I bought these boots today. They are listed at $219.99US. I got them in Taiwan for $181US. They are the Zamberlan Master GT RR. Don’t worry, I didn’t get the green ones. I got the light blue/gray ones. I went to the camping stores on ZhongShan N. Rd. Take exit 7 from Taipei Main Station to find them. They are all stacked in a row. I was pretty happy to find out that they had my size. I got EU46/US11 size shoes. They fit like a glove and I got them just a little big so that I could fit all my socks on later.
I had wanted to get an Arc’teryx expedition coat, but they are just too expensive. I’m not going to pay $500US for a hardshell coat. On top of that, you’d have to buy a thermal layer, which would add another $200-300US. I have a very warm Oakley coat that I got at a discount earlier this year in March. It was $121US. It’s dark blue on the outside and gray in the inside. It was originally listed at about $400US. It was a model from last year which was already marked down. I got another 40% off.
Instead, I got some long thermal underwear, with sweat wicking abilities from Götzburg. I couldn’t find a website, but they were at a 20% discount. I also got a few sweat wicking t-shirts. One from Götzburg and about four from The North Face. I got some Bridgedale Heavyweight Summit socks ($23US) as well as some liner socks ($10US). For cold weather, it’s best to have a liner sock that wicks the sweat away from your feet and a heavy expedition sock over it. Usually in the winter, I always wear two pairs of socks. With the liner sock, I could probably wear three. The key in being comfortable in cold weather (-20°C plus a -10°C in wind factor) is layering. It’s easy to forget. I didn’t really think about that when I was living in Quebec. But I am thinking about it right now, especially since I will be using public transport.
The only thing that I got from Arc’teryx was a nice dark blue tuque (I kind of like Arc’teryx). It was funny seeing all this stuff from Canada. It was all bilingual which was cool. Bilingual as in English/French. Maybe when I’m in BC next summer, I’ll drop by the factory (Arc’teryx are based in BC) and try and find some outlets. Sounds like an interesting idea. My wife mentioned that I should probably get a bigger tuque that covers my ears. Sounds like a good idea. In winter in Quebec, you can easily wear two tuques without a problem. I’ve been reading that this is the coldest winter in Canada since 1994.
I also got some Global Spirit sweat wicking T-shirts. They were pretty cheap, about $15US each. I find that wearing T-shirts in Taiwan is pointless. They get wet from sweat very quickly. You have to change them often and it gets annoying. I’ve been using two sweat wicking T-shirts for a few months and they work well in the winter and in the summer. People at work ask me if I’m cold. I say no. They are usually wearing heavy sweaters and I have a T-shirt on. I tell them that I come from a cold country. That’s funny. My heritage is Indian, so I should be very well adapted for the heat. But I spent over 20 years in Quebec, and I have lived almost all of my life in places that actually had winters.
Before that, I lost some time at the Guang Hua computer market. It’s located on the intersection of XinSheng Rd. and Civic Blvd. MRT station Zhongxia-Xinsheng, exit 2. It was overwhelming. And I’m not the only one that thinks so.
I’m looking for a few little things for the next few months. I’m thinking about getting an iPod (mine is dead in the water, although I think I will have it repaired. I’d go for the 160GB iPod Classic. None of the iTouch nonsense for me. At least until they have a 250GB iPod Touch), a used laptop and a few doohickeys like a LaCie 500GB Porsche external HD ($148US) and an 8GB USB drive. I’ve been toying with the idea of getting an Asus Eee PC, but I think that I will not indulge. It’s small, compact, but with a little more space, you can get a full ultraportable laptop (11.1″ to 13.3″ is what I’m aiming for).
Walking around was really strange. I wanted to get a Nintendo Wii, but was severely disappointed in finding out that 95% of all Wiis in Taiwan are the Japanese NTSC model. I’ve found no English games. Meaning that people here play the games in Japanese. That’s kind of funny.
After doing some research and making a few calls, I discovered that almost all Wiis sold in Taiwan are modded. They come like that. Or it’s an option. The modding enables the Japanese Wiis to play any region games and also backed up games. Meaning that getting new games is pretty easy. That solves my dilemma. I’ve been reading about some horror stories about the Wii shortages back home. As usual, these things are a lot cheaper here. I checked out Craigslist in Quebec. They have the Wiis being sold by resellers for $420CAN, which is a lot since the Canadian Loonie is worth a lot more now.
I walked for an hour or a bit more than that, I can’t remember. You can find some great deals if you have the patience, but be prepared. There are literally thousands of stores packed in that district. It’s hard to make sense of the place. And they all sell the same thing. You have to have the patience and the desire to shop around. I was burdened with my backpack and my helmet. I had my motorcycle jacket on and was hot. It wasn’t that good. But I saw a lot of things. I saw the new Sony VAIO TZ 28. I wouldn’t get that laptop, but it’s tiny! It has a 11.1″ screen. It’s almost in the same range as the ASUS Eee PC.
An acquaintance told me that the video game district is located in Taipei City Mall, underneath Taipei Main Station, between exits 6 and 8. I’ll go check that out in a few days.
Of course, I’ve gone about ten times around the question without really mentioning it. But yes, I’m going back to Quebec for a few months.
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