A long line ahead of us this afternoon |
Cute signs hinting the length of time |
A long line ahead of us this afternoon |
Cute signs hinting the length of time |
Lee promoting a green Hong Kong with his policy address |
Many in Legco wore green in support of policy |
Can West Kowloon bring in droves of tourists? |
Shoppers are seeing shrinkflation in many items they buy |
Consumer watchdog released report Tuesday |
This cereal had the biggest drop in size |
Uselect supermarkets will be closing across Hong Kong |
More closures happening in Hong Kong with supermarket chan Uselect closing all of its locations because of the city's retail slump.
Uselect is owned by state-owned China Resources Group, and its closure comes days after its health product business CR Care announced it was shutting all 19 of its shops in November after 13 years in Hong Kong.
Uselect offered many UK-imported goods |
The supermarket chan had 100 locations in the city as recently as last year, but when it announced its closure on Sunday, only 40 were listed.
When the 2019 protests broke out, some protesters targeted mainland Chinese businesses, but they managed to survive through the Covid-19 pandemic too. But perhaps shoppers would rather patronise local businesses.
Other closures:
An American brand called Garrett Popcorn is closing all of its locations as well after calling it quits on Hong Kong after 13 years.
UA Cinemas has also shuttered its six theatres across the city, unable to recover after there were mandatory closures of the theatres in 2020 for 190 days.
The opening of Abercrombie & Fitch in 2012 |
Grocery chain Dah Chong Hong (DCH) Food Mart announced in March it was closing all 28 branches after 39 years in Hong Kong.
That said, Abercrombie & Fitch is coming back! There will be two locations, in Hysan Place in Causeway Bay and New Town Plaza in Sha Tin. The American fashion brand returns to Hong Kong eight years after it left Pedder Street where it paid an exorbitant amount for rent.
Everyone wants to know -- will they be bringing back the shirtless young men too?
Brodie is third from the left, flanked by Greens and NDP |
Not too crowded but a bit chilly at the Richmond Night Market |
A friend asked me to go check out the Richmond Night Market, and I can barely remember if I had gone before so a good a reason as any to check it out this evening.
It turns out she had admission tickets and the market ends this weekend so we were able to skip the very long lineup to get in at 7pm when it started. There are a few dragon decorations from the Mid-Autumn Festival, though there are a few dinosaur sculptures standing around which is a bit incongruous, but no one seemed to notice.
California Roll in seaweed taco |
We had some Japanese takoyaki topped with large bonito flakes that were not bad, and had some deep-fried popcorn chicken and mushrooms, both were quite good.
At a dim sum stand I got some pan-fried pork buns and Hong Kong-style curry fish balls that were not bad. By this point we were getting thirsty and had a lemonade drink for C$7, though one could get a giant bucket of a drink to carry around too.
My friend got a California roll taco, basically rice topped with fake crab meat, a bit of mentaiko, sprinkles of sesame seeds, mayonnaise and spring onions in a deep-fried seaweed taco shell; after eating that she was full. I got a giant scoop of pistachio gelato that only had a hint of the nut flavour, but the ice cream hit the spot despite it being around 8 degrees Celsius.
The non-food items ranged from earrings and fake nails to socks, smartphone accessories and even camping gear. As it is the last weekend, some stalls discounted prices to get rid of stock, only with limited success.
A man and his dog hanging out |
As we were leaving we discovered the games section of the fair, where people had to throw rings around the necks of bottles or pick up a bottle using a ring attached to a stick. One guy with his dog strapped to his chest hung on a bar; he had to stay there for two minutes, but gave up at the 1.47 mark!
Would I go again to the night market? Probably not, though I didn't mind spending C$45 for food and drinks to share on a chilly Friday night.
Ethereal-looking colours in the sky tonight |
Tonight we were able to see the northern lights again after seeing them in May.
It turns out there is a severe geomagnetic storm happening these few days and since tonight was clear, I took the opportunity to check it out.
At first I drove to the outskirts of Pacific Spirit Park, a forest that has no lights. But while it was relatively dark, the trees were in the way!
A colleague took this in Scotland |
The US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center says storm watches this far south are rare, so it's worth trying to see it.
The northern lights are not visible with the naked eye -- you need to use your smartphone or digital camera to be able to see it. People in the UK seem to have more vibrant colours than in Vancouver, or perhaps I need to go to a darker place?
Will try again in the next day or so!
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