Oh The Weather Outside Is...Rainy.

Let it stop! Let it stop! Let it stop!

It's more rainy than usual, and to top it off, it's frigid! Okay, actually it's probably in the 50s, but still, I'm not digging it.

As I previously mentioned, I forgot to set an alarm and slept way too long today. This was particularly unfortunate because I had a full list activities planned. I was still going to make every effort to see everything.

I hopped on the MRT and took the brown line all the way to the Taipei Zoo exit, which took about 25 minutes. I know what you're thinking, why are you going to a zoo? Well, I love seeing animals, and they have some pretty cool ones here. Like penguins. And hippos. And pandas. The main reason was for the pandas. The zoo was huge! And cheap. My ticket was only 60 NT. I brought along my long-range lens and got some awesome shots of the animals. All animals except...the pandas. The baby was too little to be outside, and the mother only came out from behind a bush for a few seconds. So, I did see her, I just didn't get to document it. Bummer.

Still bitter about the pandas

The Taipei Zoo Station is the last stop of the MRT brown line. To go any further, you can walk down the street and catch the Maokong Gondola. The gondola is an extension of the MRT. For just 50 NT, you can ride over 4km outside of the city and above the Taiwan countryside. I did a similar gondola ride back in 2011 at Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro. I couldn't wait for my next.






As you wait to board the gondolas, there are two lines. The first line, which is faster moving, is for a normal gondola with glass walls and a metal floor. The second line, which typically has a longer wait, is for a Crystal Cabin, or an all-glass gondola that even has a glass floor. The crappy weather meant that lines were short, so I was able to grab a spot in a Crystal Cabin with no wait. The ride was gorgeous! My pictures do not do it justice, as the windows were wet and foggy and it was difficult to get a good shot. I loved seeing the mountains and escaping the busy city.







 
I had two planned stops on the gondola. First stop was going to be about halfway up, at the Zhinan Station, so I could visit the beautiful Chi Nan Temple. The next stop was going to be Maokong Station, which was also the final stop of the gondolas. Maokong is a famous place for drinking tea. I got off at Zhinan Station and I swear the temperature had dropped 20 degrees. It was also getting dark. I kicked myself for waking up so late, and decided to just head back to the hotel, with plans to make the trip another day (probably Sunday).

Bummed out, I got back and waited to meet up with Tyler. We headed to Malibu West for dinner, a nearby Westernized bar/restaurant where many of the outage workers hang out. We had come here my first night in town. I had a Carlsberg beer and shrimp fried rice, with red Habanero peppers scattered throughout (I need to be careful when asking for spicy over here).

After Malibu, we took the MRT to the Shilin Night Market, the largest night market in Taiwan. This night market is one of the must-see destinations in Taipei, and I could definitely see why. Think of NYC's Chinatown and multiply that by a LOT and you get Shilin. They had all the street food you could imagine, games, clothes, shoes upon shoes (most for only 380 NT!), accessories, etc etc. It was also an excellent opportunity to people watch and get a real feel for the culture in Taiwan. My gloomy day turned right around once I bought a jacket (that the woman let me try on!) and some gifts. I had read online that the night market had puppies on display, so of course we looked for them, but without success. Tyler and I both had a great time at Shilin, but it was getting late, so we'll have to come back another night.

OMG. Shoes.