More Taipei Questions
November 27th, 2007 | Published in travel | 11 Comments
Where can I shop for women’s clothes and streetwear? I’m thinking casual to semi-formal clothes, shoes, bags, etc. Possibly the stuff I need (I don’t know what) to tog up for ‘work’.
Where can I go to get free wifi and a good cup of coffee?
What are the vegetarian options, if any, in the city of Taipei? None of that “chinese vegetarian mock meat” stuff if possible. (No, not me OF COURSE – a friend needs to know.)
And can someone give me a link to a list of contemporary Taiwanese celebrities? I have this sneaking suspicion that I’m going to walk past really, really famous people and totally not know who they are. My knowledge of Chinese pop culture is non-existent.
Anybody with some pointers on Taiwanese history (particularly military history) should also get in touch, long story.
It’s sooooooooooo stressful, going to a place where I might actually understand what everybody is saying!
November 27th, 2007 at 6:04 pm (#)
Hi popa, drop me an email at jesuafreak@gmail.com. i will forward u on the places to go and stuff liek dat… i have a word file on taipei
November 27th, 2007 at 7:03 pm (#)
VEGETARIAN!?!? sigh…beef noodles…beef noodles…beef noodles…
And this time of the year, you might not find suitable clothes for sunny Singapore…now you sigh…
November 27th, 2007 at 7:06 pm (#)
YAY! YAY! YAY! Finally managed to post!!!
Taiwan history? Who’s version??? Heheh…
November 27th, 2007 at 7:07 pm (#)
1. 士æžâå¤Åå¸â and Ã¥â¦Â¬Ã©Â¤Â¨ offers everything you might want to buy from ridiculously cheap to reasonable prices. If you have the time, äºâÃ¥Ëâ åŸâ carries gems that go as low as SGD5 per piece, only that you really need to look carefully. The malls are attractive but insanely expensive.
2. Almost no free wifi except in schools and public libraries, one place I know is 3C Cafe (http://tx.shu.edu.tw/GCot04/cafe/cafe4.htm) but you’d be obliged to order from the otherwise negligible menu. There is wifi everywhere (they call it Wifly) - MacDonalds, Starbucks etc etc, you just need to purchase credits from a convenience store.
3. Cute cafes are usually found in the alleys but there is a considerable number of them. Just a few examples: æµ·éâŠçšâå¡夫å¡ (http://kafka.myweb.hinet.net/), ä¹Âå··åââÃ¥â¢Â¡Ã©Â¤Â¨ (http://www.ipeen.com.tw/shop/shop.php?id=27452)
4. Best vegetarian I’ve come across so far: æ˥天素食. It’s buffet style.
(http://tw.lifestyle.yahoo.com/biz.html?bizid=87e81df62d80a9a8)
I’ve been in Taipei for a little over a year now, couldn’t help but offer a few ideas. Hope they help!
November 27th, 2007 at 11:09 pm (#)
cool..you heading to taiwan? I will be in taipei around x’mas.=)
November 28th, 2007 at 1:56 am (#)
Met some lovely people (Wikipedians and bloggers) earlier this year in Taipei. Will ask to leave comments here.
November 28th, 2007 at 2:58 am (#)
It’s easy shopping female clothing in Taiwan, I don’t think its a problem. There are Hang Ten, NET, etc. Not so expesive and well qulity clothing.
Vegitarian option is hard if you do not take Subway as an option…
November 28th, 2007 at 7:55 am (#)
Hi Adrianna,
I’m Thomas Jian, a member of GV Chinese translation team.
Welcome to Taipei!
I’ve lived in Taipei for 7 years. I’m glad to suggest some interesting places.
MASK is right. it’s not difficult to shop female clothing in Taipei.
If you want to visit Taiwan’s night market, I suggest you come to Shilin Night Market(士æžâå¤Åå¸â) or Gongguan Night market(Ã¥â¦Â¬Ã©Â¤Â¨).
Shilin Night Market is near the MRT station, Jiantan station(åŠÂæ½Â).
(Here’s MRT’s route map:
http://www.trtc.com.tw/e/service.asp?catid=%E4%B9%98%E8%BB%8A%E6%8C%87%E5%8D%97&small=%E8%B7%AF%E7%B7%9A%E5%9C%96%E6%9A%A8%E8%BB%8A%E7%AB%99%E8%B3%87%E8%A8%8A)
You could check the following links:
http://www.taiwanfun.com/north/taipei/articles/0201/0201CoverShiLin.htm
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shilin_Night_Market
Gongguan night market is near Gongguan station.
There are a lot of Taiwanese foods and sports goods stores over there.
You could also check the link below:
http://taipeitravel.net/article.asp?pcode=2&indexId=46&mrtId=-1&uId=2801&pageNo=1
Besides, if you want to touch more Taiwan’s local culture, Huaxi Street Night Market(è¯西è¡â) and Wufenpu(äºâÃ¥Ëâ åŸâ) are good choices. However, you can’t get over there by MRT but by bus or taxi.
Information about Huaxi Street Night Market:
http://taipeitravel.net/article.asp?pcode=2&indexId=46&mrtId=-1&uId=2803&pageNo=1
Information about Wufenpu: (zh)
http://www.syda.taipei.gov.tw/cgi-bin/SM_theme?page=438300f5
If you don’t mind the budget, Hsin- Yi Dstrict would be a great place for shopping, ’cause there are a lot of department stores there, including Hsin Kong Mitsukoshi(æâ°åâ¦â°Ã¤Â¸â°Ã¨Â¶Å ) and Taipei 101. They are near the MRT station, Taipei City Hall station(å°åÅâå¸âæâ¿åºÅç«â¢).
And Hsin Kong Mitsukoshi A9 building now have a photo exhibition, I think you might be interested in that. :)
http://culture.skm.com.tw/event/2007photo/display.htm (zh)
Here’s the map around Taipei City Hall station:
http://home.trtc.com.tw/INFO92/Lmap.asp?SID=093
There are also some shops near Zhongxiao Fuxing station(å¿ åÂÂ復èËËç«â¢), such as SOGO Department Store. Many shops are in the valleys and you may enjoy the shopping process.
About the cofee shops providing free wifi, here’s a long list: (zh)
http://www.oranges.idv.tw/wp/?p=56
I think duringmyheyday’s suggestion is good. æµ·éâŠçšâå¡夫å¡ often plays some good music, and you could enjoy your time there. It’s also easy to find because it’s near the MRT station, Taipower Building Station.
As for the contemporary Taiwanese celebrities, the most popular celebrity in Taiwan must be Chien Ming Wang(çŽâ¹Ã¥Â»ÂºÃ¦Â°â), a pitcher of New York Yankees in Major League.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chien-Ming_Wang.
The other one would be Ang Lee(æÂŽå®â°), a movie director who won Best Director of Academy Awards with Breakback Mountain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ang_Lee
About the pop music star, you have to know Jay Chou(Ã¥â¨æ°åâ¬Â«), Jolin Tsai(èâ¡ä¾Âæžâ), and David Tao(éâ¢Â¶Ã¥ââ ). Taiwan also has a popular TV show recenly, Taiwan Idol(è¶â¦Ã§Â´Å¡Ã¦ËŸåâ¦â°Ã¥Â¤Â§Ã©Ââ). It is a singing competition programme.
I hope the information above might help you.
About the military history of Taiwan and the vegetarian food in Taiwan, I still have to find more information and I’ll have some suggestions later.ãâ¬â¬Ã¯Â¼Å¡Ã¯Â¼â°
November 28th, 2007 at 10:40 am (#)
for fashion, just walk along Chunghsiao East Rd, both above ground shops and underground MRT mall. or head to major shopping ctrs like SOGO, or Core Center, or Mitsukoshi in Hsinyi District. ambitious shopping can head to Wu Fen Pu (a bit like Namdaemun in Seoul).
Taipei is embarking on free WiFi access along Chunghsiao E Rd, but I donno how extensive it is yet. u can try coffee bean, IS coffee etc. there are many outlets
for Taiwanese history, just email me…cheers!
November 29th, 2007 at 3:34 am (#)
Was just in Taiwan last week.
Didn’t have much time and I had a stomach bug from an earlier stopover,
but it is a fun place. Many beautiful women of course. Huge night markets.
High-end shopping at taipei 101.
I think there is good vegetarian food, just ask a local.
The weather is currently crappy. Yang Ming Mountain is interesting, some good restaurants up there.
November 29th, 2007 at 9:27 pm (#)
Thanks everyone!
@Chiang: congrats :) I never did figure out what the problem was earlier.. glad it works now. Taiwanese history. For the purpose of my article, the KMT’s version?
@duringmyheyday thanks! it helped a lot. How good is the Wifly, and how much does it cost?
@nonchann going early half of dec :)