Taipei City Day 2 : Taipei City Zoo木柵動物園, Maokong Gondola貓空纜車 and Ximending西門盯

15 November 2013 (Friday)

Taipei City Zoo 木柵動物園

Direction: Take the MRT on the brown line to Zoo MRT Station

The entrance ticket to the zoo is reasonably priced at NT$60 for adults (aged 12 and above), NT$ 30 for kids aged between 6 to 12 years old. Children below 6 years old can enter for free. Youyou / Easy card can be used to enter the zoo.

Opening times

• Open year round everyday (except for Chinese New Year's Eve)
• Zoo hours: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (no entry after 4:00 p.m.)
• Animals Exhibit: 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. (indoor & outdoor exhibits)
• Exhibits Closed - "Indoor Exhibits" are closed on Monday by turns, please check before visiting.

*Zoo visit 101:
If you are traveling with children, I recommend that you pop by the Panda section first, then take a tram ride to the top of the zoo (as the children would grow weary from the long walk). Continue your zoo visits there and walk downwards, this will save you a lot of energy. Go back to the place where you were dropped off from the tram, then hop onto a bus to the nearest cable car station in the zoo ground. Find out more about Taipei Zoo here.

In our hotel room, the first morning in Taipei City.

Ready for their first day.

Joe is enjoying his breakfast, eat all you can buffet breakfast.

YanPing Road in the morning. Motorbikes are everywhere.

Posing in front of the hotel.

In the underground.

Walking to the nearest MRT Station.

At Daqiaotou MRT station.

Looking around, absorbing his first MRT ride experience.

Checking the route.

It was drizzling but we reached our destination safely.

Enjoying the swan.

They got tired of posing for the camera.

Not too happy to pose. 

Queuing for the tram ride.

One of the many murals.

The Amphibian and reptile house.

Looking at the frogs.

Studying the frogs.

Admiring the wall of information.

He found the snake.

Willingly posing.

A beautiful symbiosis.

Resting his aching legs

Penguins!

The kids were excited watching the penguins moved around, wriggling their butts.

Eating and resting. Munching their sausages purchased from family mart in the zoo ground before going for the gondola ride!

Maokong Gondola 貓空纜車         

Direction: The nearest train station is Taipei Zoo Station (Brown Line).

It was nerve wrecking in the beginning of the gondola ride.

The Maokong Gondola (also known as cable car) is a great way to ride to the top of the Maokong mountain from Taipei Zoo MRT station. The Maokong Gondola makes several stops along the way to the other points of interest in the area, such as the Taipei Zoo and Zhinan Temple. The entire ride from the Taipei Zoo station to the top of Maokong takes about 30 minutes, and through the entire ride you will see scenic views of the mountains in Taipei. To get to the Maokong Gondola , you simply take the MRT to Taipei Zoo MRT station which is on the brown line. Exit the MRT station and walk for about 10 minutes to the entrance of the Maokong Gondola terminal building. Please note that, from time to time depending on the weather conditions, they may suspends the operations of the Gondola for safety purposes. Therefore, do check their official website to see in advance if the Maokong Gondola is available for the day. Their website is here. 

We took the Gondola from the Zoo ground, the zoo attendant stamp a mark on our wrists just in case we wanted to enter the zoo ground again after the cable car ride.

Maokong (貓空) is literally translated as 'cat empty'. It is located in the Wenshan District of Taipei and used to be the largest tea growing area in Taipei. There are Tea Museums, walking trail and other places of interest atop Maokong hill. One can also stop at Zhinan Temple station and visit the temple. Popular folklore say that unmarried couples are not encouraged to visit the temple as it will affect their relationships. It is said that the temple's main deity, Lu Dong Bing is jealous of lovers due to his unrequited love for He Xian Gu and will break up the relationships of any couples if given the opportunity.

Joe was all smile after sometime in the gondola.

Enjoying the ride.

It started to rain when we were up in the gondola.

Dark clouds enveloping the sky of Taipei city.

Scenic view.

Bird's eye view of the Taipei city countryside.

We ditched the plan to stop by at Jinan Temple due to bad weather.

Jinan Temple from afar.

A view of the vegetable garden from the gondola.

Just another view of the beautiful countryside.

The sun appeared for a while amongst the cloud.

Misty and cool countryside.

Kay found it too cold for her on the hilltop.

Luckily we had the Muffler scarves, they came in handy!

The wind was blowing and it was cool.

It was just nice for me, I loved the cool weather, it reminded me of late spring in Leicester.

The eatery outlet near the Maokong Gondola station.

Food, food & food. So many choices.

Joe digging into his lunch

Kay loved the salty chicken nuggets.

The yellow radish was yucky, same goes with that pinky sauce but the rice was delicious!

These were our lunch and they were cheap!

I really enjoyed the view atop the hill not far from the Maokong Gondola station.

That's the Maokong Gondola station. A view from our walk to the tea house.

We came here to enjoy the tea, Maokong was renowned for their tea plantation, the peak of Maokong has many tea-houses and tea plantations.

Tea set.

Shop proprietor showing us the way to prepare the tea. He explained all the steps and served our first cups.

We took the gondola down the hill.

Our final ride in the gondola. It was the best time we had of all of our excursions.

Walking to the MRT station.

Posing for the camera.

We decided to head to Ximending.

Ximending (西門盯)

Ximending is known as the “Shibuya” of Taiwan, one of the most happening places in Taipei. If you visit Ximending on any weekend, you’re sure to find crowds of people filling the labyrinth of endless streets. Just one MRT stop away from Taipei Main Station, Xi Men is a stop where you can find countless restaurants, shopping and fun attractions to fill up your day. From street performances to kitschy themed restaurants.

Direction:

• Take MRT to 西門 station
• Take Exit 6 to 西門紅樓

Uniqlo in Ximending.

Putting on her headgear.

Waiting for their famous chicken cutlet.

The queue was not long, the wait was bearable.

I don't know how the kids could stomach the big fried chicken cutlet.

This is the famous large fried chicken.

A guy posing his fried chicken for us.

Non stop frying...I bet they were frying all night long. The ice-cream was tempting, alas we did not give it a try. We were too full and tired.

Joe and his newly bought gloves.

Ximending was very lively, the crowd was just beginning to thicken when we left.

Walking back to our dear hotel.

It was a relieved when we reached our room.

Ximending was a vibrant place. I think I would have enjoyed the place if I had gone there with my sisters, going with my family was a different case altogether. There was no time for shopping, just window shopping, although we bought a few items for the kids there. My husband bought himself a belt, I bought nothing for myself. I was busy tending my flocks! It was a fruitful day and I was happy that I managed to get where we want to be. The next excursion - Leofoo Village Theme Park 六福村遊樂園.