Gosh, it's been months since I last posted my Taiwan entries. Anyways, i'll try to finish posting the whole itinerary because I just had a vacation last September and there's an upcoming this November. Haha. We arrived in Taiwan at around 1am. We requested for an airport pickup to bring us to our hotel. If I remember it right, travel time is more than 30 mins. from the airport to the hotel. After check-in, we went straight to our room, rest a bit then sleep. We woke up at 630am and finished everything at around 8am. We went down to eat breakfast. (Btw, Breakfast buffet is open from 730 to 10:00 am only). We had ham, sausage, egg, bread, congee with floss as topping for breakfast (and other viands that I do not know). Hahaha.
First stop: Holy Family Church I requested Boyps if he can include at least 1 Catholic Church in our itinerary since most places that we’re planning to visit are temples and malls. Fortunately, we have 2 churches to visit – one for the 1st day (Holy Family) and the other one on the 2nd day (St. Christopher’s Parish). I’m really glad that we got the chance to hear an English mass in Taiwan. :)
This is just in front of the church. We just walk inside the park, take some pictures while finding the exit.
After a long walk from Daan Park to Daan MRT station, we are now going to eat lunch at Hello Kitty Sweets. I’m really excited to try this restaurant because we don’t have it here. The place is just so pink and these Hello Kitty stuffs can be found everywhere – from displays to cakes / desserts decorations. But sad to say, we were not able to dine in because we needed to have reservations. We didn’t know about that so we just decided to buy 2 cakes and eat it somewhere else. Since we don’t have any restaurant in mind, we decided to go to Sogo Mall.
Directions: Take MRT from Daan to Zhongxiao Fuxing Station and take Exit 3. Just one block walk from the station then turn right and you’ll see Hello Kitty Sweets.
Lunch at Sogo Mall
We’re lucky that there is a mall just in front of the MRT station – the Sogo Mall. We went up and down the mall just to find where to eat. We even reached the 8th (or 10th) floor but still can’t decide. We pass through a bookstore, department store, food courts, high-end restaurants and many more. Upon reaching the lower ground, we saw Mister Donut and their donuts are different from ours. We bought 2 donuts since Boyps found good reviews about it.
We then go back to their food court and finally decided to buy at the food court. I forgot the name of the stall but it was the takoyaki that captured our attention. After ordering, we had a hard time finding seats but after 3 or 4 rounds, thank goodness we found one. After lunch, we are now headed to Taipei Zoo. I could say that this is the highlight of our Day 1 itinerary. We reached the zoo at 230 in the afternoon. We immediately enter the zoo after buying tickets. Grab some map and now were ready for our Zoo adventure. We were not able to visit all the animals (especially the penguins) because we’re tired. Haha. The zoo is just so big that we had to walk, walk and walk all the time.
But what I really wanted to see is their Panda. Upon entrance, another piece of paper is given to us that actually served as our entrance ticket to Panda’s place. So bad that the panda is sitting facing backwards. Another panda is outside sleeping in a branch of a tree but didn’t had the chance to have a closer look because we were out already.
Entrance Tickets: 60 NTD / per head
Direction: From Zhongxiao Fuxing Station, take the Taipei Zoo Line (brown line).
Miramar Ferris wheel, Cold Stone and Mos Burger
After our walking exercise at the Zoo, we are now going to Miramar for a Ferris wheel ride. This is the biggest that I have seen so far. I already tried 2 big Ferris wheel (Enchanted Kingdom's Wheel of Faith and Singapore Flyer) so I know that this is going to be fun. We arrive a bit early so we decided to stroll around the mall. We waited until the lights of the wheel are turned on so I can take better pictures. The place is not crowded and very few people are on queue. Before we ride, we were given instructions which again I didn’t understand. Haha. After the briefing, the Kuyas guided us to our cabin. I’m glad that it’s just the 2 of us inside the cabin. Unlike in Singapore Flyer (SF), I was seated with other groups of people. Well, SF cabin is much bigger than Miramar. Anyways, I’m not sure how long (or short) our ride was but it was really fun. The scenic view of Taiwan is seen from the top – the cars, lights from buildings, hi-ways and malls.
200 NTD for adults
After the ride, we bought ice cream from Gold Stone. Every time we see this store, there’s always a long line of people. It’s cold and I’m freezing but I’m curious, so we line up to buy one. This is similar to Cold Rock where customers can choose from a wide variety of toppings and ice cream flavors. But their difference is that Gold Stone's cone is made up of waffle. Now I know why people queue in a long line just to grab a cup of ice cream. It's worth the wait. =DIt’s 7 in the evening when we had our dinner at Mos Burger. We order for a set meal that has 2 burgers, 3 side dishes and 2 soft drinks.
I love their rice burger. It’s so yummy.
I also liked their onion rings because theirs is crunchy and sweet.
I forgot the name of this one but all I can say is that I enjoyed all the food I tried in Taiwan. :D
Directions: From Taipei Zoo Station, take the Neihu line up to Jiannan Rd. Station.
MRT Station
We're just warming up, 2 more days spent in Taiwan and still I think there's a lot more to see. Boyps!! I want to go back to Taiwan!! Haha.
Day 1 itinerary ends here. I'll try to update this blog with the direction to Holy Family Church once I found my notes.
During this time, Boyps and I had an agreement that we’ll just order food that we think we can consume. And if ever there’s left overs, we shouldn’t force ourselves to finish everything just to remove the guilt for wasting food. We’ll just bring it home. Hehe. So here’s what we got: 
Beef Fried Rice in Tomato (Php 198) – This one I like. It has beef strips and lots of veggies. It was a perfect combination of the sourness of the tomato and slightly salty flavor of the rice itself. 
Japanese Fish with Tausi (Php 258) – My favourite! It’s a tofu topped with fish and tausi. The tofu and fish are perfectly cooked. And the sauce, it was really yummy. J
Gloria Marris has a lot of dimsums to choose from. The waitress brought her cart and asks us if we want other dimsum but we only tried their Japanese Siomai. Maybe we’ll try it next time as well as their Shabu – Shabu. 
Service is quite slow as we needed to follow up the fish because the rice is getting cold. Ambiance is just perfect for me but Boyps said it's dark. Haha. Overall, we still enjoyed our dining experience at Gloria Marris.
