvenirs to buy but many readers who follow me throughout the years would know I am a stickler for samplings; no samples, no buy. And I am also worried of being scammed. 

I did get drawn to these beautiful knives though! On second thought, I wonder if the Singapore immigration would allow. I just checked and it's okay so long the knife is in your checked in baggage!

On our way again.

And I made sure not to drink too much water.

Bypassed a cemetery! 

The Lô River, which originates from Yunnan province in China and said to be a major river in Vietnam that's 470 kilometres long! Location: within Phú Thọ province.

You know you are reaching Hanoi when the landscape changes from mainly agricultural to more and more buildings. Thank god I didn't feel the urge to pee, not yet.

Oh...  I didn't know Hanoi is the City of Peace,

Always thought it's the City of Lakes.

First Picture: Nhật Tân Bridge with its iconic five spans! 

Second Picture: Red River, famous waterway bordering Hanoi . 

Third Picture: officially in Hanoi !

Back to the bustle, the crowd, the pollution! 

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Click here for my summarized itinerary of my 3 days trip to Sapa

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

<<< Day One

Detailed Postings for the Day

• Bus No 7322 to Alishan 
• Dafeng Villa (大峯山莊) 
• Alishan Walking Trails
• Li Lai Fried Food (協力旺炸雞)

Woke up to a nice weather of just 13 degree celcius and it's time for us to check out of Mega Hotel after jogging in the gym and having the complimentary breakfast set! Onwards to our next destination, which was in fact the main reason for the Taiwan trip! 

Anyone knows what is the above? From the picture, it's known as freedom bell and installed by Lions International. However, I couldn't find any information online about its purpose and history.

Chiayi Railway Station - built in 1896, its current design stretched back to 1933. Aside from serving the typical trains by Taiwan Railway, this station was also the start point for the Alishan Forest Railway that I really wanted to try taking! 

Tickets were quickly sold out online and I was trying my luck at the walk-in counters; praying hard that two extra tickets were miraculously released by passengers who suddenly couldn't make it. 

Sadly, still sold out. Nonetheless, sharing the train information panel including ticket pricing, train timings etc for your reference. p.s. half fare are for kids.

Photographs taken at the station. Since we can't secure the train tickets, we would have to defer to plan b; making use of the bus tickets I purchased a few weeks ago, to proceed with our trip up Alishan! 

Still have about twenty minutes to go.

Found this underground passage that housed homeless people. It's a strange passage as it didn't serve any purpose of convenience; for example, ease of crossing a busy road. Maybe it's used as a shelter for air raids? 

Share this with friends who are named Alex.

Onboard Bus No 7322 and above were the breathtaking views as the bus trudged up the mountains. For someone who couldn't sleep on the bus, it sure wasn't boring for me. Click here for more information.

The bus arrived at Alishan National Forest Recreation Area after 2 hours and 35 minutes, including a 10-minute toilet break. Do note that there was an admission fee of NT$150 per person. We were so "lucky"; it was drizzling, with fuzzy raindrops that almost looked like snow falling from the sky.

Temperature was a low 10 degrees celcius, and we couldn't help but get a hot bowl of oden from the convenience store to share! Realizing our tummies were still hungry, and cold; we got instant cup noodles too! 

Braving the irritating rain, and nursing a fall from running too fast, we finally arrived at our second hotel in Taiwan; the newly renovated Dafeng Villa (大峯山莊)! Thanks to the nice and friendly counter staff who saw that we were wet, we secured an early check-in! 

Rain finally stopped and we could finally get out of our hotel room. Not that the room at Dafeng Villa wasn't cozy, but I am not going to stay in a hotel room all day when I am overseas! 

Bringing Alex to the world's highest 7-11 convenience store; located at Alishan, this particular shop is at an above sea level of 2,200 meters! No, our objective wasn't due to the record of being the highest 7-11 convenience store.

Alex wanted another bowl of oden! Trust me, this was our to-go meal whenever the weather got a little too chilly in Taiwan! The taste of the soup appealed to us and there's always a variety of ingredients that we can choose from. Furthermore, it warmed our tummies! 

Exploring Alishan Walking Trails before the rain started hitting us; resulting in us cutting short the journey. :( The good thing is that Alex was super impressed with Alishan, and I can't imagine how he would have felt if the rain didn't stop us from continuing towards the Giant Tree Plank trail.

Hunger beckoned again and we found ourselves at Na No Ma Fe Building, next to the main carpark of Alishan National Forest Recreation Area, where there were a number of food stalls! My aim was for the deep fried stuff from Li Lai Fried Food (協力旺炸雞), including the chicken cutlet! 

Exploring the commercial 'district' of Alishan National Forest Recreation Area at night. Retracing my visit a year ago in 2024, I also had a cup of the dark sugar ginger tea at the same store! 

Temperature dropped to a low 7 degrees celcius! I should be happy that it's not windy as I absolutely had no intention to experience what we went through in Sapa just a month earlier! 

Alishan Post Office - highest post office in Taiwan that was established in 1907. I have never actually seen it open but it's due to the operating hours; closed on weekends, and only open till 4.30pm on weekdays. 

Given the cold, and the rain, the whole place got increasingly misty. 

Back in our room at Dafeng Villa, where I am enjoying my can of Taiwan beer with a pack of Chinese chestnuts. Such was the life of relaxation, before we retired for the night. 

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Click HERE for 11 Days, 10 Nights Taiwan Trip: Summarised Itinerary for Chiayi Alishan (嘉义阿里山) - Kaohsiung (高雄) - Tainan (台南) - Taichung (臺中)