Taiwan Day 2 -- To the Zoo!

On paper, it didn't seem like we did all that much: we went to the zoo, we road a gondola, then we ate dinner at the food court.  But when I looked through the pictures, our day appears much more jam-packed.  No wonder the kids went to sleep instantly!

We got a good start to the day: enough sleep, a quick workout for dad, and then a buffet breakfast at the hotel.  Then we hit the road.  The plan didn't seem too ambitious: take the MRT to the zoo, see a few animals, ride the gondola to see the sites, then take the MRT to Taipei 101 to go up in a really, really tall building.

As we walked to the MRT station, we ducked into a side street that houses the neighborhood market.  This isn't a market that shows up on any of the tourists maps that we've seen, but it is a typical Asian market featuring shops with whole ducks sitting side-by-side with shops selling jewelry and tools.  Shelley and I thought it was great, but the kids were a little taken aback by the various animal carcasses on display.

The MRT line to the Taipei Zoo is an elevated train instead of a subway, which allowed us to get a view of the southeast part of Taipei -- it's a mix of tightly-clustered nondescript apartment buildings, some upscale shopping areas, some rundown areas, and a surprising amount of greenery.  It is lush here.

The boys had a fun time at the Taipei Zoo.  It's a pretty typical zoo -- the habitats are fine, but they could use a bit more maintenance.  We focused on the Formosan animals and the Asian Rainforest animals, since the kids have been to several zoos before.

 100th Anniversary for the Taipei Zoo!

Note the small deer in the lower right nibbling on some plants.

Here is a short, but exciting power struggle in the macaque habitat:

 This guy's moving with a purpose!

The fangs are bared!

 

 The loser

And the spectators, munching on their snacks while they watch with half-interest a spectacle that probably repeats itself a dozen times a day.

There was also a panda!  This was the younger, "smaller" panda.

 And Ryan goofing with a statue of a panda!

After the zoo, we rode a gondola up a hillside, across three ridges, to a tea-growing area at an elevation of approximately 1000 ft.  The 20-minute ride was spectacular, particularly because we were in a gondola with a glass bottom!

From the top station, first we hiked one way to view some tea fields:

Anybody know what these are?  They were being grown as a crop in amongst the tea.  They look like edamame, but we didn't think they are.

Then we hiked the other way to see a temple, sampling some local food along the way. 

Anecdote of the day:  The Buddhist temples the kids have been to have featured the skinny version of the Buddha, so Jonathan was a bit confused as to who the "fat guy with the big earlobes" was.

 I would highly recommend the fried egg scallion pancakes, yummy!

After returning down the gondola, we decided that our original plan to visit Taipei 101 just wouldn't work -- it was too hazy to see anything, and we were too tired!  We took the MRT (during rush hour) to the Main Train Station, ate teppanyaki dinner at one of the attached shopping center food courts, then went back to our hotel in the dark.  We were exhausted!

Day Two verdict: success.