Taiwan 2014 Day 3 - Maokong, Jiufen & Shifen, Taipei 101

We prayed for clear skies today so we can get ourselves up on the Maokong gondola. Took the mrt all the way to the last stop to Taipei zoo which I would have loved to bring the kids to but that would have to take a backseat for now as we had lots more planned.

It was a long ride up but we had a picturesque view from the top. The children were in awe and at certain times when there was a suddden wind, it would be very cold. The wait for the crystal cabin (glass bottom) was long so we decided to just take the normal cabin which didn't have a queue. At the peak, there were many snack shops selling the usual taiwan snacks and ice cream as well as many tea shops, given that that area was mainly where tea plantations were. Our kids will not be able to appreciate a fine cup of chinese tea, at least not at their age, and would never have allowed us to just plonk ourselves in nice tea hut to sip and relax. So we snacked, walked around a little, enjoyed the scenery and very cool mountain air and went down again about 2 hours later to catch our transport to Shifen for highlight of the day - 天灯.

Given that this was a Saturday, as much as I would have loved bringing the kids on a rustic ride on the TRA to give them an idea of a choo choo train to Pingxi, I decided that I shall not be mad and risk incurring the wrath of my man by chonging with the crowd. And so we hired the driver (same one who picked us from the airport and who would be bringing us to Leofoo the next day) and got us all on a comfortable ride to Jiufen, Shihfen and on the way, stopping by to admire the fierce, gushing waves of the magnificent Pacific Ocean.

I did toggle with the idea of the kids doing the sky lantern at the farm in Yilan but I thought it would be more exciting writing our wishes and lighting it up on the railway track and in the midst, scuttling away when a train comes along. True enough, when the train came, choo choo, the kids were like WOW WOW WOW, to us urban people, this was certainly a rare treat.

Our driver dropped us off at Taipei 101, we had to have the kids take the obligated photo and have the obligated DTF meal. So this helped us kill 2 birds with 1 stone... but it was a long long wait for us, as expected. Kids were cranky, grouchy which I don't blame them as they wouldn't understand these "obligatory" actions.. but all thing changed when the xiao long baos came, faces lit up! :)