Taiwan 2011 - Ximending

Ximending is a shopping spot that is best visited at night. I went there during daytime and the place was almost like a ghost town, save for a few open stores and cineplexes...which by the way, seem to be mushrooming all over the place. I guess the Taiwanese love their movies. =)

Otherwise known as the "Harajuku" of Taiwan, Ximending is the favourite hangout for the young, the fashionable, subcultures and Japanese culture. To really experience the night life (as well as the crowds & gay bars that are scattered over the area), however, you've gotta start late.

Abandoned building for sale...yep...the whole building

One of the many cineplexes in Ximending, their
ticket prices are about 10SGD per ticket.

Another cineplex, one that offers an IMAX experience too

This entire street consists of a whole stretch of cineplexes...I
kid you not. Ximending became well-known as 'Theatre Street'
way back in the 1930s and has over 20 theatres today plus 6000
vendors. It's also a popular area for street performances, album
launches and small concerts. 

Not open for business...but they sure have colourful shutters!

Dead town but the cineplexes and some stores were already open
for business

English movies seem to be quite in vogue here...

How to get there:
The most straightforward way is to take the MRT to the Ximen Station on the Taipei Metro line & go out via exit 6. Me, I had actually walked there from Hope Hotel, which is very near to Taipei Main Station. It took me about 15 to 20 minutes of getting lost and asking directions from people but it was kinda fun coz you get to see things that you don't see on guided tours. =D

For instance, I walked past a small restaurant that sold economical rice (the type where you can pick your choice of meat or veggie) in rather large portions. It looked rather delicious if you asked me, hehe...picked up a large cup of bubble tea and fell instantly in love with Taiwan's bubble tea. I will never be able to drink Singapore's version of bubble tea...ever again. =x

Unless they are of the Taiwanese brand like A-gan tea. =D

Advertising with bad English... =x

My first bubble tea in Taiwan~!

The Taiwanese typically go everywhere on motorbikes. Seems like almost everyone owns a set of wheels and most people don't really take cabs...coz they usually take the train or buses, which are pretty convenient.

Since it caters mainly for the young people (and the young at heart), the stores there mainly sell Japanese inspired stuff like anime-themed stationery and soft toys as well as beauty staples like face masks. While comparable to night markets like the Shilin Night Market, shopping could get a tad expensive though so do take note. =)

Taiwan 2011 - Jiufen

I spent a couple of days away from Taipei in a quaint little mountain town called Jiufen, named for the "nine portions" of shipments that arrived for the nine families that lived there during the Qing Dynasty. It's located in the Ruifang district of New Taipei City, near Keelung, Taiwan. Providing the backdrop for award-winning movies like A City of Sadness and Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away, Jiufen is an ex-gold mining community that now attracts many tourists from Taipei.

If you've read my post on Windsor B&B, then you would have known I stayed there for 2 nights. It wasn't exactly a very action-packed itinerary while I was there, but I had fun exploring the place. I don't mind going back there though. =D

The entrance to the night market is right next to the 7-11

The bus that will take you to Jinguashi

Grassy mountains against a gorgeous backdrop
of sunny skies...

A surreal sea-view

A view from the stairs that leads to Windsor B&B

A beautiful evening sky at Jiufen

The sight of the shoreline really puts one at ease, huh?

Trying to capture the moon from Jiufen...

One of the many tea places where one can relax

A few of the many kitties in Jiufen where residents apparently love
animals. These kitties are the recipients of a donation drive by
a lady who invites people to donate money for their daily meals.

Jiufen market starts from 8am onwards but closes
at around 7pm so do try to finish your shopping before then!~

Window display of a B&B located along the streets of the
Jiufen market

Clothes for your pet doggie

A nonchalant doggie that had every passer-by snapping
pictures of it...LOL

A much recommended meatballs & fishball soup combo

Giant mushrooms~! They cut up these mushrooms
for grilling.



The lady who grills the mushrooms...

Giant stamp...you can customize your own name stamp at this
little store.

Another recommended snack at Jiufen - Granny Lai's Yuyuan,
I love this dessert coz the yuyuan are nice and springy. You can
have it served hot or cold. I had mine cold so ice was added.

I wandered down from the Jiufen market to find this entrance
to a local temple...

Doesn't this remind you of the creepy stairways
that Chihiro from Spirited Away had to
run through in the anime?

Crowds of tourists to visit the various teahouses

One of the teahouses where you can yum cha...

If you intend to stay over at Jiufen, do note that shops start at 8am and close early at around 7pm. So best to get any shopping done before then! =D Residents also turn in early so if you're still around the town in the evening & trying to navigate your way to your B&B through the dark alleys or stairways, try to keep your voice down. The stairways are located very closely between houses so voices do travel in a rather loud way. 

You should also visit the Lavender Forest shop that is located next to an old theatre called the Shen-ping Theatre. It's full of lovely lavender items and you can even send a postcard home from there! They will help you post it for free. But you'll have to buy the postcard though...it costs about 25NT. =)

If you're in the mind for some desserts, try the specially flavoured ice-cream sold here too. I tried the rose & lavender flavours but...I personally like the rose one. =)

Lavender Forest - a little store that sells

lavender themed stuff like bath salts, books etc.

It was started by 2 girls who loved lavender

so much, they decided to open up a shop of

their own! =D

Teddy sits on the window sill that looks
into the shop interior

Ms Bear  - the Lavender Salesbear

This is the Sheng-ping Theatre...

The old movie theatre that
used to provide entertainment around the area

All in all, it was a fun experience to roam around this little town. There were alleys of shops to browse in and quirky souvenirs such as maltose candy lollipops shaped in cartoon characters and kitty ornaments like the below. The weather in November was cooling and I spent my evenings watching cable tv in the B&B room, which was quite relaxing. =D

So if you want to take a day trip out of Taipei, try visiting Jiufen or stay overnight if you will. You'll never regret it!

How to get there...

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! =)

Kawaii pink shoes...got it for 299NT

Off-white shoes at 299NT

Hardy boots for 499NT

Simple white heels for 499NT

Pink haversack for 350NT

Bought this white bag for 550 NT. Big enough to carry my
beloved netbook and then some. Cheap yet pretty enough. 

And there you go, my shopping is mediocre compared to some girls but I'm happy enough with my loot. I want to go back there again! =D