Hsinchu, Hsinchu Zoo 新竹動物園

ticket vending machine

peacock

tigers and bears separated by a wall

Location: google map location

Parking: on Shipin Rd. by the stadium or street parking along Shipin Rd. or Gongyuan Rd.

Pros: cheap and cute. sandpit by the children's animals area with shade

Cons: it's a small zoo, hard to find parking on the weekends

We have tried to visit this park twice on the weekends but ultimately left because we couldn't find parking!!! That's how ridiculous it gets sometimes. During winter break, I took my older two boys here on a weekday morning at 9am and it was perfectly empty. You purchase tickets through this machine for $20 each. I would say it's perfect for kids of all ages, because it's small enough yet you do get to see some interesting animals. I would say the ones we liked the most were the tigers, orangutan, pelicans, peacocks, and monkeys. There is also a sandpit that you can spend some time there after seeing all the animals.

Hsinchu, McDonald's with a playground! 麥當勞

Location: google map location

Parking: right across the street

Pros: a playground in McDonald's, in Taiwan!!!

Cons: it's a fairly busy McDonald's

Ever since we drove past it some time last year, my boys had been begging me to take them here (I know right? *eyeroll). I had been reluctant because 1) I have a McDonalds 5 mins away from our house and this one is at least 15 mins away, and 2) I could not figure out where I can park for this one!! Anyway, one day I just decided to drive us there and figure it out when we get there, and what do you know! There IS a parking lot right across the street! Nothing special to say about this, it's a playground in McDonald's. probably a bit cleaner than your average Mcd playground in the states. ;)

Taichung, Beitun Children's Park 北屯兒童公園

Location: google map location Intersection of Beiping Rd. & Xing'an Rd, right across from Siwei Elementary

Pros: decent size park with playgrounds on both ends of the park. restrooms on site.

Cons: hard to find parking even on a weekend morning

This is a fun park with a few metal climbing structures, 3 playground structures, and a weird looking maze. Ours boys had the most fun with the maze and used them as military bases for their imaginary play. My only complaint would be that it was hard to find parking! We ended up parking on a red line :x .

Taichung, Dough 動手玩金典店

work space

Menu

refrigerated ingredients

dry ingredients

Location: Jin Diang Mall google map location (金典綠園道)

Pros: baking without the mess at your home!

Cons: takes min. one hour

This is a cute concept, and I can see why it works here in Asia - not everyone has an oven at home here! So if you do not have an oven at home and you want the baking experience with your kiddos, I'd definitely recommend this place. Generally you have to make a reservation, and the cost depends on what item you choose from the menu (from the cheapest madeleines for $260 to cakes over $600). There is plenty of work space, and even on a weekend afternoon it wasn't super crowded. You will get an iPad that has the recipe and a video clip for you to follow. You basically do everything on your own - from measuring the ingredients to washing the mixing bowls. When you're done, they will give you a nice little box/plastic bag to put in your cake/cookies. 

Hsinchu, Beipu Cold Spring 北埔冷泉

bridge to the cold spring

sausages, tea eggs, beer, swimming supplies

bridge

as always, lots of warning signs around (which people ignore)

to the right is the "pool"

Location: google map location

Pros: unique

Cons: looks kind of dirty. not stroller friendly. no food onsite. (I am not counting the one sausage stand)

It received 4.1 stars on google map! I would say it is totally overrated. If you live close enough, it might be worth the drive just to check it out. Personally I would probably not go back again in a long time. If you want to go play in the water, go to the beach!!

Is the water clean?

Although there is a billboard explaining why the color is muddy. Basically it's some natural component of the cold spring that makes it look this way, not that it is really dirty. But I still did not let my kids go into the "pool". I did let hubby take the boys to the waterfall to walk around a bit. But be VERY careful, I would recommend your child to be age 5 and up.

Taipei, MaoKong Gondola 貓空纜車

Entrance

"Crystal Cabin"

Transportation: take MRT brown line to Taipei Zoo station, follow signs for MaoKong Gondola (about 5 min walk).

Parking: there's a parking garage next to the zoo here.
Pros: great scenery. fun for kids. food at MaoKong available.
Cons: there is nothing to "play", no playgrounds. you can find restrooms easily. will not be easy to travel with a stroller (but doable?)

gondola route (4 stops: Taipei Zoo, Taipei Zoo South, Zhinan Temple, and MaoKong)

There are two types of cabins: regular and crystal. Both cost the same, and usually the crystal (clear bottom) one has a longer wait. We went on a Saturday morning around 9:30am, and the wait was not too bad. The only difference is the max occupancy for the crystal cabin is 5, and the regular is 8.

We first took the gondola to Zhinan Temple. It's beautiful and there are many parts to it.  It does take some walking to get from one palace to another. Even if you just stay at one palace by the station, I think it's worth checking it out.

you can even donate money with your ATM card!! lol

beautiful view from the temple

I guess you can hike it from the bottom as well....

The last station MaoKong: Honestly there is not much to do up there (with kids). But we timed it where we could visit the temple first, and then head up to MaoKong for lunch. It was surprisingly NOT busy on a Saturday, and we did not have to wait for a table at a restaurant. There are food stalls (nothing special) along the alleys also. The restaurant we visited was Yuan Xu Yuan Teahouse, which was decent but nothing spectacular. The only unique would be the tea-flavored soft-serve at this tea house. Other than lunch and ice cream, we spent less than 10 mins up here.

there are better pictures of this area, but this one shows the food stands down the alley

Our little trip: around 9:30am~1pm.  (we took awhile at the temple, then had lunch at MaoKong)

Hsinchu, Kidsburgh - Dorothy's Home 騎士堡- 桃樂絲的家

Location: The building next to Big City/SOGO (2F)  google map location

** can be tricky to find. If you park at Big City, you would have to go across the skybridge on the 3rd floor of SOGO, and take the elevator to get to the 2nd floor to the entrance.

Pros: clean, many employees around to supervise/help
Cons: smaller than the Taipei Kidsburgh. one-time tickets are pricy.

First off, let's talk about the ticket price. An one-time ticket for ages 1 and up is a whopping NT$750, and NT$150 for each accompanying parent!! (If your child is under 3, one parent may enter for free) I would definitely recommend buying the package, you can look at the prices here. There are many different options, so make sure you do the math! :)

Anyways, we went on a Saturday morning at 11am (when it opens), and surprisingly it was not crowded at all!! My plan was to stay for an hour, eat lunch, and then come back to play some more (we had until 2:30pm to come back), but they were having so much fun that we ended up leaving at around 1pm to eat lunch!

Below is the list of different areas in the facility:

Toddler Area (a smaller ball pit, some puzzles and games on the wall)
Pretend Play area (lots of girls were there, my boys did not go in AT ALL)
Room with a doll house and a play kitchen (toddler friendly)
Train table
Fishing area
Car riding room
Cannon foam ball area (my boys spent 90% the time there)
Huge ball pit with slides (connected to cannon ball area)
Blue giant foam blocks area
Balloon area