85 Sky Tower, Kaohsiung

This was next in my 'to-see' places of the day. The 85 Sky Tower - one of, if not THE most popular tour spot in Kaohsiung, so it is almost always crowded, reason why I rushed via MRT from the Central Park.

Good that it is just a station away on the MRT Red Line (from R9 to R8). But even so, it involves about 2 blocks of walking (but on a tree-lined road) from the Sanduo Shopping District to the building itself.

I was happily received by these two jolly entrance ticket clerks.

I asked if there were already a lot of tourists upstairs. They said "you are our 9th visitor today". Whoa!

Oh, btw, finding that counter is a little tricky, but you can ask hotel staff at the lobby. You'll just realize later (as I did) that they have their own door (left side of photo) that empties you out to a side street!

The lifts (elevator gud) are just across the girls (behind me as I took that picture of them. Eto...

The ride goes direct to the 75F floor, although you'll see that there are buttons for 8F, 73F and 77F too.

It feels eerie being alone in such a highspeed elevator. Ayan kasi, trying to avoid crowds hahaha!

Once you reach the 75th floor, there are directional signs asking you to go down to 74F. Ano ba?!

Actually, the view from the windows at left are already great. But we need to go down, so sige na nga!

I felt the urge of checking my ticket, in case there are instructions about going up and down. None!

From the stairs as you go down, you can already see what it is that you came to this place for...

Above the windows, there are blown up pictures of what it is that you're supposed to see down there.

And then? Wala lang, yun lang! You just go around the floor looking down from the window at the nice bird's-eye views of Kaohsiung, that you do not necessarily know anything about! Picture-picture lang!

It would be nice to go up there with a tour guide or someone who will describe what you see.

In my case, I just went around, taking pics of things down there that might interest me, like these...

I found that thing interesting. All I could tell my self was "ano kaya iyang parang naka-lukot na banig"! And I said "mapuntahan yan mamya pagkababa". Plus the area behind it that looks like as yacht club.

Moving my camera a bit to the right, this was the view... more of Kaohsiung Harbor and Cijihn...

The rest of the harbor area, moving rightwards towards inland city center...

Where the red arrow points is MRT Red Line Station R9 Central Park, and yellow arrow is my hotel!

To be specific, red arrow is Water Square (where I watched the kids), and yellow arrow is my room!

Panning further to the right, here are more views of the rest of the city...

And back to that roof that looks like a folded mat or carpet whatever!

It would have been best if I had someone with me, describing every area or building I was looking at! Well, it was still a breathtakingly wonderful look at Kaohsiung! An awesome way to get to know a city.

Oh, they do have a souvenir stamp corner, for the good-old-fashioned tourists who are still into it!

I know that's not a common practice among Pinoys (except probably our grandparents). Yet that's still "a must" in many places among East Asian countries - even their youngsters! For me, pictures are fine!

Aha! Kung di mo alam ano yan, 'wag mo nang alamin at baka magulo lang ang buhay mo hehe!

Sige, one of these days, I'll write a separate article all about it. Promise!

Anyway, there's also a souvenir coin machine, coin-operated telescopes, and of course a coffee shop!

Now... you do know that's not all on a wide observatory floor, right? There are displays like these:

Many kinds of butterflies spread in a glass-encased attractive display. But, all labels are in Chinese :(

There's even a local-product display that caught my attention, because of its name and packaging!

Panay Hello Kitty Aboriginal Millet Wine! Doesn't it sound a bit ridiculous? Yeah, kaya ako lumapit eh!

The right-side panel information explains that use of their name is authorized by Sanrio Corporation!

Ayos ah! But I read from the story, that it is actually a heritage treasure of Taiwan, already being made since thousands of years ago! I do not know what "millet" is. Hindi "rice"? "Dawa" nga ba sa atin yan?

Confusingly, the paragraph starts: "Millet Wine is the most primitive fermented rice that has been..." yet in their drawings it does not look like rice. Dili lagi sya humay! The grains are smaller and rounder.

Or is that the "kabog" as in "budbud kabog" nga suman sa mga bisdak? Parehas kasi ang itsura nila.

Yes yes... I know you would ask about "Panay" - that's one of the reasons I went near this wine dispaly in the first place! That board says "Panay" means "beautiful, good harvest of millet" in Amis language.

So para syang "rice wine". Well, to be nearer what we have, "kabog wine". But I like the packaging ha?!

Amis by the way is one of the 16 indigenous peoples of Taiwan. They mostly live on the east coast and have similar ethnic clothes (pati colors) and houses to some of the indigenous groups in north Luzon.

Speaking of ethnic groups, as I said Taiwan has 16, and there's a big wide board introducing them!

Beside each graphic, the little black panels under the QR codes, tell legends from each ethnic group.

I tried enlarging some of them in collages, because the information are interesting like these...

For those who are not aware, people of Yami tribal group mostly live on Orchid Island (Lanyu), which is to the east of Taiwan's south mainland, and just about a hundred kilometers north of our very own Y'Ami Island (northernmost point of the Philippines) in Batanes. Apostrophe lang ang difference nila!

Actually I've read a little bit about them, and I know some things like: Yami people don't look Chinese - they look very much like Ivatans. Their spoken language is also Ivatan! Pati tribal wear nila is similar to that of the Igorot's (naka-bahag), and they still wear those during festivals and ceremonies. Ganun!

O tara, let's go down na and leave this place... baka mag-iyakan pa tayo sa tuwa!

These are the two elevators on the 75th floor - it only goes down (express) to ground level...

And I exited here - from the side entrance I mentioned earlier. I entered sa gitna - main hotel lobby!

For those concerned, that shadow of the big post is smoking area, there's a 'golden' trashcan/ashtray!

What can I say, it was a good vantage to see how the city has progressed into modernity from a bird's-eye-view at the 74th floor. Yes, 'wag kang mag-ilusyon, it is only from the 74th floor, not from the 85th!

Let's check out nearby places, next!

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