Japanese Magazines and Mooks / Taiwan Travel

After months of reading and salivating over the Japanese Magazine and freebies featured in Rouge Deluxe, i was finally able to purchase myself Japanese freebie magazines (as i call it) and mooks (magazine books in Japlish), instead of hassling my brother. (Read: The road to obtaining ).

As my wedding was in Concorde KL and i was staying there too, KLCC was just a walking distance away. As far as i know, the only way to get hold of Japanese magazines and mooks in Malaysia is at Kinokinuya KLCC. Alternatively, cross the causeway. So after much trouble looking for the Japanese magazine section, (there was a whole shrine of Japanese mags hidden away in a special corner i never knew existed) i was finally in the land of branded freebies.

Lets face it. I only buy the magazines because of the freebies. Japanese magazines are great. They collaborate with high end brands to give out 'branded' freebies from the likes of Marc Jacobs, Jill Stuart, Agnes B.. just to name a few. And then there are brands that are not found in Malaysia which are highly popular in Japan like Cath Kidston, Gelato Pique.. that churns out some really good  freebies.However the quality of the freebies vary and it would be good to see a review first before purchase. But if you really want great freebies go for the mooks! The chances are the gift with purchase would be of equal quality with the normal merchandise albeit maybe for some dodgy stitching.

So back to the story. I was in Kinokinuya KLCC. And i found this!

Loads and loads of stock of the Lesportsac 2010 mook which was sold out in Singapore!And with all 3 patterns in abundance. There was a 20% discount with any purchase of another item, so i was going 'grab immediately'. I bought only one.

But after reviewing the quality of it bought another 3 as gifts immediately the next day! It's just too good to be true! They even had the YSL mook, Cath Kidston 2010 spring summer mook, and magazine with Bvlgari clear bag freebie. I guess compared with Singaporeans, the Japanese magazine craze has not caught on hence the abundance in stock! So after spending a tidy sum, i thought that was that. The end of my mook buying days. And i was contented.

But waddaya know?

Guess what i found in Taiwan?

The Taiwanese are even more into the Japanese Magazines, mooks and freebies than Singaporeans! Every other Taiwanese girl was carrying an Agnes B tote that was a gift with purchase from the Spring /Summer 2010 Mook, Cher GWP totes, HBG freebie tote.. and i was wondering where they got their stock.

'They probably have loads of Kinokinuyas around,' i thought.

Then i saw 'Eslite bookstore that stocks loads of Japanese Magazines.

A picture from 'Eslite' and yes i bought the Agnes B Spring Summer 2010 mook.

So i thought maybe that's where they get it from. But i was wrong! There were other means!

Scattered around Xi Men Ding, and also a shop in the Taipei Underground Metro mall i found these specialty magazine stores!

The window display of a shop in Xi Men Ding.

Freebies hanging from every corner for you to touch and hold!

I did not even get to go into this one cos i had already bought my quota for the day.

Bought the seriously-hard-to-get-cos-it-was-launched-in-March Gelato Pique 2010 mook. Sold out in Malaysia.Was sold out in Singapore but i think they restocked at certain branches. (Will blog about all my purchases in another post)

The shop in Taipei Metro Underground Mall.. Can you believe it , it was my last day and i meet the shop of all Japanese freebie magazine shops? They had everything! Old stock, new stock, and at discounted prices with every freebie on display so you don't have to buy the freebie that was actually made of paper thin material.

They even have posters??!!

You have to hand it to the Taiwanese , they are professionals. And judging from the amount of people in the store, they are also very well aware of the branded freebies these mags are churning out. The only way to explain why they have so much variety and abundance of stock, is that Taiwan is so much nearer to Japan than South East Asia. And that may also contribute to the cheaper price.

I'm a happy girl after having satiated my Japanese mook craving. Will blog about my lovely and not so lovely purchases next time. In the meantime..

..... loving the Cath Kidston mook.