When it comes to gold in Hong Kong,it?s a matter of tradition and custom. Luckily, our selection and prices will spoil you rotten. Hennessy Road in Causeway Bay will prove this ten times over. Well-known local jewelry boutiques line the street, competing for business. Endless window displays filled with modern and traditional gold jewelry will continually capture your attention, eliciting a response in the form of swooning. Step inside the shops and you won?t be disappointed. Shelves lined with ornate gold necklaces and bracelets, and drawers overflowing with gold chains, are a bit of what you can expect on your journey. And the big time bonus is that all of the jewelry is tax-free. How?s that for added incentive!
Often heavy and ornately designed, many of these jewels are made for sacred unions. Dragon pendants, along with floral necklaces and bracelets adorned with the Chinese character for ?double happiness,? are the norm as they symbolize good fortune and prosperity. Lucky for us ladies, these are gifts in which tradition requires the brides? parents and other elder relatives to give her as part of her dowry. A Chinese bride in Hong Kong is usually seen wearing a Chinese ?qipao? dress along with gold jewelry on her big day. What?s the gold standard of expectation in Hong Kong, you ask? The more the better! The number of gold bracelets worn by the bride translates to her wealth and how much she is loved by her family. Talk about competition!
Hong Kong is notorious for its nightlife, and while it may not be overflowing with 24-hour haunts, after-hours there are aplenty. From all-night shopping to karaoke and authentic Hong Kong eats, there?s always something for the night crawler to get into.
For the true shopaholic, Hong Kong has APM, a 24-hour, 7-story mall in Kwun Tong (the MTR stops running around 1 a.m., so getting there by mass transit any time after is a challenge). APM houses a variety of well-known local and international stores that sell clothing, beauty products, books and electronics. There are also supermarkets, restaurants and a cinema. The perfect place to go when there are simply not enough hours in the day.
The Lan Kwai Fong and Soho areas are perfect for hours upon hours of barhopping; if you?re game, try Dragon-I, Volar, Halo, Drop, Gecko and Yumla, to start. Hookah lounges have enjoyed a recent surge in popularity here; Kasbah, Marouche and Sahara are top choices that also happen to serve delicious Middle Eastern meals. For karaoke, CEO at Causeway Bay is the place to go, especially as they?ve expanding their collection of both old and contemporary US and UK hits. Get ready to get your Gaga on.
Of the handful of places in Hong Kong that do stay open 24 hours a day, The Flying Pan, Caf? O (on weekends only) and Tsui Wah are your best bets. The Flying Pan is a cozy diner with an extensive menu of big, hearty Western-style breakfasts. Be warned: its convenient location makes it a go-to place for those with the drunken munchies. Caf? O offers a quieter, more comfortable experience and healthier cuisine. However, for a true local experience, Tsui Wah in Central is a must for its huge selection of reasonably priced local delights: wonton noodles, peanut butter and condensed milk toast and curries. Partygoers descend on all 3 floors around 4 or 5 in the morning. Dig in.
Shop
apm mall
418 Kwun Tong Road, Millenium City 5, Kwun Tong
2267 0500
Eat
The Flying Pan
G/F, 9 Old Bailey Street, Central, Hong Kong
2140 6333
Caf? O
No.2, Arbuthnot Road, Central, Hong Kong
2868-0450
Tsui Wah
15D-19 Wellington St., Central, Hong Kong
2525 6338
Drink
Dragon ?I
60 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong
3110 1222
Volar
44 D'aguilar Street, Central, Hong Kong
2810 1272
Halo
B/F, 10-12 Stanley St, Central, Hong Kong
2810 1460
Drop
Basement, On Lok Mansion, 39-43 Hollywood Rd., Central, Hong Kong
2543 8856
Gecko
LG/F, Ezra Lane Lower Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong
2537 4680
Yumla
79 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong
2147 2382
Hookah
Kasbah
4-8 Arbuthnot Rd, Central, Hong Kong
2525 9493
Marouche
G/F, 48 Cochrane Street Central, Hong Kong
2541 8282
Sahara
11 Elgin Street, Central, Hong Kong
2291 6060
Karaoke
CEO
2-8 Sugar Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
2137 9777
My friend went to Hong Kong and all he got me was this lousy T-shirt, antique Buddha head and indie rock album. My friend went to Hong Kong and all he got me was this lousy T-shirt, antique Buddha head and indie rock album. "I ? Hong Kong" T-shirt Ladies' Market Any of Hong Kong's famed street markets will offer a whole range of cheesy tourist...
Read MoreFor a company founded just 5 years ago, Hong Kong-based design consultancy Whitespace has an impressive portfolio ? with work, literally, all over the city, Hong Kong is its canvas. If you live here, you?ll fast become familiar with Whitespace?s creative and branding services; their diverse group of clients include the Press Room, JIA Boutique Hotels, Kush apartments, DOZO! Sushi, and Marie?s Patisserie and Boulangerie (By Brunch Club), just to name a few. Founder Danielle Huthart, a Parsons graduate, is at the helm, making her dreams of a unique creative studio come to life with each project. We got the chance to pick her brain.
I have a confession. I went to the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens during a spell of what I?d to believe was temporary amnesia. I trooped to the Hong Kong Stadium at Causeway Bay ? despite my annual post-Sevens vow that I will NOT endure another year of the wheat-stenched South Stand (the stadium?s hooligan headquarters) madness, which includes urine-filled beer jugs flailing about, indecent exposure and a whole lot of drunken debauchery from expats and tourists alike.
In Hong Kong, the Rugby Sevens is to men what Halloween is to women. The female wardrobe du jour (a sweeping generalization) fell into a few categories: cheerleader, air hostess, tutu-dressed-something, discount-Avatar, and the curious choice of Where?s Waldo. But the men dominated the dress-up game with through-the-roof effort. I saw everything from Steve Erwin, the boys from The Hangover movie, pharaohs, an Arab sheikh, an iPhone, sushi, TinTin and Top Gear?s The Stig, to the Mad Hatter and a cross-dressed Alice in Wonderland, Tiger Woods, Care Bears, and Mao Zedong. To say the least, it was an impressive turnout. What was more interesting was how the costumed Sevens zealots were a living, breathing ?year in review.? (Case in point, ?Tiger Woods? was humping every girl he encountered. Slightly crude behavior aside, you can?t deny their wit.)
Frankly, I?m not too sure where this dress-up phenomenon began. How did dressing in your country?s color evolve/devolve into a fancy-dress wildcard spectacle? But, as they say, if you can?t beat them, join them.
P.S. ? I went as Farmer Joe. Better yet, someone asked my friend and I, ?Are you Paris and Nicole from The Simple Life?? Psssssh ?. !
Visit www.hksevens.com for details.