Sunday, June 19, 2011

Taiwan Day 8 - Taipei Zoo

We are heading to Taipei Zoo today, also called 木柵動物園.
The most famous resident here are the Pandas (团团圆圆).


From our hotel, we have to take a 20min train ride to reach Taipei Zoo station (on the MuZha line).
Along the way, we pass by an old-train exhibit.


The Zoo is packed on this Sat morning.

From the Train station, we just follow the foot-print murals on the ground (look at our first photo)


Tickets are so cheap, $3 for adults only !! (Singapore Zoo is $20)


Wow, Taipei Zoo is Hugh (almost twice the size of Singapore's Mandai Zoo). We identify Panda,
Camel and Gorilla as unique to Taipei Zoo.

Kids remark that the Pandas are lazy, either dozing or hiding one corner :p


At the top of the Panda enclosure is a souvenir shop, and some fossil display.
Our kids aping the Tiger and Orang Utan keke.


Our little Pandas :)



We headed to the Desert, where we spotted camels. Kids are curious about the humps.


Weather is hot, Panda ice cream anyone? Anyway, if your kids are still young, you will appreciate a stroller. The Zoo is Big (reminder again keke)


From certain corners, you can spot cable cars, Taipei's famous Mao Kong Gondola (貓空).


Look who we found, Mr Hippo and Croccodile. These lifesize figurines are very popular with visitors.
Wen Xin is apprehensive.


King Kong ! King Kong ! Daddy tell kids KK is Hollywood, this is Gorilla.
Our friend looks tough, and we better do not mess with him.


Although Taipei Zoo is big, we actually prefer Singapore Zoo's compact enclosure,
which offers more interactions with animals up close.



There is a cold temperate zone, where we can find the Emperor penguin.

After four hours, we have reach the end of our Zoo trip. If time permits, we would love to visit Koala sanctuary and Insect Valley too. We hop onto our tram for the nearest cable car station.


Video : Next stop, Mao Kong Cable car :)



We will recommend that you pop by the Panda section first, before you take a tram ride to the top of the Zoo. Then walk downwards, this will save you a lot of energy :)

Click to find out more about Taipei Zoo itinerary, and download the map.




Click on the links below for our 9D8N Taipei adventure, we guarantee you will be visiting Taiwan soon !

Taipei Itinerary - http://sengkangbabies.blogspot.com/2011/06/taiwan-itinerary.html
Day 1 - Arrival
Day 2 - National Museum (故宮), Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall (紀念堂), Taipei 101, 士林夜市 (Shi Lin Night Market)

Day 3 - Nanya Rock (南雅), 九份, YeLiu Geopark (野柳), Yang Ming Shan hotspring (陽明山)

Day 4 - 北投 Hell Valley, 淡水老街
Day 5 - Tao Yuan (桃园) LeoFoo 六福村 (Safari resort and Amusement park)
Day 6 - 小人國, 寧夏 (Ning Xia Night market)
Day 7 - Baby Boss (職業體驗城), ( 西門町 Xi Men Ding)
Day 8 - Taipei Zoo, Maokong (貓空)
Day 9 - Home

..ps.. if you cannot wait, please visit SengkangBabies Day 8 Fanpage or Daddy's Taiwan Facebook Albums (more pics and descriptions)

More information and tips are available at Taiwan tourism web -->
http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/



.

10 comments:

  1. Niceeee! Your Taiwan posts have brought out the wanderlust in me. :P Haha!

    ReplyDelete
  2. happy planning Sandra :)

    Hong Wei: Taiwan food and culture deserves a second visit keke

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi there, chanced upon your blog, and would like to say that you have a really good Taiwan reviews here! :) I'm heading to Taiwan for a week's trip in a few weeks, and I'd like to ask you just some questions! :)

    When you mentioned that we should pop by the Panda section before taking the tram ride, in order to save energy... were you referring to getting to Mao Kong Station? I'm intending on going to Mao Kong, and I'm wondering it is convenient to stop by the zoo just to view the pandas.

    Also, I read in some reviews that Mao Kong has lovely tea-infused dishes (for lunching etc), would like to know if that is true/ have you tried it? :) And any general comments as to whether you'd recommend the zoo/ Mao Kong? :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. hi hi,
    1. Panda section is near the entrance, so visit first then take tram to "temperate" zone, the penguins. Then walk down towards entrance again. We walk up !! (super tiring)

    1a) From Zoo, there are two stations to take cable car up MaoKong. (I suspect zoo is x2 size of Singapore's)

    2. Since ticket is cheap, you can spend 2 hours at zoo, we spent 4hours, end up too tired to explore MaoKong.

    3. I will recommend cable car over MaoKong and Zoo (Go to Zoo only if u have smaller kids, and you got extra time to spend). MaoKong top has some tea-houses but we did not try the tea-theme meals (if u like TeaHouses, JiuFen is a must)

    cheers,
    andy

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi! Came across ur blog and i really love ur Taiwan trip posts! Just to ask, is it better to explore the zoo first then take the cable car? Cox I'm not too sure about what's walking up and down:/ I'm trying to plan a free&easy trip myself.. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Candy, go for the Zoo first, when the kids (and adults) are still energetic.
    Relax in the cable car at MaoKong top.

    As for the slope, refer to my commends on 16th Dec :)

    cheers,
    andy

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi I happened to chance upon your blog and would like to check some stuff with you......thank you for your time in reading this...

    Do you mean that it is better to tour the zoo first and then take the tram in the zoo up to see the penguin and then walk down (the tram does not take you downwards?) to proceed to take the gondola? And where exactly to take the gondola ride? Is there a station at entrance of the zoo?

    thank you!

    rgds

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, look at the Gondola 4-station poster. The first two stations will connect you to Zoo.
      The zoo map will clearly indicate the Gondola location.

      As for Tram, when you enter the Zoo, it is uphill walk all the way.
      We would suggest you take the tram to the top of Zoo, then walk down towards entrance.

      Delete
  8. Hello! Such a sweet loving family :) And great post you have made!

    ReplyDelete