Causeway Bay
If you haven’t heard of Causeway Bay, you are in for a treat. Given our permanent residence won’t be available for six weeks, Drew and I settled on a serviced apartment in a neighborhood on the north side of the island, about 15 minutes from downtown. We figured the down time is a great opportunity to further explore a new part of town.
Drew and I were out exploring this past weekend (our first) in Causeway Bay and stumbled into what appeared to be a conventional clothing store. What started as a search for a beauty product became a one hour ordeal exploring Hong Kong’s NINETEEN STORY Japanese-style department store, SOGO. Think Neiman Marcus meets Macy’s meets Sears meets Best Buy meets Williams Sonoma…the list could go on. From wine coolers to hospital beds, this place has it all.
Modern vertical living never ceases to amaze me. I know I’m new to this whole city life thing, but the way Hong Kong does it is pretty remarkable. SOGO is 400,000 square feet packed with thousands of people (even monsoons can’t deter these tenacious consumers).
As we wandered the [packed] streets of Causeway, one odd thing that stood out to both me and Drew (and made it even more difficult to navigate the streets of Causeway) were the flocks of people with suitcases. One would naturally assume they were headed to/from the airport. I later found out from a friend who grew up in Hong Kong that Causeway Bay is a popular weekend destination for residents of the PRC. They (and their suitcases) head to the second floor of the aforementioned SOGO to stock up on the latest Chanel handbags and Gucci sunglasses to avoid having to pay the luxury sales tax on these products if purchased in China. Causeway Bay is one of Hong Kong’s major shopping districts and home to numerous malls (not stores, malls). As my friend put it, “As a kid my mom loved me, but not enough to take me to Causeway Bay on a Sunday.” And here we were, on a Sunday, in the middle of Causeway Bay at SOGO. It’s safe to say we won’t be doing that again!
Times Square Mall in Causeway Bay
