Elephant Mountain

Last weekend was one of the most gorgeous I have yet to experience in Taipei. Clear skies, 80 degrees, pleasant breeze, low humidity...in other words, perfection. To utilize such beautiful weather [and to get off the couch] Jordan and I decided to head out on a day trek across the city to Elephant Mountain, near Taipei 101. It's been awhile since I have hiked despite my determination to do more of it this school year since there are lots of great trails super close to the city.

Our first stop on our way down from Tienmu was, of course, some food. Jordan and I have been wanting to try a new salad place that opened up down in the Daan district, a bit of a trek from our suburb. The place is called Dressed, and it felt like walking into America! Great salads and REAL avocado - a total novelty in Taiwan. It was a great healthy start to an outdoor day!

Massive cobb salad with an almost caterpillar-like pile of avocado. Yum!

Delicious prosciutto sandwich with arugula. Both of which I can't resist!

After our refreshing lunch, we decided to walk over towards 101 and explore the back alleys of Daan. Much to Jordan's chagrin, we happened upon the pet store street, and I had to stop and look at every single kitty and puppy along the windows. A fluffy animal is definitely on my birthday list this year...

Random Taipei street market in the back alleys.

KUNG FU INTERNET!

Pet store street. Le sigh.

Yet another bad Taiwanese store sign. What in the world does the name even mean??

Attack of the koi fish!

The hike ended up being a perfect excursion for those of us who haven't walked up a mountain in a while [cough, cough...me]. The beginning of it was super steep with lots of stairs, but then it leveled out and offered up some pretty incredible views of the city and Taipei 101. We wandered around up on the mountain for about an hour, but there are trails that you could wander down for an entire day if you had the time. Despite the nice weather, there weren't too many people so we totally lucked out. After the hike we treated ourselves to a cold brew at Gordon Biersch...a perfect end to a Taipei city adventure!

Cute elephants to start us out on our hike!

Either that's one giant plant or we're pretty high up!

Artistic view courtesy of Jordan the photographer. 

Yay! We made it to the top!

A perfect treat after a successful hike :)