Taiwan Kaohsiung Trip Part 1: Fly to Kaohsiung with Tigerair Taiwan and “Dome of Light” at Formosa Boulevard Station

[Introduction]

I traveled to Kaohsiung, the second largest city in Taiwan for five days and four nights in the middle of September. I was impressed by Taiwan when I visited Taipei at the end of April, and I revisited Taiwan in less than a half year. I had some difficulties in gathering information compared to Taipei, but I found there were lots of things to do in Kaohsiung as well. In this article, I will write about the flight to Kaohsiung with Tigerair Taiwan and “Dome of Light” at Formosa Boulevard station as part of Day 1.

[Visit Places (series of articles)]
* Day 1: Formosa Boulevard Station [This article]
* Day 1: 85 Sky Tower and Singuang Ferry Wharf
* Day 1: Singuang Ferry Wharf (Light-up) and Liuhe Night Market
* Day 2: Cijin island
* Day 2: Former British Consulate and Shoushan LOVE Valentine’s Lookout
* Day 2: Pier-2 Art Center
* Day 2: Love River (Light-up)
* Day 3: Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum
* Day 3: Lotus Pond
* Day 3: Taroko Park (Light-up)
* Day 4: Taiwan Sugar Museum
* Day 4: Central Park Station (Light-up)
* Day 4-5: Formosa Boulevard Station (Lighting Show) & Return Home

[Travel Date]
2017.09.15-19

[Main Part]

It has been three weeks since I posted the previous article about Okinawa trip and now I will start a new series.

Following the trip to Taipei in April, I traveled to Kaohsiung, the second largest city in Taiwan. The Taipei trip was comfortable to me and at that moment, I decided to visit Kaohsiung next time.

Go to Narita Airport

First, I moved to Narita airport by Narita Express.

I had a quick bite in the train for breakfast.

I arrived at Narita airport.

As for direct flights between Narita and Kaohsiung, both mega carries (Japan Airlines,China Airlines and EVA Air) and LCC (Vanilla Air and Tigerair Taiwan) operates their flights. Among them, I chose Tigerair Taiwan, considering its flight schedule.

After passing the passport control, I tool several snap photos.

There was a free space, “SKY LOUNGE WA”.

Fly to Kaohsiung with Tigerair Taiwan Flight 281

I left for Kaohsiung with Tigerair Taiwan Flight 281.

I paid extra fee to secure an exit seat.

I also paid for a meal.

I ordered a set meal (fried beef with spring onion and fried rice, apple juice and mixed nuts and rice cracker).

Arrive at Kaohsiung International Airport

I arrived at Kaohsiung International Airport.

Snaps in the airport.

Same as the previous Taipei trip (see the article), I submitted the arrival card online in advance and passed the immigration.

I moved from Kaohsiung International Airport to the downtown area by taxi.

Check in Just Sleep Kaohsiung Station

I reached Just Sleep Kaohsiung Station, in which I stayed for the trip.

Hotel lobby.

Here is my room.

In Kaohsiung city, two MRT lines are operating –  Red Line (running north and south) and Orange Line (running east and west). They intersect at Formosa Boulevard station, so I researched a hotel around Formosa Boulevard station and chose Just Sleep Kaohsiung Station, considering reputation and rate.

Go to Formosa Boulevard Station

After I checked in Just Sleep Kaohsiung Station, I started to walk around Kaohsiung city. To begin with, I moved to Formosa Boulevard station. Here are some snaps on the way to the station.

Formosa Boulevard station came into view.

“Dome of Light” at Formosa Boulevard Station

There was an art work “Dome of Light” at Formosa Boulevard station and the station was featured in CNN’s “17 of the world’s nicest, brightest metro stations”. Actually, when I knew “Dome of Light” for the first time through a guidebook, I decided to visit Kaohsiung.

Here are some photos of “Dome of Light”.

Apart from “Dome of Light”, lighting shows are held three times every day. I watched it on the fourth day evening and I will write about it in another article.

Then, I will move to 85 Sky Tower by MRT.

In Kaohsiung, there is an IC card “iPass”. Also, “Easy Card”, which is another IC card used in Taipei, is able to be used. I have kept “Easy Card” since the previous trip to Taipei, so I used “Easy Card” in Kaohsiung as well.

[Closing]

That’s it for the article about the flight to Kaohsiung with Tigerair Taiwan and “Dome of Light” at Formosa Boulevard Station as part of Day 1 of my Taiwan Kaohsiung trip.

Regarding the flight to Kaohsiung with Tigerair Taiwan, I found it was OK as a whole. As I paid extra fee to secure an exit seat, the price was almost same with that of flagship careers, but the seat was anteroposteriorly wider than normal economy seats. In addition, personally I thought the meal of Tigerair Taiwan was more delicious compared with those of economy class in mega careers.

As for Formosa Boulevard station, “Dome of Light” with two large pillars and 4,500 glass panels was so gorgeous. “Dome of Light” was located outside the ticket gate, and I believe it was worth seeing even if tourists need to stop over 🙂

In the next article, I will write about 85 Sky Tower and Singuang Ferry Wharf as part of Day 1.

[Map]

1 Kaohsiung International Airpot
2 Just Sleep Kaohsiung Station
3 Formosa Boulevard Station

[Related Link]
Kaohsiung Travel
Narita International Airport
Tigerair Taiwan
Just Sleep Kaohsiung Station

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