by JiaYing

Taiwan Day 16: Maokong Gondola, Taipei Zoo, red-eye back to Seattle

The mosquitos got a few parting chomps, my least favorite souvenir. Home to the land of flushing toilet paper, of shower curtains, a clothes dryer and drinking tap water.

Goodbye narrow alleys, scooters darting around pedestrians, clotheslines, bars over every window and door, the visual chaos of signage gone wild. Miss you.

This was Paul's favorite day in Taipei. We took the scenic 2.7-mile gondola ride to the top of the mountain, enjoyed yummy snacks at the tea shops, then took the gondola down to the Taipei Zoo to see the pandas and koalas. Perfect kid outing.
The Maokong Gondola cost $3 USD. I couldn't believe it. "太貴會被罵," explained the aunties who shared our gondola. "They'll be scolded if it's too expensive." Yeah, that concept doesn't exist back home. The aunties turned out to be Taiwanese-Canadians from Vancouver, B.C.; Grouse Mountain in comparison, costs $58 USD a ride.
The Maokong Gondola took us over a lush green jungle. Hard to believe we were still in Taipei. On a clear day, you get a panoramic view of the city skyline, including Taipei 101.
There's no surcharge to ride the crystal cabin, the one with the glass floors!
Mountaintop station
Mountaintop snacks
Taiwan-shaped pineapple cake and fruit tea
Admission to the Taipei Zoo is less than $2 USD. And they have two pandas! I was told, "小朋友的地方應該​​便宜." (Children's activities SHOULD be cheap.) Well, duh, that makes sense. Except try saying that out loud in Seattle.
Yuan Yuan (圓圓), one of two pandas at the Taipei Zoo
Yuan Zai (圓仔), 10, was the first giant panda cub born in Taiwan. Mom is Yuan Yuan. Dad Tuan Tuan, 團團, died in 2022.
So many pandas in the panda gift shop.
Even the restrooms are panda themed.
I'm sorry, but how is this actually real? I think the zoo made a mistake and put a stuffie in the koala exhibit.
Final meal in Taipei
Lucky for us, Taoyuan International Airport is filled with high-end designer stores. It's great to be able to pop by Hermès and Gucci while you're waiting for your flight. You never know when you might need a Birkin bag or two.
by JiaYing

Taiwan Day 15: Alishan

Alishan National Park

To catch the sunrise, most people get up really early and catch a train to a crowded viewpoint. Not us! We rolled out of bed (hence the bedhead) and took the elevator to the rooftop where hot chocolate and fresh croissants awaited us.
The famous Alishan sunrise
Rooftop infinity pool
A bit of a rainbow
Alishan train. When Taiwan was a Japanese colony, the Japanese built this mountain railway to harvest Taiwan’s lumber.
Taiwanese people falling for the autumn leaves.
There's a lot of steps, not ADA accessible, because, you know, it's a mountain. We took the train to the top, then worked our way DOWN.
A lovely paved path is what Taiwanese people call hiking on a trail. These are my people!
Some seedlings that grew in the stump of a cypress tree that had been cut down. These are known as "The Four Sisters."
Three Taiwan red cypress trees growing side-by-side on stump, nicknamed "The Three Brothers."
National Geographic visiting Alishan too.
Tightly spaced tree rings of the slow-growing cypress
This is a post office.
Incredible food. Of all the dishes, the kids' favorite was… the steamed white rice. In their defense, the rice was exceptionally fragrant.
The dishes kept coming… and coming…
… and coming. So good but we could barely make a dent in all the food.
by JiaYing

Taiwan Day 14: Chiayi

Some sightseeing around Chiayi, the one place I don't have to explain how to pronounce my name! Then to a decadent 10-course dinner and the most luxurious hotel experience of my life.

A cookie factory! We could smell the good smells as soon as we pulled into the parking lot.
The cookie factory encourages visitors: it's all decked out in photo ops and has a giant tasting room with alllll the cookie flavors to sample. Banana was Paul's favorite.
Lunch with our fellow travelers.
Is that a… ??!
More unexpected body parts: fish head soup.
Found a bit of home
A bus covered in Astroturf…
And the interior styled like a fruit bar.
Detail from the temple. It's covered with these little figures.
Tea farm
I'm told all the hotels on Alishan are run-down and overpriced… not this one! Our hotel just built a year ago, and it was GORGEOUS.
Every detail was so beautiful.
Every detail was so beautiful.
I'm a shower and run kind of person; can't remember the last time I filled a bath. But this soaking tub I could not resist.
Fruit drinks on the rooftop bar next to the hot tub.
The beginning of our 10-course dinner. The appetizers alone would have been great, but the food kept coming… and coming… and coming…
The menu
The camera always eats first.
by JiaYing

Taiwan Day 13: Yehliu, Jiufen and Shifen

This route is a popular day trip from Taipei. Our driver, Mr. Yang, said he's driven this route nearly every day for the past 8 years, but it was my first time (unless I went as a baby?). Soggy, fantastic day.

Yehliu Geopark features bizarre rock formations. It looks like you landed on another planet, one inhibited by Teletubbies. This is not an artistically blurred photo; I just had a really wet camera.
The most famous rock formation, Queen's Head, looks like the profile of a queen.
A nice security uncle stands by the famous Queen's Head, helping keeping the line moving and guiding each group to the designated photo spot (marked by footprints on the boardwalk). The line was long, but the setup was efficient.
Our turn with Queen's Head.
The raincoats are one size fits all.
Vendors outside the park gates sell these brightly colored raincoats for $3 USD. They were quite nice; the zippers alone would cost more than $3!
It alternated between raining and sprinkling the entire day.
Jiufen is built onto a steep mountainside. I'm glad I didn't have to drive / look for parking.
Jiufen's taro ball soup
The famous Ah Mei tea shop, said to be inspiration for Hayao Miyazaki’s "Spirited Away."
Braised pork rice (滷肉飯)
Shop selling calligraphy supplies
Jiufen Old Street is a tiny, narrow street packed with tea shops, eateries, and souvenir shops. It was very crowded, very wet and very DELICIOUS.
Sky lanterns at Shifen old street
You can write whatever you want on your lantern. Someone people wrote a lot, another person just drew a smiley face. Be careful not to get the ink on your clothes because it won't come out.
You can choose a single colored lantern ($200 NTD) or one with four different colors ($250 NTD). Each color has a different meaning. Each store is the same price, so don't bother price shopping.
The sifu is a pro at shooting photos and videos for everyone. (Also, If you need to use the restroom, make sure you ask the sifu whose shop you visit, because no one else will let you.)
The train tracks are an active route, but the train travels slowly and there's lots of advance warning before it reaches the station. Everyone has time to clear off the tracks.
Rolled ice cream with cilantro and crushed peanuts! You wouldn't think these flavors go together but it was delicious.
The stall immediately to the right of the train station is the original deboned and marinated chicken wing stuffed with fried rice. (There are copycats along the street.)
No idea how they stuff the chicken wing with rice without breaking the skin! It was hot and tasty.
by JiaYing

Taiwan Day 12: Back to Taipei

MRT Sanchong exit playground, family meetup, Shilin night market

You can take a roller slide out of the subway station! Exit 1A at Sanchong. A friend in Seattle told me about this subway stop, and testing out this slide was as much a priority for us as Taipei 101.
Sanchong MRT station
The roller slide leads down to the most incredible playground, New Taipei Metropolitan Park. It's HUGE. We counted 29 slides, plus there are a whole bunch of slopes that you can use as slides.
The play structures are adorable animal themed.
There's food trucks parked alongside, nursing pods for privacy, restrooms, a spray park and the coolest zipline that operates in a loop.
The park was busy and absolutely pristine.
My cousins, aunts and uncle!
Shilin night market is the biggest night market in Taipei, and it's a wonderful maze of winding little streets filled with endless snacks, drinks and games. Kids LOVED it.
You're not going to find these treats in the ID.
My tip is always to look for the stalls with the longest lines, that's where you'll find the best food. Though I did ask one person in line what the wait was for, and she said, "I dunno, I saw everyone in line so I got in line too."
Paul won a prize at this game.
Hard-won prizes!! The stuffies were named "Shilin" and "Ye Shi."
A grudge I've been carrying around for nearly 40 years: When my sister and I were little, we played a game at the market where you could scoop up tiny little turtles with paper nets. We had to share one net. My sister had HER turn, the net broke, and that was the end of it.
I finally got to right that wrong at the Shilin night market. Now you scoop up fish with nets that DON'T break, an unlimited turn for $100 NTD. Joseph had a turn, Paul had a turn, even I had a turn. Four decades of bitterness, resolved.
Perusing prizes…
ALL THE GOOD EATS
by JiaYing

Taiwan Day 11: Kenting, east

"Kissing Rock" is a coastal reef eroded by ocean waves, leaving a cut-out in the shape of Taiwan.
A sandy area next to the parking lot with a ton of hermit crabs. Locals leave food scraps for the little guys.
A stretch of pristine white sand beach that is strictly OFF LIMITS. A posted sign at Shadao (砂島) Ecological Reserve warns trespassers must pay a $3,000 NTD fine. Paul: "Ok, I'll just pay it so I can go on the beach." This child of mine.
Shadao is protected because its sand is 97.7 percent shell, the highest concentration anywhere in Taiwan. There's a bin of the sand inside a small visitor's center you can scoop up and examine. The sand is made up of tiny shells and shell fragments.
The wall behind these guys is coral from the bottom the sea, pushed inland by the movement of the tectonic plates.
A monument marking the southernmost tip of Taiwan. Driving the entire island, tip to tip, would takes 5.5 hours.
The trails in the national park are nice, paved paths. Not too much roughing it.
Feel like you're being watched…?
The view from Sea Pavilion. The tall pointy peak is Mt. Dajian. In the water is a big boulder, called Sail Rock, that rolled down the mountain a long time ago.
Sail Rock, close up. Locals say it looks like Richard Nixon's profile. The big nose?
Mystery Cave, which was formed by coral reefs that were pushed up and then collapsed.
The lighthouse at Eluanbi Park.
Bluff with a view of the Pacific Ocean. It was so crazy windy I was actually afraid for Paul, who only weighs 50-something pounds.
Tea ice cream, made with tea leaves grown in the area.
by JiaYing

Taiwan Day 10: Kenting, west

Kenting National Park is one of the most beautiful places in Taiwan, with sandy beaches, caves, coral reefs, oodles of coastal scenery.

We caught the Kenting Express bus from the Zuoying HSR station. It's a two-hour ride on a comfy coach bus, and the driver presented each of us with bottles of water and packets of tissue. Cost: Less than $6, paid with EasyCard. Public transportation in Taiwan is UNBELIEVABLE.

Baisha (白沙), the beach where Ang Lee filmed "Life of Pi."
The semi-submersible boat ride through the coral reef was the highlight of our Kenting experience. It was like we were at the aquarium, but this was a real life coral reef teeming with pretty tropical fish. And my favorite way to experience nature: staying dry and comfortable behind a pane of glass.
A sea turtle swam right past us!
The exterior of the boat.
So much 7-11 love. We got a bit addicted to the pork floss onigiri. 7-11s in Taiwan are a wonder. You can top your EasyCard, buy a delicious hot lunch and giant jugs of bottled water, print out homework… 7-11s are literally everywhere, a beacon of cleanliness and reliability.
Maobitou (貓鼻頭), or Cat Rock, is a limestone block that extends out to sea at Hengchun. Wind and wave erosion carved it into the shape of a crouching cat, hence its name. See it?
Maobitou lookout
SO WINDY at Maobitou!
Famous sunset lookout point, but the clouds had other ideas.
We stayed right on Kenting's main road, with the night market out the front steps. 墾丁大街 definitely has more of a bar/nightlife vibe, with cocktail stalls dotted along the main drag. We're more of a bubble tea crowd; this is from the stall our driver recommended.
The boys LOVED the games at the night market.