April 6, 2018
Our objective today was to go to Maokong to ride the glass gondola and hike up the mountain but as luck would have it, it did not go as planned. My sister woke up early to go grab breakfast at the famous breakfast place, "Fu Hang Dou Jian", and then bring it back. It was a half an hour walk from our hotel so there was no point for her to make an round trip so we went together.
We could see the line from afar as it was so long even though it was so early in the morning!! We lined up for around an hour!! The line stretched an entire block and the restaurant was on the second floor as well. I think by the time we got there it was around 10AM. Good thing there was a supermarket right next to the line so we took turn walking around. While in line, another shop was giving out samples to try. That guy thought we were Japanese. LOL.
Once we reached the second floor, we grabbed the menu and decided what to order. Everything was very affordable. There was an English menu as well as a lot of foreigners come here too. There is also a window for you to watch the food being made (very neat). The food was definitely very delicious, if I was feeling better, I would've ate more. It was difficult to find a seat though, I had to walk around several times but it's good that it was in a food court so a lot of people left after eating.
We ordered the cold soy milk (30元), salty soy milk (hot) (35元), flat bread with youtiao (55元) and the youtiao (25元). Everything together only cost us around $8 CND. The cold soymilk was really good. Everything taste better fresh and hot.
We took the train to Maokong but it started raining hard combined with strong winds. Once we reached Moakong station, we had to buy an umbrella as it was pouring. Once we reached the gondola, the employees said that they had to close due to the wind and not sure if it will reopen. The only thing I am wondering about was those people stuck on the gondola as it was not operating and they had to suspend it. The wind was crazy and I watched the gondola swing back and forth. OMG. If I was inside one of those I would'be passed out.
There's also a zoo here and the admission is very cheap (60元). Most people who get off at this stop are heading either for the zoo or the gondola.
MoCa Taipei
The admission is only 50元 (~$2.50 CND). Outside the museum, there are couple of installations such as the one you see below of the shipping container. The only caveat is that there are not many exhibitions inside and you can finish walking through in a hour. There is a special exhibition which is the "one star, one story" but apparently you need to pay extra for that.
Paintings on the building walls.
Once you enter, you need to purchase tickets to head further. Relatively easy as the staff is able to speak English as well.
Exhibition by Steve Mccurry
There were certain areas where you cannot photograph, not sure why.
I sat at the last exhibition: The rebellion of moving images and watched a little show. It was pretty interesting as they had like 8 screens you can watch it from but each screen shows a different cut. I waited for my sister there as I had lost her and she was not online.
We saw this cute little Japanese dessert cafe and the dessert looks pretty good so we entered. Once inside we were promptly seated and was told we must order one item per person and there also a mandatory gratuity fee. It was pretty expensive considering the food in Taiwan is so cheap. It costed us around $20-25 CND for two item.
I am not sure what I had ordered but it was gross. It was hot as well. NEVER AGAIN.
Afterwards we strolled down different alleys to get back to the hotel.
Interesting installations throughout Taipei.
Once we dropped off our stuff at the hotel, we headed towards Ximending, but on the way there my sister said her contacts disappeared inside her eyes so she cannot see. She headed back to the hotel (20 minutes walk) so I had to kill some time by walking around in the area. I somehow stumbled upon this park several blocks away.
Ximending
Ximending is a popular tourist shopping area with an abundance of food stalls. There are a lot of stores catered for young people.
I heard so much about "Hot-Star" and their famous fried chicken. The line was so long!! Once you've ordered you are given a number and you have to wait for your number to be called. Everything is made fresh. It tasted very good! There was a large piece of chicken bone inside but nevertheless it was very filling. We did not finish the fried chicken even with two people. The cost for the large fried chicken was 70 yuan (~$3CND). They have other stuff on the menu like fried scallop, oyster mushroom, chicken nuggets, tempura, squid, fries, etc. Everything is very affordable.
Finally found bubble waffle stand. I've been looking everywhere for cheap bubble waffle; unfortunately, this was not one of them. Taste itself was meh. 3/5. We got the one with mochi inside and it came to around ~5 CND.
Sharetea!! The bubbletea shops here are so creative looking as opposed to the ones in Vancouver. We shared a bubbletea to end the night.
