Hong Kong Hustle: The Shopping

There's no doubt that Hong Kong is a prime shopping destination in Asia. What with all the labels abounding this small cluster of islands, no one is spared from the retail fever that goes on all year round, day in and and day out.

There are shops and boutiques everywhere; around the corner, down the street, I mean everywhere. And they don't close until god knows what time. I remember strolling around the block at 11 pm, entering one store after another with a bag of grapes in one hand. Most, if not all, of the stores were still open and nobody seemed to mind the time nor the cold. It's exciting.

Gawd I love these socks! I got 14 pairs but I gave some as pasalubong.

On our last day, a couple of hours before we leave, we headed back to the Ladies' Market where, by the way, some of the vendors are very persistent bordering to desperate. We went back for the kitschy cute socks and the eclectic shoe laces.

Beautiful. Don't you think so?

By that time, I completely gave up on finding an H&M store. You see, one of my plans for this trip was to drop by H&M and Uniqlo. There was a Uniqlo store at the Miramar mall which is just a short walk from our hotel but it was quite disappointing. They have nice stuff and affordable too but I expected more.

Anyway, by the last day, I was ready to go home without a visit to H&M. H, my travel buddy, suggested we should go on separate ways and meet up after about an hour so we did. After I got the socks, I asked the clerk where I can find the nearest H&M store just for the hell of it. He said it's just a few blocks away and would only take about 10 minutes of walking. He added it's at "Loh-ho Places". So I went my way only to find out later on that I've been going to the wrong direction and the place I should have been looking for is actually the Langham Place. I did make it to the store though. It was a hallelujah moment. The men's selection was very limited but I manged to snag 2 shirts; a black, military inspired one and a white, crisp, long-sleeved number. There were many shoppers in the store. The ladies' clothes are great and a lot of the stuff are on sale.-- I swear to god if I were a girl I would have gone mad. After I paid for my loot, I literally ran back to meet H thinking "mission accomplished"! The feeling was so good.

I didn't really buy a truckload of clothes but I'm happy with my purchases especially since I managed not to overspend. All in all, I got a knitted sweater and a long sleeved shirt from ISO, then a supercool vest from IDC(?), 2 shirts from H&M, lots of socks from BSX, sunglasses from Cotton On, neon, waxed, and metallic shoe laces from a random store and some pasalubong mostly bought from the Temple Market.

Now I know why Hong Kong is touted to be the shopping capital of southeast asia. The energy is infectious and exhilerating. I'm certainly glad I was able to experience it first hand.

Speaking of shopping...

...I wonder when I'll get to watch this movie.