Shopping in Shilin

One of the best things about Taipei is the night market (or maybe shopping in general)! Cheap, fashionable clothes. A lot are mass-produced but there's still A LOT to choose from. And besides, while the clothes  may be common in Taipei, they are no longer common when you go back to Manila. Not everything has good quality (mass produced, yeah) but keep a good eye!

During the first night of our stay in Taipei last weekend, we went to Shilin night market. Oh, we never get tired of it. It's actually my fourth time to go there (first three was during the September 2011 trip). As far as I know, it's one of the most famous night markets in Taipei. It's just outside MRT Jiantan Station so it's very accessible and there are LOTS of shops as well! There's even branded stuff like Nike and Adidas. And Korean makeup brands like Skin Food, The Face Shop, Tony Moly, Etude House, and Nature Republic. As I said before, it's like Divisoria minus the sweat, the stink, the hassle, and the snatchers/pickpockets. 

Good to be back, huh

Yes, in the middle of the road!

I actually had a shopping list with me which consisted of a pair of red nautical flats, a pair of boots, a biker jacket, a chiffon midi skirt and pasalubong for my family. 

I first did pasalubong-shopping for my family. I got my brothers some polos on sale, which they liked. I got both polos for only NTD 500 (PhP750). Bonus that the salesperson was so nice and handsome LOL. For my dad, I got a taupe knit sweatshirt from Giordano for NTD800.

I was able to get the red nautical flats to match the blue ones I bought last September. (NTD390)

Unfortunately, for me, all the stores were selling winter wear so I could not find midi skirts that used to be abundant last September.

Of course, there were boots. Lots of them. But I could not find a not-so-expensive pair that I really liked.

I found cheap but great biker jackets too! Around NTD400 to NTD600. That's around PhP600 to PhP900 while biker jackets here in Manila usually cost no less than PhP1k. However, my practical self was kicking. The biker jackets in Shilin were too thick and were lined. Wearing them in Manila could equate to heat stroke. So I decided to let them go. Sigh.

In the middle of my shopping, it started raining hard! Also, I was getting tired because I had very little sleep the night before so after some more walks, I headed back to the hostel.

Oh, did I mention that our hostel is just a block away from Tonghua night market? It's a pretty nice place and a lot of people were selling food but it's a lot smaller than Shilin night market. After bringing my items to the hostel, I went down the night market for a while and I got myself a pair of thick black tights from a side street vendor for NTD200. I wasn't able to buy much because the stores were selling winter wear as well. I also wasn't able to take photos because I was so busy looking around.

So I guess the best advice to people from the tropics is that the best time to go shopping in Taipei is NOT during winter. Haha. Or maybe let's put it the other way around: if you're on a budget and would like to stop yourself from shopping, I guess winter would be a good time to go there.