I have once said to myself that if there was a day I was shopping around for cooking utensils- then…read moreI must be getting old. This is true as of now, a few weeks back I found myself looking glass jars for preservatives; that's when I truly realize that I have completed my role from being a twenty-something free man to an early middle aged family man. This is the beginning of my downfall, the end of my wild days- days of suburbia. What has it got to do with the shop? Well, this place very much sells stuff that a family needs- not likes- needs. You will find kitchen items, study essentials, pre packed snacks for kids; all the stuff that you really need if you were to start a family from scratch. Why has it got 5 stars? That's because every time I was instructed by the almighty to find items that I had no interest and no knowledge of finding, I would find it here. Lids for jars of different size? Checked. Cover for the ironing board? Checked. Plastic boxes for organizing stuff at home? Please choose your colour. Its a really convenient place to find stuff like that and its just so good that I don't need to make 10 trips to find them in different places.

This store is originally a Japanese brand of home goods called Daiso. For some reason in Hong Kong…read morethey are known as Jusco Living with more of a focus on home/living goods. I am unsure if this was due to more focused branding. There is a good variety of home goods. My first Daiso experience was in Little Tokyo in LA and I would definitely return. Everything is the same price unless there is a sticker/sign indicating otherwise. I enjoy buying bowls and cooking utensils/ items to change your lifestyle.They have molds for heart shaped sushi rolls, onigiri, and cute bowls and jars. There is a section on grooming/accessories/cleaning/cooking/stationary.... need I go on? It is fun to just peruse the aisles. This particular location is in the basement; we walked around in circles before we were able to locate it. Once you walk inside it is like a wonder of products waiting to be discovered. This chain is basically a 100 YEN store, similar concept to a 99 cents store. However, unlike most 99 cents stores, the product quality is better (with the exception of Dollar tree which does sell some brand name products). I highly recommend going to a location and checking it out.

Prizemart makes me cry every time whenever it is time for me to head back to Hong Kong. Why?…read more They're making me feel useless by carrying good and popular products I use here in the United States. Whenever I come back to Hong Kong, I like to bring these products for my relatives because for many years the quality of products found in local supermarkets like food wrap, laundry detergent, etc. weren't as good as it was in the United States. So imagine my reaction when I saw the stuff Prizemart sells. Popular stuff I like to bring back, they got it. Brookside Acai/Blueberry chocolates. They got it. Craisins. They got it. Kirkland everything? They got it. They carry quite a bit of Kirkland stuff which are basically Costco Wholesale's own internal brand. Which tells me they import quite a bit of stuff from Costco(yay for 5% cashback, yay for free trade!). Among the better things to buy there are the food wrap(much better quality than what you find usually in HK), Downy fabric softener, and Tide.

Hands up if you miss Costco! *Me *me *me!!!!…read more I don't know about you, but I miss buying bulk. I miss having everything I need at home when I need it, just because I decided to stock up at costco. When I first moved to Hong Kong, that's one of the places I missed most. Whenever I go home, Costco is always a destination I must visit - it's always on my list of things to do. Well, low and behold, we have one here in Hong Kong - well.... close enough. I walked by one day, not knowing what I would find, but at the entrance, there stood something that caught my eye... that huge bag of almonds, with the words "Kirkland" on it. That's the moment this shop brought a smile to my face. I found you! Finally! I rushed in, completely forgetting that I was already late for dinner and scanned everything very quickly. They have everything, Kirkland toilet paper, Kirkland cookies, Kirkland laundry detergent, huge boxes of Special K, huge boxes of wet naps, really, it seemed like they had everything. Well, they don't. Close enough though. For HK standards, they have done a pretty darn good job at sourcing a lot of the things I normally stock up on. They charge a bit more than Costco (duh), but it's really still not a bad deal. I wish they had more signature items from Costco though, such as their dips, their frozen snacks, books maybe, International magazines? The ones I've been to don't have fridges, so I'm guessing it's hard to bring in their jalepeno poppers... gosh, I miss those!

This place sells many knick-knacks. I like this place! I could get lost exploring all the little…read morethings they've got! I'd say this place is the equivalent to the "American Dollar Store!" They have a lot of really small items that can be used in ity-bity tiny living spaces. They sell Japan made Daiso products. I'd say the quality of the products are not so great. So, don't be upset if the life span of the products you buy here don't last past 6 months. I'd only come here if I knew I needed something simple and disposable, like baking tins. If you're having a kids party, this would be a great place to buy little things for the gift bags. The aisles here are pretty congested so look really hard if you're looking for something specific. It's there somewhere crammed between the kitchen towels and hanging curtain rods.

Don't underestimate what's sold at the $12 shop, or the Living Plaza. This place sells pretty much…read moreeverything - from food to cleaning supplies to stationery. If there's anything you're looking to buy, you'll probably be able to find it here. There are a couple of $12 shops around HK but my favorite one to go to is at Fashion Walk, near the Excelsior Hotel. This is one of the bigger and newer ones and everything is very nicely laid out. There are actually two $12 shops in Causeway Bay - the other one is on Canal Road East, opposite Times Square, but that one is quite old so I much prefer coming to this one at Fashion Walk. Some great buys I've had from the $12 shop include a piece of cloth that I bought to make a sleeping mask as a Mother's Day present. The reason why I decided to look here was because if I bought them at the market I would probably have to pay for a huge sheet, and that's not necessary for me because I'm just making a sleeping mask. I assumed that the cloth they sell at the $12 would be just a small sheet - but I was wrong. They didn't have that many designs but there was a really nice floral pattern that stood out, but all the sheets were huge! I could probably make 30 sleeping masks with that cloth. And for only $12, this was definitely a good deal. Another thing that's great to buy here is gift bags and gift boxes to hold presents. They have a ton of cute designs and they're inexpensive too! The $12 shop really is a one stop shop for all your shopping needs. I really enjoy shopping here because the aisles are wide and the shop never gets too crowded. I will say that I'm a little hesitant to try some of their things though. I haven't quite gathered up the courage to try their $12 eye shadow and $12 lipstick - but maybe someday!

I have been going to the Prada outlet in Ap Lei Chau from time to time over the years. If you…read moreyourself have done the same, make the following note on this 2017 new Prada outlet in Florentia Village in the New Territories...IT IS GIANT COMPARED TO AP LEI CHAU! I was actually at the Prada outlet in Ap Lei Chau, when I saw the sign at the check out counter indicating that there was a new store that had opened in Kwai Hing in 2017. The staff at Ap Lei Chau also indicated that it was much larger compared to their store. So my husband and I took the MTR out to Kwai Hing and then walked the 10 minutes or so to the Prada outlet store, located inside the Florentia Village outlet center (also new in 2017). It is not hard to find, although you will feel like Kwai Hing is in the middle of nowhere a bit. The Prada store has a lot of inventory. Really more clothes and shoes (both men's and women's) than really leather goods and handbags, although there is a big selection of those items too. The selection of women's clothes is extensive. With that being said, the discount level can vary based on what you are looking at. Most items are discounted on the low end at 20% and at 80% on the high end. The bigger discount items are located in the spots with the sign "special price." In those sections, the discount can be anywhere between 50-80% and maybe limited in sizes or "last one." But be sure to check prices on items not in those designated spots as well, because it is almost like a Crazy 8 ball, you really don't know the discount until you flip shoes over and pull tags behind collars. My husband walked out with a pair of pants, normally $3000HKD for $1500 and I bagged a pair of shoes normally $4300HKD for $750 (last pair, my size...score!) There is a lot of staff there to help with sizes and pull stuff from the high shelves. There is also a selection of items by Miu Miu as well. There is also a significant men's section, which my husband was happy to see. So a great Prada outlet and worthy of a visit if you are a devout follower like me to the brand.

So being new to the U Select Discount Store brand, I discovered this new spot is a grocery…read morestore/discount store in which a third of their product is from Tesco. Then come to discover that Tesco is one of the world's largest retailers (on-line and retail outlets) that sells discounted products around the world. I think it started in England, but dont hold me to that. My regular Fusion grocery is right around the corner from this U Select location (which has two addresses, because it can be accessed from inside the Food Center entrance off Queen's Road or as I did from the street off Bonham Strand), so I thought I would check it out. This spot is not as extensive as a regular grocery, meaning that you will find stuff, but maybe a limited selection. For example, you can find olive oil and they sell it at a discounted price, but there are only two brands. Or if you are looking for cottage cheese, they did not have it, but they have lots of cheese or dairy items (maybe sometimes they have it and sometimes they do not). They do sell wine, fruits and veggies and dairy. They have a frozen section and household goods too. You do see the Tesco brand throughout the store. The store is set up as one one long space with two aisles. It is organized and clean, but not bursting with options.. I bought a package of blueberries from Chile for $19HKD and a bottle of French Pinot for $115HKD. Both a bargain, but they did not have the other stuff I needed, so I still went to Fusion around the corner.

天域家居 (Horizon Household Goods?) is less of a "Super Store" as it is a discount store meets…read moreprofessional hoarder. Located on the outskirts of Wanchai, it is a semi-all-in-one household goods store. This is hardly a Bed Bath and Beyond, but more like the "Made In China but looks Japanese" product lineup. It is easily one of the most disheveled, disorganized places I've seen. The electronic cluster stores in Computer City may be claustrophobic, but it's at least better organized than this place. Stuff is on the ground and piles of plastic / metal whatever is either hanging from a rack or is stuffed in a pile somewhere. Most things aren't properly labelled and the aisles are a total crapshoot if you have something specific in mind. Ask the lady behind the faux-register and she'll likely be able to point you in the right direction. The place is cash only, but depending on the item, is not cheap enough to be a true discount store. It is nothing like the MUJI chain, but it is a mom and pop business that is completely no frills. Come in here with minimal expectations and be ready to browse (a lot). You may surprise yourself in what you'll discover.

I went down the stairs to Living Plaza yesterday evening, thinking it was a supermarket store and…read moreinstead I found an 'everything else' market. It reminded me of the 'one euro' shops back home where you could find miscellanea of things. Just like here: stationery, flip flops, household products, make up, kitchenware and tableware, snacks even...I could only see price tags in some shelves and couldn't believe everything on those ones was priced at 12HKD! But it was. As I am planning to make pretty pictures of my meals, I looked for a nicely decorated plate - even though it's not a big space, they manage to accommodate a ton of different things in there and the tableware ones really good for such a store. The plates have a cute design and the materials are good quality, but they were a little too small (mainly side plates and bowls), so it didn't work for me. I went to have a look at the cleaning products instead, so cheap! I got a couple of wet towel boxes for the gym (also at 12HKD!). Some of the things they sell (especially plastic-made) looked too cheap/bad quality, but they may make for a good temporary solution (hangers, holders, etc.). And they also sell some Japanese snacks - I love the seaweed thin slices, and I actually found one with no added ingredients - and beverages. You may be able to find better deals (value for money) at Japan Home Centre, where the quality is a little higher for things like kitchenware but for the rest, head to Living Plaza.

Great place to escape the heat and find some good eats in the Mong Kok area. Once you get past the…read morefirst few levels, the big glass windows and huge escalators raise you up to the higher levels.

Langham Place is a stunning, modern, multilevel shopping complex right in the heart of Mong Kok…read more The futuristic architecture and massive indoor escalators are definitely impressive. However, this shopping centre gets intensely packed. We visited on a Monday, and it was still way too crowded inside. The combination of the heavy crowds and the unique spiral layout actually made me feel a bit dizzy while navigating the floors. On the plus side, there is a great variety of shopping options, from upscale retailers to trendy boutiques, along with a movie theater and plenty of standalone restaurants. That being said, the actual food court area felt surprisingly small for a mall of this scale. We ultimately didn't spend much time here because it was a bit overwhelming, and we preferred to walk around the vibrant open-air spots nearby in Mong Kok. It is worth a quick look for the design, but be prepared for major foot traffic.