A Day in the City

I had my usual "fashion inspiration search in the city" day this past Sunday. It's one of the perks of living in a big city of 1 million population - fashion is always around the corner.

On Sunday afternoon, me and hubby (my never-complain shopping companion) headed over to GinMin street, a few blocks away from our apartment, for a stroll and some tea. This is one of my favorite trendy places to go because of its beautifully tree-lined strip mall with pedestrian-friendly sidewalks. The area is crowded with little boutiques and shops carrying everything from American teen exports such as AE, and A&F to European labels such as Zara, and H&M, in addition to Korean and Japanese style fashion. Unfortunately prices of Zara, and H&M double or even triple when they come to Taiwan. They're simply out of my range... arghhhhh!! This area also boasts the most number of American, Italian restaurants and cafes that cater to Americans and other Westerners of the city. Me and hubby chose a tea house to escape the afternoon heat. After one refreshing frosty fruit tea and some green tea flavored cookies, we head towards the YiChung street.

YiChung street is like the city's youth fashion meter. Fashion here of course caters to the early 20-somethings and younger. On a typical weekend, this place can make you feel like half the city population has gathered here. Food vendors of all sorts, from hot dogs stand to sushi sellers line the main thoroughfare, while shoes, clothing, and handbag shops nestle in the adjacent small alleys.

We ended the day with dinner at a fusion Japanese-Taiwanese restaurant. Hubby made the reservation a day earlier as we had failed to get into this place during dining hours a few times before.