Dadong Road, the main pedestrian thoroughfare of Shilin night market, is filled with shops and stalls selling the usual cheap high heels, one-size-fits-all dresses and flashy jewelry. But the street also reveals its share of treasures, if you keep your eyes wide open.
Your eyes will be wide open, indeed, if you stop at Chong Ai Women (寵愛女人, 13-5 Dadong Rd), a lingerie shop that, in addition to NT$150 underwire bras, carries a decent variety of dress-up outfits. Be a sexy schoolgirl, French maid or nurse for NT$780 to NT$1,090. Sizes tend to run small, but good tailoring is probably beside the point here. For something a little different, head to Chao Qun (超群, 22 Dadong Rd), which sells Middle Eastern-inspired clothing and accessories. Coin scarves in bright colors are as cheap as NT$190, while sterling silver pendants start at NT$390. Flowing skirts in tie-dyed and floral patterns are NT$590 and up.
After our stomachs had deflated a bit, we wandered over to Xing Fa Ting (幸發亭) at 1 Anping St (1, 安平街), which has been open in Shilin for 40 years and is a de rigueur pit stop for summertime visitors. The store’s specialty, snow ice, is a delicious cross between shaved ice and ice cream and comes in a wide range of intriguing flavors, including aloe-honey (蘆薈蜂密雪片) and corn (玉米雪片), both NT$60.
Later, we unwound with an upper-body massage (NT$400 for 30 minutes) at the emporium-like Fei Lai Fa (飛來發, 16-1 Dadong Rd), which is open 24 hours. When we emerged half an hour later, we realized that we had spent more than three hours at the night market and, at 1:30am, had definitely missed the last train from Jiantan MRT Station.
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