I almost shed a tear as I had my last meal at the hotel restaurant. As with my Mexico trip, it will be difficult coming home and eating...less. Fun fact: George Lucas dined at this restaurant. To prove it, there was a signed picture of him with some waitresses that said "the force is with you."
Not wanting a repeat of Thursday, I made sure to get an early start and head straight to the gondola station. No Crystal Cabin for me this time, the line was insane! But no worries, I enjoyed a beautiful and rain-free ride along with a lady and her two, cute kids. That was until the gondola broke. And by broke I mean completely stopped. So there I hung (not literally, Mom!), freaking out. An announcement in Mandarin came over a speaker in the cable car, and judging by the worried look on the lady's face, things didn't seem good. For the next 15-20 minutes, we didn't move, and I sat there envisioning myself falling/jumping/dying. Finally, after another announcement, the lady and her kids gave me a thumbs up (the universal language for "we're cool") and we started moving again. Whew!
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| Hello Kitty Themed Cable Cars |
I rode the gondola all the way to the last stop, Maokong Station. Maokong is a mountainous area on the edge of Taipei that became famous for its tea plantations. While most of the tea is now grown in other parts of the country, Maokong is still home to small plantations and many tea houses for tastings. I'm a daily green tea drinker, so I was excited to taste and explore.
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| Coffee with a view! |
I ventured off on foot and walked for about 45 minutes, taking in the sights of the beautiful mountains and the Taipei 101 in the distance. I've heard of this area being compared to Jurassic Park, and I could certainly see why. The land was lush, green, and mostly uninhabited. I continued walking past the Tainen Temple and finally arrived at the Taipei Tea Promotion Center. There I got to learn a bit about the history of tea making, like how to brew teas to bring out their optimal flavors. More importantly, I was able to sample some delicious tea! On the way back to the gondola station, I stopped at one of the many tea houses overlooking the mountains. I enjoyed more tea, a Jasmin Oolong mix, while soaking in the beautiful scenery. I also learned how to brew tea leaves, and took a package home with me.
I hopped back on the gondola and rode it down to the Zhinan Station, home to the magnificent Chi Nan temple, one of the oldest temples in Taipei. The pictures explain themselves. This place was massive, with four main halls, five secondary halls, and many walkways. Chi Nan is sometimes called "the temple of a thousand steps" - there are literally 1,200 stone steps that lead up to it. Apparently you live an extra 20 seconds for each step you climb. Some people were doing rituals and kissing each step as they went. Me? I was sweating my butt off, stopping for a breather every so often. :)
Next up on the agenda was to meet up with Tyler and finally go see the Taipei 101, one of the most famous landmarks in Taiwan. The 101 is one of the tallest buildings in the world and considered to be the country's engineering masterpiece. As you've seen from my pictures this past week, the 101 is visible from most of Taipei, helping all directionally challenged people (me) navigate through the city. Unlike the Empire State Building, it's worth the ~$15 to go to the top.
You start by riding the world's fastest passenger elevator. Warning - your ears will pop! Once at the top, there is a free audio tour that takes you around different viewpoints and shares facts about the building. We passed on the tour, but had a great time wondering around. Tyler has been 3 or 4 times, so he knew the ropes and I just followed along. Highlights for me were the outside observatory deck (it was so windy up there!) as well as the huge damper that stabilizes the building. There was a video of the damper swaying during a typhoon...ugh, I couldn't imagine. Before taking the elevator back down, we passed through a display of various red coral statues for sale, some costing upwards of $6 million USD. I couldn't help but think, who actually buys this stuff?!
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| On the Observatory Deck |
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| Yours for $6M |
Now starving, we stopped by the ATT 4 Fun building (a large building with indoor and outdoor shops and restaurants) for dinner. You could spend days shopping in Taiwan. It was hard to resist. Anyway, Tyler wanted to eat at the Diner, a restaurant he'd dined at during his 2012 visit. The Diner is an Westernized restaurant specializing in burgers and brunch. It had a modern and rustic vibe. Tyler ate banana bread french toast and Eggs Benedict (did I mention we were hungry?). I got a huge chili jalapeno burger, and I am too ashamed to post a picture of it (lol). Everything was delicious!
After dinner, we took a quick stop by Shilin Night Market so that I could pick up a few souvenirs. Then it was back to the hotel to pack up for my journey back West.
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