A Certain Shade of Green

Hi Guys! I've finally found my shopping mojo in Hong Kong which is about time since it's almost 2 months into my stay here (one more month left!). It seems that they're mostly green purchases (the colour rather than the ethical kind unfortunately) which were all bought after work one evening when I visited Kwai Chung Plaza (open from 2.30-10pm) and picked up a few things. Kwai Chung Plaza is located opposite Kwai Fong MTR and is a little out of the way from my usual haunts but it's nice to be back in this chaotic and random mall which is full of street food, phone shops, a SaSa outlet, dentists, Chinese doctors as well as clothes shops. The picture below is a shot of the lowest level which is the most markety of them all so probably not the best example but it gives you an idea of how crazy/random this place is.

Aside from the markety type shops there are a myriad of boutiques which are all maze-like and retracing your steps to a shop you saw earlier is no easy feat. I visited last summer with my sister (mentioned here) but only picked up some Instax film back then. This time, I discovered that among the cheap, poor quality shops there are a few places which stock better quality clothes from Japan/Korea. Perfectly suited to the part of me that is a sucker for prints, collars and girly styles.The best floors are the highest levels 3 and 4 which are similar to the usual malls in Causeway Bay/TST/Mong Kok but er...a little less orderly.

 Dress (HK-Kwai Fong), Cardi (M&S) Collar (HK) Bag (HK- Kwai Fong) Shoes (Zara)

Ahh terrible picture quality I know, my little camera really struggles with the lighting in HK but you get the gist with the dress. The high rise apartments here have little natural light and is overlooked by skyscrapers and other residential buildings. A part of me quite misses the clearer air, clearer skies and lack of skyscrapers in the UK...but only a little! It pretty much sucks to take outfit photos indoors here so I've taken some slightly better detail shots below. 

I really love the print and the detail on this dress which was totally worth all the rummaging around the shops. Especially how the pleats are a little more sparse at the bottom, creating a bit of a flare to the skirt. I wore the above outfit to work on Friday which is our dress down day- I usually opt for jeans but I HAD to wear my new dress which is smart enough for normal work wear. Such a pretty colour and cost me $279/£22. Not too shabby.

I managed to take some outdoor shots in a spot my family and I always pass when we have Dim Sum in the Tai Koo area. Not that my outfit is anything special but I wanted to show you the new bag I bought which is also from Kwai Chung Plaza.

Cardi (Topshop) T-shirt (Monki) Jeans (BDG) Earrings (GoGo Philip)

My bag is a bit of a fast fashion fix and it was a meager $199 which is about £15. It's not going to last me forever but I really liked the colour and size and well, it was pretty cheap!

The mall is FAR cheaper than the malls at Causeway Bay/TST which is probably reflected in the fact that it's located further out from popular shopping locations. I mentioned last Summer about the very local vibe about the place and that it's a bit hit and miss. However it's worth a visit if you have time and patience to navigate around the mall and ignore all the cheapy boutiques. You're unlikely to leave this mall empty handed even if it's just a street snack of Siu Mai on skewers (yummm) and  a cup of Taiwanese bitter melon juice (so tempted to try this) it's definitely better to visit on a week day as it gets busy during after work hours and I personally wouldn't choose to visit at the weekend. I had a much better experience this time compared to my last visit and I am definitely making a return visit at some point. I would quite like another pretty dress!

Lastly, these umbrellas aren't mine unfortunately but they're pretty darn cute. They're random purchases my Aunt bought today at Apita (Japanese dept. store) as cute gifts for other people. The frog design is pretty adorable and their little faces are guaranteed to make you smile!