Put on your suit jacket and grab a coffee...it's morning

Hong Kong

Living in Hong Kong = shopping in Causeway Bay. Out of Causeway Bay, Tsim Sha Tsui and Central...I would have to say Causeway Bay is above the other two when it comes to shopping. Causeway Bay is just an endless sea of shops...it has anything :D Digging around Causeway Bay is the best thing to do in Hong Kong hahaha...seriously.

Because I know you won't read EVERYTHING that's here (because it IS a lot) so for quicker reference:
All Shop names, floor categories, brands and items are highlighted in PINK
Random notes and points are highlighted in BLACK

Island Beverly 金百利 - More shopping after 3pm

More teenage oriented. A LOT of clothes, shoes and all that. Most stores there open after 1:00pm or 3:00pm. "CocoLulu" (first floor) opens pretty early (I'm guessing it opens at 11:00am) and I got a pair of shoes from there this week. It's a Japanese store (there are 3 branches in Hong Kong) and sells retro looking clothes, bags and shoes (looks very beachy as well). There's a store on the 2nd floor which sells tees and tops. I got a Rolling Stones tee there again this week for $40 which is VERY VERY cheap and they have a lot of nice tops. On the 3rd floor there's a shop that sells underground accessories (bracelets made from guitar picks, Mick Jagger style wrist bands etc.) and they also have a small selection of underground band tees. Somewhere on the 2nd or 3rd floor is a nice Japanese home decor store (similar to the shops in LCX) and they offer nice shower curtains, room curtains, hanging beads for your room, lights, very very nice clocks, cups, small tables (I liiiike) and all that other funki stuff. There are a lot of shoe shops here where you can get funki heels, trainers lalalala...and they have LOADS of shops that sell jewelry and accessories (BIG funki earrings, bangles and bracelets). Most things here are targeted at teens and so are set in the teenage price range...(not too expensive but not too cheap). There are a few shops here that offer "Beams Boy" stuff so Beams Boy fans can dig around here...also, there are shops here that do prom dresses so if anyone wants to get their prom dress done, look here.

NU Front - It wears out fast but still look around

This is the new place next to Sogo. Again, teen oriented. It's pretty small (only 2 floors) but it has some pretty nice stuff in there. For one, on the first floor there's the "Modern Woman Shop" or "摩登姑娘" which sells dresses by local designers. They also have a selection of shoes and jewelry (especially funki earrings). They only make 1 or 2 of each dress they sell so the chances of customers who buy clothes from there running into someone wearing the same outfit is VERY low. You can also give them a design and they'll help you make it which is really cool. Clothes from the Modern Woman Shop are quirky, funki and FUN!! It's one of those shops where you either love it or go..."ewwwwww". Next to the Modern Woman Shop is a nice eyeglass store that offers loads of nice frames at a reasonable price. They have a lot of thick plastic frames *love*. Moving on...there's a shop near the staircases which sells tees and vinyl bags. Very nice retro vinyl bags. They have a selection of tees and bags which are $150. Most of the tees are "Emily the Strange" (she is soooo weird) or Bape tees. I have a bag there I really really really want but it's $300 (and it's 50%!! That's crazy!! Full price =$600??!) so can't get that...oh well...might as well save some money. There's a store upstairs that offers funki jewelry and a narrow selection of bags and sunglasses. The earrings there are totally funki and any earring-goer MUST check that store out. Next to that shop is a small home appliance shop. It has retro phones, clocks and radios t prettify your house! There's also a nice hat shop there but it's MUITA expensive and not worth it AT ALL...so go there to check the designs out but think twice about buying anything from there. There's a "Daiso Land" ($10 shop) on the top floor and like the name says, everything is $10. Stationary, food, books, boxes, containers, ugly looking toys, bags...loads of random stuff. Before you walk into Daiso land, there's a comic place. NU Station has A LOT of shoe shops which offer trainers mostly. Fans of Nike's Air Force One, Dunk Hi, Dunki Low have to go here. They even have Haze and Nike's Dunk crossover! Whatever you do though, DON'T eat at the spaghetti place on the top floor. Everyone promise me you won't do something stupid like that.

Lockhart Road - HIDDEN SHOPS UPSTAIRS!!! I LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE

Lockhart Road is the best place to shop if you plan to dig around. Most shops here open after 3:00pm so go after lunch. Even though it's just one road, there are endless shops which is totally amazing! The best shops are "upstairs shops" and so are easy to miss and are freaky to go up to (but it's worth it haha). When you first get to Lockhart Road, stay on the right and you'll see a sign for "Medium Rare" (sells mostly guy clothes, skateboard clothes), "Pink Park" is on the 2nd floor of that building (Medium Rare is on the 1st floor). Pink Park opened recently in Lockhart Road and offers earrings, bracelets, necklaces, belts, bags, keychains, hair clips and even dresses. A shop dedicated to pinkness and cuteness haha...VERY girly. They also have cupboards and cupboards of Japanese style and fashion magazines (Cutie, Minigirl, Zipper, Fruits, etc.) for people to prop themselves down in the middle of shopping to get "inspiration" from the mags and styling tips. A very nice shop with a cute interior and really cute stuff. My favourite shop on the whole road HAS to be "RetroStone". This is a vintage 2nd hand clothing store and they sell jeans, tops, band tees, bags and handmade jewelry. I just started going there this winter so I haven't seen a lot of tees around yet...I'm waiting for the spring season to come and I'm definitely going back to stock up on tees. It's hard to find 2nd hand clothing stores in Hong Kong so finding this shop was a real lucky break. "Woodland" also offers some nice retro clothing from tees to jeans and jackets. They have a lot of Levi jeans that they've taken and changed into jackets. (Look up for a fab pic of "Retrostone")

Jardine's Crescent - Do you know what you're looking for? No? Good

This is like a mini version of "Women Street". It's a long "alley" with shops and stalls along both sides and along the middle which offers clothes, jewelry, belts and bags. It's great for digging around because you're bound to find something really funki in there somewhere. Most shops and stalls along here open after 3:00pm although by 12:00pm, a lot of shops would have started business already. When you first walk into Jardine's crescent, stay on the right side of the alley and you'll find a nice fashion accessories store with funki sunglasses (like those sunglasses from the 60's...very Marianne Faithful), funki earrings (BIG!!!) and random stuff. There'll be a lot of clothes stores along the way and it's just a great place to dig around :D there's feeling like digging around and finding something at random that you really like :D!!

Times Square - Maybe not ALL shopping centres are evil

One of the few shopping centres I would actually walk into. Nice on the outside, nice on the inside. They have a wide range of stores...most clothing stores being aimed at a higher socio-economic level (in other words...muita $$) but it's guaranteed quality. Stores such as "Vivienne Tam", "Brooks Brother" and "Mango" are examples of the many fashion stores in that one building. "b+ab" and "i.t" are also available at Times Square. What I love about "i.t" is that they have a wide selection of clothing from different designers...and it's all in one place. They also have shoes (nice heels and nikes) and I hear they're even stocking up on "House of Jazz" designs. So check "i.t" out at Times Square. They have a giant "Marathon Sports" there for sneaker hungry people (there's also a "Converse/birkenstock" on the 6th floor for all retro people who love the original converse) or people who just love to go in and drool over the big posters of Zidane and Raul. Non-clothing wise, Times Square has "CD Warehouse" on their B2 floor. It's pretty small but has a nice range of international albums and DVD's. Times Square also has a "Crabtree and Evelyn" on the 3rd floor and a "Fruits and Passion" on the lower floor (YES!! NO "LUSH" FOR ONCE!!!! GOD BLESS YOU TIMES SQUARE!!!). "Log-On" and "PageOne" are also great great shops and "CitySuper" (all shops I love). After a tired day of shopping, prop yourself down to "CitySuper" and get yourself a nice drink from CitySuper and a nice magazine from PageOne before moving on :D and go to CitySuper to stock up on candy and breadsticks as well!! PageOne offers magazines from Japanese fashion (Cutie, Fruits), sports (Match, FourFourTwo), Music (Rolling Stones, MOJO) to home and living. Maybe not ALL shopping centres are evil after all!

Sogo - I have nothing, this is nothing...nothing

Sogo is near "NU Front", "Island Beverly" and "Lockhart Road" so it's a perfect place to shop before moving on to those other places. The ground floor is the whole "Beauty and Cosmetics" store. There usually isn't much to do here...B.O.R.I.N.G. Only stalls and stalls of cosmetics after another. Anyways, the next floor (if you haven't worked it out, that's the 1st floor), is the "Ladies fashion" floor. Offers branded ladies' clothes, handbags and jewelry. The 2nd floor is the also "Ladies' Fashion". 3rd floor is "Young Ladies' Fashion//Young People's fashion"...this includes brands such as "SuperLovers" and "Super Rabby". The 4th floor is "Sports//Leisure and Life" floor. Adidas and Nike products are featured here. 5th floor (this is going on forever) is "Men's Fashion" (FINALLY!! STUFF FOR GUYS!!)...suits, suits and more suits (No agnes b. though...how horrible). 6th floor is "Children and Babies' wear//toys". They have such funki toys!! I have always wanted to buy out the whole flooooooor!!!!! Anyways...bein normal again, the 7th floor is the "Kitchen Utensils//Tableware//Gifts" floor. Not much to say there. 9th floor is the "furniture and bedding floor"...I'm sorry but I hate this floor. Go up one floor to the 10th floor is the "Electrical Appliances//Books//Stationary" floor. Finally, on the 11th floor is the "Beauty and Cosmetic floor" (again...)how boring. The lowest floor (B2) is my FAVOURITE!! It's the supermarket floor and they have all these food products from Japan. Food you can't find in Park'n'Shop or even CitySuper! For example, I had given up hope of ever findin "Aquarius" in Hong Kong until I saw it in Sogo. I'm not too much in love with "Sogo" but I am in love with the Sogo supermarket :D funki food if always first!

Lee Theatre Plaza - Muji-ing in Causeway

The "Lee Theatre Plaza" is located opposite Times Square (almost). There's a 2 floor "Esprit" in there (however, I am VERY VERY disappointed in the Male suits thy have this season. I think the Esprit male department is entering a bad phase) which includes "EDC" for women. An "Esprit Salon" can be found on the floor above so even if you're not looking for a haircut, you can still get up there and browse for hair products. Take the escalator up one floor and you arrive at "MUJI"!! Muji opens at 10:30am and shopping in MUJI in the morning is an amazing feeling (especially shopping for cups). Muji has pretty much everything in the colour of white and beige. Clothes for both men and women, hats, bags, cosmetics, toiletry, kitchenware, tableware, stationary (very nice pens), containers, notebooks, furniture and even food. Muji lives on the philosphy "Simple but beautiful" and although is a Japan label bein sold in Hong Kong, it has kept it's characteristic of being resonably cheap. Muji's food is always great and funki (both taste and appearance) and in a way, it's not that great because everytime I walk into MUJI, I want to get all their food. Everyone loves Muji pens especially because they come in so many funki colours. Muji also has AMAZING bowls, plates and cups...as I said before...[Nice plates and cups make people happy]. I got myself 4 nice glass cups from Muji the other day and feel so proud of myself...Love Muji!!

Lee Gardens - Too much money

The "Lee Gardens" is a Causeway Bay version of The Landmark (Central). It offers stores from "Christian Dior", "Escada", "Louis Vuitton", "Chanel" and "Hermes". You can see the Lee Gardens directly from the Pret and the view is very New York (especially with the tree lined streets).

Milk Farm - Digging around...for cheap stuff

Every Saturday in Causeway Bay, Milk holds "Milk Farm" at Victoria Park. Milk Farm is a mini flea market offering various types of stalls. All stall owners, or "farmers" are teenagers and stalls offer items from t-shirts (many from "Bathing Ape" and "Hysteric Glamour")to sneakers. Jewelry to Bob Marley merchandise and some stalls even sell cameras! If you're into digging around for things...the Milk Farm is definitely for you. Prices are incredibly low (I got a funki wallet from the Farm for $10).

Great George Street and Paterson Street - Labels

It's not ONLY this street, it's this whole area (note: "IKEA" is somewhere around here). It's a whole area of labels from "Agnes b." (who had a whole "David Bowie - Reality" theme up in her shop a few months back) to "Morgan". Stuff like "Ralph Lauren", "Tommy Hilfigir" and "Playlord" all have stores in this area and it's really pretty especially if you go in the day time...it looks very New York downtown. Anywhoooo...in this area, you'll also find "Franc franc" (it's in some building)...you can't miss it, you'll see a big Orange Franc franc sign right where G.O.D used to be. Also, "Seibu" is also around here and there are loads of stores in Seibu including perfume places, clothes and shoes shops, a "Toys'R'Us" and a really nice "HMV" (I actually like this HMV). I know most of this isn't actually part of "Great George Street" and "Paterson Street" but let's just say it is. Walk further in until you almost reach "Victoria Park" and then turn to your left into "Gloucester Road" and you'll see the new branch of "aluminium" the great furniture store (see "Central" for more details).