Thanks very much Dr Core!
I came across the centamap while surfing around and I already placed Agryle St and Richmond on the "To go" list, but thanks very much for the little tips!
Regards
Chang Chern
"Dr. Core" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
"Dr. Core" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Kcsquare wrote:
> Hi Dr Core,
>
> I am going to HK in late Nov and staying at TST area. Can you share with me
> where are the good places to pick up kits and anime please?
Ok, long delayed. A draft I started was lost in gmailand, blah! Hopefully Boaz, Gus and Nightingale will find time to fill in some missing details and correct mistakes.
From Tsim Sha Tsui, the best bet is Mongkok and Yau Ma Tei, it would take you more than a day just to oogle at all the goodies. I'd list things out by district, rather than by category. In general, be very prepared. Get yourself a large scale map with Chinese and English street names, do your searches on internet maps and mark up your paper map. Or print out lots of pages. Also do pricing research and have yourself a shopping budget/strategy before you get to the shops, and bring a calculator for 3-way (HK$/Yens/your own) currency conversion. And bring cash. Credit cards and traveller checks won't do you much good.
Internet Maps:
http://www.ypmap.com/en/viewer.asp?mapService=LocationMap
http://www.vectormap.com/eng/english.htm
English map sites
http://www.centamap.com/gc/home.aspx
Best map overall, run by the HK Gov. There is a small "English" button near the top left corner, click it. The map is bilingual, search terms can be entered in Chinese or English, but most of the instructions/hints are in Chinese.
Transportation
The most tourist-friendly mode is the subway, called the MTR. There are plenty of advice for tourist online.
Mongkok/Yau Ma Tei
Within this 1km x 1.5km area, you can most likely find satisfaction for all your gunpla/plamod/GK/toys/twinkets/anime/manga/Jpop needs. Not to mention computers, games (PS3!), electronics, cheap clothing, ladies accessories, jewelry, restaurants. There's even pirate software and J-porn if you know where to look, but in recent years both pirate software and porn vendors have been driven underground to some extent.
Take the MTR to Mongkok station, and walk. Keep your orientation straight and use your map. If you need direction, aim your questions at 20-40 yrs old or the police. Hong Kong people, if they are not in a hurry, are willing to help, but unfortunately, even the locals are not always familiar with the English names of streets and buildings. Mandarin CAN get you around in HK, despite (because of?) constant complaining by non-Cantonese speakers. Better dressed people are more likely to be multi-lingual. All the police are supposed to be fluent in English and Mandarin, and tourist-friendly.
Models:
<fill in name> Model Shop
Sai Yee Street <number> Ï´Ò½Ö
<fill in name> Model Shop
Sai Yee Street <number>
These two model shops on west side of Sai Yee Street, south of Argyle Street. For most Gundam model fans, these two are all you need. New kits, older kits, non-Gundam kits, paints, tools, accessories, even a few locally designed/produced extras. E.g., you can get human figures in every scale from 1/500 up to 1/60. There are many many other model shops, but hunting them down would not necessarily be good investment of your time.
Toys:
From the link provided by Boaz, all the toy shops in Mongkok are in this single building, which is just not true. But indeed this is probably the best places for toys (Nightingale can confirm this?)
Richmond Commercial Building ½ÔÍúÉÌI´óB
Argyle St 107-111 ½ÔÀϽÖ
The single shop listed under TST/YMT is
Cheersees Co.
Nathan Rd 540, Units 203/236.
It's just a short walk south of Sino Centre, why not?
Anime, Manga, twinkets
Sino Centre ÐźÍÖÐÐÄ
Nathan Road 582-592 ¶ØµÀ
On east side of Nathan Road, mid-point between Dundas St and Soy St. This shopping arcade has a mix of many things. Many of the DVD shops are closed except during later afternoon, the price isn't super cheap and the quality is unreliable. The manga, books and twinkets are more dependable, there are counterfeits mixed with the legit, keep a sharp eye and be mentally prepared for disappointment. If you see stuffs priced at or above exchange rate, it's most likely legit.
Legitimate Anime
Legit R3 anime can be had for prices only slightly higher (double?) than pirate ones. And they are usually a good deal cheaper than R1 DVDs. You don't get English dub in them, of course, and you have to navigate the DVD menus in Chinese. Pay attention to details: English sub, original Jap dub (you could be stuck with Chinese/Cantonese dub only if you are not careful), region coding, PAL, VCD vs DVD, complete series vs half set vs. individual discs. Legit R2 DVDs (no English sub/dub) are available too, but only in a small number of shops and much more expensive. I hope Nightingale can remind me the shop(s) that has good selection of legit Gundam DVDs.
In general:
walking district along Sai Yeung Choi St
Sai Yeung Choi St. and Tung Choi St between Dandas St and Nelson's St (?) are walking traffic only and is a great attraction for all things trendy, especially electronics. .
GK/Resin
Even if you are not in the market for GK you should check out a few small and not-so-easy-to-find shops to look at other people's masterpieces. It's a great way to get totally depressed by your own mortality. Most important one is G-System http://www.g-system-shop.com/
New Generation Hobbies
Shop G32A, Yan On Buidling, 1 Kwong Wa St (or Kwong Wah St)
It's a small street west of Waterloo St, between Dundas St and Soy St. There are a few more in the buildings nearby. More to be filled in...
Other models
There are various shops for non-Gundam models and RC models. More details to be filled in.
Wan Chai/Causeway Bay
This area is somewhat comparable to Mongkok/YMT in terms of Japanese goodies, but in general there's a different feel to the area, Wan Chai is slightly more financial, and Mongkok is a bit more tourist/entertainment. But in my previous trip, I had only 1 hr spare time in this area so I missed most of the good stuffs.
Oriental 188 (|·½188)
Wan Chai Rd 188
It's near Heard St. It's a great place for games, anime and twinkets(?) but supposingly it's an arcade for all things Japanese. If Mongkok/YMT doesn't exhaust your thirst/wallet, give this place a whirl. Lousy place for plamod, but there's a small but interesting GK shop. A few shops sell limited edition legit anime DVD ( e.g.
Wei Lee Models (?)
I chanced into a nice model shop close to Tin Lok Lane, it's pretty comparable to the two in Mongkok. I can't remember the name or address. Using HK's Yellow Page, I found these two:
ÐÂÑÅ(Ïã¸Û)ÓÐÏÞ¹«Ë¾
C.C. Wu Building ¼¯³ÉÖÐÐÄ
Hennessy Rd 302-308 ÜÄáÔµÀ
Just around the corner of Oriental 188
ø°lÄ£Ð;«Æ·µê
Emperor Group Centre Ó¢»Ê¼¯FÖÐÐÄ
Hennessy Rd 274-288
Kwai Chung
Kwai Chung is a middle to upper middle class residential district. In terms of goodies, it's off the beaten paths. You find the regular range of goodies here at perhaps marginally lower price. This is Boaz's fav place.
Kwai Chung Plaza ¿ûÓ¿Vö
Kwai Foo Rd 7-11
Take MTR to Kwai Fong station.
The other shop that Boaz mentioned (FÀû) I can't find using Yellow Page etc. Following is Boaz's email included verbatim:
The only links I can provide I've posted them on GML, but here you go
again. Sorry if you can't read these as they're Chinese only. Note
that my interest are mainly gunpla and then books. Figures I love
looking at them, and may get some capsule toys; action figures and
games I don't touch
http://huntershobby.com/infotoyshop.htm
Personal favorite: for recent years,¿ûÓ¿Vö @ ¿û·¼ (yes there's
another MTR station called ¿ûÓ¿ but it's not where ¿ûÓ¿Vö is).
You'll have to go to basement and 2nd floor; there were some growing
stores on 3rd floors too last time I went back, so check them out too.
http://huntershobby.com/infotoyshop_nt_kwai.htm
This is where Nightingale pointed me to, as I's not familiar with
Hong Kong Island side. I esp. got excited with all the vintage toys
in the last store listed, but the owner seems to be very flexible in
terms of opening hours so I missed it.
http://huntershobby.com/infotoyshop_hk_cb.htm
I hope NIghtingale would help you with it. He really know the places.
There're a couple shops (one in Mongkok, one in ÉîË®¶ that I
always buy models from them when I's kid, as they're cheaper than
most stores. The Mongkok one got a bit more expensive and bad in
service in recent years, but the othe one is still my favorite. FÀû
is its name. You're gonna have to fight against little kids and
junior high students in that shop though. :-)
--
Dr. Core
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