Today's itinerary:
Woke up and head down to the basement for the breakfast buffet provided by the hotel. Not a huge spread, but definitely sufficient for filling tummy!
After the breakfast, it's time to explore Taipei!
We took the MRT (Wenshan-Neihu Line) to Taipei Zoo Station for Maokong Gondola 貓空纜車.
First thing we did was to buy the tickets!
The ticket purchased is for the normal cabin, if you want to take the Crystal Cabin, there is no additional cost, but you will have to head for another booth to collect the time slot for the Crystal Cabin.
The crystal cabins are of no difference from typical gondolas with the exception of one significant feature; the 48mm-thick reinforced glass flooring that can withstand the weight of five passengers!
We were quite lucky to get the whole cabin to ourselves, and literally spam pictures in the cabin!
Maokong Gondola has a total of four main and two angle stations over a distance of approximately four kilometers. It doesn't travel in a straight line and hence, require the help of the angle stations to make the "turn".
Alighted at the final station of the Gondola which is Mao Kong.
Grabbed a few snacks and head back to queue for the next crystal cabin to our next stop!
Yes, you will be able to spot Taipei 101 in the background.
Anyway, the Zoo has two entrances, one is right beside the MRT Station, while the other is accessible by the Gondola, which is known as the South Entrance.
Since we are on the Gondola, we decided to alight at the South Entrance and move through the Zoo to get to the MRT. Purchased the tickets (NT60) at the counter right outside the Gondola Station, after which they will provide you with a map of the Zoo for exploration! To kick start the exploration, at the South entrance, you will have to take the payable mandatory train ride, but fear not, the train ride cost NT5 only.
Our main purpose at the Zoo was to look at the pandas!
China government lent two pandas (Yuan Yuan and Tuan Tuan) to Taiwan and a third panda, Yuan Zai 園仔, was born on Taiwan soil on July 6, 2013. The baby panda was separated from his mother shortly after birth due to an injury that was sustained.
During the weekday, visitors do not need to draw tickets to visit the Giant Panda House 大貓熊館, but during weekend, a panda-visiting ticket 大貓熊館入場券 has to be drawn at Taipei Zoo entrance, and then once can only visit Panda House at the time shown on the drawn ticket. This is part of their crowd control. Anyway, a worker is situated near the glass to keep the crowd moving so everyone can get a view of the panda.
Note: Panda House 大貓熊館 is closed during "every first Monday of the month."
There is a souvenir shop in the Giant Panda House, so do explore if you are planning to get some souvenir back.
We actually left the Zoo after visiting the Panda since that's our only purpose.
And this is the entrance to the MRT station at the main entrance of the Zoo.
After leaving the Zoo, we head down to Taipei 101.
When we went Taipei, Taipei 101 station was still building and hence, we alighted at City Hall Station and walked over to Taipei 101.
However, as the Taipei 101 Station is now ready for use, you can just alight at Taipei 101 Station and it is just right under Taipei 101.
Our initial plan was to check out Taipei 101 and purchase tickets first, before heading to Elephant Mountain 象山 for a hike and come back to Taipei 101 for a night view.
However, when we reached the level to purchase tickets, it was filled with tourists and the queue is about 2 hours long, just to get the tickets. So we decided to skip Taipei 101 itself.
The walk from Taipei 101 to Elephant Mountain 象山 took us about 30mins as we stop to take some pictures and rest along the walk.
I think starting from 2015, they have a station called Elephant Mountain which is located nearer to the mountain itself, hence it will save the walking effort and time, if you are planning to head over there.
Once you reached the bottom of the Elephant Mountain, there will be a flight of stairs that brings you straight up to the top of the mountain. However, at the middle point, there is a "roundabout" which can leads you to another trail, stick with the one that say 象山 to reach the top.
The picture on the left is the icon that you have reached the top of Elephant Mountain.
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Took a bus from the street back to Taipei City Hall before heading to Shida Night Market 師大路夜市.
Shida Night Market 師大路夜市 is located at Taipower Building Station 台電大樓. Once you alight, take Exit 3 and make a right turn, then make another quick right to reach Shida Road 師大路. The market is located along both Shida road and in the alleys off both sides.
Maybe I went to Shida NM with high expectation, after hearing from friends that the NM is one of the best on Taipei, however, it could also be due to the day I went, it does not have as much shopping available. Most of the shopping are in the little shops along the road, hence, price-wise might not be the best. However, if you are looking for unique items, you can give it a try as I heard the owners saying that their products are locally made and restricted to a few piece of an individual items to create its uniqueness.
Anyway, we walked around and was done with the NM, hence, we went back to XMD.
Friday night at XMD is definitely different from any night in XMD. There were lots of street performers, like literally in every corner and every street of XMD, ranging from singers to musicians to dancers.
Went to grab the potato from Prince Cheese Potato! I love the potato and cheese combi! So I can't decide what I want, therefore I choose the mixture, which includes all the ingredients! :P
Anyway, the amount of cheese they gave is really generous! And it goes perfectly with the potato, without any overpowering.
Yup, and that's all for Day 8~!
- Maokong Gondola 貓空纜車
- Taipei Zoo 台北市立動物園
- Taipei 101
- Elephant Mountain 象山
- Shida Night Market 師大路夜市
- Ximending 西門町
After the breakfast, it's time to explore Taipei!
The ticket purchased is for the normal cabin, if you want to take the Crystal Cabin, there is no additional cost, but you will have to head for another booth to collect the time slot for the Crystal Cabin.
We were quite lucky to get the whole cabin to ourselves, and literally spam pictures in the cabin!
Note: The whole gondola journey took half an hour.
Yes, you will be able to spot Taipei 101 in the background.
Since we are on the Gondola, we decided to alight at the South Entrance and move through the Zoo to get to the MRT. Purchased the tickets (NT60) at the counter right outside the Gondola Station, after which they will provide you with a map of the Zoo for exploration! To kick start the exploration, at the South entrance, you will have to take the payable mandatory train ride, but fear not, the train ride cost NT5 only.
China government lent two pandas (Yuan Yuan and Tuan Tuan) to Taiwan and a third panda, Yuan Zai 園仔, was born on Taiwan soil on July 6, 2013. The baby panda was separated from his mother shortly after birth due to an injury that was sustained.
During the weekday, visitors do not need to draw tickets to visit the Giant Panda House 大貓熊館, but during weekend, a panda-visiting ticket 大貓熊館入場券 has to be drawn at Taipei Zoo entrance, and then once can only visit Panda House at the time shown on the drawn ticket. This is part of their crowd control. Anyway, a worker is situated near the glass to keep the crowd moving so everyone can get a view of the panda.
Note: Panda House 大貓熊館 is closed during "every first Monday of the month."
We actually left the Zoo after visiting the Panda since that's our only purpose.
The main entrance of the Zoo.
After leaving the Zoo, we head down to Taipei 101.
However, as the Taipei 101 Station is now ready for use, you can just alight at Taipei 101 Station and it is just right under Taipei 101.
However, when we reached the level to purchase tickets, it was filled with tourists and the queue is about 2 hours long, just to get the tickets. So we decided to skip Taipei 101 itself.
The prices of the tickets as above ^
Anyway, do take note of your attire if you are planning to enter the viewing platform as they do not allow slipper and shorts.
After leaving Taipei 101, we headed over to Elephant Mountain 象山 which is known for its trekking trails and the view of Taipei during sunset.
I think starting from 2015, they have a station called Elephant Mountain which is located nearer to the mountain itself, hence it will save the walking effort and time, if you are planning to head over there.
Once you reached the bottom of the Elephant Mountain, there will be a flight of stairs that brings you straight up to the top of the mountain. However, at the middle point, there is a "roundabout" which can leads you to another trail, stick with the one that say 象山 to reach the top.
The picture on the left is the icon that you have reached the top of Elephant Mountain.
The view there is breathtaking in real life, as usual, pictures do not give credit to the real beauty.
Do note that there will be photographers "camping" around the good spots for the picture taking, so it might be hard to get great pictures.
Anyway, we were too lazy to wait for the good spots, and since we are not really prepared for trekking, we decided to head down after awhile to avoid being on the trails in the dark.
Maybe I went to Shida NM with high expectation, after hearing from friends that the NM is one of the best on Taipei, however, it could also be due to the day I went, it does not have as much shopping available. Most of the shopping are in the little shops along the road, hence, price-wise might not be the best. However, if you are looking for unique items, you can give it a try as I heard the owners saying that their products are locally made and restricted to a few piece of an individual items to create its uniqueness.
Anyway, we walked around and was done with the NM, hence, we went back to XMD.
Anyway, the amount of cheese they gave is really generous! And it goes perfectly with the potato, without any overpowering.
Yup, and that's all for Day 8~!
Overview: Kaohsiung高雄 - Taichung台中 - Taipei台北
Day 1: Taipei台北 -> Kaohsiung高雄
Day 2: Kaohsiung高雄
Day 5: Taipei 台北 (Jiufen)
Day 6: Taipei 台北
Day 7: Taipei 台北
Day 8: Taipei 台北
Day 9: Taipei 台北 -> Singapore 新加坡
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