Last chance to get your Studio Ghibli goods before going through security. Small store compared to…read morethe one in Ocean Terminal but it's got all the cute stuff as well. There's even a Totoro waiting by a bus stop that you can take pictures with.

Now this is probably something of an age revealer- I used to (and admittedly still do) love Tomica…read moretoy cars. Actually I loved all sorts of toy cars- be it matchbox, majorclette (think that's how you spell it) or even hot wheels- if it had four wheels and a die cast shell I would have it. Now I was the nerdy type, not the cool kids who crashed them and built massive jumps, I bought little houses, road signs and everything in between to make it real. Now Tomica was always my favourite- their cars were always better built, had suspension and they had the details that nerds like me would love. Moreover, they also had a series of towns and shops that you could use together with your cars and that way I had my eyes set on collecting every last piece of tomica toy there was out there. This continues to this day. Today I'm not so mad- not after you get into real cars anyways. The thing is you still retain that 4 yr old part of you that yearned for Tomica's new collection every year. The fact is that its difficult to buy these nowadays because a lot of shops just don't sell them. Hung Hing is probably where all the enthusiast go because they have the best and biggest selection I have seen and finally I have spotted my types there: people in their 30s looking for toy cars. Its our little enclave and little spot where we can all salivate over the new no. 12 or 134. Look no further if you are looking for tomica- its actually the cheapest in town too.

i have a confession to make. i'm a grown ass man that loves little toy cars. word is bond, i can't…read moreget enough of these things. i'm particular about the models i buy and i've spent way more than i should have on ebay (with hong kong sellers no less) on more than one occasion. i figured while i'm in hong kong, might as well cut out the middle man and go straight to the plug. yelp pointed me here and i was super not disappointed. thank god i rolled here with my cousin cause i would have literally spent the entire day in this little (actually it appears to be 2 little) store fronts. they had tomicas galore. selection was displayed as best they could in such a cramped (by american standards) shop. staff was friendly, helping track down the models i was interested in. i dropped about $150 on little cars but i would have spent about 1/3 more (before shipping) if i copped these on ebay. i really had to fight the urge to come back down here on another day (without my chaperone, ahem, cousin) but i only had one suitcase. i'll be back...

This toys r us is super small. Not that great in terms of trying to find what you are looking for…read more This store is a bit crowded and crammed. I came here to check out the Lego but they don't have the ones I am looking for. I guess North Americans look for different things compared to people in Hong Kong. As well, I was looking for one piece toys but again came here wrong time and they changed all their stocks to Gundam.

Although small, this Toys R' Us is in a very fancy part of the city (somewhat near 1881 Heritage)…read moreand by the ferry terminals. As such, it's gonna be tiny and fancy. I walked to the back and found the gundam section, and although not as massive, my friends had to pull me away because of my indecision. If there is a bigger one, it's over, I'm done, game over man.

This was a fun store that we found out there are like six of in downtown Hong Kong. We walked past…read moreas we are generally not interested in mass produced clothing, but when we saw the shirts with camo pattern bears riding bikes, we were hooked! The appropriately termed B.O.B or Bears On Bikes got us looking and eventually buying shirts for everybody in the family. Truthfully, it had been a long time since I had been in a store like this. It reminded me of a sort of step down from a J. Crew. Straight up, most of my stuff is purchased online or at a non-mall type shop, so it was actually a bit out of my zone. Nonetheless, we walked out of there with 5 matching shirt that we ended up wearing on the plane a few days later. Bear on bike has worked itself into my rotation, and ultimately we were happy to have ended up at the spot. If you walk by it, it is probably worth going into!

Good shopping, the wife can't come to Hong Kong without stopping by here. Lots of young, trendy…read morestyle. Service is good. Be careful going to the stairs as they can be slippery.

I kind of snuck in. I did. They were actually closed and open for appointments only, but I slid…read morein to check it out. The question of "are they open to the public or are they only open for appointments to potential buyers" is a slippery slope around Hong Kong. "Are you just looking or are you buying?" is another slippery slope. Without a solid contemporary art museum to anchor from, I seek out art any way I can...even slipping into Gagosian. Do as I say and not as I do: I suppose it would be best to call first and simply ask to say "can I come by and take a look, not to buy, but just to look" to be on the up and up with their blessing versus the sneek in approach. If you love contemporary art, this is your church. Their is a fine line between public museum and private gallery in Hong Kong and access to see what is out there in the contemporary world can really only be viewed in the private gallery. I cant lie though. Between several places like Gagosian and Pace, these places are the holy grail of contemporary art and absolutely go if you have an opportunity to be in this space because without doubt whatever is on their walls is spectacular.

A historic police compound turned into a real-life Etsy market! Located in Central, PMQ 元創方 is…read morepacked with local artisan shops, unique design studios, and rich Hong Kong history. PMQ 元創方 stands for Police Married Quarters. It's a historic site turned vibrant creative hub in Central, Hong Kong. Rebuilt in 1951 as the Police Married Quarters, the compound reopened in 2014 for local designers. The architecture is beautiful, the vibe is incredibly artistic, and it is the perfect place to support independent creators. A truly unique spot for anyone looking for authentic local souvenirs.

This place is basically like a giant Etsy shop/Instagram photo opp…read more Came to take selfies in front of the koi staircase. Left with nearly a dozen pairs of cute and unique earrings crafted by HK-based jewelry maker @ashayatheone, for $8 to $15 (USD) a pair. Though I definitely spent more than I would have for souvenirs at the Ladies Market, it was worth it not to feel stressed out having to haggle on the streets of Mong Kok. Plus, I walked out with better quality stuff, supported a local business, and got to check out the current art exhibit ("LONG TIME NO SEE": a set of hand-drawn murals paying homage to the history of the PMQ building).

Everyone who works there is very knowledgeable and passionate about toys! They have some really…read morerare collections. The prices, while expensive, are reasonable given the condition. I love going there every time I come to Hong Kong!

Golden Computer Accessories is a great little store on Des Veoux Road Central, just behind The…read moreCentre. It sells all of the standard computer wares that one might expect; hard drives, memory cards, printers, networking accessories, you get the idea, but also a number of other electronic items like shredders, card media accessories, and television accessories. What is refreshing, is to see a very well stocked computer store outside of the Wan Chai Computer Centre (but it does have sister branches in Wan Chai 298 and Mong Kok). What is also nice about this store is that they have quite a large chunk of real estate with all of their products displayed on shelves around the shop. As such, you don't feel like you're walking into a junk store. If you do have a chance to go, ask for Chris, he's very knowledgeable and will steer you in the right direction. It is useful if you do know something about computers, or what you want to buy, because they will try to up-sell you on some products. For example, I wanted to buy a hard drive for my Mac, and they presented me the Mac formatted one, which was HK$50 more expensive. It wasn't until I explain to them that I could reformat my own PC drive and save myself $50, that they conceded to give me what I wanted. The prices are very reasonable, comparable to the other computer centres around Hong Kong, despite being in Central. Don't forget to also ask for a discount. As with most stores in Hong Kong, the list price is not the real price. Ask for a discount you may get 5 to 10% off.