Taiwan June 2008 Day 3

Hello all! It's 8.11pm now and I'm still waiting for my father in the hotel room to finish work so that we can go eat dinner.. He promised steamboat.. And I'm starving like anything now.. Faster come back! Anyway, here's what I've been doing so far today..

Day 3- 13June 2008

Plan today was to go to the Maokong Gondola and Taipei Zoo.. So took the MRT there.. Quite fast from my hotel.. About 20 mins like that.. Decided to head for the Maokong Gondola first.. There were 4 stations altogether in this ride.. Paid to go to the last one as it was the most popular.. Queued was quite long as there were a number of tour groups.. They should have made a line for FITs..

And here's the cable car.. One cabin takes up to 8 people.. I was sharing it with 3 couples.. Haha..

Wooo.. So high up..

I think the night view would be damn pretty.. But let's be contented with what we have shall we? Haha.. Look at Taipei 101 sticking out..


Finally after almost 30mins in the gondola (Yes! It's that long..), we finally reached Maokong Station.. Nothing much to do there except hiking actually.. And you need to ride a bus around too.. Had a cup of soya bean and a tuna sausage before leaving..

And the queue for the return trip was quite bad.. They made a single traveller like me queue up with the tour groups.. Don't understand why they don't allow FITs to go first.. And look at the queue! All old people.. Haha..

Next stop was Taipei Zoo! Bought the ticket at a student discount.. Haha.. Didn't bring E-zlink so use my TAS pass.. Guess how much was the admission? NT$30= S$1.50.. Haha.. Singapore's zoo is like 10 times of this price lah..

First stop was the Koala Exhibit.. His name is Patrick and he likes to yawn.. Haha.. After that it was thru a Nocturnal House where I saw lots of owls and critters.. They even put live white mice into the owls' cages..

Exiting the Nocturnal House, it was the Malayan Tapir.. All sleeping.. Blehz.. Haha.. And there was a dead owl by the river bank..

The sun bears! So cute..

Asian Elephant! My favourite animal of all time.. Haha..

Then it was the dirty Annaxs.. If you look closely, one of them has its horn broken off.. Poor thing.. It'll never grow again..

Camel.. All hiding in the shelter..

Zebras! The zoo had like 3 species of zebras.. Forgot what was this species liaoz..

And this is lunch.. Haha.. Costs about S$2.50.. It's the Dan Zai Mi Fen.. Very nice.. I like the soup.. Haha..

Master Wu Gui! This tortoise must be damn old.. Look at how big it is..

And this is the smaller version.. Inside the Reptile House..

Snake! I hate them! Eeeew..

Beautiful shells.. The Star Shell Turtle..

And lastly, it was to the penguin's exhibit.. So close up.. Haha..

And this was a sign next to the exhibit.. What in the world is a Hubbub? Haha..

The dumb penguins looking into the mirror.. Haha.. Why do they like to do that anyway?


And finally, it started to pour so decided to ride the tram back to the entrance.. Costs only $0.25.. Haha.. Didn't buy any souvenirs cos all not nice.. So my entire zoo trip costs me S$4.25!

Came back to the hotel first as it was raining and left for Shilin Night Market a while later.. Very fruitful trip becos I bought 2 shirts, a bag, a cap and a pair of shoes! Haha.. Finally I found a pair that has my size.. Happy Happy Happy! And for S$10 only..

Ate the "Tian Bu La" again cos I like it so much.. Haha..Walked around a while more, called my father; still in office.. Went to eat Dunkin Donuts.. Haha.. Came back to the hotel again.. Wait for my father.. Sianz.. When is he coming back?

Edit: He's coming back now! Going for steamboat.. Tata!