Drove by there yesterday and the expected traffic chaos was in full swing, cones marking temporary open and closed lanes all over the place, seen at least 3 very close ones with people illegally U-turning around the cones and trying to bully their way into the queue for the carpark.
Has anyone actually been? Considering hitting it for lunch some day this week if the hype has died down a bit.
Nope, I am also waiting for the chaos to subside. But there should be some feedback from daring neighbors. Will report after garbage collection meet up.
Well I took the plunge today and decided to try it out for lunch with the missus, won’t be trying that again for a while.
If you’re thinking of driving but aren’t familiar with the area then probably don’t, take a taxi instead. I am familiar with the area but some roads are coned off and there are large numbers of volunteers “directing” the traffic. To have any chance, drive up Bei Xin, swing a right towards Bitan bridge but turn right just before the bridge (be ultra careful as the lights there are confusing if you don’t read Chinese and confusing even if you do, there are numerous traffic accidents every week with cars turning right on the incorrect light and taking out scooters). If you survive that then get into the right hand “slow lane” when you can, last chance is at the gas station, if you miss it you’re done. When you drive up the ramp into the car park you’ll go from bright sunshine to pitch black so try to avoid rear ending the dude trying to figure out where to go in front of you and being rear ended by the dude behind. If you’re confused, don’t worry, it just gets worse from here on in.
When you enter IKEA itself you’ll see the Cafe on the right, has a food counter and something resembling a queue with an IKEA employee bellowing at you to find a table BEFORE ORDERING YOUR FOOD. Wander around and look at all the people playing with their cellphones with empty plates or nothing at all and then realize there are no empty tables. Wander around a few more times and then leave. Don’t do what I did and go to the nearby Thai/Vietnamese restaurant, it’s not cheap and not good. Maybe hit MOS burger across the street.
Go back into IKEA but try to time your entrance to between MRT arrivals as it disgorges batches of mouth breathers who stand around looking at things, floor tiles, doors, signs, you, their shoes, generally a slow moving zombie like crowd to be avoided at all costs.
When you get in you’ll see a sign saying the restaurant is full with a 90 minute wait time then realise what you seen outside was not the restaurant but the Cafe, if only there was a sign or the bellower might let people know. Proceed inside avoiding the zombies at all costs, be very careful if you enter any of the small show room areas of suggested bedroom set ups, living rooms etc, even if they look invitingly empty, once the zombies see you taking an interest in something they will want to all ooze in and look at it too, you’ll quickly find yourself trapped and being looked at, keep on your toes.
You might eventually find the restaurant, it’s quite large but full of people playing with their cellphones and zombies roaming about looking at things. Avoid using the door which says “Shortcut to restaurant” as the zombies will follow you to see where you are going and then the IKEA employee will arrive to angrily slam the door. He will get annoyed if you walk back and forth several times opening the door and letting the zombies through, so don’t do that.
Kids of all ages should be fully diapered up, as should adults as the toilets can be hard to find and pretty gross when you do find them, the zombies seem to have poor aim for ones and unfortunately twos too.
Probably best not to try to buy anything but if you do at least you can be entertained in the queue at the looks of sheer confusion followed by disappointment and frustration on the zombie army as they have to be told over and over and over and over again that the yellow IKEA bags have to be put in the bins provided at checkout and are not free. The entertainment quickly becomes rather tiring so pick a very short queue else just dump everything and leave.
Best ignore the IKEA food market unless your life depends on buying a bag of frozen meatballs as it’s quite a tight layout and the zombies like to congregate there and look at things, particularly anything you might pick up, they may even try to take it out of your hands to look at it closer.
Similarly ignore the food bar area, it’s hotdogs and mango ice cream, it really won’t be worth it.
If you made the mistake of driving and parking you’ll get the second to last rude awaking for the day as no matter if you’ve dropped 100K you’ll be paying 40/hr or 60/hr at the weekend for anything over 3 hours.
The last little kick will be as you exit and realize you can only turn right so as much as you might like to escape to the freeway and get the flock out of there you can only sit in a jam and listen to the volunteers hurl their lungs into their whistles at all the drivers trying to pull illegal U Turns to get out of there, you’ll probably eventually just pull one yourself.
As bad as driving was I can’t imagine what it would be like trapped in the close confines of an MRT carriage with the zombies. Should you wish to risk it take the Xiao Bitan line from Qi Chang station, it’s only one stop and it’s a shorter than normal train leaving from the same platform as the Xindian train which actually goes to Bitan so make sure you stand at the correct end of the platform, usually the opposite end to the one the zombies are queuing at. Best just take a taxi, you’ll wish you had and you’ll wish you’d just taken it home by the time you’re done.
I suggest leaving it another few weeks, or months, before trying it or just go to the Xinzhuang store instead.
Ayioo that sounds awful.
Yep people flock to new things, people flock to air conditioned spaces. See why I hate going to Carrefour here in Xindian?
Wait until they open the mall next to HTC!
Yep, can only get worse when the summer heat rolls in, all that free aircon so easily accessible by MRT! With sofas!
Man I really need new curtains. I was thinking, yeah with IKEA here, it will be more convenient. And the MRT is right over.
Seems I will need to get my curtains elsewhere.
Could try early morning or late evening, might be better else just buy on their website.
Carrefour in Comedian could be their top grossing hypermarket store in the entire world (by size). The shopping complex is pathetically small for xindian area.
I don’t get it.
There are other Ikea’s but as soon as one opens everyone wants to go visit it.
The LRT up in Tamsui had the exact same problem. Soooo many people wanted to use it and the lines were incredibly long. A few months later, people hardly use it because the novelty factor has worn off.
I need new curtains too.
Nitori has some good looking curtains.
I don’t know much about buying curtains though.
Nitori? Is that the place in Gongguan, near the water museum?
I bought my previous curtains at the Tonghua night market. Nice and colorful. RIP. Did not survive the young cats.
The ones at Hola were horrid.
Nitori is like a Japanese Ikea in a way but you don’t build the items yourself.
Oh it’s opening in Jinmei. Nice. Thanks for the tip.
So I have been following the posts about IKEA in the Xindian community page in FB. Complaints about crowds and food… check, check.
Today someone was gushing all over at the safety and services offered by IKEA. Someone fell in the parking lot, bleeding and all. Employees with stetcher and EMT training came to the rescue, stopped the bleeding, accompanied the patient to the ambulance and hospital. Very professional service, makes you feel safe the poster said.
I visited on the weekend, nice place, loads space. Restaurant was packed but big and bright. Also has Ikea coffee shop. Much better than dunhua.
Good people of Ikea. Show some class. After you’re done eating get up and go sit on a couch so other people can enjoy the Swedish meatballs.
Which one do you use? Haven’t found a good one as of yet
I wonder if Ikea sell these Rugs?
I need one of those to escape from the family from time to time.
Kids shut the hell up. Ah screw it I’m out of here.
The coffee shop was better or the entire store?