We met up with 小a at 11am where she gave us a free ride from Fo Guang Shan to Kaohsiung. Here she is driving a large brand new Honda.
We arrived at Nan Ping Bie Yuan (南屏别院) along Zhong Yan Road (忠言路). This is the main Fo Guang Shan branch in Kaohsiung City and it is here where we will be staying for the next 3 nights (20th - 23rd February).
The centre is 8 storey high and it is beautifully decorated for the Chinese New Year festive season. There is also a city university at the second floor and we noticed students studying at that level.
Let's take a peek at where we are staying. It is at the 3rd level. Here is the corridor leading to our rooms.
Just push the doors aside and you can see our beds. There are no keys and there is a ledge in there which allows you to secure the door when you are in there.
There were some major event going on in Nan Ping Bie Yuan and we participated in the Monday morning ceremony.
The nearest MRT station to Nan Ping Bie Yuan is Aozhidi Station (凹子底站). It was a lovely Saturday afternoon when we first arrived at the Aozhidi Station. Kaohsiung subway uses RFID chip as access cards. It is actually more efficient than Singapore's transport where visitors do not have to queue to get the refund back for the transport card.
North of Aozhidi is the Kaohsiung Arena (巨蛋站). There's a Hanshin shopping mall and an indoor stadium here.
Zuo Ying (左营) - 22nd February
We proceeded northwards towards Zuo Ying (左营) station. The main destination centred around the Lotus Lake (莲池潭) which is a 10mins walk from the subway station. There are also a lot of traditional taoist temples surrounding the lake.
We arrived at the Confucius Temple (孔子庙) - entrance below.
A brass sculpture depicting Confucius giving teachings to his disciples.
We approached the temple gate.
And arrived at the main hall. There are very few people around as it is a Monday (this is the first day of work for everyone). We found out that the compound is actually closed on Monday but we managed to push open a closed door and made our way in.
We walked further to the many other sights in the area.
A large heavenly deity.
Beautiful lotuses in the pond.
Dragon and pavilions; feels like Singapore's Haw Par Villa.
Left is the green dragon and right is the white tiger with 2 pavilions as the background.
Here I am climbing up the stairs. Noticed I am surburned due to the previous day visit to Kenting National Park.
From the top of the pavilion, we can see one of the many temples in the distant.
2009 World Games Park
YS suggested we visit the World Games Park which is a subway stop north. We alighted from the subway and walked towards the main street. There was a queue of people lining up for the public bus. We just hopped on and told the driver we are going to the World Games Park. It is actually a stop away (1min bus ride or 10mins walk).
The stadium reminds me of the Bird Nest stadium in Beijing.
There were a few people taking a walk round the stadium.
Beautiful fountain against the evening sky.
Here is how the interior of the stadium looks like. It is off-limits to visitors.
Thereafter we took the subway to Sanduo Shopping Area - the entry is continued in the Kaohsiung main post.
