VVG Something + Taipei, Taiwan
Walking down a side street in a busy area of Taiwan in the Da'an District, passing designer stores and ice cream shops, you come to an end of a street that seems to explode in nature with the most beautiful trees... and a whole lotta of VVG stuff. VVG has a restaurant, a bakery, candy shop, and sewing supply store (I know, huh?), but I was on the hunt for their bookshop, VVG Something. It did not disappoint.
It is actually very small, but a beautifully bright books store with a natural feeling and bold red doors ready to transport you into the world of books. The interior is just one small room, but it is filled to the brim. VVG Something has so many vignettes and books organized into eye catching displays you can spend a good chunk of time exploring. They carry a good mix of English, Chinese, and Japanese book, which gave me another moment in my life to be upset that I cannot fluently read in more languages. Anyhow, it is heavy on the art books and independent publishers, but the whole space is just so woody and earthy that you forget that you are in a pretty hustle and bustle area of a good size metropolitan city. It is literally other-worldly.
I spent a good while taking a look at the art books galore and just sinking into the quiet that VVG Something had cultivated in their space. As much as I loved all the enormous coffee table style art books, they just were not travel friendly enough for me to purchase. I kept searching and exploring all the nooks and crannies of the store and was rewarded with the sole copy of Issue 12 of the magazine Hot Rum Cow. I had never heard of it, but its bright pink cover and booze focused topics immediately sold me. I mean, I know I’m usually drinking while reading, but reading about drinking is pretty awesome too. This issue focuses on bubbly booze and I just loved the feature on The Grand Dames of Champagne or, as Hot Rum Cow puts it, “a toast to three legendary wine widows.” Definitely, track this magazine down. Well worth the read, plus they include cocktail recipes so your drink is basically built into your read. #drinkupreadup
