Elephant Garden, Taipei 象園親子餐廳

small playground inside

Location: google map, inside CITYLINK Nangang. MRT blue line Nangang Station
Pros: N/A
Cons: N/A

We walked past this restaurant once and I just wanted to share of its existence. My boys are too old to play at a playground like this, but if you have little ones under age 5 this might be fun. It was lunch time on a Saturday and it didn't seem terribly busy.

Zhongyan Park, Taipei 中研公園

Location: google map

Pros: swing, skating rink, climbing bars

Cons: there's not much around the park. no shade. no easy access with public transportation. 

It's the first park I've been to with artificial grass! it has a small playground that's suitable for preschoolers, and a wheel turning thing that my boys loved to walk on. It's a decent park you happen to be in the area, but I would not cab/drive here specifically for the park itself!

Hsinchu, Fantasy Island Discovery Paradise 奇幻島探索樂園

"Rope maze"

an employee helping my son with the slide

Location: inside Big City Mall, 7th floor. google map to Big City
Pros: clean, supervision by on site employees, good for rainy days
Cons: no parent seating available, a bit pricey for what it is. *they require you to have non-slip socks to play, which can be purchased at $30 each. (a totally ridiculous policy)
Age: no age limit, but I would suggest parents go in with kids under 5. (unless you have older siblings to watch them)

There are two parts to this facility: the "Rope Maze" and the "Discovery Zone" (that's my literal translation, maybe they have an actual English name?? :)). You have to buy tickets to each separately,  which I believe is $499 for each ticket and it gives you 3 hours. 3 hours is A LONG TIME.....my boys were done with it within an hr and a half. But I guess some parents are comfortable enough to leave their older children here for three hours while they go shopping somewhere else in the mall.

I would not recommend the Discovery zone, because your kid will have to wear a helmet/vest and be strapped on to a safety chord while walking on the beams. It might be worth it to try it once, but I definitely prefer my kids to run around freely.

Hsinchu, Guanxi Township 關西鎮

Ang Gu Noodles

grass jelly alley

egg cake

playground right by the parking lot

Location: here is the google map of the parking lot, and the eateries are few streets down

Parking: the above parking lot is free but extremely small.

Pros: few mins away from Leofoo village. A cheaper option to get food.

Cons: Nothing special...do not go unless you happen to be in the area.

The list of the places we went:

An Gu Noodle: the noodles were pretty sweet. I didn't like it too much. 

Grass Jelly Alley: if you like grass jelly, you'd love this place. Many different combos.

Cantonese egg cake: I'm sure you can get better in hong kong. We got some for kids and they loved it. the playground is right across from the stand

Taipei, Fun In Enterprise 方尹文創

ball pit

lego building space

a giant net

Location: it's inside Songshan Station, 3F. MRT green line to Songshan Station.

Pros: it's not too crowded, many food options inside the building. clean, bathroom nearby. 

Cons: nothing!

Price: $399 (1kid+1adult)

          $299 (kid only)

(unlimited play during the week, 2 hrs on weekends)

It's got everything! all of my boys (4, 6, 8) all had a blast here. We first had lunch right next door at the "Fun Relax Restaurant" (average, service is a tad slow, but its convenient if you want to sit here and have coffee while your kids play next door), and then came here to play. This whole floor is part of "Fun In Enterprise," and it also has other arts and crafts you can pay to do.

Miaoli, Shang Shun World 尚順育樂世界

coffee cup

go cart

2-story carousel

sega arcade

playground

Website: http://www.ss-plaza.com.tw

Location: google map

Pros: good for rainy days, LOTS of options, food court & restaurants on site

Cons: can be a bit overwhelming, or your kids might not want to leave. Be prepared!!

Shang Shun Plaza combines a hotel, a shopping mall, a giant indoor play facility and food/restaurnts all into one place! The rides ranges from $50~$250/each, and you pay with EASYCARD. Here is the floor guide: http://www.ss-plaza.com.tw/about-game.php

There are height restrictions on most games, so make sure you check that first. my 4 yr old could ride most of them, but he had to sit out for bumper cars and go cart. Over all it will probably take more than one visit to play all of the things that they offer here!!

Okinawa, Araha Beach & Pirate Park

pirate ship playground with a zip line

beach

shower/feet washing station

ice cream vending machine!!!!

Location:google map

Parking: the entrance to the parking is this small alley way between a restaurant called Grapachina and Poco a Poco, it's free!

Pros: clean, restrooms/showers available, drinks/ice cream vending machine, toddler playground and big playground

Cons: the beach has a lot of shells, be careful walking around barefoot

The pirate ship playground is probably good for age 3 and up, depending on your child's climbing skills. But there is a smaller playground not far from it (we didn't go there) for little kids. The beach closes at 5:30pm (not sure if the time changes with season), but also do some research online first as I've read beaches might not open during certain seasons. 

Okinawa, A&W Fast Food Restaurant

Breakfast menu

about the only decent thing here

nice playground with sand

Location: A&W Makiminato 牧港店
Parking: its own parking lot
Pros: nice playground, flea market in the morning
Cons: food is subpar

Is it an American thing to crave REALLY good breakfasts? We certainly were at a lost finding decent breakfast spots in Okinawa. We were excited to try this since I don't even know if there is an A&W store in the U.S., but this just didn't do it for us. The only kind of exciting thing was that they have curly fries (which you can't find in Taiwan), but even that wasn't that good. But the kids enjoyed it, since they got to have root beer for breakfast!!!! and playground!!