Tai Nan Street 大南街 – the Taiwan of Hong Kong? Boutique shops, cafes, indie music, and more

I had zero intention of writing this blog post.  Even when I first stumbled across the street, the thought hadn’t crossed my mind.

After having lunch at the prominent and long established名寶石餐廳 Tiffany Restaurant, I had some spare time and wanted to head over to White Noise Records, since I was already at Prince Edward’s.  Google Maps suggested it was an 11 minute walk from where I was.

White Noise Records was one of the few record stores in Hong Kong that sold indie music, from vinyls to CDs to merchandises, featuring Japanese, American, Hong Kong local artists etc.  It used to be upstairs in an unassuming building, but apparently that’s all changed as it has relocated to Tai Nan Street.

Upon arriving to the area, a lot of boutique cafés, stores, leather shops, terrarium shops greeted me.  They stood out because of how its exterior look was far different from its adjacent shops, the newer ones being far more elegant and clean.  What used to be the “ugly duckling” was turning into a beautiful swan. Continue reading Tai Nan Street 大南街 – the Taiwan of Hong Kong? Boutique shops, cafes, indie music, and more

Hokkaido in November

Quick tips about Hokkaido:

Jr Train Map

  • The people here do not speak any English… like at all.  You’d expect the hotels to know English, but a majority of the staff couldn’t speak the language even one bit
  • As yen continues to depreciate, the value there keeps getting cheaper.  I was extremely happy with what I was getting for food and for shopping for the price I was paying
  • So yeah it’s a food paradise
  • Since public transportation is quite expensive, and since the weather can be a bit harsh in winter times, I would actually recommend renting a car if you have a group of three or more.  4 days rental was quoted at 29,000 yen including insurance
  • If you are traveling short distances and going with 3 or more people, you can consider riding a taxi too
  • Felt very safe the entire trip
  • If you want to see the autumn leaves, you should go there around Sept / Oct.  If you want to go for skiing / snowboarding, you should go there around December to February
  • Sapporo is a great city, but to appreciate Hokkaido’s scenery, you really have to go outside the city to other parts of Hokkaido

Continue reading Hokkaido in November

Seoul – Shopping Heaven

Quick tips about Seoul:

  • It is a shopping paradise
  • It’s also a food paradise (especially if you like spicy and KBBQ)
  • We didn’t do any sight seeing, but based on reading from blogs, books and other guides, there isn’t an astounding amount of cultural / historical / scenic things to do (as compared to places in Europe).  A bit similar to Bangkok.  They EXIST but it’s not abundant and should be able to cover in a few days for the major attractions
  • The people there know very little English.  In fact, the salespeople in the retail shops actually speak Mandarin much better than English so prepare to bring some sort of translation book if you can only speak English
  • Transportation is very convenient
  • Although the transition between different train lines is a fair bit of distance… so plan your time accordingly
  • Many 24 hour restaurants
  • Felt safe the entire trip
  • very affordable (compared to HK)
  • actually Seoul is pretty much like Hong Kong except they speak Korean there instead of Cantonese

It’s definitely a trip well worth going, especially if you are into Korean Pop culture.  I’ll show you the places we went (for shopping and eating) so you can have a rough itinerary for your next trip. Continue reading Seoul – Shopping Heaven