TPE To KHH Via The THSR

Let us ride this Taiwan High Speed Rail. I knew how to go about this as I was given instructions by the tourism counter staff of Taoyuan International Airport. Note: they're not even the "Information Desk"!

Do you see that overhead signage at the right edge of the picture? I was following that. Since I passed by their counter, I dropped by to ask - it is always better to hear from competent and authorized staff.

It was from them that I learned, I must take the MRT or bus to reach the HSR Station. Aw, the MRT way was an easy choice. But, whatever we choose pala, the way there is the same - down to the basement.

Just like in Singapore and other airports in the world (except sa atin), their MRT is located somewhere at the basement of the terminal (B2), via elevator or escalator. So, I followed the signs and went for it!

Note that their signages are sometimes interchanged, such as To High Speed Rail / Bus Station which may also be To MRT / Bus. They're all the same because, you ride the MRT to reach the highspeed rail.

And it doesn't matter whether you're at Terminal 1 or 2, the way to the HSR is the same, but take note, that the MRT Station at Terminal 1, Station A12, is different from that at Terminal 2 which is called A13.

At the MRT Station there are ticket vending machines, but, you'll have to find those that dispense the "single-journey ticket" (because others are for multiple rides). How, eh insik ang sulat? Be patient, as those characters keep changing from Mandarin to English. See the ticket counter if you're impatient!

This, is the single journey ticket hahaha! Oops, don't laugh. Make a way to get and keep one instead!

To my millenial readers, that's called a "token". A plastic coin reminiscent of olden days of train travel.

I immediately thought I should have gotten two, so I can keep one as a souvenir. Why? Because those are slowly being phased-out by train operators, who still use them, worldwide. They will soon vanish!

Okay, kwentong matanda... I remember the last I've seen them were in the 90s, in Bangkok. Meron din sa Antwerp and Lisbon - meron nga rin yata sa Saigon. But those were the olden days. Lately, they are being replaced with newer technologies like the card-type tickets, direct to credit card, QR codes, etc.

Many of you younger folks may not have experienced it, but FYI, our MRT and LRTs started with tokens too. Hindi nga lang plastic, they were metallic coins, kasinlaki ng 50¢ coins dati or maybe today's piso.

Oist, just to clarify, it does not mean the Taoyuan Airport MRT is old or outdated. It is very new (2017). Maybe they continued using plastic tokens (single journey only) for a "classic touch" effect. Nostalgic!

Alright, here was my MRT ride - from the airport's Terminal 2 (A13) to the HSR Station...

See that? Moderno rin naman di ba? Parang sa atin lang! Pati yung dalawang pasahero sa kaliwa Pinoy din yata. Paano ko nasabi? Aruu, pag ganyang busy sa talepano kahit nasaan, malamang kabayan yan!

By the way, I don't have to, but I still would like to remind everyone: when taking trains, be mindful of the direction where you're going, so you don't accidentally go the opposite way. Ang train tickets kasi naman sa buong mundo, tinatanggap kahit pabaliktad ang pinasok mong turnstile, di ba la?! Be alert.

Wheh teka lang... I think that reminder is mostly for me, myself and I, than for others hehehe!

Aha ito ito.., itong building na ito... hindi ko alam kung ano dahil wala akong maintindihan hahaha!

Dati naman kasi, puro bukirin as in farms ang lugar na ito. Ngayon look at that, puro tall buildings na!

Well ito.., aside from listening to the announcements, I recognized the train station, can you see it?

That is A18, where I should get off! How did I know that eh first time ko naman? Aw, binilang ko talaga! Mahirap na, baka lumampas at kung saansaan makarating, eh I had to catch pa the HSR to Kaohsiung!

In that picture, kita ko na. That is Taoyuan Airport MRT Station A18 (yung me bubong sa gitna ng riles), and the building to its left (naka-attach yan, ayun me parang bridge), is the HSR Taoyuan Station. Yea!

As the MRT slowed to stop, I looked across, and OMG, it's like a depot down there. Delikado ang bulsa!

I immediately thought kung sinu-sino ang mga hindi ko dapat isama sa lugar na'to. Warehouse depot!

But first I must find the HSR Station. Yet even before that, I must take a pic of the MRT after I got off!

I loved this conveyance - na obviously wala sa pu*^%$@#!ng Pilipinas - ayan uminit nanaman ang ulo ko hahaha! Kung tutuusin malayo yun ah, but a super convenient connection coming from the airport.

Let's imagine this to be in the Philippines (dreaming lang, hindi masama mangarap)! Kunwari papunta kang Legaspi Albay (via PNR train) at kakarating mo lang galing Saudi. Bababa ka lang sa basement ng airport, sakay ng MRT papunta (kunwari) Buendia or Magallanes, tapos escalator lang train station na!

Mahirap bang gawin yan? Ha, Department of Transportation? Ha? Haaay Pilipinas, ikaw na!

Anyway, balik tayo sa Taiwan hehe...

From the MRT it's easy to find your way due to 'international standard' signages all over the place.

All I had to do was follow them. Ayun Exit 1 daw ako dapat pumunta - sa kabilang side yan ng kalsada sabi nung mapa. At ayan pa, nalaman ko tuloy na pag sa Exit 2 ako bumaba (read the last line) gastos!

And I easily found it! The overhead signage says HSR Ticket Hall Basement. Aba syempre bumaba ako!

There are machines at right (I don't know what for), but the counter was virtually empty, so I followed.

Wardrobe alert: it looks like they dress acceptably well on business class. Buti hindi ako naka-shorts!

10:42AM na! Whatever the reasons, I got a 1034H departure, scheduled to arrive 1325H at Kaohsiung.

1980NTD. Hmm mga 4k yan kung sa pesos natin kasi halos x2 natin ang pera nila. Mahal yan for a 300+ kilometer journey. Pero sige na lang. Kelangan masubukan eh! At bakit? Dahil walang ganyan sa atin :(

Here's one kwento (Maritess): did you know there were flights from Taipei to Kaohsiung before? Ha! As in marami! They started disappearing sometime 2010s purportedly because of the effects of this HSR.

Sabi sa news 'decrease in air ridership' pero ang bulungbulongan ng mga economist, ipinatigil daw ng gov't nila ang flights from Taipei to the western cities of Taiwan, para magsisakay ang mga tao sa HSR!

Ayun, from 2013 onwards dumami na nga ang pasahero ng HSR, though hindi pa rin punuan until now. Kaya nga daw masarap pang sumakay sa tren ngayon - mahinahon, tahimik at walang siksikan sa pila!

Meanwhile, ayun, isa-isa na rin naglaho ang napakaraming domestic flights sa Taiwan!

Tama na maritess! Balik tayo sa biyahe kong Kaohsiung! I had some 45mins to make tunganga. Aha!

I remembered the "kalaban ng bulsa" that I saw earlier - yun mga depot stores just across the station. Sugoood! FYEO lang, yes for your eyes only! Wala ako pambili. Besides, this is Taiwan, x2 ang pera. Arg!

Oh so this is called Gloria Outlets. But, why was everything open but no customers at 10:51AM?

Timberland, Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Gucci, Lanvin, Armani, Valentino, Ferragamo, Converse, Arena, Asics, Puma, etc, etc., all have stores here, all were open, 200+ outlets daw yan pero bakit walang katao-tao?

Parang nilalangaw! Nagtanong ako, me insik-Pinay pa nga eh! Yun naman pala, Gloria Outlets officially opens at 11AM naman pala, I was some 9 minutes early, although open at ready na silang lahat hahah!

Akala daw tuloy ng lahat eh bigtime importer ako na dumating ng maaga! Kaya pala lahat nakangiti!

Walkout ako! Naglalaway lang eh. Masakit sa dibdib, hindi kinaya ng FYEO willpower ko! Balik sa tren!

That's where I bought my ticket earlier (counter at left). Pagkasampa ng escalator mula Gloria Outlets, bilihan na ng HSR ticket. Pusangina how convenient! Sige my shopping-addict friends, sugurin nyo na!

Sandali lang mache-check-in mo agad ang excess baggage na hinakot mo galing sa Gloria Outlets!

Yes that is to 'A18 Station' of Airport MRT (where I came earlier). Left or right is to the HSR platforms.

But read the overhead signage so you won't get lost. You might end up in Taipei instead of Kaohsiung! In this station, Platform 1 is 'Southbound' to Kaohsiung, while Platform 2 goes 'Northbound' to Taipei.

That's not even all. Going down to the platform, you still have another left and right decision to make!

See that? Turn left if your seat is in any of Cars 7 to 12 [don't panic, nakasulat sa ticket yan]! Turn right if your seat is in any of Cars 1 to 6! Teka, ano yung "car" na yan? Ay "bagon ng tren" tawag s'atin dyan!

Unsa diay ang "bagon"? Ang isang "segment" gud sa tren! Some countries call it "coach" or "carriage".

When you know all of that, diha pa ka manaog. Adto na, nag-bisaya na, nagsurusaragol na lugod. Ta!

I mean just look at that picture, there is another escalator going down. If you don't check where is the right way, mapapalayo at mapapagod ka! Each car (bagon) is 27 meters long, and there are 12 cars ha?

Can you imagine 300+ meters? That is 3/4 of a track oval. Ganun kahaba ang sawa na ito jusko!

Let us proceed to the platform anyway, dahil excited na ako. I bought this at a stall along the way.

I asked a staff and she told me that each HSR station has a 7 Eleven branch. Swerte natin mga no read no write no spyok sa whatever language nila! No asking-asking, just look at the price, then 'grab & go'!

"Ham & Cheese Sandwich", isang ham sa gitna, dalwang cheese sa magkabila, 29NTD, that means mga 50PHP. Mura yata yun 'no? Buti naman. I'm starting to notice that if it is food, mas mura dito kesa atin.

Hey I liked these signage on the floor. I think these are not painted. Parang stickers. Parang sa Japan.

I wouldn't wonder if those were emulated from Japan. This whole HSR thing is 'Shinkansen' in the first place. Yes, did you know? Ni-loan ito ni Taiwan ke Japan. The first Japanese bullet train outside Japan.

Hahaaay, sana all!

Okay, I got to the platform at 11:29AM. Exactly 5 minutes before my scheduled departure time.

I was really thankful I did not wear shorts this time! Wearing the right outfit is not about being trendy. Hah, especially in Asia, it is considered as a sign of respect to all other passengers that we travel with.

One moment there, naisip ko tuloy 'bakit ba ako nag-business class'? Hmm, if I may honestly candidly answer that here... I "inadvertently" thought of some wrong assumptions when I purchased the ticket.

Let's leave it at that. Wag nyo na ipa-elaborate yan dahil... dahil gagawin ko talaga!

Let's proceed... look, I really stood at the very right place where I should wait. Masunuring bata ako!

If you check my ticket (photo above), I was in Car No. 6, Seat 5A, therefore row 5. So dito ang pasok ko!

And then it came! Yes the HSR, the Shinkansen, the bullet train, eto na dumating na!

No sooner we were boarded. This was the front of Car No. 6 as I stood in front of my seat 5A.

Seat numbers printed above the window. My trolley bag exactly fits in the overhead bin above this!

Front of my seat - the backrests of Seats 4A and 4C. Maluwag, just like airline business class seats.

The middle armrest with two electric sockets. Lucky no one was seated at 5C beside me!

Seats around me. Nice enough configuration for a business class cabin. Spacious (kasi walang katabi).

Safety and comfort information in English and Chinese (I heard someone say it is Mandarin).

I learned a number of things just by reading those cards and T Life - their in-train magazine. Example: toilets are located at the back of all 'odd numbered' cars. It comes out as "one CR for every two cars".

Dial 110 - that's their (police) emergency hotline number in Taiwan. Sa atin 911 (same as US). But, they have a separate fire and ambulance services hotline, that is 119. Sa atin walang ganyan 'no? 911 pa rin!

Oist, there's a red and there's yellow emergency button! Ano ang pipiliin mo? Hahaha naaliw ako dito. Pareho naman silang "to call the train crew". Red daw is "Emergency", while yellow is "Call For Aid". Yet there is a reminder in the magazine that says "do not use it unless there's an emergency". Meron pang "do not use it as a service bell". Heh, di pareho lang! Whatever, I hope I won't have to use any of them.

The 'fold-down' retractable tray-table (from the armrest) can hold up to 10kgs of weight daw. Really? I didn't know that, but I don't want to test it hehe! The coat hooks by the windows, can hold up to 2kgs.

I liked this, but didn't do it permanently as I didn't know the people behind me: each seat is actually a swivel chair and can be turned up to 180 degrees. Good for conversations among family or friends.

There's no hot or cold water on the HSR. So di pwede mag-baon ng paborito mong cup noodles tapos manghihingi ng kumukulong danum! But there are vending machines (for cold drinks) at cars 1, 5 & 11.

Aw here is one stark difference between an airplane and the HSR: in any airline flight, you are advised not to throw toilet paper (or anything at all) to a toilet bowl and flush it. In this HSR you're advised to please throw toilet paper and paper toilet seat covers (but not other items) into the bowl then flush it!

Enough of the toilet thing, because my next topic is about food. A stewardess came handing out these...

I am not really into coffee or tea (you know that right?), but I was made to choose, so I said coffee.

So saan nanggaling ang mainit na tubig sa kape? She said naka-templa na daw yon pag-alis pa lang :)

Ano'ng lasa? Syempre lasang kape! Hey the snacks look like Japanese. Eh saan pa nga ba mangagaling ang mga yan, eh Shinkansen ito! Well, just like in Japan, I'll never know what they are. Basta, masarap!

Any chance that the coffee might spill due to the movement of the train? No, none. It cruises just like an airplane on a cloudless sky. You can even stand or walk around. But you would feel and hear some little bumps every so often. It is actually fairly regular like "chu-dug... chu-dug... chu-dug". Rhythmic!

How about the views? Oh the views are great if you look far. If you look down, it's so fast, nakakahilo!

I think what makes me dizzy is the effect of that wall of the railway track, and some posts, as the train zooms past them. It's like in the Shinkansen. We wish to be seated higher so we don't see those walls.

I'll try to post a video clip here soon, just to show how that wall disturbs the otherwise lovely views!
Note to my photographer and photo-enthusiast friends: if you're dreaming to catch outside views, it's not worth it! This train is way too fast, and the railway lamp posts and/or tall trees will keep crossing your sights in rapid succession - there's no "still pause"! Better hop on the regular trains or the buses.

In fact, even for mere still pictures, those track walls are still a nuisance, so it is better to crop hehe!

See the diff?! I cropped the pictures' lower halves (the wall) so we can see only the nice views we like. Ah I loved looking at the bright attractive colors of that cute bus. It's probably a children's school bus.

But I choose not to crop pictures that aren't about distant views - like this, our arrival into a station.

I saw this on the wall and took a snap of it. Ah okay, so we arrived at Taichung Station...

A number of passengers from our cabin disembarked, while some also joined the trip from here...

And unfortunately for me, someone boarded at this station with a Seat 5C assignment...

Pasimple lang ako, kunwari I was taking a pic of my table, but I was trying to record, 5C was just taken!

More views as we departed Taichung. I think this is their Xinwuri MRT Station...

And a massive steel forest hehe - it's the HSR bridge composed of 3 bridges with two railways each!

Eto ang 'mal viaje': di nagtagal na-hatsing ako. Alam ko na agad, naglabas kasi ng dyaro si 5C  :(

Alangan namang maglupasay maghuramentado ako, no?! Eh karapatan nya magbasa ng dyaryo nya, at pakialam nya sa allergic rhinitis ko, diba? But I have my meds bigay ni Doc Butch and ready facemask!

Tuloy ang maligayang paglalakay!

I already noticed this earlier on... they have a lot of greenhouses. Maybe this is how they "farm"...

And too many industrial-type buildings along the way. Nasaan ang mga kabahayan nila? Malayo?

We passed by this station, Yunlin, but did not stop. This was the 4th or 5th station we didn't stop at.

Oh okay, now I remember! While reading the scedule board at Taoyuan I realized some trains don't ply an end-to-end run; some are direct (e.g., Taoyuan-Zouying); while others stop only at 1, 2 or 3 sations.

Hmmn, complicated but interesting. It probably depends on the usual volumes of passengers to/from a station! These are displayed on their scedule boards and website anyway. Interesting mapag-aralan!

Then I saw this thing along the way, but I couldn't guess what on earth this is. Looks interesting too!

I must say that snake-like thing above is in Tainan. Because after 2 or 3 minutes, here we were...

Tainan Station. We stopped here, some passengers disembarked, but I didn't see anyone hopping in.

Oh I've been to this city decades ago. This is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) city of Taiwan. This is probably that city that has many western-style old houses, since they were once a Dutch colony. Let's together hope my memory is not faltering yet, for I will erase this paragraph if I later see I was wrong!

Okay, bucket-listed! I need to return to this city, sana soon.

Then I saw the new office of Taiwan's National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering...

Good that they're expanding. I know their main offices are in Taipei. This organization takes charge of scientifically testing and/or experimenting on technologies for withstanding/surviving earthquakes.

Then I saw this name, probably the most popular Asian luggage brand outside Asia. You know that?

And I said to my self "so it's also headquartered somewhere here"? I think we were still in Tainan, and I further told my self "I knew it's a Taiwanese brand, but I didn't know where in Taiwan they are, so it's Tainanese"! All the more that I said "I must be back in this old city and also see their biggest store"!

Who knows baka may sale, diba? Ang mahal ng maleta na yan naman kasi! Ah, I also know they have a museum something in one of their locations, I hope it's here too, para sabaysabay ko nang masilayan!

Kung makakabalik! Kelan kaya? Imagine, bubong lang ang nakita ko, andami ko nang naging plano!

Anyway, I then saw this, just a few kilometers (or meters?) from the above picture...

All I could exclaim to myself was "my goodness this city, highly industrialized na nga talaga". Well they won't be making those big roads if no big trucks are gonna use them. This must be an industrial zone.

Nostalgia time na! I wonder, how is the Tainan Airport being used nowadays. Are there still any flights to/from this place? I remember this was the third busiest domestic airport (it has two runways btw) in Taiwan, after the old Taipei (Songshan) and Kaohsiung airports. Is the American airbase still there?

Oh for the history buffs, Tainan airport was made by the Japanese in the 1930s (they were a Japanese colony, that's why they have good Japanese food here)! It became a US airbase after WWII, and heavily used in the Vietnam War. This airbase was like a "sister" to Clark Airbase as the operations hub of the Americans. I hope that airbase is still operated by the Americans, kasi andyan palagi si PingPingPing!

Lets move forward, I knew I was getting near, since Kaohsiung is just next to Tainan. I saw these...

I was seeing apartments and residential buildings, these areas must be the outskirts of Kaohsiung.

Yep, we've arrived at Kaohsiung metropolitan area, though the HSR was still a little far...

It's easy to know when you have arrived at a big Taiwanese City like Kaohsiung. Industrial commercial residential civil religous educational structures are just intermingled among themselves. Progressive!

Di pa naman kasi uso ang zoning-zoning planning-planning noong unang panahon kaya ganyan.

One very important observation I had during this HSR ride was... nasaan na ang mga bahay nila? I was hoping to see the kinds of houses na parang sinauna o bahay kubo made of native/organic materials.

Parang wala nang ganyan dito ah! Wala bang pulubi dito na naka-barung-barung lang? Or maybe they build houses differently from us? Or maybe the HSR line was made to avoid residential communities? Kaya hindi ko nakita ang mga kahoy na kabahayan? Virtually every structure I saw was concrete na ah!

Well, Taiwan is probably just too progressive and not anymore in our league. Sana all!

Wait... I arrived, but my story is not done just yet! From the Zouying Station, I immediately went out.

The escalator at left is where I came down from. That's the HSR Station. I didn't have time to take pics while on my way out, dahil nagmamadali para makapag-yosi na! Let me do that on departure na lang!

That building with a mall (Rainbow Bazaar) is actually where the MRT Station is located. I next had to walk to it, to connect to my MRT ride to my hotel. They're technically connected, but I needed to cross to where I stood to shoot that photo, para maka-yosi (this is the side of a big street, a bus/taxi stop).

Conveniently an easy connection, right? Let's go down to the MRT Station...

Either I must have been too lucky this afternoon, o wala lang talaga sumasakay hahaha!

I was riding this MRT from Station R16 (Zouying HSR Station) to R9 (Central Park)...

Yung R10 (Formosa Boulevard Station), yung me orange line, is a busy and popular interchange. Many tourists, pati na mga kababayan natin, usually transfer at that station, since a lot of hotels and tourist spots are along that MRT Orange Line. Yet R10 Station is a tourist spot itself! Let's visit that tomorrow.

The following signage on the MRT's entrance door fascinated, because it actually puzzled me!

The sign at left was clear to me, it says "Waiting Zone For Wheelchair Users". Okay, fine. But the one at right (sorry the photo is blurry) says "Entering/Exiting the Train With the Rear Wheeles First". I'm okay with the mis-spelled "Wheeles" (there's an extra e), but I wondered and I am still wondering what it is trying to state. Is it saying "this side is where you pass", or is it "enter/exit with the rear wheels first"?

Hindi naman siguro "this is how you enter/exit" kasi wala namang demo hehe. Palaisipan, pramis!

Anyway, here's another look at the platform, 3 minutes before the MRT arrived. No people!

Make my long story short, the train came, I hopped-in, and in 20mins, I reached Central Park Station!

I love it that their train stations have so many helpful directional signs, not only overhead and on the floor, but even on the walls as if they were murals. That gigantic map above greatly helped me - daily!

Alright, I needed to find where my hotel would be, so I would know which exit to pass through...

Very easy, even little kids would understand where to go. I placed two arrows on that photo - blue: my exit (so it's Exit 2 that I should find), and red: my hotel. I can use Exit 3, but walk to my hotel is longer!

Exit 2 daw, eh di hinanap ang Exit 2... hindi lang "not crowded", isa lang nakita kong tao. Duu!

Ayun sa taas ng escalator, kita ko na kalsada! I needed to note this, as it would become my daily way!

And when I emerged from the escalator, chadaaaan... OMG malls and restaurants ang kapaligiran!

Eto hindi akin. I just grabbed this image from Google Earth to show my bearings...

That big yellow dot at right is where I stood to take that previous picture above - mismo pagkasampa ko sa kalsada, galing sa baba via the escalator. Look at the roof of the escalator, artwork sya! Sosyalin!

Then I walked (yellow dotted line) to the door of Indigo Hotel, my home for the next few days!

Let's talk about the hotel later na, bago ako umuwi. Trivia muna!

Did you know? From that yellow dot where I stood, if you draw a straight line to Basco Batanes, it will only be 200 kilometers. But if you do the same line from Basco to Luneta, lalampas ng 600 kilometers!

No wonder, when I was in Batanes, people there told me that they listen to Kaohsiung AM/FM Radio!

I thought I would encounter something related to Batanes here.

But let's talk about those things in my next stories (yes plural)!

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