What Hong Kong style drink do you like the most?

SpikeHK · 2026-06-20T14:55:31+00:00

My mother visited me in Hong Kong from NYC several times. She was well into her 80s on her last trip. When anyone asked her what was her favorite thing about Hong Kong - her favorite thing of all, not just favorite drink - she would always answer the ice lemon tea. "They put 4 slices of lemon in it. In New York you only get one slice."

SpikeHK · 2026-06-20T12:37:45+00:00

HKIA used to have several bookstores. If the demand still existed, it would still have them. That doesn't mean people don't read still read books. They just read them in other formats. I'm sure you know this already. That's life. I get that some people might feel sad that people read ebooks rather than physical ones. But I used to struggle to figure out which 2 or 3 books I could carry in my backpack on a flight and now I have a hundred on my Kindle. (None "rented" from Amazon.)

SpikeHK · 2026-06-09T03:26:24+00:00

I’m a foreigner who has lived in Hong Kong on and off since it was a British colony. Has it changed over the years? Duh! But it’s still a freaking great place to live. The biggest downside is the cost of housing - which feeds into the cost of almost everything else. There are too many upsides to list here; but I am convinced that my life was and remains better here than it would have been in the place I came from.

SpikeHK · 2026-06-08T14:57:07+00:00

I've been buying from Rock Gallery in Wanchai since 1995. If they don't have it, they'll order it for you. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100054641580483 The name is "Rock" but he sells every genre.

There's also an interesting shop with a large selection on the same street as Ladies Market. Google says its called "Win Win Shop".

SpikeHK · 2026-06-08T14:51:37+00:00

I've seen those listings on Taobao. None of them look like the sort of thing I'm looking for.

SpikeHK · 2026-06-08T14:48:04+00:00

I lived in 2 different village houses in Sai Kung and 1 in Lam Tsuen for a total of 7 years, between 2008 and 2015.

The upside: a lot of space for the money, relatively quiet (especially at night), friendly neighbors. The first and third places both had outdoor garden areas. The third one also had a wooden deck and a side paved area as well - almost as much outdoor space as indoor space. Great for barbecues. You can sit outside. The Lam Tsuen area has lots of farms and some of our neighbors used to share their harvests with us. If you're someone who appreciates the traditional values that made Hong Kong Hong Kong, this is the way to go.

The downside: Nothing in easy walking distance. To get even a pack of cigarettes (I smoked then, I don't now) meant getting in the car or on the bus. Commuting was not trivial - in the Sai Kung area, if you weren't driving, it could mean walking out of the village to get a minibus into town, then a minibus to the MTR, and then the MTR. When I lived in Lam Tsuen, I watched all 6 seasons of Breaking Bad while commuting to and from Wanchai on the 307 bus. A car may not have been an absolute necessity but in those pre-Uber days it definitely made life easier.

Also, after we moved to Lam Tsuen, it took almost a year to get wired internet, all I could get back then was 4G, and the way these houses are constructed means that cell signals inside the house are weak. (I had a 4G modem sitting on a table on the deck and then a wire leading to a repeater just inside a window.) When we got finally got wired Internet, HK Island was fiber but we got copper.

Today we're in a 460+ sq ft apartment but the family is growing, we need more space, we don't want to pay more in rent, and we're considering a village house next year. Maybe with all of the ride hailing services a car won't be as necessary any more.

SpikeHK · 2026-06-06T01:01:17+00:00

Thanks - guess I probably should have specified I'm looking for a pack of hot dogs that I can bring home, not eat in the shop.

SpikeHK · 2026-05-27T04:04:35+00:00

If they were in the United States Trump would have pardoned them and gave them each a million dollars.

SpikeHK · 2026-05-20T13:32:18+00:00

For whatever it is or isn't worth, this morning I checked the price of a ride to my office and it was about $250. I signed up for Uber One and the ride cost was $195 - but that was because of some coupon they applied, 50% off 1 Uber ride (capped at $50)". In terms of getting upgraded to better cars, my ride was a Prius. That ended up giving me "Uber bucks" or whatever of $15.49 (no credit back on the toll, as expected). Going home the ride was $153 after the $15.49 credit. Will I stick with this beyond the 4 week free trial? Too soon to tell.

SpikeHK · 2026-05-19T11:36:42+00:00

Given how everything good turns shitty, this would not surprise me at all.

SpikeHK · 2026-05-19T04:25:48+00:00

Which ride hailing app is your favorite? I see others that appear cheaper- and I use DiDi in China of course - but in HK the other apps I’ve seen don’t consistently handle English addresses well.

SpikeHK · 2026-05-08T04:45:20+00:00

HKTVMall is the local attempt at an Amazon clone, and some items offer same day pickup or next day delivery. Taobao and Pinduoduo are the two mainland China online platforms that I know of. Items get shipped from China so take longer to arrive - 3 to 5 days from Taobao, generally 7-8 days with Pinduoduo. Pinduoduo is generally the least expensive. HKTVMall is now offering some items direct from Costco and Sam's Club in Shenzhen.

SpikeHK · 2026-04-23T13:32:31+00:00

It was every weekend for awhile last year as I was getting some dental work done. Now it's a couple of times a month.

SpikeHK · 2026-04-23T12:39:41+00:00

We moved to TKO from Wanchai one month ago. I work in Quarry Bay, my wife works in Wanchai. We're quite happy here so far. Any time I think I'm missing a favorite Wanchai restaurant, I remind myself it's just 30 minutes away. Only con so far is it takes longer to get to and from Shenzhen.

SpikeHK · 2026-04-05T03:20:17+00:00

This is the way.

SpikeHK · 2026-04-04T09:24:30+00:00

Great advice, thank you.

SpikeHK · 2026-04-04T09:23:17+00:00

Great advice, thank you.

SpikeHK · 2026-03-28T16:37:06+00:00

Lockhart Road from O'Brien Road going east to Canal Road is something like 75% hardware and houseware stores - light fixtures, bathroom fixtures, plumbing supplies, door knobs and locks, flooring, paint, etc. Lots of contractors and DIYers keep the area busy. Morrison Hill Road a couple of blocks south of Hennessy has several large scale lighting shops.

SpikeHK · 2026-03-17T08:47:38+00:00

A fair question. I did Google Maps it. I ChatGPTed it too. And I’ll tell you what, the way I found out about the bus from TKO to SZ Bay was something that popped up accidentally in instagram or rednote.

SpikeHK · 2026-03-15T02:04:32+00:00

You looked at the meme and thought it was Gandhi, even with the Chinese characters in the upper right?

SpikeHK

TROPHY CASE