Yesterday was the last of our booked guided tour. From today, Day 6 onwards, we will be going around Taipei on our own.
This morning, it was drizzling again..but just lightly. Had a quick breakfast in our room and we were on our way to experience the MaoKong Gondola (or cable cars)! Since the time we stepped onto the street till we reached the gondola towers, kids kept talking and reminding us that we must take the crystal glass bottom cable car. Ok..ok...noted..
Board the train towards Taipei Zoo. If you are planning to make a trip to Maokong Gondola, make sure you spare 2-3 hours to visit the Taipei Zoo! Entrance fees is very reasonable and the things that you get to see inside the zoo is interesting too. The area is huge and even a leisurely walk around is refreshing physically and mentally!
Our setting off timing coincides with the working class and hence, the whole train station was packed, but yet operating in an orderly manner.
Finally reached Taipei Zoo station after 20 mins train ride. To exit, just look for the Maokong Gondola exit and follow the sign accordingly..
Hohohoho ! Saw the following sign in the washroom...why must they put a warning sign to tell users that the red button is for emergency and not press to flush the toilet?!
Once we come out from the train station,we took a turn left. Walked a short distance and we saw the following building, McDonalds etc....
Walk past the above green building...and you will see the following - that is the building where we will board the Maokong Gondola..
For senior citizens, they get discounted tickets but will have to show identity as proof( we used my parent's senior citizen MRT cards) to exchange for a different kind of pass as follow :
For kids and myself, we used our store-value cards. Since we are taking the crystal glass bottom gondola, we followed the light blue sign..
Normally passengers will have to queue like 30-45 mins for the crystal clear bottom cable car, but we were extremely lucky! Only need to wait 5 mins. Thanks to the rain and its a weekday too..
Saw this notice and thank our lucky stars that we went there a few days earlier before they close for maintenenace! 
Once you got out from the station, you will be greeted with a mountainous view slightly towards your left. When you continue walking and hit a main road, turn left and you will see a food court. Many visitors will stop here and take a break or a cuppa before roaming around. As Maokong is on high level, air can get quite cold. So we all brought extra clothing...but not enough! All still shivered from the cold. Lol!
Once we stepped out of the food court, we can choose turn left or right. We asked the food court crew. They mentioned something like the road to our right is leading downhill and I rememebered reading from someone's blog that they walked down half way downhill and ended up not walking back to the train station but took a bus all the way to the bottom of Maokong.
So....being kiasu people, we took the left turn. Hmmm...not a bad choice! Haaha!
Continued walking and something caught my eye. A display saying : sweet
potato ice cream ?! And a male voice calling out to us...come try !
You will see this just behind the sweet potato ice cream red sign. The stall is not that visible from the road hence you will have to walk through a small little path..
Ahhhhhh! This lady! She is adorable! She said her sweet potato is the best! Why is it call ice cream potato? Simple, because you eat it with an wooden ice cream scoop! hahaaa! She will cut the sweet potato into half and stick one of those wooden scoop into the sweet potato.
She then tells me that a lot of people like to photograph her. She posed and asked me to take a photo of her. Of coz I obliged and tell her she looked pretty. hahaahaha!
Next to her stall, there is this place that is labelled "pig sty". Though there are no live pigs, the put in replicas..hahaha
The sweet potato that we bought...it is really soft, creamy and sugary in taste! No joke..don't play play..the pretty old lady is right..her sweet potato is the best! I can't get back this texture or taste elsewhere in Taipei. Serious!
Walked to the end of the road....
Once we got out of the gondola, followed the signs to the zoo entrance, bought tickets, walked further in and waited for the shuttle bus to bring us to the main zoo area. Though the crew there tells you that you can walk, don't attmept! The road is long and windy, you may get a headache before you reach the zoo. It will then be the animals looking at you and not the other way round! :)) This is the shuttle bus...2 mins ride..
Many students on field trip to the zoo that day...
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This is the final main gate that you will come out from. Once out, turn left and keep walking. About 2mins you will reach the train station. YAY!
As we walked, I called up Ding Tai Fung and tried to make a reservation for a late lunch. Unfortunately they do not accept phone booking..so we just make our way there. We took a train to Zhong Xiao FuXing station, alight and striaght in front of the exit is SOGO. We spotted the following :
Walked straight into SOGO, we saw an escalator slightly towards our left. Ahhh...took it to B2, where Ding Tai Fung is. As we went at odd hours, only queued for 10 mins then it was our turn! Fast !
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Needless to say...over ordered coz everything looks nice on the menu. :)) But frankly, besides its earned fame, the food quality is only average. Pricing wise, yes it is cheaper than Singapore. We paid about SGD80 plus for the whole meal. Somehow I just feel that if you are in Taipei, roadside stalls, small eateries are the best places to find good finger licking food..you know what I mean, those that is good to the last drop of soup?
Burrrrpp ( excuse me! ) After a full meal, we shopped around a little. Within half an hour time, the heavy late lunch started to take its toil on us...so we dragged ourselves back to the minsu and took a nap. haahahaa!
Half way back to the minsu, kids and me decided not to go back and nap. Old folks went back on their own. Kids and me continue to roam around XimenDing, and discovered the location of.......AH CHUNG Mian Xian ! Only got whiff of vinegar and the broth..too full to even buy a small bowl to try.
Oh we found the following porducts in one of the shops. It's hilarious! Actually it is the packing that is attractive..inside the box nothing fantastic, just sweets or chocs.
We roamed the street till about 6pm and decided to return back to the minsu. Stopped by this coffee shop which is always packed with customers! Bought a cup of coffee and till now I can still recall the aroma! Out of the world! Beans are freshly roasted there and then, you can imagine the sense blowing coffee smell while u sit and sipped your coffee. One of those little pleasure in life that gives big satisfaction!
Finally went back to the minsu close around 7 plus pm. Kids were tired and we called it a day. Parents woke up fresh from their afternoon nap and it was their turn to walk around Ximending. Hmmm...they bought more stuff and also, Ah Chung mian xian for us when they come back! Just feel that we have not stopped eating for a minute every since we arrived in Taipei..Oink Oink !
Weather : Drizzling, rained and stopped and rained and stop. Rain more than stop. Rain rain rain..
Directions to places of interest : It's all described in the above post. Happy reading !
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