Taiwan: Maokong and Yang Ming Shan

The Taiwan saga continues :)

I have 3 more Taiwan days to write about, and plenty more pictures to share.

Aaron and I had the opportunity to spend one full day with each of our uncles. What a blessing to us, because they are the BEST tour guides and so much fun. Plus, we are a lot alike, in that they love to eat too.

After a hearty breakfast, we headed out to ride the Maokong gondola.

The gondola was peaceful and smooth. So much so that Aaron almost fell asleep! We were pretty tired by this point of the trip, but we kept trucking along.

Once we reached the very top, we walked to the a tea museum and learned about the history of tea how it is grown and processed. 

                             

After the long walk up a hill, all I wanted was a glass of ice water, but you can bet they were only serving complimentary mugs of hot tea. So I put a smile on my face, accepted the tea, and said thank you.

After making it back down the mountain, we rode the subway into town to get lunch. Back to Nanmen Market to get one of our best meals of the trip (in my opinion). I requested that I wanted to eat more dumplings, and I got the most delicious noodles to go along with them.

After lunch, we took several buses to get to Yang Ming San, where we spent the afternoon hiking, exploring, and enjoying the green scenery. It was fairly crowded, with tourists, students taking graduation photos, and people having picnics.

After we said good bye to Yang Ming San, we headed to get dinner at Shi Men Ding. It is a neighborhood with tons of shops and restaurants. I am always amazed by the number of people out on a school night...but that's the maw maw in me talking. She comes out a lot when I resist the urge to tell my teenage patients to put away their phones.

First, we had to get a cold frog drink before we settled into our bowls Ah Zhong Mian Xian (another delicious noodle meal).

Then we had more noodles with duck and a papaya drink before going home and taking a military shower only to come back out and check out Addiction Aquatic Development. This very trendy restaurant is a converted fish market that now sells delicious seafood. 

My fancy water. If no one else could tell, all I wanted during the entire trip was agua!

Needless to say, we went to bed that night with full hearts, full tummies, and tired legs. So thankful to have spend this day with our uncles.

Next up: Our day exploring Yi Lan. Thanks for sticking with me!