We saw that there was an art installation of Grand So at this store, so we wandered to OVO and…read morecheck it out. This review is based on our experience at OVO Studio. Although it took us asking some questions of the nice staff person, we figured out the OVO brand in Hong Kong. So under the OVO umbrella, there is 1) OVO Home (modern, high end, custom made, oriental based furniture - located at 16 Queen's Road) 2) OVO Garden (floral design - located at 1 Wanchai Road) 3) OVO Cafe (vegetarian cuisine and coffee cafe - located at 1 Wanchai Road and also at 173 Des Voeux Road Central) 4) OVO W Hotels (OVO has a partnership with and operates the gift shop at the W Hotel in Hong Kong) 5) OVO Studio (some furniture, lighting, art, jewelry, pillows, gift ideas, etc. - located at 1 Wanchai Road OVO Studio carries a variety of simple chic and cutting edge contemporary collections designed for home or gifts. We thought this store was amazing, current, up to date and was up our alley on all things home decor, contemporary and cool. From hand made throw pillows of the animals of the zodiac to unique jewelry to funky cake plates and urban lighting and fun furniture....they have two floors of all sorts of fun things for the home. They also had an exhibition of the local artist Grand So, which we thought was a cool use of the space to add to their product line. The building where OVO is located was once a local market, so we enjoyed showing patronage to any company that embraced urban renewal and reuse of an old building.

My family comes to this optical shop because of its affordable prices and large selection. It is in…read morea smaller building, away from the MTR station. We have actually been coming here for years, I almost always get a new pair of glasses every time I return to HK. It is much more affordable to buy glasses in HK than in the US (even with vision insurance!). I picked out a pair of glasses, with the prescription lens and the frame, my total was about $1000 HKD (about $127 USD). My brother purchased some prescription sunglasses and regular glasses. They have a variety or brands and some frames as cheap as $300 HKD. They sometimes can have your order finished by the end of the day or the next business day. Mine was ready the next business day afternoon (we ordered on a Friday early afternoon). The overall process is quick, easy, and no-fuss. Prices are competitive and they give you some lens cleaning cloths as well!

I was delighted that the owner Vincent did not push me to buy new glasses when my frames broke. He…read morepicked out all the frames that would allow him to transfer my lenses at no cost except for the new frame. In addition he did an excellent repair job on my second pair of glasses without any charge, and I now can wear those without them falling off. A really helpful and skilled man who is not pushing to sell, but to oblige. Recycle, repair and save the planet!!

Inside Melbourne Plaza is an entire floor dedicated to opticians, with a whole slew of mom and pop…read moreglasses shops. One in particular is my favourite, William's Optical Co. in Melboure Plaza. To be fair, they are much of a muchness compared to all the other opticians. They sell a range of glasses, from Ray Bans to cheap Chinese brands, contact lenses form all the big manufacturers, can get any of the specialist lenses - all fairly standard stuff. However, the husband and wife owners are so friendly, I find myself going back for the banter alone! It's also easy to get an appointment there, I often just walk-in and find that I can get an eye test. What I do particularly like about these folks is that they are a bit more logical and flexible with their operation. Anyone who has tried to shop in HK will have come across the "so solly, cannot, la" attitude of the staff, and I put this down to an inability for people to think for themselves. Here, they are able to make practical and sensible decisions to better my customer experience, which I wholeheartedly welcome. Let me give you an example; I wanted to buy some specialist contact lenses, which have a three day order time on them. It just so happened that someone else had ordered exactly the same lenses, and they were ready in store for their collection. However, this customer was out of HK, and not due to collect for another week, so the optician gave me their lenses and ordered another set for them. Made a lot of sense, I got my lenses immediately, the other customer got a fresh from manufacturer set, everyone's happy. This shop is "can do, la"!

Lenscrafters- bit of a fancy name for a local opticians don't you think? That was before I knew…read moreLenscrafters were actually an international chain with shops in the US and Canada. That was the first time when I understood how it has suddenly become so upmarket. They weren't cheap before in the first place and I would dare to add that they were quite a snobbish choice as opposed to your local neighborhood shops. With this particular name change in mind, you won't find any students deals nowadays as they try to focus on getting the higher end brands in: Tag Heuer, Alain Mikli and Starck just to name a few. I'm a sucker for glasses- my eyes aren't actually that bad but wearing them makes me feel that much more confident and it does help when I'm doing....this actually. So I'm really picky about what I wear, what they look like and the weight etc. Lenscrafter's policy of letting you try on everything in the shop is a bonus for people like me because it takes me ages to choose a pair of glasses out from a million different ones. Any drawbacks? this particular shop is situated in a busy part of Shatin City Centre and most of the sales staff are too busy to tend to your calls. Maybe they recognize me by now...

I've been to 3D museum in Bangkok and it was so much fun, so when I learned that there's one in…read moreHong Kong I just have to visit!! I was warned that this place is small, so I know not to expect the two storey high gigantic backdrops I've seen before. The museum is actually not as tiny as I expected, but the backdrops are really small. They should find a building with taller space, and expand the drawings a few feet each way. Right now you have to be very careful not to include the outside area and the spot lights in your photos. Also, the low ceiling means that the light makes the seams between floor and walls more obvious. Another disappointment I have is that there are only a few scenes that are Hong Kong related. Otherwise it's over 90% related to One Piece. For people who are not anime fans, this just isn't very interesting. They seem to change their artworks regularly, many of the photos I saw in the reviews are no longer around. Nonetheless, we still have fun, and there is a nice guy who goes around showing us how to pose (he also snap pictures which hopefully you'll buy from him but there isn't much pressure.) Some scenes posted a sample pics to give you an idea how to post but unfortunately a lot of them don't have one and left us rather clueless as to where we are supposed to stand. The 4 stars here is a bit generous but I do want this place to succeed and improve and see similar businesses opening up. You do need to have friends to go with you. And better some friend who's a perfectionist, instead of just pressing the shutter, to advise you where to stand, how to pose, and don't mind stepping around a bit to get at the perfect angle for the best effect. Useful tips: - they have lockers available but charge for it. - wear jeans/shorts but not dresses and skirts which are less gravity defying. - if you go on your birthday with a friend, it's $149 for two instead of $128 each.

Ahh so fun!!! Came here with my dad because he was the best at taking pics (girl gotta get that…read moreinsta pic right??) and surprisingly, we both had a great time!! They changed some of their pictures when I went (for example there wasn't a water wing) but it was still a great experience. They have different sections such as an area for One Piece and another one for HK lifestyle. There's an area where the place gets a bit crowded but I didn't care much for those backdrops so I just skipped ahead. We made two rounds around the place before leaving and it wasn't overwhelmingly long :) Came on a Saturday afternoon too! But...a huge crowd came in right after we left so thank god we left!

Took a Gander at this place this is like Shim Lim Plaza in Singapore. An arcade dedicated to all…read morethings technology. This is quite pervasive in all urban centers in Asia. It is a great shelter from the heat as well

If you are in need of anything video game, this is the place to be. I stop by here every time I am…read morein HK. They have everything you could imagine for your gaming purposes. If you are looking for old systems, there will be a vendor here for it. Building your own, someone here will build one for you. Though things have changed since the last time I was here about 4 years ago. There were only about 75% of the vendors left here who are selling games, and gaming accessories. There was a whole downstairs underground level to the shopping center, however most of it was all computer components. There was also a huge thing about selling multicades here. For those who don't know, it's a unit with hundreds to thousands of games preload into a single unit. Many of them now are full sized control units which just needs to be plug and play. Beware if you are taking it back home to another country. Some of these units may violate some copyright laws. Also, the power supply may be different at home than what you have in HK, so buyer beware for both of those. Overall, still worth the visit. It still took us a good 2 hours to visit all the stalls, even with less vendors here. We still walked out of there with a bag full of games and vintage games (a couple of original game boy and a neo-geo game).