HK Day 2 Part Deux: so many shops, so little money.

Now where were we. Ahh, still in the Central District in Hong Kong.

 

As we continued to walk around, we got ourselves acquainted with quite a few interesting shops.  This one is called Eleven After Eleven.  They sold mostly menswear but I enjoyed the shop nonetheless.

 

A skincare brand for men whose packaging I adore.

Eleven After Eleven is located at No. 12A Elgin St., Central,  Hong Kong.

I love these Art Nouveau-inspired posters that lined most of the walls in the area.  I think these were invites to a New Year's Party.

At this point we were walking around Hollywood Road, checking out the art galleries.  There was even a man who did his thing out in the street.

I commend you, kuya.

Very near where he was standing was where we found solace and heat, and much needed rest for our very tired feet.

The place is called the Blue Butcher. I'm reading their site now as I blog and apparently the place is loaded with good reviews. I certainly liked the vibe of the place but they didn't serve food til 6pm, I believe, and we were there in the afternoon.  I was in an alcohol-drinking mood nonetheless, because my nose, my fingertips, my toes were freezing. And also because their big sign said they had eggnog. I love eggnog! Especially with alcohol.

Check out the lights! The whole set up of the place! I like it a lot.

 

Vintage tiles.

I got the spiced rum eggnog. I was a bit disappointed they served it really cold, I would have wanted it hot. But it was heavy with rum, just the way I like it.

The Blue Butcher Bar and Restaurant is at 108 Hollywood Road, Central District, Hong Kong.  If you want to check out their menu, they have downloadable editions in their website.

A little ways down the road, perpendicular to Hollywood Road is Cat Street where you will find all these awesome antique trinkets.  They have Mao memorabilia to vintage water bottles to opium pipes to vintage porn photos. 

The vagina/penis ring! Haha.

Then we hopped on to another MTR to find our way toward the Wan Chai/Star Street Area, where the hip and beautiful shops were, as if those we were in weren't already cute enough. I liked walking around though, even if my feet were killing me.  Walking around leads me to seeing stuff like these:

 And then eventually, after much more walking and exploration of side streets, we see this:

The hipster version of Healthy Options.

The wall that faced it was lovely.  And it led us to yet another beautiful store. W.D.S.G. Art and Craft Department is a beautiful, very beautiful boutique located in No. 9 St. Francis Street, Wan Chai, Hong Kong. Everything in the shop seems to be crafted to perfection.  The main entrance leads you down to the basement, where all the marvelous things were--hand crafted jeans, restored vintage furniture, even skincare.  At some point they told me that taking photos weren't allowed but I've already taken enough to show you.

Turns out, the Monocle Shop was just right around the corner.  This was the shop we were originally looking for.  I've always loved Monocle's aesthetic and well, wouldn't it be cool to just work there? The building where the shop is doubles as the office/headquarters of the magazine. Fun!

The Monocle Shop is located at Shop 1, U/G, Bo Fung Mansion, 1-4 St. Francis Yard, Wan Chai.

This whole area lead us to more shops! Each little street opened up to other hidden spots.  I'll show them to you in my next post! Hope this one was helpful to you, though! Let me know, ok! :) Love, W.

Hong Kong Day 2: Very very cold

From Tsim Sha Tsui, we rode the ferry to get to Central.  It was a freezing cold day.  When we got back to the hotel that night, we caught the news and apparently the last time temperatures got that cold in HK was 10 years ago.

Despite the cold cold cold weather though, it was a walking trip.  We rummaged around the area, found nice little shops and food and drinks.

Freezing in the ferry.

 

For brunch, I was trying to look for a 50s style vegetarian restaurant called Veggie SF in Stanley St. but we had a hard time trying to find it so we settled in this place called Miso Cool only to find out that it was in the same building as Veggie SF! We were done ordering the time I found out about this so oh well we stayed there.  The food servings were huuuuge though and my ramen was mighty good.  However, I must say that I'm not the biggest fan of ramen.  It's not that I don't like them, I just don't think I'll go around and look for them. So maybe if someday I do rave about ramen it could be hella good.  I did love their eggplant japanese-style and the half-boiled eggs.

Japanese half-boiled eggs

Wild mushroom ramen.

Meat things for J. Haha I forget what they were.

If this entices you at all, the Miso Cool branch we went to is located at 1/F, 11 Stanley Street, Central, 2868 3738.  They have two other branches here: Shop SLG8-9A, Sub lower G/F, Westlands Gardens, 2-10 Westlands Road, Quarry Bay 2565 1001 and Shop B231-B233, K11, 18 Hanoi Road, TST, 3122 4477.  If you're interested in the aforementioned and never found Veggie SF, here's the address: 10/F Stanley 11, No. 11 Stanley St., Central, Hong Kong. Huhu, let me know if it's any good!

A little ways down the road we spotted an Aesop store, which I loved but couldn't afford. I covet everything here though! They have the most amazing packaging and store design.  Dear universe, please give me makeup branding/packaging clients! Thank you, universe.
(By the way, if you're into makeup and all that, I have quite a few stories about my Hong Kong haul here.)

Ahh, one of the favorite shops I went in to: Premiere Pression Provence. It is tucked inside the narrow little Graham Street, where down the road I saw a street market, its stalls slowly being put up.

Just look at that branding. Lovely.

I'd love to get my hands on this cookbook.

The most beautiful part, it's a mix-your-own-olive oil shop! We tried so many kinds of olive oils, from the fruity to the woodsier range, but in the end we stuck to the olive oil set that came with 5 different varieties rather than mixing our own blend (which we feared might suck). I wasn't able to take a proper photo of the lavender honey I got for my new honey collection. (Last year I faced my new found affection for honey and started collecting one from each area I go to.) There was a balsamic vinegar area as well, and they had all these concoctions that just about blew my mind.

Olive oil candy!

We were given free samples of their own olive oil candy which was divine.  Premiere Pression Provence is located at 39 Graham Street, Central, Hong Kong. I think you must check this one out.

Just across the PPP boutique in Graham Street is this cute little boutique but I have no way of understanding what it says on its sign. If you do, please let me know.  They had washi tapes, the cutest ceramic stuff, japanese fabrics...sigh. This place was a dream. 

Perpendicular to Graham Street is another street which name escapes me but it had this curious shop called Vintage HK.  It had a wide assortment of vintage jewelry, clothes, shops and whatnot--definitely comparable to vintage shops in Cubao X, which I like.

There's more of my HK Day 2 Chronicles but I am resisting the urge to post everything in this one post.  Let's reserve a little more for later, shall we?  The other stores we went to are just as lovely! Definitely, definitely, inspired.  I want to put up my store/cafe someday. Love, W.