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

高雄 美麗島駅 アイキャッチ画像

[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.Natira Express

I had a quick bite in the train for breakfast.一六タルト みきゃん

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.Natira Airport1

Natira Airport2

Natira Airport3

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

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Fly to Kaohsiung with Tigerair Taiwan Flight 281

I left for Kaohsiung with Tigerair Taiwan Flight 281.Natira Airport Tigerair Taiwan1

Natira Airport Tigerair Taiwan2

I paid extra fee to secure an exit seat.Tigerair Taiwan1

I also paid for a meal.Tigerair Taiwan 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.Kaohsiung International Airport1

Snaps in the airport.Kaohsiung International Airport2

Kaohsiung International Airport3

Kaohsiung International Airport4

Same as the previous Taipei trip (see the article), I submitted the arrival card online in advance and passed the immigration.Kaohsiung International Airport5

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.Just Sleep Kaohsiung Station1

Hotel lobby.Just Sleep Kaohsiung Station2

Here is my room.Just Sleep Kaohsiung Station3

Just Sleep Kaohsiung Station4

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.""

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Formosa Boulevard station came into view.""

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“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”.Kaohsiung Formosa Boulevard station1

Kaohsiung Formosa Boulevard station2

Kaohsiung Formosa Boulevard station3

Kaohsiung Formosa Boulevard station4

Kaohsiung Formosa Boulevard station5

Formosa Boulevard station 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.Easy Card(悠遊卡)

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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6 Comments

    1. 高雄人さん、コメントありがとうございます。高雄は写真映えするスポットがたくさんありますね。また機会があれば再訪したいと思います!

  1. Hi! I really love your article very detailed. Now I know how Im gonna plan my trip to kaoshiung. We’re planning to go to kaoshiung this Dec. Can you give me a tip on how we are gonna Go from one place to other. For example to Fo Guang Temple from kaoshiung How to Go there. Most of us are 70 yrs old but still kiking and alive. Ha ha!

    1. Hi Lucy, thank you for your comment.

      Basically, the subway of Kaohsiung (Kaohsiung MRT) is very useful, as most of the major tourists are located within walking distance of the subway stations. So, tourists can mainly use the subway for sightseeing. In particular, the Formosa Boulevard (美麗島) station is convenient, as two subway lines (the Red Line and the Orange Lines) are available.
      http://www.krtco.com.tw/en/StationGuide_map.aspx

      To go to Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum, which is a little bit far from the central area of Kaohsiung, I would recommend to use a bus from the Zuoying station of the Red Line. Two bus lines (“EdaBus” and “Harvard Express”) are available from the Zuoying station to Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum, and I used “EdaBus” in my case. For details, please see the following link.
      http://www.fgsbmc.org.tw/en/contact_us.aspx

      I hope my reply will be of some help. Anyway, please enjoy your Kaohsiung trip 🙂

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