Tourist Kitty: Shopping must-haves in Taiwan

Taiwan is like a paradise for budget shoppers like me. You can get shoes, beauty products, cosmetics and bags at a much cheaper price than what you'll pay for in Singapore. Plus with all the delicious sun biscuits, pineapple and assorted pastries that you can get your paws on, the shopping possibilities are endless! =D

And if you can read Mandarin well, try signing up for Taiwan's Groupon. Who knows, you might get to use some of those coupons while you're in Taiwan!

Beauty Products
There are a few ways of stocking up on your beauty essentials. The easiest method is of course to visit the Watsons, Cosmed and Momo outlets that can be found almost everywhere in Taiwan. Unlike our local versions, Taiwan Watsons can go up to 3 storeys high or more so you'll definitely have fun browsing through the wide range of products. Beauty must-buys include face masks from Lovemore and My Beauty Diary, The Face Shop, Skin Food, cosmetics from Jill Stuart etc. I bought seven boxes of masks from Cosmed at Taipei Main Station because they had a buy one get one free promo for Lovemore while I was there. Each box cost 199NT so I effectively paid less than 10 SGD for two boxes! Best buy ever. A similar box of face masks in Singapore will cost at least 15 SGD. Definitely don't need to replenish my mask supply for some time! XD

It was such a good bargain that I see women buying baskets of face masks off the shelves for themselves and for their girlfriends back home. =x Can't decide what you want? Then get the compilation boxes where you can try one (or two?) of every face mask within a series.

That aside, you can also buy your beauty loot (女人我最大 products for instance) online at websites like Naruko or Payeasy and have them delivered to the 7-11 that is nearest to your hotel in Taiwan. I haven't done that personally but apparently some podders on Flowerpod have done it so I guess you can give it a whirl. Read here and here for the podders' replies and advice on how advance an order you can place online (You need to register or sign in to read the posts). Here is an English guide from PayEasy and another from Love Eye Beauty on how to register plus place your order.

If you want to buy 女人我最大 products from a brick-and-mortar store, then try the Breeze Centre, (Level 6, just take the MRT to Zhongxiao Fuxing Station and exit by Exit 5. It's about 10 minutes' walk or you can take a shuttle bus there).

Address: 39, Fu Hsing South Rd, Sec 1 (at the intersection of Civic Boulevard and Fu Hsing South Road)
Tel: 0809-008888 or 02-6600-8888
Opening Hours: 11 am-9:30 pm (Sun-Wed), 11 am-10 pm (Thurs-Sat)

The best time to go shopping in Taiwan for cosmetics, according to sg_beauty at Livejournal, is in mid November (2nd & 3rd week) because that's when most stores will have their sales. So if you're aiming to buy all your favourite cosmetics and beauty essentials for cheaper prices, try planning your trip to Taiwan in November! =D

Oh and apparently Acuvue contact lens are very cheap as well. One podder from Flowerpod paid 250NT for a box of daily wear contacts (10 pairs) and 500NT for a box of fortnightly wear contacts (3 pairs). So don't forget to stock up on them as well! Other goodies include:

Fake eyelashes from Shilin Night Market, most going for about 100NT per box
我的心机 face masks from 7-11, Cosmed and Momo

Delicacies
Who can go home without buying a few boxes of local delicacies for the friends and family back home, right? Local favourites include Sun biscuits, cranberry tarts, sesame tarts and pineapple shortcakes with egg yolk. These snacks can be bought almost everywhere in Taiwan. In fact, I bought 3 packets of mushroom and peanut flavoured snacks from a very eloquent lady in Jiufen. Was "conned" into buying more than my initial intent of ONE packet but her good cheer and friendly demeanour convinced me to buy more. LOL. See, this is what a smile can get you. More business! She was also very generous with her samples and even said that one of the flavoured snacks (forgot what flavour) is good for the man's prostrate! Don't know if it's true or not. =x

The thing about these snacks is, you can't keep them for too long. The sun biscuits I bought for instance, can only be kept for 15 days. So if you want to distribute to your friends and family after you return home, don't wait too long!

Anyway, you can see for yourself the packaging of the snacks I bought. The ones I was talking about are on the right side of the picture. They come in many flavours like mushroom, wasabi, peanut and...that flavour that enhances a man's prostrate. =D

The pineapple shortcake and the sun biscuits in the following picture are from Li Yi. I personally like the sun biscuits much better than the pineapple coz it has a nice sweet creamy taste that is totally delicious!

Recommended shops where you can buy great snacks include Chiate and Li Yi. I bought my stash of sun biscuits (my most fave pastry ever!) at the Li Yi outlet in Jiufen and they offered to deliver my loot to my hotel in Taipei. All I have to do is to provide them with the hotel address and voila! It gets delivered before 12 the next day. Li Yi is also available at Taipei Main Station Front Metro Mall so if you're not planning to visit Jiufen, you can check out this central location. Other stuff you can buy are jellies that come in cubes or small packets. Since I had a craving for jellies back then, I bought a few packages and stored them in the nifty little fridge that was in my Windsor mishu room. =D

Shoes, Bags & Clothes
Last but not least: shoes, bags and clothes!!!

I didn't buy any clothes in Taiwan because their sizes and fashion were mainly for the young and not so generously proportioned. =x Ok, maybe I didn't look hard enough but the clothes I saw so far wouldn't have fitted me. Nevertheless, it doesn't mean YOU can't shop for clothes! Like everything else in Taiwan, they are much cheaper than what you can find on even blogshops! Provided you know how to haggle well, of course. Prime spots include the very very famous Wufenpu, a wholesale paradise where blogshop owners typically go and replenish their fashion line-up. Raohe Night Market, which is about 10 minutes' walk from Wufenpu is also another good spot. Avoid visiting Wufenpu on a Monday because that's the "wholesalers' day". I think it's when other wholesalers come down to restock or something? In any case, it's a bad idea to be there since the retailers may be too distracted to service you. How to get to Wufenpu and Raohe Night Market? Check out JYS's blog for her directions and review. Wintertime is also the time when retailers will start selling winter wear so there are very few summer clothes left for sale unless you do a detailed sweep over the night markets.

I personally LOVE the metro underground mall at Taipei Main Station coz that was where I got all my shoes! And bags. I saw many cute furry boots and was almost tempted to buy one pair but decided against it since there was really no occasion for me to wear it in Singapore! =)