Taipei Zoo & Maokong Gondola

Saturday was a major sleep in day. Julia and I had been getting up almost every morning at 5:30 and getting to bed around eleven. Even if we had plans to go to bed early it never did happen. Like one time we missed our bus stop and walked in the opposite direction. Instead of it taking up 10 minutes to get home it took us 40. Another time we missed our train station by four stops and had to back track. All these mistakes were carelessly made due to us talking to much.

Once we had woken up and gotten dressed we went to the Taipei Zoo. It was nice, but it would have been nicer if it hadn't rained the whole day. Ever since I have been here that's all that it has done. It reminds me to much of Vancouver. :P There is just one major difference. Taipei's rain has higher levels of acid which can cause you to loose your hair if your not careful.  If I come back home bald you guys know why. :P

Lucie and George, one of their friends, met up with us later on in the evening. We went to Ximen where we did some window shopping and bought a penis cookie. No that is not a spelling error. You can actually buy a pastry in the 3-D shape of a penis.

Sunday we got up and went to Miramar which is a big ferris wheel that gives you a good view of Taipei.  That is if it isn't cloudy. Even with the crappy weather conditions after Miramar we went to the Maokong Gondola.  This is a four kilometer cable car system that takes you into the mountainside famous for its tea fields and factories. The journey up was very pleasant. Julia and I got paired up with an Asian couple. It was funny cause the girl would translate the conversation Julia and I had to her boyfriend, and then Julia would do the same right back.

At the top there are restaurants and hiking trails that I would recommend exploring if the weather is nice. As we were going back down though the lift broke down. We were very fortunate that we hadn't made it off the loading platform yet, since a shuttle bus took us back down to the bottom. At the top of the hill we met a group of guys who were a little different. We were creeped out by them and in an attempt to get away we sat in the front of the bus. Unfortunately when they got on they decided to surround us and try take a group photo with us in it. I was not very happy with that and turned away just as the photo was taken.