As some of you may know, I was in Taiwan last week for a little holi-holiday. It was a much needed break away from work. And as with most of my holidays in Asia, retail therapy was a big part of it.
I took these shopping haul pics diligently every night, upon returning to our hotel, even though I was knackered most of the nights. So I hope this satisfies your curiousity and serves as a shopping guide of sorts.
Before going, I had already done some research online and also asked my Taiwanese friends (whom I met during my University days), so it was pretty mapped out where my focus should be.
My purchases were made all over the place; Shihlin Night Market, Ximending, Taipei Main Station underground markets, Wu Fen Pu, Hualien, Danshui, Jiu Fen etc. Most were purchased from night markets and street vendors. Needless to say, I'm not the kind of girl who can afford to shop at the likes of Taipei 101 hehe *sad* sigh... #poor
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As you can see, I got lotsa studded stuff (I loved studded items even before it was a trend! *proud*)! I was also on the lookout for bejeweled items, but the trend hasn't yet hit Taiwan, it seemed, except for some stalls where the owners obviously flew to Japan to source for the items.
Oh, oh, the shop where I bought the peach coloured, leather biker jacket also had items from Emoda, Rose Bullet, LagunaMoon and other famous Japanese brands. The shopowner was super impressed that I knew the brands, "
Ni men Ma Lai Si Ya (Malaysia) ren dou ting guo hor?" (Even Malaysians have heard of these brands?). Haha of course
la, which
kampung you think I come from? kekekeke...but no
la, if I didn't read as many fashion blogs as I did, I wouldn't have heard of the brands. See, reading fashion blogs opens up your mind *lol* #joke #humour
The pics above were my shopping inspirations taken from
Vivi magazines (Malaysian edition)*click*
Here's a closer look at what I got:
I find that accessories in Taiwan in general aren't as cheap as I thought; at least the ones I liked weren't. It seems like a lot of their accessories are imported from South Korea, hence the higher prices. They are really pretty, don't get me wrong and the quality is definitely better, if you don't mind forking out extra. Yes, you can find the lower end NT$100 for 3 pairs of earrings sort of range, but there are already tons of those in KL, anyway.
I do highly recommend one particular accessories shop, though; PierMei. The accessories here are a bit more within my price range with earrings going for NT$50 and mobile phone plugys/minipols for NT$100.
The bottom four bracelets I got at Wu Fen Pu and were NT$150 a piece (original asking price was NT$190), but I think I overpaid just a little bit, I'm not sure. The top 2 friendship bracelets (from Danshui) were 2 for NT$50, so at least those were pretty cheap.
Tattoo tights were everywhere and I had to get some. The quality is pretty good and they are pretty cheap. I hauled some for myself and for friends.
I think my biggest haul has got to be facial sheet masks. I stocked up on my favourite My Beauty Diary ones and also got persuaded by a SA to try Sasatinne ones haha. Well, why not, the Sasatinne ones were like NT$150 a box. Mad cheap! I don't think I went overboard at all considering some of the above are for friends/family hehe
MBD is super crazy cheap in Taiwan because well, they are actually Made in Taiwan. Hong Kong sells them pretty cheap, too. I'm never, ever, ever (
getting back together...sorry #lame) buying MBD masks in Malaysia, again. Ever. *cough*unless it's limited ed*cough*
These iPhone cases were NT$200 a pop and I did hesitate, but thought the prints were too pretty to ignore. I was actually hoping to stock up on cheap iPhone cases, so I was pretty disappointed to see that most of the ones I like were selling for NT$300 and above. Even the really old designs which can easily be bought at RM10 (NT$100) in KL are still sold at NT$300 over there.
These
kong ming deng I bought as souvenirs. They are so pretty and I think they stand out from the usual keychains or magnets type of souvenirs. You can find Made in Taiwan versions and Made in China versions. The difference is pretty obvious as the fabric used in the Made in Taiwan ones are much nicer and of better quality. Each
kong ming deng has a wish written on it like good health, happiness etc.
One of my Taiwanese friends said that she doesn't bargain when she shops, but being
kiasu, I did anyway haha. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. I guess the prices are already very reasonable to them unlike say, Bangkok or Hong Kong where we'd slash it down to half price.
Overall, I think I had a pretty good haul from Taiwan, but I think I could have done better!
