ON our fourth day in Taiwan near the end of 2025, May-i and I joined the group of her sister Layana Patria Orozco Caldeo. To save money, they decided to do a DIY Kaohsiung tour and asked AI for a family-friendly tour, riding MRT, LRT, bus and ferry from the Royal Fine Hotel where we were staying.
AI suggested a 9 a.m. five-minute walk to the Formosa Boulevard station. We were bringing families as well and started late. We reached the station and underground at 10 a.m. There was a light show called the Dome of Light under a stained-glass dome artwork by renowned artist Narcissus Quagliata, supposedly the world's largest public art installation that took four years to complete. According to the website Taiwan Waves of Wonder, it tells the story of human life from “water: the womb of life; earth: prosperity and growth; light: the creative spirit; and fire: destruction and rebirth, with an overall message of love and tolerance.”
We bought cards which are used to pay in all the trains and some establishments too. As AI suggested, we took the red line to Zuoying Station (R16), then rode a bus to Lotus Pond. But the R51 bus took another hour; when we arrived, it was 11a.m., more than an hour late from what was indicated by AI. The others decided to walk while May-i and I decided to take an Uber (there is no Grab there). We met up at the Lotus Pond and walked together, passing by the restored walls of one of the oldest part of Kaohsiung, the Old Fongshan City, to the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas (Lónghǔ Tǎ), which is a temple built in 1976 consisting of two seven-stories tall towers, with an entrance depicting the mouth of a dragon and an exit the mouth of a tiger. Inside these mouths are depictions of the worldviews and stories of Buddhism, which would have been nice if I had some knowledge of it. But since I had none, for me they were just beautiful and carefully crafted bas reliefs, which is sad.
We realized that even if we followed the AI tour, it was giving unrealistic timelines. We went back via Uber (because it was already too tiring to walk) to the area near the Zuoying station and ate at nearby Abundance Gourmet Cafeteria Refinement which has a lot of food choices which I really enjoyed — a succulent Chinese meal! It was already almost 1p.m. Then we went back to Zuoying station to take a train ride to Kaohsiung Central Station.
By 2 p.m. we were already riding the red line to Jiuqutang station, and we realized this was already suburbia. It looked like the villages I saw in Japanese films that I am more familiar with except that I was in Taiwan, very neat. When we came out of the station, we walked past old folks talking to each other who nicely greeted us. In Taiwan, you see a lot of old people who are very fit because their streets are really walkable and they can enjoy walking all the time. We had to pass by an underpass tunnel to go to the other side of the train line to the Dashu Junior High School stop. But the scheduled bus would take too long to arrive so we decided to use Uber again to our next destination: the Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum!
AI still had four other places in mind which included a cruise (???) to Cijin Island. We arrived at Fo Guang Shan at almost 4 p.m. (AI said we should be there at 11:30 a.m.). Even if we had strictly followed the instructions, it would still be impossible. AI suggested very good places, but may not be so reliable when it comes to timelines.
The name museum was an understatement; it was a whole complex of museums which included an actual monastery. Because I was tired of walking, I did not leave the Front Hall and just made myself happy looking at the buildings from a distance which included a giant Buddha! But the front hall was amazing, it has stores of souvenirs, charms, restaurants and even Starbucks. It is a Buddhist temple that is just like a mall! These are real enterprising monks which probably meant they are not from the Theravada Buddhist School which is monastic, but Mahayana which emphasizes enlightenment in all aspects of life, even everyday life. Their founder, Venerable Master Hsing Yun (1927-2023) who, because of his failing eyesight in his later years, started "one-stroke calligraphy" (yubitzi). He made strokes in a single, continuous writing from top to bottom, without pausing, meaning one should focus on the heart and spirit rather than only the form. I said this was all too familiar to me and I realized that near De La Salle University is a Fo Guang Shan temple which I visited on Lunar New Year’s Eve before the pandemic lockdown in 2020.
It was getting dark already and after buying a Starbucks bag for May-i which she really loved, both of us decided not to proceed with the other items in the itinerary and took an Uber back to our hotel at Kaohsiung City (oh, that was possible!), yet full of learnings about travel, culture and the transportation amenities that are lacking in our own country. Also, in wanting to save during our travels, I ended up spending more energy and time.
