Solo Trip - Taiwan (July 2023) - Tainan Chihkan Tower Part 1

Around 630pm or so, I walked to Chihkan Tower, just a few minutes walk from my dinner place. I asked the ticket attendance what time was best to go in to see the sunset. Does it matter, I was already there, so I went in anyway. I know it was a small place, but I guess I could find something to do while waiting for the sun set?

Ta-Dah! My things to do! Feeding fish! Inside the compound, there was a pond. And it has so many fat orange koi fish inside just swimming all over each other. Their colour was so vibrant that I was mesmerised by them. 

The pond actually ran all over the ground, not just the front. I thought they were so beautiful.

I got me self some fish food and slowly settle in to feed them as slowly as possible, lol. Got to make them last till sunset! Some people came near me as I was feeding the fishes. They were so big!

Here's a nice shot of them. I had plenty of time! Actually, I saved half of the fish food for later. I decided to go inside the tower first.

Walking through the moon gate, it leads into the inner courtyard of the tower ground.

And up those stairs to enter the tower. There were some other temple next to it, but it was closed for, you guess it, renovation in summer! They were restoring some stone tablet there. What a waste for me.

The Chihkan Tower was just like a double storey old Chinese house. 

The colour of red and blue was beautiful, as where the old Chinese lanterns hanging inside.

Going up the stairs was interesting. As this was an old house, limited people were allowed upstairs at any one time. And from upstairs, you can look down to see the whole ground area like the above photograph.

There was a statue below which I guess, people pray to? Lord Kui Xing. Below is the instruction on how to get a pencil from him. Maybe to pass exams? I didn't partake in it. I wasn't in need of a pencil. But I did think his status was beautiful. You can almost feel his presence here :)

I didn't need the instructions to understand how it works. As a Chinese growing up, we use the same method when praying to our ancestors. Specifically we use it to ask if they are around when we offer food for them during Hungry Ghost or Cheng Meng festival, and ask again if they are done so that we can keep the food and burn the offerings. You can ask anything else in between, but it's kinda like a one way conversation, not very interesting, lol. 

Sun setting as I waited on the 2nd floor balcony of the tower :)

Solo Trip - Taiwan (July 2023) - Tainan Bus Ride Back from Anping

Getting back to Tainan from Golden Palace was a bit challenging. I didn't know where the bus stop was, so I asked  more aunties, and they pointed me to where I might find a bus stop. Skeptical, I even asked if the bus actually passes there, lol. The bus stop was placed in front of a car garage -______-  There was another solo guy there waiting, so I guess I'm at the right place. Google map did tell me what time the bus was arriving, so I waited. It was a long route. In fact, the bus was going all the way up to Anping again before making a u-turn and going back to town. Yippieeee

I would also like to share with you another bus stop, that can be easier to spot, and has the word Tainan Sightseeing Bus!  But guess what, it only operates  on weekends and public holidays! WHY?????

Anyway, I didn't mind the long bus ride. It has aircon! And the bus was relatively empty, and cheap too! And I get to sightsee along the way!

Lovely view of the river and housing areas along it. 

Finally I made it back to Tainan town. The stop was near the hospital where I started in the morning, so I decided to walk back to the hospital to see if the mantou shop was still open. Along the way, I passed by some alley and snapped the above pix for no reason, really. I just kinda love it. Slice of life photo for me. And thankfully by the time I got there, the mantou store was still open.

Above is my late lunch, of about 2pm? I got a black soya bean milk, I LOVE black soya milk, and it's kinda hard to find in Penang. A very nice Ipoh lady used to sell the nicest black soya milk at Pearl Hill near where I stay, but she stopped selling it after expecting her child. The one I had here was just so-so. I also had a yam mantou. I though it would be yam paste, but it was just cube of yam sticking all over the mantou. Can't complaint really, I love yam in any way, lol. I'm a yam fan! I have one more tourist attraction to visit, but it had to be in the evening, and it's only 5 minutes walk from my hotel. So I stayed in thr hotel with the aircon on, and rested till around dinner time (meaning 5pm for me :P  ) before heading out to my favourite winter melon soup stall!

I ordered the winter melon pork rib soup, and they didn't even protest when I asked for a bowl of rice. I added some prawn rolls too, and oh my god! Delicious prawn roll! I wish I've ordered that yesterday. I told myself I was gonna order that again the next day. Ha! Sadly, this was the only time I managed to eat it. How sad. Maybe I'll go back one day. And have this delicious meal again :)  I still miss it whenever I think about it. It was just such a comforting food in a foreign land. 

Solo Trip - Taiwan (July 2023) - Tainan Anping Golden Palace

 

The entrance to the Golden Palace looks mysterious. It was basically crossing a bridge, and walking through a dark tunnel, and coming out the other side as shown in the photo above. Exciting! Sadly, that's about as exciting as it gets! Hahahahaha. 

What is it with Taiwanese people and tunnels??? They seems to be everywhere. The very first tunnel I ever walked into was also in Taiwan, at some water leaking caves in Taroko National Park. But I'm not complaining, really. I love tunnels! There is something very mysterious about them. Like a portal, into another world or dimension.....

Sadly, this tunnel leads into a fort. Yes, a fort. No gold. No Palace. And it wasn't even a very impressive fort either! Just a small one, very far away from civilisation.... Damn you combination ticket! You betrayed me! Oh well, since I'm here, might as well walk around....

Seriously, not much to see. 

Sure, some notable nice trees....

And some canons aiming out to the moat.

That's it fold. End of the Golden Palace. Above was the nicest photo I have of the place, and it was taken outside the fort. The next challenge now was, how was I gonna get back? Was there a bus nearby? Don't tell me I have to walk 30minutes into town???? Oh GoD!

Solo Trip - Taiwan (July 2023) - Tainan Anping Walk

I wandered around Anping after visiting the Fort. And came across the mazu temple.  The fort was actually just behind it. And I was following some alley ways, looking at trinkets along the way which lead me here. Above is the front view. 

And here is a more local view of it, with stalls selling drinks, snacks and souvenir outside. I did went in to pay my respect. And one of the thing about respect was, I didn't take any photos inside the temple. After visiting the temple, I walked down Anping Shopping Street in look for lunch. For some reason, everyone was selling fish crackers on the street. I was't a fan of crackers much, and I guess it was too early for lunch as most shops were still closed. That's the problem with having my lunch timing at 11am! But I was flexible. I found a soya bean curd shop and went inside to hide from the sun.

I asked the lady if I could sit inside since it was aircon. She said yes, so I ordered a black sugar bean curd with milk and she served it to me inside the shop. It was made of wood, with glass front that lets the sunlight shines in. Super lovely! And there was no one there! So I took my time to enjoy the bean curd. 

Not a very interesting looking dish, but it was delicious! I even told the lady so! I still have no idea why they serve it with milk. And did I mentioned it was served cold? In Penang, you can order it hot or cold, but in Taiwan, a lady once looked at me funny when I asked if it was hot or cold. I think in the summer, the default is always cold? Doesn't matter, it was a treat to eat such delicious cold dessert on a hot day! Cause the rest of the day was quite disastrous! And that was because the next tourist destination #4 was almost 20-30 minutes walk away, in which I would probably pass by #3 of the Anping Map. Anyway.....

After the nice dessert, I set off and left town, walking towards the water, wharf.  It was easy enough to find, maybe just 10minutes walk away? And the view was gorgeous! 

After crossing the bridge away from Anping, I came by a park by the water and followed it. And that's when it went downhill all the way. Looking for the Golden Palace was a mistake! Cause it was so freaking far away, and without shelter too! About three quarter in to the walk, I was thinking maybe I should just give up and go back. It was hot, the place was quite deserted, and it could have been dangerous for me to be walking there. I did met a lone AngMoh along the way, and we both smile miserably at each other. Yes, we were both tricked into visiting the Golden Palace! This place better be worth it!

About 80% into the journey, I found a park and quickly went into it. It was nicer walking under the shades, and I wasn't sure if it would lead me to the palace, or whether I would end up being murdered here. But it was a nice relief from walking on the road in what seems to be an industrial zone of Tainan.....

Luckily, I arrived safely at the Golden Palace.... Now looking at this photo, do you see any gold? Or any hint of a palace? Or maybe everything was hidden behind the tunnel? I sure hope so! Stay tune!

Solo Trip - Taiwan (July 2023) - Tainan Anping Fort

 

Luckily for me, Anping Fort, a.k.a Fort Zeelandia was just a short walk away from Anping Tree House. I did however asked the aunty before setting off to look for it. Didn't want to have to back track again in the summer heat. But after following the aunty's direction, I saw the sign and just follow it to the fort. Above is the iconic shot of the fort in most of the touristy photographs. 

Inside the fort, the ground was surprisingly quite big! It reminded me of Fort Cornwellis in Penang, but so much better maintained and cleaner, and greener, and well, basically better, lol. Tainan was very much like Penang in many ways. 

Although I kept complaining about the heat, the summer days actually allows me to take wonderful photos of blue skies and lovely clouds. Like this one above, even though there isn't really a subject in focus, the cloud and the ground pattern alone deserves a place in this blog! Any photos that don't end up in my blog, or Facebook, or Instagram basically goes to the graveyard of hard disk, hardly ever to be seen before. The blog is my favourite place to place them, with a short story behind every photos. It brings back so much memories, like I could relive that moment again, just like in a song, in a food dish, in a scent, in a place :)

Coming back to the fort, they do have nice ruins around the place with explanation, with even some excavation still in progress. You were allowed to walk through those sites as well. 

And even inside the fort, the beautiful banyan trees are found everywhere, making their presents felt. I love how the roots hang everywhere, making such lovely backdrop (of front) for a photo. 

To think that I was impressed with the banyan tree at Sia Boey Penang! Here in Tainan, there was no competition. Tainan win hands down! And that it why people should travel! So that they can see, how small their world is as compared to the real globe. Above, just one of the beautiful trees inside the fort. 

I also loved the red breaks, the blue skies, and the gigantic tree here, shading me from the sun. How magnificent. And of course, with the iconic tower there too, as I made my way up those stairs to explore more. 

On higher ground, canons are placed, to protect the fort. The condition of the canons were actually quite well maintained. I also love it that it was still quite early and there wasn't many people there yet. 

There was also a gift store at the higher ground. I did went in, but there wasn't really anything interesting worth mentioning here. Photographs were all I needed to make me happy :)

Next I proceed to climb the beautiful spiral stairs up to the tower to see what's up there...

View of Anping

View of Tainan

And that is all folks! Here's a photo of me looking quite pleased with myself. to be honest, I wouldn't have visited the fort if it weren't for the combination ticket. Many reviews said it wasn't really worth it. But after going in, I think maybe people just don't like green spaces and red bricks. I love them! They make wonderful photograph!