HONG KONG - TRIP REPORT - MONG KOK SHOPPING

On July 4th, 2010 I went to Hong Kong.  I flew from Manila to Hong Kong on Cebu Pacific.  Note for those who are making a side trip, bring proof of an exit ticket from Philippines or the Cebu Pacific staff will force you to buy a return trip back to Hong Kong, the fare is around $50, but it is a real hassle.



Pearl & Charles at A Symphony of Lights

 After landing and a dim sum lunch, we bought a Nikon Cool Pix L110 and saved.  It was tax free unlike the 12% sales tax of the Philippines.  We relaxed at the hotel, The Royal Plaza and headed over to see A Symphony of Lights.  The show is organised by the Hong Kong Tourism Board and displayed every night with good weather at 8pm Hong Kong Time. An orchestration of music, decoration lights, laser light displays, and pyrotechnic fireworks, the multimedia light and sound show lasts for about 14 minutes.
The best vantage points include the "Avenue of Stars" on the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, which is where we watched it.


Aqua Luna - Floating Restaurant

Hong Kong has incredible shopping.  Here is a list of some of the markets:

Nathan Road heading towards Mong Kok

Mong Kok preserves its traditional characteristics with an array of markets, small shops, and food stalls that have already disappeared from other areas in Hong Kong over the past several decades of economic developments. As such, a few of these streets in Mong Kok have acquired interesting nicknames reflecting their own characteristics. Some interesting sites are:

Pearl at the Ladies Market - Mong Kok

Ladies' Street (女人街, Ladies' market on Tung Choi Street) - This market specializes in women's clothing, accessories, cosmetics, and the like. It is open daily from noon to 00.00 a.m. at Tung Choi Street on the east of Nathan Road. Typically, where there is a market, there are also food stalls selling noodles, seafood, and congee for mid-afternoon or late-night snacks. A grocery market is also located in the vicinity, convenient for consumers searching from a diverse range of items; ranging from vegetables to clothing.  My wife loved this place.  She haggled for some great prices and enjoyed the fashion.

Stall selling watches in Mong Kok

Sai Yeung Choi Street South, (西洋菜南街) - A street full of shops selling consumer electronic products, comestics, and discount books, the last of which are usually located on the lower floors above ground floor of buildings.

Temple Street (廟街, sometimes referred to as Men's Street), extending into Jordan, is also in the area, however, the area famous for the Hong Kong specific goods are only in the section between Yau Ma Tei and Jordan.

Bird Garden - Hundreds of songbirds in exquisitely crafted cages can be seen at this market, which is on the other side of Nathan Road on Yuen Po Street. The garden is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is close to Mong Kok East MTR Station and Mong Kok Stadium. Packed with booths selling birds, Hong Lok Street (Bird Street, 雀仔街) was closed as part of an urban renewal project in June 1998. The Garden was constructed by the government to accommodate some of the booths.

Fa Yuen Street (花園街, sometimes referred to as 波鞋街, which means Sneakers Street) - This is a small neighbourhood with many small retailers which sell sports equipment and clothing. It has a wide diversity of sports shoes, including many shoes of rare or special editions from different places.

Flower Market Road (花墟道) - This is a street market near the Mong Kok East MTR Station with lots of flower shops and street hawkers showing colourful displays, the sweet scents and the exotic blossoms of many houseplants.

Goldfish Market - There are a dozens of shops and hawkers selling various tropical freshwater or marine fish near the MTR train station. Different types of aquarium equipment can also be found there. This market opens very early in the morning.

Tile Street - This is a section of Portland Street near Argyle Street and Bute Street with more than 50 retailers selling materials for construction or renovation, such as tiles, wall paper, window frames and bath tubs.

Charles looks stunned by the toy selection

Photocopy Street (影印街) - A neighbourhood near Ho Man Tin is noted for having remarkable number of photocopying shops due to the number of schools in the vicinity. The students from those schools have creates a great demand for photocopying, mostly for copyrighted textbooks and class handout, in mass quantity.

Some popular shopping plazas are located in this dense area, including:

Sino Centre Arcade (信和中心) – In this plaza, there are many products about Japanese cartoons, such as Video CDs, DVDs, and comics. Beside that, there are shops selling music CD albums, including ones by Hong Kong, Japanese, and western pop singers. The centre also hosts several Japanese style karaoke booths which can be booked by the hour.

Ho King Shopping Centre (好景商場)- In this plaza, you can find many products having to do with computer and video games. They are sold for relatively low prices compared with other shops.


Escalator at Grand Century Place


Langham Place, 4th floor.Grand Century Place (新世紀廣場) - This is a new plaza next to the Mong Kok East MTR station. Most of the famous-brand and popular shops can be found here.  Awesome Mall is actually connected to the Royal Plaza Hotel and the MTR Train.  Super convenient. 

Mong Kok Computer Centre (旺角電腦中心)- This three-storey computer mall has around 50 to 70 computer shops. They sell various kinds of products including laptops, software, hardware and computer accessories.

Langham Place (朗豪坊)- This shopping mall/hotel/office complex opened in 2004 in central Mong Kok. Built according to the Hong Kong Government urban redevelopment scheme, and at 59 stories high, it is the tallest landmark in Mong Kok.

Argyle Centre (旺角中心) - This usually crowded centre, located next to the Mong Kok MTR station, has shops selling low-priced clothes and shoes, plastic toys and heavy metal CD's