5 - Taipei Zoo（台北市立動物園）
The Taipei Zoo is a lit place. The admission fee is $100 -- shockingly low! On a November Saturday, it was jam packed with moms, dads, and little ones.
We saw the flamingoes. Also the birds, the sloths, and a Formosan black bear. Macaques, although you really don't need to go to a zoo to see them in Taiwan. The pandas, which were feeling shy that day. The butterfly house, featuring one super cool specimen that would fold up its wings and look just like a leaf. The pangolin dome, which was shaped like a giant pangolin and featured jumbo riverfish, peacocks, and (quite shockingly!) pangolins. The orangutans, the capybaras, and best of all -- the elephants.
There were two elephants, and they looked like such good friends. They would tangle their trunks together and roar out in laughter. Their wrinkles made them appear infinitely wise. They were merry as any two creatures I have seen during my twenty three years on earth. Eventually they decided playtime was over and that it was time for bathtime. One after the other, they trotted over to the pond, gradually sinking their feet into the muddy waters. And suddenly ... Plosh!
That was where we left them. I had a train to catch at the station. With a heavy heart, I bid farewell to my one human friend and two elephant friends, retraced my steps, and headed out of the zoo grounds, but not before buying a panda-themed calendar stand at the gift shop. I took it to school and put it on my desk there. The kids found it to be a lot of fun.