Taiwan Trip 2015 (台灣30天環島記) -- Day 13: Kaohsiung 高雄 (Kaohsiung Chicken Backpacker 高雄小雞客棧， Lao Si Sichuan Styled Steamboat 老四川巴蜀麻辣燙高雄南屏店)
From the aquarium, I then boarded the shuttle bus to Nan Bao Li (南保力) which allowed me to board the Kenting Express back to Zuoying HSR station in Kaohsiung city. I then reloaded my iPass and headed to San Duo Shopping District (三多商圈) where my hostel was located. Have I mentioned that you can't use your Easy Card (悠遊卡) in Kaohsiung's MRT? Yeah, it's really quite a joke when the whole Taiwan is using it. But no, you can only use the iPass (一卡通) for the MRT rides here (and doing shopping in convenience stores).
My hostel for my next 2 nights was at Kaohsiung Chicken Backpacker. For NTD 390 per night it was really one of my cheapest accommodation in Taiwan. And due to my misplanning I extended another night here which cost me only NTD 350 (had to cancel one night at my hostel in Tainan which I truly regretted :( ). It was quite tricky to find initially but I managed eventually. Opposite of this area is Kaohsiung's tallest building, Tuntex Sky Tower and a new library which I didn't visit haha.
I really like the hostel as it's quite comfy and they even provide free plain waffles every night. The owners also run a waffle shop in another corner in which they generously provide to the guests if they didn't manage to sell off everything. There is also a 24 hour coin operated laundry shop nearby in which I could wash my clothes and stuff. In a room there's double decker beds and one single bed, which I was lucky to get (pic below). Personally this was much more comfortable haha. The owners were also avid & hardcore backpackers. One of them actually walked around the whole Taiwan island in about 100 days. Amazing determination there.
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| A rare sunset sight |
For the evening I met up with my two Taiwanese friends for dinner. I suggested to eat Sze Chuan Styled Steamboat (麻辣火鍋) since I've never tried it before and it would be a task to eat the whole set by myself. So they booked a place at a restaurant called Lao Si Sichuan Styled Steamboat (老四川巴蜀麻辣燙). Apparently it's some popular chain and quite da pai (大牌) one; you are only allowed to stay for 1.5 hours or so. The store is located nearby Aozidi MRT station and was quite packed when we arrived.
We ordered the 3 person set which cost 999 NTD in which I paid NTD 350 after inclusion of taxes. The set came with lamb, pork, fish dumplings, tofu skin and some other food. It was also my first time trying Mi Xue (米血) which is basically pork blood with glutinous rice. Thankfully the smell of blood wasn't really that strong and I could still take it haha.
The soup came with two flavours: spicy & clear soup. I only tried a few mouthfuls of the Sze Chuan soup before calling it a day and just stuck with the clear soup. It was really too spicy for my liking haha. Thankfully the free flow Eight Treasures Tea (八寶茶) kept my tongue alive. Oh well, at least another food ticked off the bucket list. But I really enjoyed the company and the sumptuous meal after eating alone for the past few days. Is this the best Ma La Huo Guo in Kaohsiung? Not sure about that but based on the crowd it seemed like it.
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| Special sauce |
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| Some spicy sauce with peanut combination |
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Complimentary dessert |
Next to the restaurant was the Aozidi Park. I took a short stroll enjoying the night scenery of Kaohsiung city whilst waiting for my food to be digested before heading back to the hostel. In my short visit here I personally think that Kaohsiung has nicer looking buildings compared to Taipei, since it was developed much later than Taipei city, the design is generally more modern as well.
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