Our First Family Zoo Trip- March 6, 2011

       We have dreamed of taking a zoo trip for quite some time, and today was so special. Our first family zoo outing, and it was in Taipei. Both Greg and I love animals.  We couldn't wait to see the panda exhibit! Nathan seemed to have a great time too, when he was awake :)  The Taipei Zoo is the largest metropolitan Asian zoo, and we had a great time!  We entered the zoo for 120 NT dollars, about $4.50 in the U.S. We received our ticket for the panda exhibit, and headed off to see the "xiong mao" or "bearcat". 

       We were among so many people just ooohing and aahhhing about the panda. He really didn't do much, and we know Nathan didn't care, but we loved getting to see him!

        The zoo got VERY crowded, and once again we were quite a spectacle.  We had to take a class during our adoption process. We thought it was so odd. It was called "Conspicuous Families", and it was meant to prepare us for everyone noticing that Nathan is obviously not our biological child. At the time, we thought it was ridiculous. We thought adoption is so common, of course people know and accept what we've done. Over here though, not only are we the only American's, but we're carrying an obviously Asian child, and people walk by us with their heads turned. They slow down, they talk amongst themselves, even point. When we talk to them, if they can understand, they usually are so nice, but boy do we make for conversation!

         After using a changing station for the first time, having lunch at McDonalds-without the burgers, just chicken, we enjoyed looking at all the neat exhibits.   The biggest difference from our zoo would be how close they let you get to the animals. At one point I really could have reached out and held a monkey's hand. (Really hard for me to resist, by the way.) Most of the animals were the same. Nathan fell asleep in an appropriate place-the nocturnal house.  We looked at each other at one point and had one of those "Is this real? moments".  We know we've been waiting for this for so long. It's hard to believe he's real. 

        Next to the zoo is the Maikong Gondola.  This isn't just a short little ride up a mountain. This is a several mile ride through the mountains overseeing so much of Taipei.  It was beautiful and allowed us to see so many different sides of this city. We've learned the average income in Taipei is 1000.00 U.S. dollars a month. From the gondola we could see tenement housing, farms on the sides of hills made in "steps", and some nicer homes.  At the top, there were so many tea houses. We had an authentic afternoon tea in Taiwan, and have come to enjoy Oolong tea. Nathan, again, slept along some of the ride. But woke up for the ride down, and had a great time tapping on the windows!

        We both agree that besides getting Nathan, this was one of our favorite days in Taiwan.