taiwan :: taipei :: shopping

[ordo]

Still not pleased that this thread is called "China::Taipei" rather than "Taiwan::Taipei"  Didn't think SuFu was in the business of politics. 

 

PM'd a mod to change it but was ignored. 

 

No one has PMed me about this - I changed the title as soon as I saw there was a concern. No offense was meant and nothing political intended - very sorry.

[Yeon]

for anyone visiting taipei, don't miss out the 

 

woo bar @W-hotel  & Brown Sugar jazz bar

 

had a wonderful time there and will defiantly visit again. 

Edited August 11, 2013 by Yeon

[holajr]

Thank you for being proactive Ordo

[rirawin]

I'll be in Taipei again this October-November for four weeks. Renting an apartment in the Shilin District area. Anyone down to socialise ?

[holajr]

if you're interesting in exploring beautiful places around taipei and know how to ride a motorcycle (and will have one available) i would be happy to show you around.

 

i could also introduce you to cool cafes where bikes/musicians/social activists hang out, but i'm not sure thats what you want.

if you were less vague it would be a more effective question.

 

edit: on second though if you want to go to æ±å€ and stand outside of soulless boutiques for hours on end smoking cigarettes i could also do that on the condition we drop by some stores where my friends work.

 

the question is, are you cool enough?

Edited September 12, 2013 by holajr

[rirawin]

I like the cut of your jibe. 

[holajr]

speaking plainly i'll probably be working most of the time, but i'll be happy to go for a joy ride in the mountains if you have a motorcycle/scooter if you want a schedule a time.

 

nights work better, i'll be on this 

[ming013]

where can i buy gareth pugh's items in taiwan???

[ucvrsm]

Anyone can recommend a few good live music cafes （民歌é¤åŽ…） in Taipei? 

[mydenvermax]

i just moved here a month ago. who wants to get a drink?

[suprastar]

Will be there for a few days from Dec 4th..

[rirawin]

where can i buy gareth pugh's items in taiwan???

 

You could try Tuan Tuan at the Eslite Bookstore/shopping mall at City Hall, I know they do Rick Owens, CDG etc.

 

I have to say Da'an district has improved considerably since I was last there 8 months ago. There's now an official Yoshida Porter store and a couple of new Nike stockists in the area, but still no Gyakusou.

 

Invincible and The Complete Studio still lacklustre as ever and carrying 2-3 old season stock.

 

On a food note, went to å¸¸å¤œç‡ˆ this evening and had their tasting menu, it was priced very reasonably at 1500NTD. Highly recommend it, they have two sittings, 6-6:30pm and 8-8:30pm. Great for a date night and definitely book a spot at the chef's table.

Edited November 9, 2013 by rirawin

[trem]

moving here in april if anyone down to hang..

 

also where is a cool spot to live? was think somewhere near Daan.

[bizubimu]

^ For work? To be honest I find the job market (and general work mentality) in Taiwan to be very mediocre... they still believe in Taylorism and scientific management shit. Honestly I feel if you're gonna live in Taipei you can live pretty much anywhere and not be too far from cool stuff. Hell you could live in Taoyuan and just bus / train up whenever you want to have fun. Daan is not bad though.

[trem]

Yeh but will be working for my Australian company and working remotely so not too bad. Yeh am thinking daan or guting. Do you live here?

 

Pretty keen to check out some of the local parties, bass kitchen taipei parties seem pretty fun.

Edited February 28, 2014 by trem

[Mr.Sander]

Guys - 5 days there, cheap place to stay? good food to eat? good stuff to try, special little treat to try as well? 

[bizubimu]

trem - oh I see that sounds like a pretty good gig then. I'm in the states now but I've lived in Taiwan for ~15 years. 

 

Mr.Sander - you can live @ the youth center in Jiantan (red line) for a pretty cheap price. Walking distance to Shilin night market, 5 stops to Taipei main station, and about 1/3rds of the way to Danshui which has some pretty good food for tourists too. Daan (like trem mentioned above) has great food as well -- night market, and lots of places around the university. You can also go to the zoo to look @ pandas  

 

some places that pop to mind for pretty quality å°åƒ - 

 

https://foursquare.com/v/陳三鼎/4b9f4913f964a520f91a37e3

http://www.ice-monster.com (perpetually long lines but you can order in)

[rirawin]

Gondola up to Maokong is a must, have some tea while you're up there.

 

常夜燈 is a really good Japanese restaurant as mentioned a few posts up.

 

Definitely do a few night markets, I really like the cold peanut noodles and their sausage in a sausage stalls at Shilin. Oh and I personally think Two Peck is better than Hot Star...

 

Look forward to more food adventures when I head out there for the third time in September/October this year. Will probably stay in an apartment in Da'an district this time for a change of scenery as the past two times I've stayed near/within the Shilin district.

[trem]

shilin night markets is cool but shida is where it is at

[rirawin]

On the Bourdain tip, 熱炒 (fast fry) on a bus is a fun experience. I went to a handful of fast fry places with friends, despite the "novelty value" and the non-existent free refills of rice (!) the fast fry bus has, it certainly served the best seafood and kung po dishes out of the lot I tried. It's pretty out of the way situated in the Neihu district, and in terms of getting there, you'll either need to take a 45min bus ride (time it takes from the Shilin district) or the MRT plus cab.

 

Ding Tei Feng if you haven't done so already, the original one is in the Da'an district.

 

Beitou is worth an afternoon trip to spend an hour or two at one of the hotel's private hot spring rooms. The library there is also very cool and is often listed as one of the top 25 libraries in the world.

Edited March 4, 2014 by rirawin

[wrblow]

Visiting Taiwan for 2 weeks in June. Staying in Taipei for atleast half the time. Any recommendations for cheap places to stay, sites to see, and shops to checkout? Not limiting myself to the north if there is stuff worth visiting in Tainan or even Hengchun. 

 

Thanks!

[rirawin]

Have a read of this page and the past few, a lot of excellent recommendations have been put forward by quite a few people already. Then perhaps come back and ask for something more specific ?

 

As for places to stay, check Airbnb, I used that last time and it worked out well, so much so I'll be using it again third time around, same host, but different property of theirs.

 

Any Taipei heads have any experience with the guy behind this http://www.fixedtaipei.com/ ? Checked out his store last time I was there, but as I was already in the third week of my time being there, I didn't have time to put an order in (takes 2-3 weeks). Thinking to pick one up as they're custom built and around 12,000 TWD (if I remember correctly) for a full setup.

Edited April 5, 2014 by rirawin

[fobsquad]

im gonna be in Taipei(Xizhi district) for 5 weeks in Apr-May for work. anyone down to grab some shaved ice/Taiwan Beer/diluted whiskey or just hang outside 711? im an ABC and havent been back in almost 10 years

[po_boy_fuuma_hatesbargerz]

Anybody have any recommendations for hotels in Xinyi District, or Da'an? Hostel/Airbnb not an option, but looks like booking online is packed.

[bizubimu]

I stopped by some of these places today. Overall I'm very impressed with what Taiwanese stores carry now as compared to just a few years ago. Everything's expensive of course but Japanese import brands are by and large reasonable while American / Euro brands tend to be highway robbery.

 

Also something I noticed is that department stores are straying away from fake Italian suiting brands and are actually bringing in a lot of Savile Row stuff as well as high end shoemakers a la John Lobb, etc. It's ridiculously priced but it seems like good suiting is actually becoming a thing here now.

 

Zhongxiao Fuxing Sogo - used to have quite a lot of cool stuff when I went a few years back, but a lot of stores seemed to have closed. MMM is womens only now, and the store selling undercover tees is gone. The Y-3 store is pretty cool. Rest is just Marc Jacobs, etc. etc. similar stores. 

 

Breeze Center - Tuan Tuan had quite a lot of CdG and MMM, quite a bit of Moncler Gamme Bleu too but very limited Thom Browne. Unfortunately the dude working there was a huge jerkoff... seemed to want me out of the store as soon as possible. The other stores in Breeze were by and large pretty boring, lots of women's stuff though. SLP, Dior, etc. were exclusively womens bags / shoes / accessories. 

 

Bellavita - Yohji and Jil stores were very limited in terms of mens stuff, mostly shirts and t-shirts and light cardigans. 03 is a FUCKING cool store though, has WM as prokart mentioned but also a lot of sasquatchfabrix, phenomenon, labrat, John Lawrence Sullivan, kolor, etc. etc. Prices were also surprisingly fair, I almost picked up a phenomenon ma-1 but their sizes only go up to 48 or so. Super nice staff as well, had a nice chat with the guys working there about Japanese brands... tried to convince them to pick up Soloist stuff lol. Also, feeling JLS stuff in person, it's definitely a brand I'm gonna watch out for now. Really really cool stuff... bizarrely the front half of the store exclusively sells pots and pans, japanese imported of course. 

 

Eslite Bookstore (Xinyi) - There was a Tuan Tuan here as well with older undercover, some cool Rick bombers (ss13 Islands I think? The dust / pearl ones with the semisheer outer layer. I know there are quite a few people after them), some ugly Rick leathers, Junya, LOTS of CdG (man, GANRYU, play, etc.) There was also a store called Artifacts that had lots of western (Liberty London, Common Projects, KVA, Opening Ceremony, Robert Geller [!!!]) but way overpriced... nice girl working there though. The store seems pretty international / English savvy too, and they're apparently trying to add more brands, so it's definitely something to keep an eye on. Some gothninja store next door run by these two goth loli chicks had quite a lot of Julius and also some unknowns that seemed like ripoff brands. Floor was covered with knockoff Rick dunks lol. Prices seemed alright though, didn't really pay attention here. Also a store called Sartorialist with Trickers, Loake, Saphir products. 

 

Shinkong (all 4 in Xinyi) - Largely boring, but some interesting stores here and there like Marni. Don't think it's worth your time to go to all 4.

 

Unfortunately it doesn't look like anyone is carrying Engineered Garments any more

 

-There's few other Tuan Tuan stores at some other places: Breeze Center, Megacity in Banciao. Each Tuan Tuan has slightly different stock. The one at Breeze Center carries Thom Browne and Brioni...etc. There's also a Givenchy store at Breeze Center

-There's a new store opened a bit ago called DANCHU, carries RO, DRKSHDW, Gareth Pugh, Yang Li, Nicolas Andreas Taralis, Damir Doma..etc http://www.danchutaipei.com

-Secret Service in Zhongxiao area also carries Julius. There's also a store neaby called Infected that carries TRIMAPEE and Chronicles of Never https://www.facebook...nfected.tw/info

-The YSL store at Taipei 101 is now a SLP store with new interior and stock.

-White Rock is also the only Veilance stockist in Taiwan.

-Bellavita and Megacity both has a store called 03. Carrying White Mountaineering and a bunch of other Japanese labels I'm not too familiar of 886-2-8729-2726. Bellavita also has a Yohji and Jil Sander store

-Hotel V carries White Mountaineering, Our Legacy, Filson, Alden, Folk, Topman, Nigel Cabourn, Grenson, Monitalty, Mismo, Yuketen...etc https://www.facebook....TAIPEI?fref=ts

-Red Wing store Taipei in Zhongxiao area also has Nigel Cabourn and Deluxe

-Trends boutique carries Julius, KVA, Juun J., Raf, Balmain, Mcqueen....etc https://www.facebook...ends.tw?sk=info The Sevendays stores next door carries Common Projects, APC, Band of Outsiders, Engineered Garments..etc at a Ridic price

-Less boutique in Ximending carries Mark McNairy, Bleu de Paname, Ebbet, APC, Carhartt WIP, Garbstore, Norse Projects, Mt Rainier Design...etc https://www.facebook...LessTaiwan/info

-Sense30 is worth visiting if you are into vintage bikes. http://www.sense30.com/ https://www.facebook...#!/sense30/info

-ASTRIUM NATURE store at Taipei Metro The Mall next to Shangri-La Hotel Taipei carries the Viridi-anne. There's also the only Issey Miyake Men store in Taipei.

-Taipei has a pretty viberant indie rock and edm scene. Artists/bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Boris, FUCKED UP, Grimes, My Bloody Valentine are all visiting Taipei in the near future. Recently Major Lazer, Sasha, Peter Van Hoesen, Hardwell, Avicii, Milton Bradley, Michael Mayer, An21 & Max Vangeli, Claudio PRC...etc all visited Taipei. Move D and A1 Bassline are coming as well. Go to Gigguide.tw for gigs/parties. For Taiwanese bitches you would still need to stick with mainstream clubs such as Room18, Luxy, Myst, Lava..etc




-It's still kinda BS that there's no Geller stockists in Taipei.

Edited June 23, 2014 by bizubimu

[glory]

There's actually a lot of Artifacts stores. The flagship is in the backstreets of Zhongxiao Dunhua station behind the Zara. (Other ones are in Song Yang eslite, zhongshan station, 2nd floor of the mall next to Bellavita)

I actually really loved the store the first time I came across it but recently I have been fairly disappointed with their buy. I think they function much better as a lifestyle store as the styles they pick from the brands they sell are very pedestrian and they tend to fall on the safer side. They use to carry Silent and Oak but they stopped I'm not sure about Odeur either. They are really streamlining their style and especially for women's it comes off a little matronly. Although I do still love the majority of their lifestyle products. They sell ODIN perfumes and Diptyque (although you can buy it from the stall in 101 and get tax return as well.)

A nice benefit though is I believe you become a VIP if you buy something one time over 10,000 TWD which gives you a permanent 10% off for all clothing items (lifestyle not included) which can be used for your friends.

Gothninja store in Eslite is Secret Service, they carry Julius, Henrik Vibskov, KTZ, and Renee Talmon L'armee Jewelry

03 always consistently impresses me. They also carry Yoshiko Creations Paris, TATA, and other fun brands.

A new Trends also opened up in the mall in between Bellavita and Eslite in Xinyi on 2nd floor if you are too lazy to go to the other one.

The older Trends has a pretty big Juun J t shirt selection as well as christopher kane. I'm pretty sure I saw more styles at the Trends in Taipei then I did in OC and Barneys in NY. Trends is men's only and also carries Valentino shoes, SLP, Ann D, etc. There's a pretty nice Rance perfume that I might get although 200$ is really a stretch for me in the fragrance department. Pricing is also relatively high.

There is also a store called Club Designer which recently reopened its flagship that has a pretty big spread of designers. I haven't gone recently but checking their website they have JW Anderson, Mcqueen, Mastermind, Celine, etc and they are the only store as of yet I have seen to carry Alexander Wang in Taiwan.

WOW outlet (Tuan Tuan) in the backstreets of Zhongxiao Dunhua also had a pretty lackluster selection for men's this time I checked.

I really digged Danchu. Although it's small, their selection is pretty good. They carry Thamanyah as well and Parts of Four last time I was there. I was able to try on a Yang Li jacket for sizing that I later purchased on LN-CC (even though I ended up buying a bigger size cause they sold out…) and I was able to get a Nicolas Andreas Taralis long sheer vest as well as a Gareth Pugh ring for 50% off both last year when Danchu was on sale. (They were doing an incremental sale in which buying 1, 2, 3 pieces would result in 40%, 50%, 60% off if I remember correctly.) I already swiped for the Taralis and was about to leave when I spotted the ring and they were nice enough to give me the extra discount on the Taralis as well. Owner is super friendly. Check it out if you have the chance it's a little out of the way though in close proximity to the bigger Trends.

Edited June 25, 2014 by glory

[orlylow]

http://www.msyaming.com/tuantuan/index_8_2.php?abo_id=7&id=380

Do they cater mostly to female? Which outlet has the biggest range for mens?

Any other boutiques with stuff like thom browne, acne, kenzo, norse, kitsune etc? Besides less/hotel v which I'll prolly check out

Lastly, the WOW outlet, worth a go?

Edited September 13, 2014 by orlylow

[bizubimu]

tuan tuan has thom, but very little. Last I checked it was just some crappy TB moncler polos. Maybe different now that fall's here. Also worth noting there are multiple locations in Taipei, the one near 101 has a LOT of Rick, CdG, etc. while the one at Breeze has more European brands.

 

WOW is worth checking out imo since it's so easy to get to and they have some really cool stuff... just not much for men's.

[rirawin]

Can anyone recommended cobblers that will carry out Vibram sole replacements in Taipei?

Dr Sole won't do it for obvious reasons, as they don't deal with soles that aren't Dr Sole.

 

EDIT: In fact Dr Sole do offer that service. 40 USD, nice.

Edited October 20, 2014 by rirawin

[orlylow]

Thanks bizubimu. But my hunch is that the prices will be way marked up...

Any website I can check out for the latest happenings in Taipei? Will be in town 12-17 nov.

Edited October 18, 2014 by orlylow