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Category Archive for Hong Kong + Macau

Hong Kong shopping guide & travel tips! Cute panda cookies, Hello Kitty fashion, Uniqlo, Sogo.

hong kong shopping mall, giant cake

Hong Kong is all about eating and shopping. I did a bit of both on my most recent trip.

Read on for a peek inside the Chinese city’s cutest stores, and my latest Business Insider article about kawaii food.

japanese goth street style, atelier pierrot skirt

Sweet meets Gothic, in this Kowloon shopping mall.
Corset skirt: Atelier Pierrot, from Laforet Harajuku (see photos from inside this Tokyo department store)
Mary Jane shoes: Demonia

demonia shoes, goth girl hair, modeling

Hong Kong locals love to take photos with funny backdrops. Shopping centers often have displays, like this “Sweets Paradise” one in Kowloon, for that very purpose.

giant tea cup, tea party backdrop

Remember when my friends and I posed in the “Magician’s Liar” last year in Mongkok?

sushi art, big sushi backdrop

Japanese pop culture is extremely popular here, hence the “Sushi Oishii.”

hong kong shopping malls, hung hom

What do you think I’ll find on my plate?

black white burger, mcdonalds hong kong, rilakkuma buns

Hopefully not these “Black or White” burgers from McDonalds (dyed with squid ink, they look inedible). I prefer the cute Rilakkuma buns from 7-Eleven.

kee wah bakery, panda bear cookies, panda box

Better yet: these panda bear cookies from Kee Wah Bakery! I gave a box to Seby and to Naomi.

hong kong kawaii, sala store, accessories

I’ve taken you inside many of Hong Kong’s malls, but here are photos from a not-so-known area, Whampoa. It’s home to a boat-shaped department store and Treasure World.

cute rilakkuma toys, sanrio shop hong kong

Hong Kong’s my favorite place to pick up cute accessories (I just got a fat-cat bag and wallet). Characters such as Rilakkuma are plentiful, but prices are much cheaper than in Japan.

majolica majorca makeup, sasa, japanese cosmetic brands

I always stop by the cosmetics chain, SaSa. You can get Japanese makeup brands and gyaru eyelashes for half the Tokyo price.

hello kitty kilara shop, sanrio hong kong

You know Hello Kitty is popular when she has her own store, a collaboration with KiLaRa.

hello kitty purse, clothing, red bow shoes

In addition to casual wear, the shop has red-bowed purses, shoes…

hello kitty hair clips, bow headbands

…and tons of kawaii accessories.

monchichi monkey jewelry, sogo department store

Monchichi monkey jewelry is sold in the Japanese department store, Sogo (it has locations in Causeway Bay and Tsum Sha Tsui).

liz lisa pink floral skirts

Also in Sogo: the girly-lace-romantic-pop brand, Liz Lisa.

gyaru purse, magazines

Clear purses and scalloped fabric are currently in. (Compare these Liz Lisa photos to the ones I took last year.)

hong kong liz liza boutique

The crochet garments are great for layering (I bought the white one on the middle mannequin).

wario tshirt, exotic shorthair cats pet store

Often, I find bizarre-cute items (like this Wario shirt) simply by wandering around. In Causeway Bay, there’s a “squish-faced cat store” — a pet store that specializes in Exotic Shorthair kitties!

sanrio and uniqlo collaboration, hello kitty tshirts

It’s a Hello Kitty world. We only live in it.

my melody tshirts, sanrio fashion uniqlo

Sanrio teamed up with Uniqlo for a tshirt and tank tops line.

panda bear purses, backpacks

I leave you with these panda bear bags. For more details about the various malls and brands, read my Hong Kong shopping posts.

china cute souvenirs, panda cookies

What do you think of Hong Kong’s clothing selection? Would you gobble up these panda biscuits?

cute bento box, hello kitty food

Speaking of – I have a new article in Business Insider, with 30 photo of kawaii food! Snoopy cakes, Hello Kitty bentos, mouse lattes and more.

cute cooking, kawaii food, charaben

In your opinion, who does cute cooking better, Hong Kong or Tokyo? If you’re intrigued by this food trend, I wrote a book about it that includes recipes: Cute Yummy Time. Bon appetit!

A big, cute rubber duck in Hong Kong’s Kowloon Harbour? Off to Eastern Europe with Eurail, in August!

hong kong duck, floating rubber ducky art

Ai-yah! Hong Kong’s being invaded by a giant (and ridiculously cute) yellow rubber duck! What shall we do?

big cute kawaii duck, tsim sha tsui marina

Strike a pose with it, of course. That’s the Asian way.

Keep reading for more silly photos of the floating ducky. But first, let me announce my next journey

travel bloggers press trip, eurail train map

I’ve teamed up with Eurail.com, and they’re sending my filmmakers and me on a journey to Eastern Europe! We’ve dubbed it… “Eurail-Vision.”

This railway company specializes in all-access Europe passes — meaning you can hop across the continent, and visit up to 28 countries, with a single train ticket. Eurail has just launched a Japanese site, and I’m excited to give the service a whirl.

eurail railway map, routes, eastern european countries

Since our schedules are tight and we’ve seen most of Western Europe, my team and I decided to do an Eastern circuit beginning in Vienna. Our First Class Global Passes arrived with this map to help plot our route. Going clockwise, we’ll hit: Vienna (Austria), Bratislava (Slovakia), Budapest (Hungary), Belgrade (Serbia), Zagreb (Croatia), and pass through Slovenia on the way back to Wien.

Of course, we’ll document our journey for you via travel videos, blog and social media. Be sure to add @lacarmina and @eurail so that you won’t miss out. (All links to my social networks are in the footer and top right sidebar.)

rubber duck, hong kong, kowloon harbour

Do you think the mega-duck will follow me to Europe? This charming work by Dutch conceptual artist, Florentijn Hofman, has traveled to 12 global cities since 2007.

Florentijn Hofman, Floating Duck Sculpture

In early June, I visited the duck before he floated away from Hong Kong. The kawaii-loving locals went crazy over this attraction.

rubber duck sculptures, statues

Kowloon Harbour was packed with camera-wielding spectators, especially families. (This same location held the 100 Doraemon statues last year.)

inflatable duck statue, bizarre hong kong

Funny story: at one point, the duck deflated! Thankfully, someone plumped him back up again.

hong kong kids, chinese statue

A typical Chinese scene: the caretaker struggles to shield the child from the sun with a parasol.

funny asian child, kid crying

This girl doesn’t look very happy to be sandwiched by a row of baby ducks.

kowloon harbor art exhibit, chinese weird

And this woman… has no idea how to pose.

hong kong rubber duck deflates

Let the fashion blogger show you how it’s done. (Sunglasses are Dolce & Gabbana; top is Banana Fish from Closet Child.)

Did the cute duck photos make you squeal? Got recommendations for my upcoming trip (Vienna, Zagreb, Budapest, Belgrade, Bratislava)? I’m especially looking for hip, emerging places to feature. Let me know in the comments or contact me!

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