My last day in Taiwan started out with another hefty breakfast from DG Cafe. I didn’t even finish the sandwich because I was just too full!

I literally had no idea what to do in Taiwan when I first booked this trip. Whenever you search for ‘things to do in Taipei’, the first thing that usually pops out is to go visit Taipei 101. This used to be the tallest manmade structure in the world until Burj Khalifa was built.

There’s actually a mall you have to go through from the station to get to the observatory. There were signs everywhere, so it wasn’t really hard to find your way to it.

The entrance fee is 500 TWD, which was the most I spent on entrance fees in Taipei. Come to think of it, sightseeing in Taiwan is cheap. There were so many sights that you can visit for free, and public transportation is affordable as well!

I went there early, and there were only a couple of us in line for the elevator.

I suggest going there early. I decided to get my money’s worth by hanging out at Taipei 101 for an hour. It was peaceful and serene, that I couldn’t help wonder if there really are cosmic beings out there, and if this is what they see on a daily basis. There is always that one moment during a solo trip where I get a bit emotional at the fact that I made it alone. That moment happened here, as I was sitting in the observatory and looking over at the city, where I felt that sense of fulfillment at being able to do the things I never knew I would ever do. 🙂

I like buying snow globes as souvenirs from the countries I’ve been to (ever since I started traveling with my own money). I enjoy thinking about the future glass display I would have custom made for my collection. 🙂 They do have nicer snow globes (none of the weird alien looking things that came with the one from Taipei 101) at one of the bookstores in the airport. It costs less as well!

I knew it was time to leave when tourist groups started arriving. The peace of the observatory was disturbed by all the chattering, and as I’ve said numerous times before, I really am not a big fan of crowds. It suffocates me a little bit. Before you get back to the elevator leading down to the mall, you will have to go through a floor full of jewelry stalls. I didn’t check any of the jewelry they were selling, but the glitzy displays were a sight.

If I had money to burn, this is probably something I would buy. I’m a big fan of florals. Haha!

My next stop was the Maokong Gondola and the Taipei Zoo since both places are accessible from the same station. However, I didn’t check the operating hours of the gondola and just assumed it would be open. Unfortunately, most establishments are closed on Mondays in Taipei, and the gondola is one of them.

The entrance fee to Taipei Zoo is, again, affordable. You can even use your Easy Card to pay for the 60 TWD entrance fee!

The map made it seem like it was a small place, but it was totally not. I wish I had more time to explore the zoo as I ended up just marking the things I wanted to see because I knew I needed to get back to the hotel to pack my things before my flight. Maybe the gondola being closed was a blessing. 🙂

Also, Meteor Garden feels! There was an episode where Dao Ming Xi and San Cai went on a date here. Hehe!

This is where they keep the pandas! There’s also a cafe and a souvenir shop at the top floor.

The pandas they have are by far the most active pandas I have ever seen in my life. I’ve had a couple of opportunities to see pandas and they’re always sleeping! The pandas here are hard to take photos of because they kept moving around.

I personally like zoos and amusement parks. The goal in life is to be a child [at heart] forever. 🙂

I rushed back to the hotel at around 3 PM. This is my last snap of Dihua street. Until we meet again! 🙂

I haven’t eaten anything else yet when I got back to the hotel. The food establishments within the area of the hotel were all closed (because it’s Monday), so I decided to order light snacks from DG Cafe.

I had their waffles. I swear, their serving sizes are value for money. I couldn’t even finish this whole plate and I was ravenous prior to eating.

Across the street from the hotel is this pastry shop. It has always catched my eye, but I entered it before I went to pack my bags. The displays were so enticing that I bought two bags of their puff pastry – and was disappointed. Ha! It tasted so bland or maybe I’m just used to sweets.

My going home outfit consisted of a thick sweater (the weather forecast while I was packing implied it would be a rainy weekend) and a skirt which made me decide to take a cab to the airport instead of the bus. It was scorching outside, and I didn’t know if I could stand to walk to the station in it. The thing about their cabs is that every time the price increases, the meter beeps. The beeping sound makes me anxious because I was terrified I would look at the meter and see an exorbitant amount. Haha!

I’m in love with their airport. No tanim bala here as you could watch your luggage via a television once you check it in. You are even instructed to make sure you know where your luggage went by doing so.

My sentiments exactly.

There were quite a lot of things to explore within the airport, but my first order of business is food! I realized once I got to the airport is that I was still famished even after all those waffles that I ended up at one of the cafes after immigration. The meal is obviously not going to be cheap, but it wasn’t exorbitant.

After eating, I went around the shops and decided not to buy anything. I usually buy a lipstick or two from Duty Free but there wasn’t really anything that I found interesting (that I could afford at the moment hahaha), so I headed to the boarding gate. I was planning to sleep during the two hour flight back to Manila but couldn’t because my tummy hurt. It may be from all the eating I did at the airport and on the plane. Haha!

Taiwan at night.

And that concludes my weekend in Taiwan! 🙂 Admittedly, there were frustrating moments during this trip and times where I would wonder if this trip was more of a hassle than a vacation. I still do not like the fact that my third world passport requires visas to get to amazing countries, but that’s life. Although this trip didn’t run as smoothly as I thought it would, I still fell in love with Taiwan. I’d like to go back and make more wonderful memories, this time with enough cash in hand. Ha!