Friday, June 12, 2009

Favourite Shopping Spots In Hong Kong

This post took longer than I expected!! There was so much I wanted to say haha. I've finally finished going through my Hong Kong photos to do this post. It's got a lot more food pictures since I rarely took pictures of stores. Hong Kong is like my second home ^__^
Let's start with one of HK's most famous shopping spots: Mong Kok.

I don't know why it's called Mong Kok when it's pronounced Wong Gok in Cantonese o_O If you're not the type to like crowds especially on hot humid days, then this isn't the right spot for you. Most of the stores are outside and you gotta travel between shopping plazas in the heat. The good thing about MK is that you can find pretty much anything you want.
When you first get to the station, you might notice that you're underneath a big mall, which is called Langham Place. This mall is at least 14 storeys high and it's got a huge variety of stores, from independent designer boutiques to more well know department stores like Seibu.
Most of the levels have been categorized. For example, the basement levels are all shoes, while you work your way up, you'll notice the cosmetics. A few more levels up you'll find the large open area with the food court and the biggest escalator you'll ever see. When you start going up from there, most of the stores get a bit smaller. There's a mix of brand name and independent designers.
A few of my favourite out of the bunch are Mos Burger, Muji, Pepper Lunch, Ajisen Ramen, Paul & Joe and OZOC. You MUST try Mos Burger and Pepper Lunch! I highly recommend the Mos cheese burger and the seafood rice burger.
If you think you've finished shopping, you'll only find yourself in some crowded streets as soon as you exit. I suggest taking the exit that's next to Seibu and H&M, that way you'll head straight into the main shopping streets.
One of the biggest shopping streets next to the mall is Dundas St. and Nathan Road (which runs really far). While walking on Dundas St, be sure to look both ways twice, otherwise you'll miss stores like Ebase, Sasa and the CTMA Center (mostly toys and figurines). You should also find the Sephora as you're walking around and a bunch of street eats. If you walk towards the left side of the CTMA center, you should find another shopping plaza. Right at the entrance there is a Starbucks and a Strawberry Forever desert cafe.
My ultimate favourite shopping plaza in MK is the Wong Gok Jung Sum (the Mong Kong Center). I can't remember the exact exit (I think D), but once you get to MK station, follow the sign to Argyle Road/Street. When you go up the stairs you should be at the entrance of a plaza and you should see a Missha there. Just a few steps inside there is a Happy Lemon. I believe it's Taiwanese BBT. It's got my favourite BBT there: Roasted Milk Tea. It's got a very aromatic roasted tea flavour. I don't know how to explain it, you just gotta try it.
The building is cheap clothes and accessories galore! Not many people bargain there so I don't see a point in doing it. I suggest you go with a guy friend because it gets REALLY crowded there, especially after 3pm. I prefer to go there at 12pm....well MK in general..I like to go there early to beat the rush of shoppers. I've purchased jeans there for like $15CAD. The only downside is the jeans fade really badly, other than that, they are totally the style I like.


MK has some really good street foods, especially the Taiwanese style fish balls. One of the best ones I had was the lobster balls with satay sauce from the "Toi Shik" food stand ("Taiwanese Style") It's the picture with the red sign. I highly recommend!
If you wander around inside MK station, you should find Beard Papa Sweets, they're super delicious cream puffs.
You really have to take your time to walk around MK. It's not like a 3 hour shopping destination, you could easily wander around for the whole day and not finish.

Next up: Causeway Bay 銅鑼灣
Causeway Bay is a bit more upscale than MK. MK has all the cheap goodness whereas Causeway Bay can be cheap to expensive. I tend to categorize Causeway Bay as expensive, but you can find a lot of nice clothes there. When I mean expensive, I talk mostly about non brand names, rather, they're small independent designer boutiques.
CB has a Sogo, Times Square and a poop load of shopping and plazas. The other Sogo at Tsim Sha Tsui isn't as big.
Everytime I went to Sogo, they seemed to have a lot of sales. There was one time when they had a week long 1/2 price sale on most items, excluding makeup -__-' Sogo is the one stop makeup shop. There's Maquillage, Kanebo to European and North American brands. It was quite busy there everytime I went and you gotta be rough to get the SA's attention.
In Sogo's basement, there is a grocery store and a few small desert stands. There's one that sells ice cream mochi called Mochi Cream from Japan. Very tasty. There's one in Seoul but I didn't get anything there yet. There's also a desert stand that sells cakes in the shape of rectangles called Stick Sticks. I believe it's owned by Beard Papa.
Times Square is another huge mall (Hong Kong seems to be all about big malls). I think this mall is kinda boring. If you like the HE/brand name stuff, you should definitely go there since there is a Lane Crawford, it's like a Saks but it's an HK department store. There is also a City Super which is like the HE for grocery stores imo haha.





When you finally decide to pry yourself away from Sogo and Times Square, it's time to wander outside. I can't remember the streets, but when you exit Sogo and just follow the crowd, you should get to some of the main shopping areas.
There's a spot that looks like there's a big arc thing and there should be escalators dotted around into the plazas. That's where I found Marion Crepe and Peach John (a Japanese lingerie shop, so pretty but expensive!)
There is a lot to eat. There's a sushi restaurant called Itamae in the same area as Marion Crepe(板前回転寿司 "ban cheen" in Cantonese). They're usually very very busy so getting a seat might be difficult at the Causeway Bay location...but so worth it. It's a conveyor belt style sushi restaurant and I've never had such good sushi before! The other location is at the airport. When I stayed with Tim's family, they happened to live a 15 minute bus ride from the airport so I went to Itamae there a few times. They're less likely to be packed, unless you go on the weekends.
If you decide to walk from Causeway Bay station to Wan Chai station, you should be able to find the super yummy desert restaurant called Yee Shun Milk Company. They specialize in steamed egg deserts and they also have "small eats" 小吃 (like fried rice rolls, noodles etc etc). There should be a few locations around Hong Kong, but I just remembered this one so I linked the address.

The next location is Central 中環.


If you're into HE, brand names and bars, then Central is the area for you. It's got brand name stores dotted around and a mall that's pretty much dedicated to luxury goods. There should be a bunch of those stores outside as well, but I've only wandered around a couple times. The area is mainly a business spot so there's not that much to do. There's an LV store if anyone is interested.

Don't forget to visit Pacific Place which is one station over at Admiralty. It's also a mall dedicated to the luxury goods.

Anyway, the mall above Central station is the IFC Mall. I remember they had a City's Super, Lane Crawford, the Agnes B Cafe, a theatre, RMK store and lots more goodies.
I went to the Agnes B Cafe for my birthday for some desert. It's not super tasty, but you get a gorgeous view of the harbour.
If you want to experience the tourist night life, then you should head to Lan Kwai Fong, that's where all the tourists supposedly hang out. I've never been there, so I can't give you feedback.



If I was to chose a specific mall to be my favourite, it'll probably be Festival Walk at Kowloon Tong Station 九龍塘
This mall has pretty much everything I want. They've got a crap load of makeup stores including Guerlain, Fresh, Paul & Joe, Dior, Cle De Peau Watsons and Fancl House. The Watsons there has quite a lot of makeup. Not all Watsons carry the Japanese brands, I guess it depends on how big the store is. There's also a skating rink and AMC movie theatre.
Some of my favourite stores there would be Oliver's Super Sandwiches, I.T., b+ab, Log-On, Franc Franc, and Kee Wah Bakery. Best pineapple cakes imo..there's also one in LA but I'm sure they can't taste as good as the HK ones.
Although the food court kinda sucks, you could always hop on a subway and go back to MK to have dinner.
There's just too many stores to name at Festival Walk, so you should visit the website and tempt yourself. I'm definitely going to visit this mall again when I go to Hong Kong in August.




Another mall to visit is Harbour City at Tsim Sha Tsui. There isn't a station that connects under the mall, but it's worth the 10 minute walk because there's a lot to see on the way. The mall feels like 4 malls connected into one. It's even bigger than Festival Walk mall.

The store that'll catch your eyes right away is Faces. I can't find the website for it. It's located right across a Lane Crawford, how convenient.
If you do decide to go to Harbour City, remember to walk in the area of Lane Crawford and Faces. I think 1-2 levels up and you'll find a huge open area that's got a lot of different brands of clothes and things to buy. It should be called Extavaganza. I think either the level below or the same level there is a Freshness Burger. It's similar to Mos Burger and super tasty! The Freshness Burger in Korea sucks.

Before I forgot what I want to say, here's a good path that you should take to get to Harbour City mall. You go to Tsim Sha Tsui Station and take the exit towards the Kowloon Park (gorgeous park btw) which is exit A1. Once you exit, you'll be at the intersection of Nathan Road and Haiphong Road. You need to walk on Haiphong Road to get to the entrance of Ocean Terminal mall which connects to the Harbour City mall. If you look on the map, the malls are on square V9.
If you don't feel like going to the mall yet, Nathan Road has a lot of shops too.




Don't forget to stop by Hui Lau Shan 許留山on the way to the mall!

I'm never gonna finish this list, but here are a few other places that I suggest you to go.
  • Telford Plaza at Kowloon Bay Station
  • City Gate Outlet at Tung Chung (very far for most people since it's like 15 mins from the airport)
  • City Walk at Tseun Wan
  • City Plaza at Tai Koo Station. It's got a cool music fountain.
  • "Flower Street" and "Goldfish Street" at Prince Edward. Lots of fresh flowers and a whole street of pets (mainly fish). You'll see the exits at the station.
  • Hong Kong Park at Admiralty Station. Just go through the mall and you should see signs that direct you there. It's right next to the mall.
  • Kowloon Park at TST Station.
  • The Peak (gorgeous mountain view of HK at night and you take a tram to go up) at Admiralty Station.
  • Ocean Park (amusement park) take the bus from Admiralty Station. There are pandas, cable car and aquariums. It's not very big there.

Don't forget to visit as many food stalls and restuarants as you can! Of course I can't list all of them haha.
You might have heard of the famous "Ladies Market" at Mong Kok. Don't go there, there's nothing to buy unless you like knockoffs and they're not necessarily cheaper. Megabox Mall is kinda crappy and it's not near a station. I also don't suggest Disney Land unless you haven't been to Disney World. It was really small and kinda expensive.
I don't think you ever need to worry about getting lost in Hong Kong. Most of the signs have English and many people can speak conversational English.

I think I could go on forever with these lists but I'll leave it at that. If you got any questions, feel free to ask =) Happy shopping!

48 comments:

♥akisa♥ said...

I didn't enjoy mong kok much while I was in HK.. maybe it's because we didn't have a local showing us exactly where to go. I miss HK so much!! It made me broke though, haha!

Yumeko said...

whee i love this post
do one for seoul!

Laura L said...

i love, yup, do one for seoul, I agree with yumeko, I love korea. haha xD

Bijin Blair said...

I'll have to save this post and print it out when I go to HK hahaha. Thank you for the comprehensive shopping guide! =D

donnarence said...

this is soo useful.. i may not go to hk anytime soon but i will this in mind.. :D

Unknown said...

Agnes b cafe?? How lovely!!! hmmm you got me thinking now x

acutelife said...

This post is really good! thanks millie. me and hubby wanna go to HK but we're unsure about places to go :D btw when you go to japan, look for a cafe called "fujiya" im sure you've seen the logo (a girl with cheeky smile and two pony tails) try their puff, I reckon they're better than beards papa (though I really love beards papa lolz)

Sofie said...

Super thanks for the helpful HK post! XD Now I know who to ask for HK advice when I go one day!

Becky said...

ThankQs for this post! It makes me feel so nostalgic and want to go back to badly. Mong kok is one of my favourite places to shop! Haha and the name always confused me because I learned to say it before I learned to read it XD

Joopah said...

Your post made me really miss HK !!! waaahh.... Thanks so much for it though !! I'm reminded of all the places where I used to hang out. My fave is Festival Walk too

♥ 珊珊 Kawaii Kuromi ♥ said...

My fave places too.. I went to these places when I went back..
Love the shopping there :D..
Mong kok is great.. Such variety

Thanks for sharing. Keep blogging :D
Shan x
Missing hk cant wait to go back ..

Anonymous said...

aww this reminds me of my last visit to hk ! causeway bay was so fun !
didnt get to go central though.. must go nxt time ^^

Jamilla Camel said...

nom nom nom great pics!

Eka said...

Wow! I am printing this out, definitely! Thank you so much for making this "guide". I've been to HK a few times already but I am so still scared to explore the place by myself. You think it's safe enough for someone to go to HK alone? I can't ask anybody to come with me since, they do not have the budget or the time.

Anonymous said...

Wow! I would wish I can go there! Looks like fun =)

eri said...

oooh! great pics and info!

i love beard papas!

Edna said...

Awww I wanna goto HK!!

eki said...

hi Hun~

wow this is great HK travel review!! thank you! I would love to visit there one day! looks like they have everything all the yummy places! mos burger is my fav too!! :D
and beard papa is everywhere now I was shocked to see them open one in FL!! haha

siglet said...

Wow great review ^^ brings back lots of memories coz HK is like my 2nd home too! haha i'm going back in Sept so reading this is making me soo excited!! i'm trying to learn to read more chinese, my reading & writing is sooo crap >< i wish my friends were going bk with me, i have no shopping buddies this time!

KRYSTAL said...

wow i love this post! i wanna go to hongkong now! hehe

Kar Yi said...

I want to go to HK!! Ah~ Your pictures are so tempting. HK seems like a really interesting city filled with cute and cheap stuff and yummy food ;] Thanks for this guide. Hopefully I can use it if I ever get to go to HK!

Anonymous said...

sounds like a pretty good guide for those who are visiting^^ HK sounds amazing~

Audrie said...

wow...super informative post!! I wanna go to Hong Kong and visit all of these places you mentioned! By the way to answer your question, I believe C.O. Bigelow is only sold through Bath and Body Works. You can also order directly from their website though. hope that helps!

Jenn said...

HK is definitely on my to visit/to shop places! Thanks for the info!

mszcheysser said...

Wow! What a post :) If I ever go to Hong Kong, that's going to be one of my stops! I think I can hack the crowdness. Lol, Hopefully. Eck.

Ann said...

Wow..I feel like your my travel guide, haha. Well..if I ever go to Hong Kong..I want u to be.. haha. (: No, but I love posts like these..cause..if I want to travel to a another country..a post like this would be very helpful to me.

K said...

I looovveeee HK!!!! Yummy food and great shopping!!! And Sasa everywhere!!!

Anastacia said...

Very exciting! Seems you spent so funny time!
Very glad for you!
And btw, thanq for dropping by my new blog :)

MiuMiu said...

siglet, thanks for the comment! september should be a good time to go i assume cuz fall should be starting..not AS hot haha

MiuMiu said...

angelicbb
hehe..hopefully you'll get a chance to go one day!

aichaku-愛着 said...

it's been about 20 years since i was last in hong kong! i need to get there again. this post is great!! thanks for doing it. :D

Iyah Love said...

Omgosh!! I wish I could visit there someday. The husband actually went there already :) Well someday I'll be there too.. ehehehe!

Amelia said...

I also love Mongkok and HK <3

♡ Nic Nic ♡ said...

I love festivalwalk in kowloon tong!! I'll stick there for the whole time. Im so lazy to walk everywhere. I hate HK humidity!! LOL.

✿Ji✿ said...

Awww now I don't have to worry where to shop when I'll visit HK...if that ever happens!;)

pinky"the-middle-name-is-princess"beanie said...

Ah, just returned from HK and only got to see this post now! Thanks for the comprehensive listings :) Now I've more things to look out for when I next visit that place.

Shop N' Chomp said...

hiya :) i just discovered your blog and love your HK post. am heading there later this year. can't wait!

Anonymous said...

Yay for Hong Kong! The first (and last) time I went there was 9 years ago now...

I miss HK soooo much! Really yummy food - thinking of dim sum, roasted ducks, wan tan noodles (my mouth is watering, hehe...) :p

Don't know, when I'm going there again. :/ Oh, btw... I also love HK that much, because I used to be a huge fan of TVB series, haha...

Rachel said...

omg...this post is amazing. must keep bookmarked incase i ever visit HK!

lorraine said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
lorraine said...

i live in HK and if i could recommend a place it would be Shatin Lucky Plaza (its a branch of Shatin New Town Plaza) they don't have many brandname makeup stores there but there are tonnnnsss of cute clothes and shoes in sizes and they are all fairly reasonably priced (cheap!!)theres also sasa and bonjour and other small makeup outlet stores. oh and theres really really *good food* (drools..)the clothes and stuff are all priced tagged but you can still bargain. do check it out in July (or was it August) when you come over!
btw, i'm currently in Toronto for the summer (i'm chinese- canadian :D) any good suggestions for shopping? ^^

MiuMiu said...

Lorraine:
thanks for the comment!
Ooohh..I used to live in shatin! But where I'm gonna be staying in HK whenever I go is so far..all the way at Tung Chung! But I'll definitely visit there again one day.
i can't get enough of HK! i need to live there!! i'm one step closer already cuz I'm getting my ID card when I go in August XD

Hmmm...Toronto.. Haha..since I live in toronto I think it's super boring.
In terms of malls:
Eaton Center (at Dundas or Queen Station..if I remember correctly)
Yorkdale Mall (at Yorkdale Station)
Bloor Street has lots of HE and a Holt Renfrew
Scarborough Town Center
Square One (in Missisaugua)

I think Yorkdale is probably the better one in Toronto. Pmall is kinda a waste of time haha

Beauty Basics said...

thank you for sharing. Can't wait to go back in November. Haven't heard of Langham place before...must be a new place since my last visit in 2000!

RoseTea said...

omg i just came back from HK! So humid its like taking a shower haha...my favourite mall in Mongkok is ______________. Unfortunately, I cant seem to remember the name, but there is a happy lemon and Missha near the entrance and a sort of local/mini broadcasting booth just outside the mall. Im not sure, but I think it might be called Argle Center? Anyways, I bought 75% of my goods from there :D I live in Vancouver, and the shopping`s just not the same....which is why I shop like a madwoman when in HK :P

Antonia said...

Thank you so much for your post :)
Even though it made me miss Hong Kong like crazy, it was worth remembering all those places. For me, the streets in Causeway Bay and Harbour City in Tsim Sha Tsui are probably my favorite spots, because there's so much to see and buy :D
There are a few places and shops taht you left out and that I thought should be included. First, there's a shopping mall called apm which I think is really great - they have shops like muji, b+ab, http://izzue.com (they sell really cool clothes), and quiksilver. It's located in Kwun Tong, and you're pretty much in the mall as soon as you walk out of the MTR station. There's also a shop called Maple, which sells clothing and accessories, and has shops in Causeway Bay, Wan Chai, and Central (I think). Both the shopping mall and this shop are less frequented by tourists, but are really popular with locals.
Anyway, I just thought I'd share some of what I like in HK - hope this helps :)

Unknown said...

Hi, I stumbled across your blog and I find your blog very interesting to read.

This info will come very handy the next time I go back for a visit.

Speak soon
lisa
xoxo

Emily said...

Shopping… my favorite word! I must spend at least 2 days visiting all these places on my holiday in Hong Kong.

Diver Sableng said...

Thank you for the information,
Apparently I am the only 'male' who read thoroughly and thankfull to your writings :D.

I will be visiting HK and would love to accompany my wife for shopping and your writing giving a lot usefull, one person view info.

thanks again
Rizal