I Love Daiso 我愛大創
I love Daiso! They’re my favourite store and can be found all over Japan. For those who’s never heard of Daiso, they’re a budget chain store selling a wide range of househould products, just like Poundland in UK or Dollar Tree in the States.
我很喜歡大創百貨。 他們的官網標榜高品質，多樣化，獨特性三大價值，這幾點我非常認同。 這一趟到日本旅遊，晚餐前有空檔的時間，我都會找一家大創百貨逛逛。日本大創的貨品定價108日元，少於USD1，相等於NTD30台幣。 今年台灣大創貨品漲價到 NTD49元，比日本貴2/3噢!
In Taiwan we have about 60 Daiso stores, but the range of products sold aren’t as wide as in Japan. In Japan, they have 3150 stores that carry over 100,000 products!! During my recent Japan trip, whenever we had a bit of spare time before dinner, I would get my brother in law to drive us to a Daiso. Luckily he was happy to oblige as my sister loves them as well.
大創百貨貨品琳瑯滿目，設計新穎，大部份都非常實用。 但有一些我覺得蠻有趣，例如洗澡時可用的手機防水包包，又或者刷牙濕紙巾。我個人較喜歡是非常別緻的手工藝物品。 日本摺紙用的花紙非常漂亮。我不懂摺紙，但都買了兩疊回來。說不定有一天我會學呢? 看到一包包皺紙花很特別。但不明白怎樣會由一疊紙變成一朵美麗的花兒。還是先買下來才慢慢研究。 原來非常簡單，只要小心翼翼把每一張皺紙拉開就會變成一朵燦爛的花兒。唉！ 早知多買幾包回來啦!
Why do I love Daiso?
Price
One of the reason I love Daiso is because they’re cheap. Nearly everything is ¥100 plus tax. That’s ¥108, or £0.75, USD0.96 or NTD30. Earlier this year, Daiso Taiwan increased their prices from NTD39 to NTD49. That makes them a whooping 2/3 more expensive than Japan!!!
Design
The design of a lot of the products are fantastic, and many of them are made in Japan as well! That shouts quality. Very often, I end up buying “maybe it will come in handy” stuff. These oragami paper have a lovely design on both sides of each sheet. Who knows I won’t pick up oragami one day?
Even the humble cotton wool bud has a very elegant packaging.
Functionality
And to go with the humble cotton wool bud is this ear picker. It has a light on one end so you can see the crap inside your ear.
Daiso has a range of product called Good Idea which I think is a brilliant idea. They’re nifty gadgets which are supposed to be useful for daily life. This will really come in handy if you can’t bear to part with your mobile phone at all.
And if you’re so desperate to spend more time on your mobile phone, you can use these teeth wipes instead of brushing your teeth. That will save you four minutes a day. On a serious note, I think these will be useful if you’re camping or are an oral hygiene freak.
Drinks and fags
Moving onto the drinks section, this is a great gadget to impress friends. If you want to make drinks like cocktails with different layers of juices and spirits, or iced coffee with the milk sitting at the bottom of the glass, you can use this to layer the liquid in.
These collapsable cups are great for picnics. They’re made of silicon so should be fine for hot drinks. However, they do remind me of the menstrual cups which have become quite popular in recent years.
And here’s a great one for smokers when you have to step outdoors on a windy day to light up a fag.
Go Pro pouch
I’ve been looking for a bag to hold my Go Pro for some time. Finally I found this lovely soft lined pouch. I even picked up some strings to tart it up a bit as the original brown one looked a bit tacky. Now I can throw my Go Pro into my handbag without worrying about it being scratched or damaged by all the junk inside.
Pom pom flowers
Another reason I love Daiso is that I can always find new gems there. This is the first time I saw these pom pom flowers. In fact I wasn’t sure how they work when I saw the packet but I figured how difficult can it be? Turns out its really simple. Each bundle has five sheets of tissue paper, and all you need to do is carefully lift them apart. And hey presto! There you have your pom pom flower. I wish I’d bought a few more packets of them.
What’s your favourite?
Having seen all these great finds, you can probably understand why I love Daiso now. Do you have a Daiso in your country or a similar budget store that sell equally great stuff? Let me know what it’s like there. Till next time, bye!!