It is never easy to buy gifts for your friends or family, however, if you stumble upon a store that…read morehas such vivid and vibrant colours, I am sure you will not take much time to know what you are going to buy as a present. What I am saying is a store called Prints. I saw this store when I was just wandering around the Elements, for a mall filled with so many shops, this one is rather eye-catching. Normally I am not easily drawn to walk inside a store, but this one certainly caught my eyes that day. Enter and you will find yourself surrounded by all kind of colours, stationary and paper products. They have such bold and creative designs that cannot be found else where. You may also check out their instagram (@printsinternational) to see the latest designs. The best part is that the staff are super nice. They provide professional advice to cater your needs whether you are planning a party looking for invitation cards or simply looking for thank you cards. They will help you customise your cards, so that your gifts can be one of a kind. So worry no more about your choice of present, come here and have a look. It is easier than you think.

The first time I was in this store, I was delighted (I have an unhealthy obsession with stationery…read morestores). Then I realized the assortment. never. changes (well, I am estimating 80-90% of it). It is so stale (and has seemed roughly the same over the past few years!). The plain stationery cards and envelopes are reliable options but the merchandise range becomes extremely tiresome after a few visits (and is on the pricey side - no surprise given the chain's high-profile locations, I supposed).

I'm a huge puzzle nerd, and am so happy that this store has stood the test of time. I've been…read morecoming here for years to purchase puzzles - they have a wide range of selections and sizes to suit your needs. I also find that they keep up with popular trends in the city (gudetama, tsum tsum, etc), and will stock up on certain puzzle designs around those times. The puzzles all come with frames, but if you don't want the frame, they'll give you the puzzle at a cheaper price. You can also custom order frames, but it may take up to a few weeks to arrive. The owner is nice and clearly very enthusiastic about puzzles, and just might give you a discount if you do a little nudging.

They have renovated this place since I came in February 2014. They offer varieties of puzzles and…read morethe two times I stop by Hong Kong, I managed to get at least one Disney puzzle and a frame here. This place is located opposite the famous departmental store (Sogo). It is located on the 2nd floor (go up the escalator 3 times) and you will not miss it. Price for the puzzles is definitely cheaper than what I could get in Singapore. Sales lady was friendly and she is able to speak in mandarin if you cannot speak Cantonese. Do stop by this place if you enjoy fixing puzzles like I do ;)

Wonderland Superstore is my favorite toys store in Hong Kong. While you may get better prices on…read moreToy Street in Sham Shui Po, Wonderland has it all in one place. The minor higher prices keeps the cheap toy collectors away and items are actually in store. Their selection of action figures, Chogokins, hobby kits and Transformers are very good. I love their wide aisles and store displays. Service is always friendly.

Interesting fact - up until the age of 9, I was a part time resident of Baker Street. No, not the…read morerelatively new part of Baker Street near Whampoa Gardens, it was the other end of Baker street near Chatham road and the funeral parlors. Small, dinky overcrowded apartments in the old downtown core of Kowloon, close to light industrial shops (making aluminum fixtures is a thing there), and shops catering to the funerary industry - you know, coffins, flower arrangements, stuff like that. A dinky 300 square foot, one bedroom apartment were the home for 8 - the place for gramps, aunts and uncles. Before my Cantonese chef father decided to immigrate to the US, I used to stay with grandma at the old apartment during the weekends. At least by then most of the family have moved stateside to seek a better life. Being Hong Kongian means that we are born to run - we are mostly immigrants, and because of the modest beginnings and tight quarters, we all aspire to climb as quickly as possible, either through hard work, higher education, or both - the outward looking, open minded, creative, polite and hardworking Honker folks that we are today were underpinned by the blood and toil of those before us. I think that partially, that success was due to the rich assortment of toys that we have access to when we were young. Just think about it - we were taught since an early age to share, and that we are constantly bombarded by the latest trends in Europe, Japan and the states. We were mostly denied green space and fresh air, and at some point, our imagination will have to kick in to fill the void. You need toys to allow for a healthy outlet to your imagination. Back in the old days toy stores and stationery stores were pretty easy to come by - nowadays, you pretty much need a Facebook group to track their comings and goings - most places fail, some survive while others thrive. Take, for instance, Wonderland (this is their HQ/flagship store in Hung Hom near the MTR stop). It's a toy store, stationery store, and a place to pick up a bag of potato crisps. They can sell you that 800 HKD Authentic Lego set, a 500 HKD Gundam model from Japan, a 70 HKD TinyHK city bus (which looks like the real thing running on the road today, and everyone in HK has ridden a bus), a 30 HKD F-Toys trade model that you can build and put in a cabinet, all the American Girl models that you can shake a stick at, and you can certainly go inside for a notebook and a color pencil set to doodle upon. Basically, there is a thing for every price range and can fit anywhere. Hell, I've been to 3 Wonderland locations, and both me and the missus both agree that the pricing and breath of selections for toys and stationery is second-to-none when compared to the poor selections stateside (well, Tai Yuen street is close but it's not a one-stop shop). I've happily purchased plastic model building supplies, notebooks, model kits and TinyHK items in the store and bought it back stateside with me. For a high functioning adult with a high stress IT job, some of those items I got provide me with seemingly endless joy...and let's face it - joy and fulfillment of nostalgia or homesickness is the primary function of any great toy store, and Wonderland is a great toy store. I'll come back here again and again.

INTERNATIONAL ART SUPPLIES (H.K.) LIMITED has been established since 1960 as the first company in…read moreHong Kong specializes in art supplies. Being an agent of a number of world-class reputable brands of art supplies, our mission is to ensure that customers are satisfied with our high quality products and services. Our quality assurance brands include PANTONE®, LETRASET®, LETRACOPY®, OMNICROM®, LETRAMAX®, NIELSEN & BAINBRIDGE®, SIMAIR®, Daige®, 3M®.. etc. Being the sole agent of a number of color software, for example, PANTONE® COLORVISION Spyder, we ensure a wider range of quality products to meet the growing demand of computer production requirements from different customers, authorized CDs from different producers 6 Color®, ARTOCA®, GPC®, DAJ®, PhotoAlto®, Image Gap®, IMAGE DJ®, Veryimage®, Eastimagebank®.. etc. also ensure images of various sizes to fulfil the needs of every customers, PHOTOTONE® 4" X 5" SLIDE, BiSouth Studio®, NOVA® ART EXPLOSION Clipper Art, Computer Accessories ( LETRASET®, AVERY®, UNISTAT®, SHOGUN®, IMATION®.. etc.), Handicraft Products, Foam Board, C.P.B. Board and Exhibition Products are also provided in wide range of varieties. Our highly dedicated sales team are here to assist customers for any enquiries of our products before sales, taking orders at any time and finally our after sales services enables our customers effectively solve the problem and fully satisfy our products. Besides, our commitment from the delivery team ensures everything is delivered to the right place on time. The two branches in Hong Kong are located at Chai Wan, Hong Kong (main shop) and Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon . In view of the growth in China market, we have also set up branches in China and extended our professional services to the mainland. We are grateful for the continuous patronage of our customers in the past years. We are hereby sincerely promise to deliver our professional services with full customers satisfaction in the future.

I found out about this store ever since I started getting back into puzzling. I thought of doing…read morepuzzles again, since the pandemic is still going on about. Today was my first time visiting the store and I was amazed by the amount of puzzles that they have on their shelves. For a small store, they have a lot of puzzles to offer. Genres range from anime to Disney and there were even puzzles about maps and nature sceneries too! They have puzzle sets for all age groups, whether it's for your puzzling hobby or a gift for a relative. Moreover, the lady was very nice and she was very helpful with finding the puzzle my brother and I wanted. She was very sweet and welcoming. I highly recommend checking out this place if you ever want to try out puzzling or find challenging sets to your collection. Any puzzle lover out the there, try adding this place to your bucket list of to go's. At the end of of day, my brother and I were very happy when we showed the lady the image of our favourite anime. It's a Jojo's Bizarre Adventure 500 piece puzzle set. We came across the image when we went through their Facebook page. I also recommend checking out their socials (Puzzle Angel) too if you want to find any specific puzzle set of your interest.

Puzzle City is so far my favorite puzzle shop is Hong Kong. I'm not sure if this is the biggest…read morepuzzle shop in the city as the website said, but you can easily find puzzle in good price here. Compare to other puzzle shops, the price here is more reasonable, and there is always a special price area where puzzles are in really good prices. Maybe you will think those puzzles must be unpopular or too boring for sales. No! I used to find some Disneyland, Japanese anime or the classic western art work and all in good quality. I got a Heye German puzzle in 2000 pieces last time and guess how much, just $330! If you are looking for some old puzzles, come here to check, they have many brands and categories, you can easily find something unique here. Everything when I walk into the shop, I feel like I'm a child who is opening a Christmas box, so many surprises can be found in here. Another point to mention, not many puzzle shops sells puzzle more than 1000 pieces, but they have few here, the biggest one I saw is of 8000 pieces, will be a challenge but I do want to try. Oh, by the way, even the Mong kok shop is their branch shop but is way smaller and less puzzles to choose, go to the main shop if you are looking for a nice puzzle.

Central is the central business district of Hong Kong. For two MTR Stations' distance, there is a…read morefamous Toy Street named Tai Yuen Street in Wan Chai. No matter how old we are, Tai Yuen Street can evoke our happy childhood memories. It is because every toy from the latest marvel heroes' figures, limited edition Japanese figures to Tin Toy are available there. Apart from toys, there is also a great place to pick up seasonal decorations. In the weeks before Chinese New Year, Halloween and Christmas, they sell festival decorations, party outfits, and accessories. In addition, many people in Hong Kong believe that good Feng Shui can attract prosperity and ward off bad luck. Feng Shui decorating can be found there. Honestly, there are just less than 10 toy stores in Tai Yuen Street, even it is known as a famous toy street. For someone who has a tight schedule during a business trip in Hong Kong Island, the location is perfect.

See, there are many things that I love about Hong Kong - all that density makes up for a diverse…read morescenery, and all that commerce means everyone is at each other's throats for your business. If you are a savvy shopper, you pretty much know where to go for certain things. I know that if you want remote control cars or airsoft guns, you hit Kwong Wa street (廣華街) - if you want Legos, you hit In's Point (現時點). If you want a crap-ton of Japanese figurines, you hit Richmond Shopping Arcade (皆旺商場) or Sino Centre (信和中心). If you like diecast display planes, you hit West Main trading (西幹線玩具) near Prince Edwards MTR. If you want diecast buses, that's 80M bus shop, which has multiple locations in the territory. If you got the money you can try hitting the spiral at Langham Place (朗豪坊) if you want to check out the latest fashion accessories from Shinjuku or Seoul. Me, I like collectibles - stuff like Rement food kits, F-Toys trade models, little double decker buses like the stuff that TinyHK (微影) put together. I enjoy collecting stuff like that for the display cabinet back in New York. Now, normally, you can hit Wonderland Superstores (奇趣天地) all over Hong Kong, but you could end up paying a lot, and their selection is often meh. That brings us to Tai Yuen street (太原街). If you know your Hong Kong history, you would know that Lee Tung Street (利東街) used to be right next door - it's a 3 block long street of little print shops and stores that were the go-to spot for doing wedding invitations. The Urban Renewal Authority of Hong Kong (市建局) tore that entire street down and replaced it with a shopping mall, which gentrified the place but also killed a crapload of those little businesses. The URA is not known for being nice and understanding to the little shop owners, and none of them were invited back. Basically, Tai Yuen is a peek at what that area looked like in the past, and frankly, the place is a freaking jewel. Just wait until past noon if you want to see stuff bloom here. First, check out the intersection with Johnson Road (where the Tramways run), the stalls in the middle sells all sorts of stuff like the Japanese fortune kitties. One of the stallkeepers there also has a really nice diorama of a Hong Kong Dai Pai Dong and a couple of buses, so thats cool. Then there's the toy stores. Well, there's really only, like 6, but if you have to choose one, check out Hung Hing Toys (鴻興玩具), which spans 2 storefronts and has nearly everything, from Gashopons, to Giant Robo figurines, to Legos, and to TinyHK/F-Toys/Rement figurines that I like so much. The others are still rather nice, but not as extensive as Hung Hing. You also got stalls with trinklets, bags, and stuff like that. Note that the usual crapload of cheap gaudy ugly Mainland products (ala Lady's night market) are kept to a minimum here. Next, continue down the block - wanna try some snake soup? Se Wong Sun (蛇王燊) makes a decent meal out of them. Now, if you continue on down, you'll hit the market area on Cross Street - keep an eye out for a classically Hong Kong treat - Smith's Orange Jelly candy (史蜜夫鮮橙花軟糖), which is made by Smith's Candy company (史蜜夫糖果廠) out in the New Territories. It's the flavor that most Honkers grew up with, and there are usually at leas one candy peddler with bags of candies and a scale. They sell them by the pound, and you can mix and match. Smith's makes an Orange jelly, a Melon jelly, and the classic nougat. Keep an eye out for the produce markets nearby. If you want a real Hong Kong treat, hit Cross Street until you get to Spring Garden Lane, and then look for Kam Fung (41 Spring Garden Lane) - it's a decent with fresh out-the-door Bolo and Cocktail buns, and one of the best pre-blended iced milk tea in the Central district. I hope you took photos, because this is probably as good as it can get in terms of outdoor markets. This is also about as good as Hong Kong can get.

When we were visiting Hong Kong we stumbled upon the store with my girlfriend when we were…read moreexploring Sham Shui Po. The store is great, lots of selection of model kits and figures. But did have a bad experience. After I bought a TOMICA TOMY 的士, I explored the store a bit more, I noticed you guys have the TINY 的士, I asked if I can exchange for it and pay the difference. But the staff said I cannot because of store policy, but I didn't even leave the store yet and I just bought it like 5 mins ago. I don't understand why I can't simply do an exchange. I understand if I returned the next day, but I just bought it few mintues ago and I was still in the store. I hope you guys would change your policy.