Shopping in Tsim Sha Tsui (October 2017)
This short shopping guide for Tsim Sha Tsui is based on the shops that are located at a walkable distance from the Kowloon Harbourfront hotel shuttle bus drop off spot and my trip to Hong Kong in October, 2017. It was also the first few days in Hong Kong, so I really suppressed my urge to buy things. I didn't want to travel around Asia with heavy luggage, therefore I postponed the most of my shopping to the last couple of days in Hong Kong, before I returned to the Netherlands. I only allowed myself to buy not too expensive, light, and not too bulky items. Mostly, I did some window shopping and I made up a wish list of things that I wanted to buy.
There are many shopping malls in Tsim Sha Tsui, but these are the most noteworthy for me:
- Harbour city mall. Huge mall with high end fashion brands and cosmetics, Korean cosmetics, and Shibuya 109, but watch out for low ceilings in some places, which can make you feel claustrophobic.
- Silvercord mall. Ippudo ramen, Ajisen ramen, and Peach John underwear shop.
- China Hong Kong city mall. Nothing special, but you can find some good deals at the couple of mainstream fashion outlet stores. I wouldn't go out of my way to go there, but if you are close by and you have some time to spare, you could go have a look.
- SOGO Tsim Sha Tsui store. Japanese department store with a food basement.
- iSquare mall. For me, it is mostly interesting for the restaurants
- The ONE mall. Japanese fashion brands and AEON MaxValu Prime Premium Supermarket
- Mira Place mall. Japanese fashion brands, 6ixty 8ight underwear store, GU fashion store, MUJI, UNIQLO, and Playstation PlayGround.
After all the shopping, we were in the neighborhood of Jordan and during our last visit to Hong Kong, we discovered a cute, little bakery with traditional Hong Kong pastry there. I really loved their affordable wife's cakes (老婆餅) and egg tarts (蛋撻), which were often freshly out of the oven. I think they were about HK$5 per piece and late in the afternoon/early evening, it becomes even cheaper than that.
We bought four egg tarts, so that we each could have one for breakfast the next morning. It tastes the best, freshly out of the oven, but it is still nice the next day too.
In the evening, we shared this giant muffin - also from the Bakery King - as dessert. It isn't super soft and fluffy as the Hong Kong paper cup cakes, but it has a nice egg flavor and you get a lot for your money.
Shopping malls
There are many shopping malls in Tsim Sha Tsui, but these are the most noteworthy for me:
- Harbour city mall. Huge mall with high end fashion brands and cosmetics, Korean cosmetics, and Shibuya 109, but watch out for low ceilings in some places, which can make you feel claustrophobic.
- Silvercord mall. Ippudo ramen, Ajisen ramen, and Peach John underwear shop.
- China Hong Kong city mall. Nothing special, but you can find some good deals at the couple of mainstream fashion outlet stores. I wouldn't go out of my way to go there, but if you are close by and you have some time to spare, you could go have a look.
- SOGO Tsim Sha Tsui store. Japanese department store with a food basement.
- iSquare mall. For me, it is mostly interesting for the restaurants
- The ONE mall. Japanese fashion brands and AEON MaxValu Prime Premium Supermarket
- Mira Place mall. Japanese fashion brands, 6ixty 8ight underwear store, GU fashion store, MUJI, UNIQLO, and Playstation PlayGround.
GU fashion store in Mira place mall
I heard that GU opened their first two stores in Hong Kong in 2017 and I was really curious about this trendy fashion brand, which is a sister brand of UNIQLO. It promises the same quality that you can expect from UNIQLO, but instead of basics, you can find more trendy and hip items. I bought this black, knitted, v-neck vest with embroidered pink flowers for just HK$149. In reality, the vest is a lot blacker than in the picture and it makes the pink flowers really pop. Besides this vest, I also picked out a pair of leggings and a pair of velvet pants for my mom. Because I spend over a certain amount, I received a cute little box with a cookie in it for free with my purchase. On the cookie, there is a moon and a bunny, which is in the theme of the Chinese Mid-Autumn festival that was around the corner. The cookie had a delicious buttery flavor and it was very crunchy.Bakery King 飽餅皇
After all the shopping, we were in the neighborhood of Jordan and during our last visit to Hong Kong, we discovered a cute, little bakery with traditional Hong Kong pastry there. I really loved their affordable wife's cakes (老婆餅) and egg tarts (蛋撻), which were often freshly out of the oven. I think they were about HK$5 per piece and late in the afternoon/early evening, it becomes even cheaper than that.
Bakery King has 4 shops in Hong Kong:
- Jordan road 37, Kowloon, Hong Kong (5 min. walk from exit A, Jordan MTR station)
- Shanghai street 133, Kowloon, Hong Kong (a block away from the Jordan road shop)
- Tak Man Street, shop 36C, Hung Hom, Hong Kong (2 min. walk from exit B, Whampoa MTR station)
- King's road 263, North Point, Hong Kong (3 min. walk from exit B, Fortress Hill MTR station)
We bought four egg tarts, so that we each could have one for breakfast the next morning. It tastes the best, freshly out of the oven, but it is still nice the next day too.
In the evening, we shared this giant muffin - also from the Bakery King - as dessert. It isn't super soft and fluffy as the Hong Kong paper cup cakes, but it has a nice egg flavor and you get a lot for your money.
The Kowloon Harbourfront hotel shuttle bus
The Kowloon Harbourfront hotel shuttle bus dropped us off at Middle road 18, Tsim Sha Tsui (you might want to bookmark or save this address somewhere, if you are new to Hong Kong and you want to take the shuttle bus back to the hotel). I remembered the exact spot by knowing that I should see the East Tsim Sha Tsui MTR L3 exit in front of me and the Sogo Tsim Sha Tsui store is on the far right. It isn't a drop off and pick up stop that is easily recognizable. There is also no cover to protect you from the scorching sun or places to sit in the whole street, so the wait can be quite exhausting and hot. That's why, you should take a picture of the hotel shuttle bus schedule and store the picture in a easy to find place on your mobile phone, so that you can open and look at it whenever you need it. Be there about 5 minutes before the shuttle bus comes, so that you don't have to wait for too long. Also, make sure that you check if it is the right shuttle bus before you get in, as it is a drop off and pick up stop for many hotels in the area with also "Kowloon" and/or "Habour" in their names, so it can get confusing. Every person needs to take their room card out beforehand, as you need to show it to the driver. You should keep it in one of your side pockets in your bag or coat, so that you don't have to turn your whole bag upside down to find it.If you find it too much hassle to look up the bus schedule in your mobile phone, you can also remember that the shuttle bus leaves from the hotel (-:15, -:35, -:55) and picks you up at the Tsim Sha Tsui pick up point (-:10, -:30, -:50). It runs every 20 minutes from approximately 7:00 - 23:00.