Today the little guy and I had a few missions: 1) shop for a microwave and a toaster oven (there is no oven or microwave at our new place), and 2) find a passport holder for his 2 passports.

Fortunately, my wife works at Lai Chi Kok, which is one stop on the red line from Sham Shui Po, where the best electronics market is (and I assumed that meant a good place to go for appliances, too).  So, after lunch in the park, with the little guy strapped into the Baby Björn, it was time to go shopping.  We walked over on some side streets and I found some random markets and cool places and I want to go back to (one place is a restaurant called “A Little Bit“).

Along the way, we stopped at McDonald’s and I had a Green Tea Ice Cream Cone, and then noticed next door was a shop selling outdoor gear at really good prices.  I quickly concluded they must be well-done knockoffs – for example a Haglöfs waterproof jacket with taped seams for 150 HKD (about 160 SEK or 19 USD) was a great deal – too good to be true.  I didn’t buy anything but I think visitors might find that place interesting.

We next found our way to an electronics mega store.  Basically they had a massive assortment of iphone cables, external phone batteries (batteries drain quickly in this city, so everyone has an additional external one), and all kinds of accessories – all for prices MUCH lower than they are at the various markets around town, and all in much higher quality, from brands with actual packaging, and so on.  So naturally I bought a few things:

• iphone cable for 25 HKD (28 sek, 3,25 USD)
• new ipad case for 35 HKD (40 SEK, 4,25 USD)
• an external battery for my phone/ipad for 109 HKD (120 SEK, 15 USD)
• and my favorite weird thing: a multi-usb-tool that looks like a jackknife (see photo) for 25 HKD (28 sek, 3,25 USD).

The little guy and I left with pure joy in our hearts (actually he slept thru the whole experience, but we would have been pumped, I’m sure).  Could the afternoon get any better?  We ended up at the market looking at baby clothes and found some good options but did not buy anything (my wife is a bit picky about what we put on him, and has already expressed a genuine lack of enthusiasm for the tacky kids clothes at the markets).

After realizing this is not the place to go for appliances, we I started looking for item #2, the passport holder.  After searching at a bunch of stands at the market, as well as shops, it became apparent that there is not a big market for passport holders in Hong Kong.  What I did find, as a lucky byproduct of my search, was a new bag for our stroller or other daytrips (but obviously not to replace the fanny pack).  The one we have is a really nice StorkSak, made of leather, high quality and so on – but it is heavy.  So I wanted one that is lighter and can also be taken off and used if we’d like.

I didn’t want to spend a lot, and it was not a top priority to find one, but if the right thing came around, I would go for it.  And it did.  I found a little shop selling these bags by a brand called Doughnut.  Super cool backpacks and other bags, and then on sale in the corner was the bag we needed.  And it was on sale for only 170 HKD (180 SEK, 20 USD).  It’s a perfect match of everything I am looking for, with good quality, leather straps that will only get cooler looking over time, and much more.  Lots to be excited about with this bag.

Along the way, the little guy kept being charming – talking and having fun with everyone, and therefore we had a great afternoon.  When we got home, it was a little more reading, some playing, some tummy time (he can fully crawl up my chest now!).  Before we knew it, his mom was home and our little family was back together.  We didn’t accomplish either of our missions for the day, but we learned a lot about Sham Shui Po – and we had some fun in the process 🙂