Biz Trip - Taiwan Shopping

I did most of my shopping in Wellcome 24 hours grocery shops and convenient stores like 7-Eleven and Family Mart due to my work schedule. Needless to say, shopping is done either after 9pm, or before 8am in the morning. But even then, it is always interesting to walk into a local grocery store. For instance, they were selling can grilled eel for only SGD2 per can! And Japanese Curry mix was also around that price. I also got a pack of herbal tea egg mix. On the right are chocolates with cute packaging. These are the little things that makes me feel happy :)  I did visit Sogo one time, but it was so crowded on a Monday evening around 8pm that I decided to venture into less known local stores instead.

In Taiwan, it's hard to walk around without seeing local biscuits being on sale here and there. Below are some boxes I bought home. Left is Tao Sar Piah with assorted flavor I got for my colleague from Taipei Main Station. Took me a while to find the store, and I bought almost everything available there (which wasn't much at 8pm on a Friday night). I was lectured severely by the aunty there for not placing a order since I wanted to buy 40 pieces of the biscuit. She gave me her card and told me to call 2 to 3 days in advance next time. I managed to only get 10 pieces, and not all the available flavor either :(  But it was quite nice. I also got a box of Sun biscuit from her which I have one each day for dinner after my trip. I love butter sun biscuit (太陽鉼). The box in the middle is Pineapple Tarts given from a colleague which I eventually shared with my team, but didn't actually try any of it. What can I say, nothing will ever beat Peranakan pineapple tarts! I'm quite a snob when it comes to that.

 

2nd half of the photo on top shows the Tao Sar Piah individually wrapped, some cute pastry I got from an artisan shop I walk pass every morning on my morning walk. I got a pack of Christmas related cakes for colleague who helped me with my hotel arrangement while i was there. And the bottom right corner are Doraemon cakes! So super cute that I just got to buy them! I got those from 7-Eleven, together with the mini coke candy. Refer last photo in the post, they are one of my favorite find there!

  

Gudetama, the latest craze hitting Asia can be found everywhere in Taipei! Top half are coaster I got from a night market on my last night there. It comes in 4 design, but I could only find 3 in the shop. There was a promotion on where if you buy items, you get a 20% off . I spend 30mins trying to find the 4th item but gave up eventually. But the lady in the shop was kind enough to give me the discount anyway. I gave 2 of the coaster as Christmas gifts to my colleagues and kept one. I also saw those cute tissue papers in Family Mart one night, and decided to get them for only 18TWD (SGD 0.80)! 6 designs, 12 or 18 pack inside. When I went to the counter to pay, the cashier ask if I wanted to get another pack as they were on offer at 1TWD if I get the extra pack. So of course I did! So it cost me two packs for SGD0.81!!! Was giving them away in the office after that. So very very cute! Similar pack can be found in Singapore for like SGD4!

  

Here's a photo of my cute cute Doraemon cakes again. I put a folk next to it to show how small those cakes are.  I swear that these are happy cakes! The moment you pop one into your mouth, you instantly feel happy and cute again :)  Happy Shopping in Taipei!  

And so I end my post entries for my first business trip from my new company. I'll be back in Taipei again in January 2016. I'm also looking forward to visiting Mumbai, India in February 2016. Will be spending the 2nd half of my Chinese New Year there if everything goes as plan :)

Ref:

Wellcome

Family Mart

7-Eleven