Travelling & Living: Day 3 in Taipei

Cable car of Maokong
Image from Locky's English Playground

Day 3 in Taipei, cold, windy and cloudy at MaoKong station, the temperature fit the mood of Christmas Eve but the lighting is not quite as good for photography, nor for waking up from a cosy warm bed.

Eyes of Maokong Gondola
Image from Locky's English Playground

Anyway, it was quite a bit of waiting till any form of human beings were allowed to enter from the freezing cold wind blowing entrance to the non-wind blowing indoor, then some more waiting till the crystal cable car was ready (about one in every six cable cars), then finally my legs were hanging a hundred meters or more above the tree tops.

The view from inside the cable car looking down
Image from Locky's English Playground

It was quite scary and the cold wind was still directed at my butt, but it was worth it, in a sense that the same facilities will cost me HK$300+ but in Taipei, it was the same price as the non-crystal cable cars!

Taipei 101 from the cable car
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After thousands of metres of cable car ride, I survived and came to this food centre! Tourists had only one thing to think in this situation and it is a 3-letter word.

Signs listing restaurants and tea houses
Image from Locky's English Playground

Since I was a tourist too, I was definitely not going to lose out. "Food food! Here I come!!!"

Image from Locky's English Playground

To my surprise, the types of food available was stunning!

Some kind of oiling deep dried food
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There were deep-fried food, tofu, noodles, hot dogs,

Chicken legs and desserts in front of the lady
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more deep-fried food, hot and cold desserts, traditional Taiwanese drinks,

Best pork sausages I had!!!
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and the best pork sausages I had in Taipei so far!!! I had 3 of those!! Amazing stuff!

Image from Locky's English Playground

After the stomach was kind of filled and the core body temperature was raised, it was time for some walking  around and getting those fatty pork transformed into heat. Basically, there was not much to see in Maokong; the signs were not lying a single bit, all you really get are restaurants and tea houses. Maybe someone will come for the scenery and food, but can't you find that somewhere else?

A romantic tea house
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But on the other hand, maybe it is worth it, depends on who you go with. The scenery was not really stunning, but it was very green and laid-back. Having cakes and tea inside the warm nicely decorated tea houses is pretty nice!

Miyazaki style cafe
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And after some city sightseeing, I don't see why anyone wouldn't want to have a cup of hot tea / coffee at this Miyazaki-style truck cafe?

I was at the zoo!!!!
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Sun was halfway down and on the return journey, it was a visit to the zoo!!!

First encounter with a panda, EVER!!!!
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And I had many very first encounters with many animals! Especially with a panda! It is my first time to see a real panda and it is the most energetic panda I have ever met!!! He was like on drugs, hugging a piece of wood, throwing and fetching it, rethrowing and refetching it, up and down the trees and ponds, then more wood games! All in 5 minutes! He really was so cute!!!

Outside the zoo exit
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Time to leave and dine, the next stop was Shilin Night Market,

Shilin Night Market
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People overcrowded the place, making it near impossible to walk slowly or turn around once you are in the sea of man.

Old couples doing business in their push carts
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Not to mention that it was also very difficult to take photos, lucky that my 7D performed really well allowing me to study the photos in details when I got back to the hotel.

Some candies made from peanuts
Image from Locky's English Playground

The lighting from the shops enhanced the photo quality by a lot, and I didn't even have to use a flashlight to shoot pleasant colour photos!

Good-looking deep fried something
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I was surprised to see that Oden, a type of Japanese food, everywhere! It must be one of Taiwanese's favourites in Winter.

Oden
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As for ubiquitous beverage / dessert, is the blacker than black grass jelly drink! I bought one and it tasted fine!

Grass jelly  drink
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Another one is Aiyu, literally "Love Jade", never had the chance to try,

"Aiyu", love jade?
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but definitely the next time, as it looks really cute, like big blocks of jelly!!

Image from Locky's English Playground

Actually, after the first round, I wasn't able to find space or time to get anything to eat, so before the second round of walking, getting some huge chicken pieces at the new Shilin Market site.

Image from Locky's English Playground

And here's the famous huge deep fried chicken chops!

Huge Chicken chop
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The chicken chop tasted great the first few bites, but the crumb was really thick on both sides, so almost 20% through the eating, I decided not to eat one of the sides of the crumb.

Lamb skewers
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The huge chicken piece was almost the only food I could pick from the new market, and eventually, going back to the old street seemed more attractive, and the lamb stick was another snack I had.

Deep-fried Milk
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This deep fried milk is nice too! But it would taste even better if it was before the main course.

But in fact, there was no main course that night.

Kebabs
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The curry beef kebab was the most filling of the night, and it tasted great!

Vocabulary:
laid-back -- (adj) informal relaxed in manner and character; not usually worried about other people's behaviour or things that need to be done
ubiquitous -- (adj) formal or humorous seeming to be in all places
kebab -- (n) [C] (also shish kebab) a dish consisting of small pieces of meat and vegetables that have been put on a long thin stick or metal rod and cooked together

Resources:

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/laid-back?q=laid+back
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/ubiquitous?q=ubiquitous+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/kebab?q=kebab