Taipei: A Suprisingly Diverse Capital City

I hopped on a train from Zhongli to Taipei and was giddy to have successfully made the transfer to the MRT (subway) blue line and then another transfer to the brown line without getting lost. I got off at the Taipei zoo. For only 60 NT I got access to the entire zoo. While the zoo was quite extensive (ranging from tigers to koalas to pheasants), the en-closers are smaller than any zoo I have seen and all of the animals sat in the back corners far away from the people and just seemed so sad. And the giant panda that everyone was going gaga for was asleep without a good view. It didn't seem like the fun zoo visits I used to have in the states, it was much more melancholy.

The bears broke my heart...

I also was super disappointed by the food choices: 7-11 and McDonalds (and they were busier than the actual zoo part). I loved the animal themed fair food in the States and was disappointed to find the only real food was overpriced food that I didn't need to travel halfway around the world for. I still couldn't help but get excited when I saw the tiger and the leopard as I love jungle cats, and the monkeys and elephants still seemed so happy that the entire zoo excursion wasn't lost. While I was entertained, I still wouldn't recommend this trip unless you have children.

These guys loved the attention. They would puff up and fly from tree to tree to wherever the group was the largest.

The tiger kept far away from the people but he was still beautiful.

Elephents and hippos.

Monkeys always seem to be happy.

Next I met up with my friend Daphne outside of the zoo and we hopped on the Maokong Gondola. It flew us in a glass cable car compartment above the mountain to the top. The sights were beautiful and it's still amazing to me that such beautiful rough mountains exist within the capital city itself. Although it is mandatory to share a car if you are not a group of 5 or 6 but it is cozy and friendly. The other couple we shared the car with was friendly and took our picture but we kept to ourselves throughout most of the trip. It's not a long ride, but not too short to wait a half hour in line to get on either. 

Daphne and I.

The view of Taipei from one side...

The view of the mountainside from the other...

The crystal cabins have glass floors as well.

 At the top of the mountain there are a ton of tea shops, a few trails and temples and plenty of food. We wandered around for a bit and ate wild boar sausages. It was dark when we started back down the mountain and got on the MRT to the Da'an park station (we had no idea it was the first night this station was open) and I would recommend if you want to go anywhere in the da'an area,  go to this station and walk from there.

At the top of the mountain.

One of the many mountainside restaurants.

The food is amazing.

The station itself it like a park and it's actually connected to the Da'an park, so the atmosphere is great. We went to the amphitheater in the middle of the park. There was a free traditional drum performance at 7:30 by Utheater (www.utheater.org) and we were dumbfounded to find how big of a deal it was. The mayor of Taipei introduced them and it was a beautiful professional show. There was very little speaking and I was able to follow the storyline fairly well, but luckily my Taiwanese friend Daphne was there to help me along.

The mayor is the one in the white shirt, kicking off the show.

These guys were phenomenal!

The lead role.

Before heading home we stopped by the Shida nightmarket not far away (although we took a taxi partway there) to get some fire and ice bread and milk tea and browse the shops. Fire and ice bread is perfect for the foreigner who is homesick. It is a large warm bun filled with a cold custard that tastes like butter. It's just like grandmas dinner rolls. This night market is awesome. It is indoor botiques that line the tidy brick alleyways in a European fashion with the food carts placed throughout. It is highly organized and spacious and a nice walk, even if you aren't in the mood to buy.

Although I've been to Taipei many times already this is the first time that I have made a trip out of it and am happy to have found that it is a very diverse city. From the jade market to the flower market to the gay bar district to the vastly different nightmarkets and the mountains with hiking trails located within the metropolis, it is a place that you cannot make just one trip out of; there is always something new to find!