Places to chill out in Tianmu: introducing 3 Department Stores and cinema

All over Asia, people love department stores, not least for the air-conditioning! Taiwan's department stores are mostly Japanese. In Tianmu you have a choice of three: here are a few suggestions of how to while away a couple of hours while you cool down. 

Sogo

The food court has a good view. Supermarket in the basement carries a decent range of international food and drink brands. Quality and price are both high. Pick up some clothing from Uniqlo upstairs, their range seems to be an unofficial uniform for blending in in Taiwan. If you have come from Europe, the fabric of your cotton clothing is likely much thicker than the local versions, so it's well worth investing in some thinner and cooler staples. Taiwan offers super-fashionable sportswear in very thin fabrics and Sogo is possibly the most stylish of the three stores. 

Mitsukoshi

Two Mitsukoshi stores side by side. The one further from the traffic junction offers a cinema on the top floor, which shows Hollywood and Asian films (alas not Bollywood). Cinemas have THE BEST AIRCON in Taiwan! You may need to take a scarf or socks! If you want to buy a ticket, but don't speak Mandarin, you could show a photo of the movie poster, and the sales person can probably figure it out. They will ask you where you want to sit, the default position in Taiwan is for everyone to sit in a group in the centre of the cinema. You can request a seat at the side or back; usually there are plenty of seats free for seat-hopping. Unless its the first weekend of some Marvel blockbuster when it might be absolutely packed.  

 

The restaurant just underneath the cinema ticket office is famous for bubble tea, and great beef noodle soup. Their menu shows english (in the world's smallest font). Go up to pay first when ordering. On the basement floor is a FNAC selling a few electronics. 

The food court here is small and not impressive.

Takashimaya

Situated beside the baseball stadium. A gigantic aquarium display is popular weekend attraction for kids. The basement food court is probably the best of the three department stores' food courts, and the supermarket is very good.