After an overnight stay in Sydney, we flew to Hong Kong and then to Taipei. From the airport, we took a taxi to an apartment near Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall. Valerie’s mom and aunts are also visiting Taiwan during the same period as us, so we are staying with them.

In the morning, we took the MRT the Maokong Gondola and then rode the gondola to the top of the hill. It was raining a bit, so the view wasn’t great, but we stopped for some delicious Taiwanese street food. Oddly, the Maokong Gondola station and cable cars are decorated with Hello Kitty. According to Wikipedia, Maokong literally translates to “cat empty.” I wonder if those two facts are related. After Maokong, we went to Din Tai Fung and ate a lunch of delicious xiaolong baos.

I’m pleasantly surprised by how affordable and easy mass transit is in Taiwan. All the announcements and signs on the Metro are translated to English. Almost any ride can be paid for using a rechargeable EasyCard. The Taipei MRT only costs around US$0.50 for a short ride.