Kaohsiung’s Dream Mall
February 02, 2009
By: thenhbushman
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Category: family, leisure, Lifestyle, Taiwan
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Photos by MJ Klein
Hui-chen, her 2 sisters and I decided to finally walk over to the new Dream Mall in Kaohsiung and ride the ferris wheel on top of the building. This article contains quite a few photos but there are even more on my Flickr photostream. Clicking on any photo will take you to the Flickr photo page.
A closeup of the ferris wheel, taken from street level with the zoom lens.
The Dream Mall is rather large inside and quite impressive. Also impressive is the number of stores and what you can find. On our trip to the mall, you sure couldn’t tell that there was any economic recession!
Taking the elevator or esclator to the top floor, you’re greeted with this view of the ferris wheel upon entering the roof area.
We bought our tickets to ride the ferris wheel and then took a walk around for a bit before boarding.
This shot was taken right in front of the ticket booth, looking up. The ferris wheel is quite impressive.
I was surprised to find the roof of the Dream Mall to be almost like a little city unto itself.
They have some rides,
and attractions for the kids,
plus a few things a little wilder for the bigger kids and adults.
We ordered some food, but it was rather disappointing.
This guy was riding his son around on a motorized panda.
Meanwhile, everything falls under the shadow (so to speak) of a very large ferris wheel overhead). It’s hard to appreciate until you’re right up close to it.
The ferris wheel sits on top of the mall building, and it’s so high in the air that it needs beacons for air-traffic safety purposes, as the Kaoshiung airport is nearby to the east. Several of the cars have beacons installed. I presume that when parked, they leave one of these cars up on the top.
This is the central hub of the wheel. Notice the anemometer (which is a bit difficult to see to the left of the beacon and mounted on the rail).
Another beacon on a car.
Finally we were done messing around on the roof and decided to board the ferris wheel.
The 3 sisters (my lovely wife on the right).
In each car there are some stuffed animal thingies that might come in handy if you are scared of heights.
We’re just getting started.
Hui-ling called Mom and told her to look out the window.
Uncle Mike with my buddy Shiang.
Wow, everything looks so small from up here!
This last shot is the hub of the wheel as we decend back to the loading station. The ferris wheel doesn’t stop so you have to hop off the moving car before you end up going around again.
Be sure to leave a rating and let us know how you liked this article.
Articles in series Kaohsiung:
- Kaohsiung’s Dream Mall
- The Dome Of Light
- Dutch Oven in Kaohsiung
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February 2nd, 2009 at 8:18 pm
me and my girldfriend went on the ferris wheel during first week of january when we were still in our home town kaohsiung for our xmas new years break. it was my gf’s first time ever going on a ferris wheel, i think it might have been my 2nd time although i cant remember where and when i been on one the first time, probably when i was tiny, either that or this was actually also my first time.
i think there must be many ppl out there that’s not been on a ferris wheel ever despite the fact that they are not hard to find.
it was night time when we were on this ride, the view was much better
thenhbushman
reply on February 2nd, 2009 9:51 pm:
Dennis, please tell our readers how you liked going on the ferris wheel. my wife thought she would be scared but it really wasn’t bad at all.
February 3rd, 2009 at 10:28 am
I’ve never been to this mall! I’ll have to rectify this situation next time I’m in Taiwan. Hahaha. I’ve always thought it strange that Taiwanese department stores have amusement parks on their roofs. Some of the rides are terrifying simply because of the height.
I’m really looking forward to the rest of this series!
Sandys last blog post..The English Countryside in Autumn
thenhbushman
reply on February 3rd, 2009 9:18 pm:
putting amusement parks on rooftops wouldn’t be my first idea either, Sandy. the ferris wheel is big enough but the added height of the mall building makes it even more scary for some people.
February 3rd, 2009 at 7:02 pm
MJ, that is one giant ferris wheel for sure and then they have it on top of some freaking building lol. I am bit scared of heights but I might try this one. Looks like fun. Great shots and report.
Ashishs last blog post..Strawberries in Puli
thenhbushman
reply on February 3rd, 2009 9:20 pm:
Asish, fortunately this one goes pretty slow, plus they have dampeners on the carriages so they don’t swing around. for someone who is afraid of heights this wheel might be easier to take than some others.
February 4th, 2009 at 9:23 am
OK… this is a first for me… seeing a ferris wheel on top of a building. That is very impressive. The view looked GREAT from up there.
I think that would pretty cool to go on. I think its save to say that… I’m not afraid of heights. Being on the roof of the Fed who knows how many years ago and taking the autoroad up Mt Washtington… not something people that are afraid of heights would do
thenhbushman
reply on February 4th, 2009 10:25 am:
Mike, this was a first for me too. i wouldn’t have thought of doing that either. we can arrange for you to ride this one when you finally do make it over here.
mike01905
reply on February 5th, 2009 1:12 am:
Well…. I just got an e-mail from my friend in Taoyuan. She said she’s cramming for an exam this weekend. I told her I’ll make a deal with her. I told her if she passes the exam… I’ll come to Taiwan
I don’t think she would want to go on that ferris wheel. She’s told me in the past that she’s afraid of heights. She said she wouldn’t even go to the observation deck of Taipei 101 (which is something else I wouldn’t mind doing after being on the roof of the Fed and to the “indoor” observation levels of the Hancock and the Prudential Towers).
thenhbushman
reply on February 5th, 2009 10:33 am:
Mike, your coming to Taiwan hinges upon her passing the test? you’d better get packing!
trust me, she wouldn’t go on that ferris wheel because it’s too far away down in Kaohsiung. you’ll soon learn about Taiwanese and travel
.
mike01905
reply on February 5th, 2009 9:26 pm:
Well… her exam is on “peritoneal dialysis”… which is a kind of treatment for the kidney failure patients. She did say to me “buy your plane tickets right away” as she’s sure she’ll pass.
She’s been to Kaohsiung… but not to that mall (it opened on May 12, 2007 according to Wikipedia). She said there is a huge ferris wheel in Taipei too.
You say that I’ll soon learn about the Taiwanese and travel. What… they don’t like to travel too far to places… like me
thenhbushman
reply on February 6th, 2009 10:41 am:
Mike, just let me know when you’ll be here. i assume you’ll be staying in Taoyuan, and i have a couple of good friends there who like to party. yes, that’s right – Taiwanese complain about traveling for an hour by car.
February 5th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Cool look at the ferris wheel. Selina and I passes through Kaohsiung late last week but didn’t think of going there.
cfimagess last blog post..Tools of the Trade
thenhbushman
reply on February 5th, 2009 3:48 pm:
you guys should have called us! we were looking for something to do!
February 5th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Awesome photo series, MJ. My favorites are second and third from the top. John and I are sorry we didn’t make it down. He wanted to drive and after battling traffic to Taichung, we decided not to go any further. It looks like we missed out on a great time.
Carries last blog post..Culture Tips: How to Eat in Japan
thenhbushman
reply on February 5th, 2009 3:47 pm:
thanks Carrie. i don’t blame John for not wanting to drive down to Kao; the traffic must have been really bad. but i heard John cleaned A-dong out of beef again, so you must have had a good time after all!
February 6th, 2009 at 12:11 am
I’ve been to Dream Mall a couple times, most recently during summer 2008. Even then, the mall was startlingly empty. Dream Mall hasn’t been very successful it seems. We thought this summed up the situation fairly well: when Dream Mall opened, they were promoting free parking for several months to generate interest and visitors to the mall. A year and a half later, parking was still free.
Andys last blog post..Eye of the Tiger
thenhbushman
reply on February 6th, 2009 10:37 am:
Andy, if you saw the Dream Mall over the holiday you might not think so. that place was packed! it was difficult to move around in some places because of all the bodies in the way. taking the elevators and escalators was particularly revealing. we went there 3 times during the holiday and it was constantly full of people. it sure looked successful to us.
February 11th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
[...] Series Kaohsiung (6)Stories (19)This Week in Food (8)Taiwan Parks (12)East Taiwan [...]
February 19th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Karen’s been wanting to go there for the longest time now!
andress last blog post..trip to yunlin
thenhbushman
reply on February 20th, 2009 9:56 am:
and now you have something to look forward to
March 1st, 2009 at 2:00 pm
[...] Series Detours to Paradise (4)Kaohsiung (6)Stories (19)This Week in Food (8)Taiwan Parks [...]