2016 Taiwan Hauls

I want to get started with my vacay bits but decided to share with you my haul first LOL

Let me start with the ones I posted on Instagram just recently. Sent this via po stage to my family back home cuz I won't be going back anytime soon and some of the stuff I really wanted them to try before it expires LOL

The two items in red are teas which I got from Maokong. Dad's been obsessed with tea apparently so I got him and mom more. Then clockwise from top left are magnets, birds' nests, Taiwan instant coffee, some ginger tea cubes, Taro/Yam cakes and pineapple squares.

Also got myself luggage stickers! They're so cute I want moreeeeee!

The Taro cake is a MUST try. I had some last year when my ex-colleagues bought some as omiyage from Taiwan. I LOVE IT! So much that I brainwashed my ex-roomie and my friends whom travelled together with me to get some. Thankfully you can get this at almost everywhere like in Taoyuan Airport, Taipei Main Station and almost all touristy places. Even the night markets! Initially we wanted to get the ones from ShanMai (there is a branch in Taipei Main Station) but was too rush so we bought some random brand. Tastes equally as good!

Chia Te's pineapple cake is a must try too! I thought they tasted much more buttery and liked it but my parents said it tasted almost like the one in Bukit Mertajam. Worth trying! Last but definitely not least is the TaiYang Bing or Sun Cake. Didn't buy some back but it is good. Super buttery!

When in Taiwan, buy lotsa tea LOL. Bought Oolong, Tie Kuan Yin, Ginger (My fav!) and Blooming tea ❤❤❤

So I got back and was so eager to try the ginger tea so I used a cube which makes about 3 cups or more and drank them myself.

Immediately I felt myself warm up and a while after I finish the tea I got nosebleed... (>___<) Hahahahha.

Reminding myself not to drink on hot days...

I also got some Tie Kuan Yin tea nougats from Maokong, which IMO tasted wayyyy better than most nougats I tried in Malaysia. The taste of tea is so-o-o defined, Chinese tea lovers will love it!

I also got tons of_like thirty_ beautiful hand painted postcards from Maokong. Distributed to my colleagues and friends. These are the ones I have left, which will be given to my friends and family hahahaha

Aren't they prettay??

Next up are cosmetics and beauty products, mostly masks and stuff from Naruko. Taiwan cosmetics are quite popular in Malaysia and my friends been raving about Naruko so when I told them I'll be going, I got a list of to buys since they're much affordable there.

These are the items I bought for my friends.

#Naruko Bird's Nest Mask

Another brand was L'herboflore, which my other friend recommended me to get. I found a counter at K-Underground Mall and as you can see, sapu (Malay for sweep/swept) quite a lot from the counter.

Let me tell you something super annoying that happened when we went to purchase the L'herboflore masks. So my friend Amelia and I went there solely to purchase the masks and were browsing the many choices deciding to buy before we were cornered my sales personS bombarding us with all the products. At first, I thought they were very helpful and friendly, trying to get to know where we were from after noticing my ineptness in handling the language and letting us sample some mini masks.

This mini masks. Aren't they cute?

But after a while, they level up their games and introducing us the other many, much more pricey products trying to sell them to us to the point it got very annoying.

And the most annoying part?

They said if you buy this set, we will give you like X number of masks for free, whispering the words to my ears. Saying stuff like, this is specially for you girls. So our identity as tourists actually is advantageous, huh. Mind you, there was no poster around stating this sorta deal. Aha.

And you know, I'm the type who DON'T like close contact with some people so the whole whispering act annoyed me more.

Like seriously. One other friend managed to duck another (Yes, they have that many sales people) and just hid somewhere. She observed that when a sales person is unable to convince a customer, they obtain help from someone apparently more senior/experienced to try to preach the customers.

Very questionable work and business etiquette.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE SALES & DISCOUNTS and I'm in LOVE with L'herboflore's products, I just don't like how they operate...I would actually buy more too if not because I've spent on SK-II recently. Same goes to Amelia (I intro-ed SK-II to her before our trip LOL).

What do you think? Have anyone experienced the same when shopping in any of their outlets in Taiwan?

If you're ok with these overselling sales people, just make it obvious you're no local and you prolly able to snap the products on pretty good bargain prices. You so-o didn't hear this from me.

Another tip: Purchase minimum 20 sheet masks for discounts!

Last but not least, I got myself this alpaca magnet from Taipei Zoo, cuz alpacas are cute LOL.

Because I only brought a carry on with me, I had to buy another luggage (the one in the picture above) and actually filled it up with all my haul LOL

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