Random pictures from the top of Maokong. The gondola can be caught from inside the zoo or near the subway stop.

Jenny decided to get the one with a glass bottom as they hold less people and she finds them more comfortable. It was a fun viewing experience. We entered the gondola going up from inside the zoo. As you pass over some of the trees, it looks as though the bottom of the gondola is going to run into them. Actually, the bottom is no where near the trees. Maokong as a word doesn’t seem to translate to anything, however the characters are 貓空. The first character is the same one used for cat. That would explain the cat theme all over the area at the top. Also popular up there is tea. A lot of it. Famous tea shops line the tiny streets, many of them filled with tourists from all over. While I love tea, I didn’t to buy any or even to look inside the shops.

We stopped at a tea house after we arrived. The gondolas do get somewhat hot when they slow down. I could tell Quince needed something to drink that was served on ice. The place we went into had chocolate milk of sorts. While it was good, I wouldn’t exactly call it typical chocolate milk. He enjoyed it a lot and it was just the cool beverage he needed to regain some energy. Having never experienced high heat and humidity together, he was quickly wiped out if we spent too much time outside.

While on the return gondola trip back down to the train station, Quince fell asleep. I tried to wake him so he wouldn’t miss getting on the train(a new favorite activity for him) however that wasn’t going to happen. In the end I carried him from where we got off on the gondola, to the train station and then again from the train station to where the restaurant for dinner was, Din Tai Fong. I was feeling warm from the weather but it wasn’t unbearable. Carrying Quince was the tipping point that changed it all, making the weather nearly that way for me. A huge kudos to the people who made the bag I’m using. It’s a yak-pak canvas bag Richard bought me about 12 years ago. What a work horse it is! Thanks to that bag, I didn’t pass out carrying Quince in high humidity, 90℉ weather. Before getting off the train, I put one of his legs through the strap so he was sort of sitting on it. While still very awkward, it moved the weight from only my arms to also my back. We borrowed a carrier from our neighbors, but I didn’t bring it because he slept so well the night before and woke up at a decent time(not before 7 am local time).

 He woke up a bit for dinner after we were seated. The Din Tai Fong we went too appeared to have the kitchen on the ground floor. It was really part of the delivery prep and dumpling making area. To get to the restaurant seating, one walked into the ground floor to the back and up a set of very narrow stairs. Our table was on the 4th floor. The 2nd floor, which housed the women’s bathroom, was a bit wider than our floor. The tables were mostly for parties of two to four people as well. The experience was a lot of fun, although I was exhausted from carrying Quince.

Our next day Jenny took us to the Presidential Garden and House followed by Taipei 101 observatory deck and changing of the guards. The weather was light drizzle when we arrived at the garden, it cleared up almost right away. As we walked in there was a class of children. It turns out these kids were all 3 or 4 and from the same area our hotel was in. Quince wanted very much to hang out around them, but wasn’t very clear in speaking up about it any of the times I asked him. We parted ways with them and went on to view the house.

Taking photos or video of any kind were not allowed inside the house. The house interior was quite modest compared to the houses of those with similar positions in government. Mostly the guest walked along a roped off path that allowed you to view the interior of nearly every room. 

The distant windows in the background are those of the house. After this photo was taken we found the same group of little kids. This time Quince didn’t want to let them out of his sight, he ran to follow them after Jenny tried to walk another way. I felt like a mother chasing after two siblings going opposite directions in the park. Quince really enjoyed the mini show they put on in the outdoor theater. (video coming soon)

From there it was on to Taipei 101! Quince loves towers so I knew this would be a hit. The observation deck is on the 89th floor. You can also go to floors 88 and 87. Both which have viewing areas of the large mass damper. Unfortunately floor 91, the outside observation deck, was closed due to weather. While I pulled this fact off wikipedia I remember when it hit news, Richard and I had been paying attention to the typhoon since we would be traveling there soon.

On 8 August 2015, strong winds from Typhoon Soudelor swayed the main damper by 100 centimetres (39 in) – the largest movement ever recorded by the damper.^[31]

You could still see the effects of that typhoon in parts of Yilan and Jiaosi. Most notably was a very old tree, surrounded by a park across the road from the Yilan train station. Back to Taipei 101! Up on the 89th floor the only way you notice you are so high up is to go to the window and look down. It’s impressive. I gave Quince his iPod, he went about taking all sorts of photos on it. Some of them he told me where to stand and how to pose. I do that to him, so I figure he can do that to me. It worked out pretty well for me, generally after he used his iPod to take a photo of me I could get one of him with my phone.

We left there and went to watch the changing of the guards. We are lucky to make it as it was the last time for the day. That also meant we didn’t get to see how a new guard took the post. It didn’t matter to Quince. He was excited to them in action. If you have ever seen a military color guard perform, this is exactly that. Their timing and step were exactly in sync, it was almost erie. We took the elevator to the ground floor and rode it alongside a couple ambassadors from Uruguay. The main party had gone down already however a small number had broken off to grab a couple outside photos before going down.