This is the best place to take photo of Taipei 101 and no admission fee to here. We spend sometime here to take photo and visit the memorial hall.
After visiting this place, we went for our shopping at Chiate Bakery. Took bus 204 to Chiate Bakery from here.
As usual Ding Tai Fung Restaurant had a long queue of people trying to eat there. We choose not to dine there.
We visited the Jason Supermarket in Taipei 101. There were lots of fruits on sale and the price is reasonable.
This is my favourite fruit from Taiwan. This is Taiwan Wax Apple not to confuse with the jambu found in South East Asia. The wax apple from Taiwan is also known as Black Diamond, is more rounded in shape like the apple while the jambu fruits in South East Asia is longer and sharper. The taste is different too. The Taiwan Wax Apple is really good and tasty. I would always buy without fail when I visit Taiwan. This year the season is late, the wax apple is smaller. It used to be much bigger. Nevertheless, I bought so many back to the delight of my siblings.
Bought the Persimmon too, it was so huge, bigger than my fist.
Spotted Chiate Pineapple Cakes in the supermarket but the price is slightly higher than the Chiate shop. We decided not to get any from here but will go to Chiate to get the pineapple cakes later. Today is the last day for us to shop the local products.
Spotted also the fruits called custard apples that looked like the buddha head.
Happy with our purchases at Jason Supermarket, we headed to our next destination.
We walked over to Banqiao High Speed Rail Station and walked to the basement of the station. Lots of cafes open for breakfast. We decided to have breakfast at Tai Cheong Bakery. It looked good and not too heavy breakfast. They do sell porridge too but was too heavy breakfast for us.
I had the cocktail bun with egg tart and coffee set while hubby had the pineapple bun with egg tart and coffee set.
Bought few packets of the Taiwan dried fruits and snacks.
Spotted a huge suckling pig on display. The stall sold roast pork.
After spending couple of hours here, we went back to our hotel and rest and ready for our final day outing the next day.
We could spot Taipei 101 from the street.
Nice street to shop and eat or just window shopping.
As we already had heavy lunch in Maokong, we just need some dessert here.
We ordered the Mango Snowflake Ice. After some walking in the street, we decided head back to our hotel for a much needed rest before heading to night market for dinner.
The best way to reach Maokong is to take the Maokong Gondola scenic cable car up the mountain from MRT Taipei Zoo Station, NT$120 each way for adults, NT$50 for children 6-12 and seniors over 65, with each adult allowed up to 2 children under 6 for free. Easycards are given a 20% discount on weekdays, and also receive a NT$20 discount when also used for zoo entry. (source)
There are few stations to alight and we wanted to go to Maokong where all the teahouses were located. So we sat till the last station before alighting. Some of the cabins have glass bottom and the fare is the same as non glass bottom. We choose the non glass bottom cause the queue is longer for the glass bottom cabin.
We collected a map from the tourist information centre once we alighted from the cable car.
It was quite cooling when we were on the top of the mountain. Maokong is a quaint village located at the top of a mountain providing breathtaking views of Taipei City.
Tea lovers will enjoy Maokong for its wide variety of teahouses and high quality selection, while others looking for a relaxing break from the busy city can sit back with a cup of tea and nice dinner, all while taking in the beautiful views of Taipei.
After some walking and taking much photos of the scenery, we came across several tea houses but we found this teahouse situated over the side of the mountain with great view. So we decided to have lunch in here.
Very nice view of Taipei City and we could see Taipei 101 from here.
We had 3 cups chicken in claypot. (The name “three cup chicken” (三杯鸡) comes from the three ingredients: sesame oil, Chinese rice wine, and soy sauce.)
Braised Tofu with assorted vegetables
Sliced fish in sweet and sour sauce with Osmanthus tea leaves
After spending few hours in Maokong, we made our way back to the cable car station. There's not much people in the queue and we get to take the glass bottom cable car back down the mountain. It was quite frightening looking down the mountain from the glass bottom cabin.
