Sunday on the Mountainside

Sunday, May 16th was special because Kelly and Paul were able to get away so we headed out of Taipei to enjoy one of the many teahouses in Taiwan, near Muzha. It was quite an adventure and didn’t end until 9pm or so that night. We did let ourselves sleep in a bit on Sunday and then met up at the Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT Station and headed out towards the Taipei Zoo.

Kelly had heard about the Cable Cars (Gondolas) that take you up the mountainside to a little town and teahouses. We had no idea what to expect and we were pleasantly surprised. What a fantastic day!
On the way, Kelly told us about the “shrines” built into the mountainsides – they are burial “plots.” Very elaborate. We saw more of them when we actually got up on to the mountainside near the teahouses. Another burial shrine closer to where we ate lunch:
Another one...
You can also see Taipei 101 along the way - it towers over everything (is anyone else thinking Big Brother??). Taipei 101 used to be the tallest building in the world until the Burj Khalifa in Dubai knocked it off the list.

Once we got to the Taipei Zoo MRT Station, we saw some fun things; here’s a picture of a doggy taking a ride with his owner! And, then the Fortune Cats that we see everywhere. All of the shops in Taipei and in Singapore have these little cats, that are usually solar powered, and the arm waves.

We had a great ride up to the top of the mountainside – here are the pictures of our ride on the Maokong Gondola. It was a lot longer of a ride than we thought. Like I said before, this whole day was one pleasant surprise after another.
Taipei 101 again...
Major erosion control below...
We just kept going and going and going...
The top!
Sprite, anyone?!
Once we hit the top, we just followed our guts and went up the hill and headed toward some teahouses hoping for some lunch, and of course, tea!!

Everything is in Chinese there – they didn’t even have a map translated into English, so it was a quite an adventure! We finally decided upon this place for lunch and it wasn’t a disappointment! The food was fantastic, see pix below.
After the server told us how to prepare the tea, Kelly became the appointed tea brewer – you always throw away the first brewed water. The first brew cleanses the “dust” out of the tea and then you can drink the 2nd pours and on. It’s interesting how the taste changes as you brew it further. Here’s a video of Kelly preparing the tea for us.

I think we could have stayed all day there but we needed to check out the temples, etc. It was just so peaceful! Here are some views from our table...

We walked along the village and took in some fun sites - like this puppy taking a snooze. He/she didn't care at all that lots of people were walking by...
At the Gondola Station, we stopped for a quick break and saw these signs in the bathroom - quite a kick. I did have to endure a squatter potty at the Teahouse but I survived. We alighted at the Zhinan Station and saw this "pagoda." I don't know exactly what this is called. But, it had a Taoist dedication inscribed on a piece of nearby granite; it read:
"In a confused world, people fight for power with all means. In a chaotic society people struggle for fame and fortune with no end. What a pity that they do not realize that the Tao tolerates no excess.
"Those in power may suddenly encounter extreme adversities. Those in good fortune may lose everything in a blink. It is therefore better not to fight at all than to struggle with all might. As the Tao master says, 'it is in not fighting for anything that one ensures that nothing will fight against him.'
"The Tao teaches the way to make peace with one's inner self. In that state, one may expand beyond external boundaries freely without any conflict with heaven, the world, or other people. He will then experience contentment, longevity, and eternal bliss.
"The meaning of not fighting is so profound. It is the optimal way for us to bring peace to the world, enhance harmony in society, and maintain equilibrium in life."

We also checked out the surrounding temples – tremendous and we got to see a colorful sunset. Check out the pictures of the temples, etc. Fantastic!
As we walked along the path to see the temples, we saw how a tree had grown into a rock to survive.
Here's Paul doing his best impression of the Captain Morgan commercials:
We ended the adventure with the Gondola ride, at night, down the we mountain.
Taipei 101 - At Night!
And, then met up with one of Paul’s work associates for dinner at Din Tai Fung – yum! Dumplings never tasted better. Kelly knew of the location, but couldn’t remember the exact name of the restaurant, so we enlisted the help of some young twenty-something’s on the train – they were awesome; they called friends and family until we narrowed the name! They led us right to the place! What a great experience and just showed us again how friendly the Taiwanese really are!