[TW; 2013] Living in Taiwan Series | Taipei Zoo & Maokong 台北市立動物園&貓空

A short trip to Taipei's Zoo and Maokong!

 

^^Use your Metro Card to pay for the entrance fee! Save some time from queuing up the ticketing counter!

臺北市立動物園 Taipei Zoo, 9am-5pm (Ticketing ends at 4pm), Adults NT$60 Children NT$30

 

^^You will receive a ticket to visit the famous panda upon entering the entrance!

 

^^Panda Exhibition Area

 

^^The pandas were not facing me that day... But they were so adorable!

As our aim of coming to the Taipei Zoo was to see the Pandas, so we head on to our next destination which was to Maokong!

 

^^Board the zoo internal transport heading to the cable car station; NT$5 per ride

 I think we changed to another small bus to reach the Cable Car Station, which costed another NT$5. You can pay with cash or the metro card.

 

^^Follow the signboards to board the cable car to Maokong Station

 

^^Hello Kitty and 圓仔 on the Cable Car; SO KAWAII!

 

^^Abit blurry photo on the cable car route

 

^^Pretty view upon exiting the Maokong Station! It's like in Cingjing/Genting Highlands, awesome clouds scenery!

Around a 10mins walk away from the Maokong Station, we reached an area where there are plenty of Tea houses which have great view of the mountainous scenery!

 

^^Favorite pastime of Taiwanese; tea session! 

 ^^We had our Tea Session at this Tea House

貓空紅木屋, No. 31, Lane 38, Section 3, Zhinan Rd, Taiwan 116

 

^^All equipments ready! Our Taiwanese friends were incharge of all the tea making/brewing; we were just clueless with all the steps!

Anyway, if you really wish to know how to brew nice tea, you could just approach the staffs and they will be willing to teach you!

 

^^The tea house also served good food for dinner meals!

I have no idea the specific names for each dishes... but I know the Meesua was really good with rice! (Not Taiwanese way of eating Meesua but my own habit!)

 

^^My Taiwanese friend ordered 包種茶葉 (Pouchong)!

Puchong is actually a locally produced tea! It's type is between Green Tea and Oolong Tea; its taste was really refreshing, not that harsh!

If you have slightly more budget, you can try 東方美人茶 (Oriental Beauty), the taste was much smoother than Pouchong and it is also produced in Taiwan! I personally preferred Oriental Beauty more than Puchong. But it doesnt really matter, cause able to sit down with familiar friends and foreign friends sharing stories and exchanging views in such a nice environment... any type of tea is great!

This marks our end of short trip to Taipei Zoo and Maokong!