Taipei, we meet again!

This trip to Taiwan can be considered an impromptu one. We had already bought air tickets to Bali for a 6-day family trip, which had thankfully only cost us $88 each. But because of the recent AirAsia crash which happened on the same route, WJ’s sister became a bit paranoid and we ended up buying new tickets to Taipei just 2 to 3 days before we had to leave! As we were going with WJ’s parents who hadn’t been to Taipei before, we decided to keep the trip a simple one and bring them to some of the more touristy sites.

Up, up, up we went on the Maokong Gondola to the final stop at Maokong station to enjoy the fresh air and fill our bellies. I don’t recommend going on a weekend as it’s incredibly crowded. We had initially planned to take the Crystal cabins where the cabin floors are made of glass so we could take in the view from above. But we had to wait for at least 45 minutes so that was a no-go!

We went to one of the teahouses up on the mountains, sipping hot tea and eating purple vegetables, which actually tasted quite good despite the colour! We also tried some of their tea-infused dishes, such as fried rice cooked with tea leaves. The food wasn’t overly doused in oil or salt, but were still big on taste. They grow their own vegetables too! One thing we learnt was that people normally throw away the first batch of tea that they make as they’re trying to wash away the pesticides on the tea leaves. But the first batch always tastes the best, and that single wash is of little use (if any at all)!

After a late lunch, we took the train to the zoo from the Taipei Zoo South station and spent the rest of the evening there ogling at the animals. The zoo is huge and we could have easily spent a whole day there just to cover it. Too bad that we only had about three hours!

I think WJ and I are more well-suited to travel to places with more nature and are less city-like, which we can get enough of in Singapore. The day we both enjoyed the most was the one where we went up the mountain in the Maokong Gondola and explored the zoo. The next time we travel to Taiwan, we’ll probably be heading to the eastern or western side!