This is an absolutely amazing store. They have virtually everything... office supplies (they have…read moremore types of pens than I knew existed), greeting cards, ribbons, bows, gift bags, decorations, lights. You name it, they have it. Don't be put off by the relatively small space for so much merchandise. If you don't see what you want, just ask and one of the staff will find it for you. I've been going here for 25+ years and have never found a more service-oriented store in Hong Kong.

Sam and Company is a veritable treasure trove of stationary loveliness. Despite its excellent…read morelocation on Stanley Street, and the affect of this prime location on their rent demands, the store is not as jam-packed as many of its competitors in the area. They have struck a pleasant balance of a well stocked store, with plenty of products to browse, but enough space in the aisles to turn around without taking out half the shop. As is expected, Sam and Company sell pens, notebooks, printer paper, craft supplies, card board, red packets, greeting cards, as well as some rather random items like inflatable Hello Kittys, paper lanterns, plastic fruit and footballs. In fact, so good is the stock in there, that when I was recently looking for a non-self inking customisable 6 digit number stamp - yep, that specific, and had already flustered most as though I had asked for a left handed mug, the lovely owner/sales lady didn't bat an eyelid and just asked what size. I kid you not, she had an entire box of non-self inking customisable 6 digit number stamps. The point to the story is that Sam and Company have a lot of stuff. It's on shelves, piled on the floor, hanging off the ceilings, nine out of ten they will have what you are looking for (unless it is the aforementioned left handed mug). If you don't see what you want, ask the staff, there is so much more stuff secreted away behind the counter or out back. My only grumble is the staff can be a bit pushy. If the product you want isn't quite right, they get a bit shirty if you don't to buy. They also follow you around the store, but maybe that's just me and my dodgy looks? A definite must for anyone who needs anything craft or stationery.

Uncertain quite how to process this place... it's a well-put-together little museum that tells one…read moreman's story of Hong Kong's evolution quite well. The captions seem a little light in places, but they don't sugarcoat much, and the presentation all fits, including the upstairs room that's basically a tribute to Leica. So the fact that the museum could also be interpreted as one man's personal ego or tribute... well, it doesn't quite seem like that? Would be curious how this compares to his other museum, F22!

The processing services here for professional rolls leave much to be desired. I came in with a…read moreKodak 400 TX roll and they not only couldn't process on site, but also claimed it would take a month to digitize the proofs in Cd format. However Fotomax is designed more for tweeny Polaroid services so my complaint is an edge case. The self service machines are great if you bring your own storage device and the interface is easy enough to understand if you can't read Chinese characters (like myself). The prints also turned out well and are far cheaper than getting them developed in the states.

Popular is a chain bookstore that originates from Singapore and has locations in several Asian…read morecountries and Hong Kong. This location is on the third floor of Pioneer Centre in Mong Kok. The store is moderately sized, not on the scale of Eslite. The books sold here are in Chinese, but some of them (ex. cookbooks) have English translations in them. I did not see any magazines or newspapers, so don't come here for those. They do carry a selection of music and DVDs though it is not on the scale of HMV. Though these days, the selection there is getting smaller. And the offerings do not seem to be the most current. Since I can't read Chinese and the entertainment selection did not appeal to me, what garners three stars is their selection of stationery. The stationery here seemed mostly imported from Japan or Japanese inspired. What appealed most to me is their selection of imported Japanese pens. There is plenty varieties to choose from and they have test papers for you to scribble on to see if the pens are for you. They are slightly marked up, but not by much. Certainly not double the price like at one bookstore here in Seattle. If you are looking for Japanese stationery, check out Popular. It is the main reason I would come here.

We were actually in pursuit of a greeting card to send to someone for their birthday. Yelp guided…read moreus to this bookstore. On a Sunday, we had to make it through the maze of sales guys pushing condos before boarding the escaltors to get to the 3rd floor, but other than that, the bookstore provided what I was looking for. Not a big selection of greeting cards, but some. This store is half bookstore (not in English for the most part) and half gift/office supply store (wrapping paper, notebooks, pens/pencils, pads, toys, themed product lines of stuff, music CD's, puzzles, etc). Not a bad bookstore, but not the best either. Seems to be a chain of sorts.

If you ever have the need for a photographer, I would thoroughly recommend Joyce Yung. She is a…read morereally talented photographer, who follows a brief well, and produces lovely results. She is also reasonably priced, certainly for personal events like weddings, family events, etc. I recently used her for a personal event, and briefed her that I wanted candid shots, and not posed photographs. I was not disappointed with what I got. When you hire Joyce, it's often not just her. She will (depending on the size of the event) come with a small crew, usually a second photographer, and a runner. This means you will get great coverage. Even though there maybe a few extra bodies around, I was surprised how little I saw of Joyce at the event, and I don't mean this in a bad way. She and her team were so discreet, they just seemed to blend in the background, and glide effortlessly around the attendees. The only way I knew they were there was by the clicking of the shutter, and the final result. The delivery of her final shots was great. Whilst not particularly speedy after the event, it did take a few weeks due to the sheer amount of editing down that needed to be done, she delivered online, USB, and hard prints of the final selection, which still totalled around 700 shots. As mentioned, the coverage was excellent. Joyce also does a lot of different styles of photography, so take a moment to check out her website.

My job is to make things happen and what I needed to make happen was to find and book a(n awesome)…read morephotographer who can shoot for a couple of hours outdoors, rain or shine, on a specific day (my client was only in the city for 36 hours). Wedding photographers are usually best for their quick-thinking, quick composition and shoot-first-fix-later mentality because weddings don't pause for anyone and there is no re-do of the I Do. I had very little time to find such a photographer and after scouring the internet, I'll be honest that Stevenc Photography wasn't my first choice. The photos on the website of my first-choice photographer was unbelievably impressive; award-winning, in fact. However, his so-called studio manager (probably his live-in gf or bitchy wife haha) was such an idiot. My client didn't need a full-day 15-hour wedding package. Shit, he isn't getting married! Just needed 2 hours of the photog's time outdoors. I had explained all that, yet she replied back with a rate card of an 8-hour studio engagement shoot, tacked on an outdoor surcharge with a limit to two locations and basically giving me the F U with a five-digit fee quote. Completely over the budget I was given. Completely unbelievable. So, I had to scramble and email a bunch of other studios. Steven Chui from Stevenc Photography was very responsive and professional. He seems to be a budding wedding photographer who isn't quite the Big Dogs yet but does good work. He seemed to have an eye for creative composition, which was what we needed most. He was quite understanding of my predicament and was very flexible. He wasn't one of those diva-artists that had to do things his way - he was receptive to the specificity required and offered his honest opinion. We agreed on pricing quickly, which was way under budget (yay!), and got the date and meeting location settled. We were off to a great start. The shooting day came. Steven and his hair person (Maggie) arrived on time. I was impressed again as I'm so used to waiting for tards (people who are tardy, not the mentally challenged). She did her thang (which was OK) and off we all went to shoot. The weather was complete shit but that didn't phase Steven. Shooting took more than the agreed-upon 2 hours and he didn't charge extra. He also did something that was unexpectedly courteous but I won't mention what, so that he doesn't get taken advantage of with future clients. When it came to deliver the goods, Steven personally delivered it to my hotel. Industry-standards for turnaround time where I work can be weeks and even months but he got the rush job done quicker than expected. Client was happy - and gold star for me. My only complaint is that maybe Steven could have shot at fewer locations and devoted more time on some of the locales because some of the compositions didn't work out so well and I wish they did because of the iconic setting. I can't post any of his work because of client confidentiality and also his copyright, but his wedding work is up on the internet. I uploaded a pic of the deliverables that he delivered. Wax-sealed jackets, customized CD labels, handwritten name of the client (a bit girly - I suspect it's the hair girl's handwriting...and if I have to bet, I think they are a couple)...all-in-all you can tell there is a lot of heart in it for him. Overall, I would book Steven again. PS: unlike other photographers who give you limited-sized images, I got full-sized images that can be printed as large as 24'x36'. Great deal.