Temple Street

Hong Kong has shopping EVERYWHERE. No matter which corner you turn, which sites you visit, which MTR stop you get off at, there are shops galore.  

Temple street is the most well-known night market in this shopper's paradise so of course it was time to pay a visit and see if the place lived up to its title.  

We started the night off with a delicious seafoody meal in an outdoor restaurant.  

It was there that we enjoyed receiving live (still squirming!) seafood...

...turn into dead seafood...

...turn into food in our mouths.  Yum yum!

After came time to browse and bargain.  

In our case, it was to get yelled at by vendors.  For bargaining, for touching the merchandise, for breathing, for stopping at their stalls. We got yelled at for everything.  It was not a very pleasant shopping experience, I must say. Instead, we walked away with only a poster each to decorate our rooms.  How's that Titanic one working out for ya, Jenn?

We also caught street karaoke players crooning their hearts out to canto songs and fortune tellers lining the streets, eager to tell you what your hearts desire.

Or in my case, rather something my heart didn't desire to hear.  Basically, the tarot card reader we went and told my friend and I that we were going to be "bored and unhappy and miserable"(her exact words!)  for the next six months of my life because no matter how many guy friends I have, they will all not be the one for me.  If I flinged, they'd be flung.  As if!  I don't need a guy to be happy.  (Whoa, that sounded so "independent woman" there)  In fact, for the past couple of weeks, I've been proving her predictions wrong.  Fun and happiness can be had with or without your soul mate.

So that was Temple Street.  Not really worth the hype. Though I did thoroughly enjoy the companionship of Jeffrey and Jennifer.  Us three J's had a blast during dinnertime.  It was one of those goofy, heartfelt, genuine dinners where all three parties just really got along.  I don't think I had laughed so hard in such a long time.  Everyone else must have been so envious of the fun we were having or assumed we were drunk.  Cheers to more great dinners!

Shopping for the Soul

With its no sales tax policy and boundless shops at every corner of every street, Hong Kong is a shopper's paradise.  The locals shop, the tourists shop; everyone is constantly consuming the latest trends.  Since I'm an exchange student with no real clubs or work obligations and the term has just started which means no homework yet, what else should I do but shop?  

I headed over to MongKok, one of the more famous Hong Kong shopping districts.  The place is known for its "ladies market" where 3 or 4 blocks are filled with street merchants lined out, proudly displaying their products, which range from shampoo to fake LV purses.  

Now comes the fun part of bargaining.  The merchants know you are a tourist and even if you're not, their starting price will always be off the roof.  Most of the time, they'll name a price, say, HK$300 but almost right away, they'll tell you they're going to cut you a deal and bring it down to, say, HK$210.  This is where your bargaining skills come in.  You have to remember to not calculate these prices by US $.  You have to remember that this is (almost) China, the place where everything is made from!  Normally, for the first few shops selling a product I want, I won't buy but I will bargain just to check the average price for the product.  Then, I'll be especially ambitious the first time around and say an outrageously low price, say, HK$120.  The other person would generally beg me to raise the price, which I will slowly.  Sometimes, I'll pretend to walk away and they'll pull me back. If they really can't sell it to you for the price you offered, then they'll let you walk away. That's happened to me a few times for some things I actually really wanted but since they let me walk away, I had too much pride to return and offer to lower the price. 

Nonetheless, I still dropped a few bucks at MongKok last week.

Oooh boy, and I still have 4 months left!  Let's hope retail therapy doesn't leave me broke!

The Devil Buys Prada

Each year, I always try to top my past birthday presents for my mom. I remember when I went away one summer in high school and I forgot to call her on her birthday. OOOooOooOohh...never repeating that mistake.

This year, I not only interrupted her breakfast by calling at 7AM Cali time, but I also purchased the hot little number (seen above) at the first ever Prada store in the world at the fashion capital of the world of Milano, Italy. She had mentioned that she needed a party clutch. Hopefully, she'll like this one. And anyway, Prada never goes out of style. It just becomes vintage.

Hey, I think I deserve this touristy picture outside the first ever Prada store in the world. I paid enough for it!