Kaohsiung Central Park and MRT Station
A wonderful day! Time to roam around Kaohsiung (while no one was looking for me yet). LeshGo!
This was the interesting inviting promising view when I stepped out of the lobby of my hotel...
But there better be trees and plants and flowers on that part, because that is Kaohsiung Central Park! And decidedly, that was the first thing I planned to pass-by today, before I go exploring anyhting else.
That 'artsy' thing is the roof of their MRT Red Line Station R9, where I arrived at yesterday, remember?
Oh, I couldn't just merrily cross that road. Bawal. Though in my mind, bawal man yan o hindi, palagay ko maghahanap ako ng ibang tawiran! That's a 10-lane road, na nagliliparan ang mga sasakyan. Hiyay!
Of course I remembered where I passed yesterady (Exit 2, nasa left ko), but I opted to go rightwards.
Trivia na agad:
That tall building is 'sinfuwa' sabi nung staff na tinanong ko (maybe it's Xin-Fu-Hwa) and was or is the tallest residential building in the city. Residential ha? As in condominiums/apartments. 41 floors daw.
Anyway, I reached this bus stop called 'MRT Central Park Station' (although the actual MRT location is on the opposite side of this road); and the way to that MRT (underground) is still a few meters ahead.
To you my young subscribers, sana isaisip nyo ang mga ganyang 'convenience technologies' as public service, para pag laki nyo, when it's your time to serve the people, ganyan na (sana) tayo ka-updated.
I know we have the knowledge, skills and resources, dispalinghado lang ang priorities ng mga pinuno! Tingnan nyo yan, the electronic board displays how many minutes/seconds pa, for each bus to arrive. And, the lighted signboard at right has the routes and schedules of all buses passing by this bus stop.
Bus station lang, pero tingin ko maganda na, matibay pa! At mukhang hindi sinasalaula ng pulitiko!
Sa atin? Ang poste ng waiting shed (bus stop) kailangan hugis "letter E" dahil Eusebio ang apelyido ng mayor. Ang color kelangan pink at blue dahil yun ang color ni Bayani, ganun! Aba mangangatwiran pa!
Teka, intermission muna:
I just remembered, one time, I was on a van (UV express). I occupied seats 1 & 2, while a family was on seats 3, 4 & 5, so I could clearly hear their conversations. I heard the young girl (probably 6 or 7 years old) ask "Ma, bakit ang waiting shed nila dito, letter A ang isang side, tapos letter T ang kabilang side.
The mother didn't answer (maybe she's not from the place) but the father said "mga first letter yan ng name ng kung sino ang may kickback sa pag-gawa ng waiting shed! I grinned, I knew other passengers who heard that were also smiling. But the girl asked "what's a kickback"? Hahaha, parental education!
They continued with their "lesson", and I loved how the father explained things candidly! Very simple truths without sugar-coating! Sana ganyan ang teachers, kahit sa elementary school pa. Aliw hehehe!
Anyway, let's go back to my morning stroll at Kaohsiung...
Look, this bus stop even has USB ports and a little 'shelf', patongan ng gadgets mo while charging!
I looked across the road, to see if there's anything like the above, at the bus stop there...
Eto check this out: I marked where the USB charging ports are located, within the bus stop...
Oh by the way, since they're caught in the picture anyway, taxis usually wait by this spacious bus stop area even in the evening. I haven't tried them (yet) but a colleague told me they are generally reliable.
Lets continue...
I walked the few more steps to the entrance of MRT Exit 3, so I can cross the road, but saw these:
Rental bikes, just like in other countries (except ours) hehe. Pero syempre lumapit pa rin ako. Uzi!
It says (in Chinese and English) Pedestrians Have Right of Way. Pero bakit kaya ganun ang symbol? Do you know? Yes, yung blue na bilog. I looked at it for some time "to analuze" hehe. In the end (sirit na!) I concluded that, "pedestrians muna over bikes", kaya ganyan ang drawing - tao over bike! Ganun ba?!
Whatever hehehe! Basta ganoon ang interpretation ko. Walang basagan ng trip!
Btw, ayan sa unahan yung MRT Exit 3. I took these pictures before I went in (down) to enter.
Hey look at the sign post at right. It tells us that the MRT exit/entrance is beside it (to the right, not in picture).The K logo on top means KMRT or Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit or Kaohsiung Metro for short.
Then you see a red band, and a red circle with R9 in it. Interpretation: the MRT Red Line, Station 9 (the R is for Red). Then it says Entrance 3 (Exit 3 yan kung palabas ka!) and its name is Central Park Station.
What I like most is that thing written at the bottom. It says the Elevator Location is at Entrance 1, and it has a wheelchair graphic. Ang galing. Kaya nasa baba, para eye-level ng naka-wheelchair, kita agad!
Doon nila ibinubuhos ang mga utak nila - how to be of real service to their citizens, kahit baldado pa yan. Sa atin? Ibinubuhos din naman ang utak, dugo, pawis, pati kaluluwa, mailagay lang ang pangalan ng politician, madalas kelangan pang ilagay ang mukha nila. Kung hindi? Ay, tanggal kang designer ka!
See that? Me gamit din naman that I tell stories of my travels abroad, kahit pa Philippine Travel Notes ang title ng blog ko, diba? We get to compare or contrast things - kung ano ang mabuti o makabubuti.
And imagine that, I only walked about 150 meters from my hotel, ni di pa ako nakakatawid ng kalsada, ang dami na nating napag-usapan! Di ba? Pero tara, let us get moving, tawid na tayo, nang makarami!
This is the way down to their MRT Station R9 - Central Park - Entrance/Exit 3.
Parang Katipnan Ave. Station lang ng LRT2 natin 'no? Oops teka, me escalator ba dun? Wala yata!
And this is the hallway. Sa kanan ang bilihan ng ticket, but I wasn't going there yet. Diretso lang ako!
Ticket vending machines. There are 'human tellers' but their counters are a bit inside
This thing got me interestedly surprised, wala kasi sa atin nyan. Magkaroon man, I'm sure lalangawin!
And mind you, not for sale. For rent! See that smaller yellow box at the back? That's their 'book drop'. Where you drop a book to return it! Entawon, in this day and age, how many humans still read books?
I'm not saying people do not want to read na. Well, oo baka ang kabataan ngayon. But for the middle aged ones who still read books, they now have electronic books and electronic book readers. At yung mga tanders tulad ko, malabo na ang mga mata, kahit naka-maxmum size pa ang font! Haruy hahaha!
But I admire the technology. It should just have been available, about 3 decades ago!
I don't know these cute guys, but at the back are the ticket offices and escalators down to the trains.
And here I was, going up to ground-level of the other side of the hallway. Exit 1 Central Park mismo!
It's not that simple. Between the 'up' and the 'down' escalators (to that girl's left), is a 'water cascade'.
Chadaaan! This is what you see of the Central Park, soon as you hop off the escalator from the MRT.
Hahaha! Kung maka-timing talaga 'no? Yan ang malas! But I caught them in the next pictures.
FYI, that area is a perfect circle. It just looks oval due to my distance and camera angle. I swear, it is a perfect circle, even if that part of the park is called The Water Square! Nabuang na, circle nga square!
Circle as in 'park' or 'garden' naman. At hayaan na natin sila. Walang basagan ng trip!
As you can see in the picture above, most visitors head left to the lush garden areas of this park. This becomes most crowded at night - especially that area they call "urban spotlight". Very colorful lights.
Many Pinoys come to this park too, though I learned that many of them (especially the girls/women) go to the bargain areas behind my hotel, yet they still call it "Central Park" kasi yun ang MRT Station!
This early morning, I was headed onwards to circle around the fountains, straight to the path across here it is tree-lined, with a bridge over a lake, plus the Kaohsiung Literary Museum, next to a library.
But the sight of those kids, seriously exercising as a group, held me up. Naaliw lang ako manood!
Oh, a parent of one of the tykes told me those were just warm-up exercises before their bike lessons!
Video clip here, coming up soon, pramis!
Aba, me mga pa-change-outfit at thirst-quenching breaks pa! Todo assist naman ang dear parents!
Matanong ko lang pala, nakakita na ba kayo ng bisekleta na walang pedal? Did you notice that above? If not, balikan at titigan mo ulit, lahat yan walang pedal! That is how they train their kids to ride bikes!
Ibang klase. Scientific! Those parents and the coach told me all about it. And I believe them!
Another 'sighting' to my left, the name of this place in the park: Kaohsiung Central Park Water Square.
Oops! I spent too much time at this park, it was beyond time to be at my next destination. Go go GO!
The escalators with a water cascade in the middle (itong nasa kaliwa ko), but no water yet, this early!
Got my ticket, going down to the railway platforms. No time to look around the shops :)
As has been my experience since yesterady, this station was too comfortably not crowded!
But this is not eerily small and claustrophobic! I just turned back and look...
But I needed to cath a ride na ASAP. Let's go!
What was the hurry all about anyway? Ah, it is best to be at my next destination as soon as it opens in the morning or late at night before it closes, to aovid the crowds. At sana walang mga taga-mainland!
Yes, we're going to 85 Sky Tower, next!
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