A trip to shopping heaven

By Antoinette May Herndon

Imagine a glorious pinball machine, all lights and action, like a slowed down version of New York with a San Francisco Bay setting and lighting by Las Vegas. That would be Hong Kong, the fastest city on earth.

And this is my most fabulous Christmas memory. It was 2001. I was a travel writer assigned to do a story on Hong Kong. Only a month before I’d met Mr. Wonderful. (Charles Herndon.) Somehow I was able to talk the powers that be into including him on the ticket.

Hong Kong is a happening city. Its skyline--call it harborline--changes more quickly than any city in the world. Many of the newer buildings are banks-and the amount of money turned over daily places Hong Kong third in the world. Warning: go there and you’ll get the fever. But what a place to Christmas shop!

Many streets and markets are world famous. A stroll through Cat Street, Hollywood Road, Ladies Street, Yuen Po Street Bird Market, and Temple Street Night Market is a cultural museum tour.

The sheer spectacle of any one of these is worth the potential risk to your wallet. Hong Kong’s shopping mystique is the not so subtle message: if there's so much of everything everywhere you look, it must be cheap.

I knew the drill. Decide what you want, then counteroffer whatever price you're quoted by half. I tried and managed—some of the time. It's hard not to be overcome by the excitement that’s a way of life in Hong Kong

For the most part, merchandise is displayed en masse even when museum quality. It's a disarming technique that works too well. It would be easy to pay $1000 for a jade pendant worth twice as much at home.

But would you buy it at home? It’s also easy to spend way too much on baubles you wouldn't

consider at a local department store. But that's the whole idea, the Hong Kong gestalt that clamours: "It's a bargain! Buy now, while you have the chance!"

We did! Charles has three children, eight grandchildren. Every thing we saw seemed to have their names written on it.

Upon entering the Jade Market, I thought I’d gone to heaven. If you love jade, this is the Emerald City, three blocks of merchants working from small stalls.

Imagine necklaces, bracelets, rings and charms, pyramids of emerald beads, baskets of small carvings. Starting prices ranged from $1 to $1000 dollars. Though we saw jade in nearly every color, most of it's green, green, green and so gorgeous.

We strolled Hollywood Road, an antique road show if there ever was one, and saw hundreds of terra cotta horses crowding the shelves. Some were more than 1000 years old. Warning: those ponies don’t come cheap. But it was fun to look.

The bird market was another world. Its difficult to imagine the immense popularity of birds in Hong Kong. Space is so limited that keeping a dog or cat is often impossible. A pet bird is a compromise that almost everyone makes.

Yuen Po Street has not only every type of bird imaginable, but also every kind of bird accessory. Some birds are hand fed with silver chopsticks. Others live in gorgeous antique birdcages

I bought a slinky Chinese dress that has become my standard book signing outfit. Charles chose a thick blue cashmere sweater with a mandarin collar. He wears it a lot these cold winter nights.

In the evenings we visited the Temple Street Night Market, the liveliest in town. Hawkers set up shop at 6 p.m. and go until midnight. This is where you find design designer knockoffs, pirate Cds, watches and cameras. Imagine body to body shoppers.

We ended up enjoying a simple bowl of noodles served to us at our own table on the street. It was a nice way to rest and reconnoitre between shopping campaigns. After a few days I even mastered chopsticks-sort of.

The woman who didn’t know she was destined to become a food columnist fell in love with Hong Kong cuisine. This is a city where they don’t ask, "How are you?" The universal greeting is "Have you eaten yet?"

With one restaurant for every 300 people, the competition is keen. Hong Kong's restaurant scene is filled with energy. This is no place for quiet tete -a-tetes. Tables are crowded, often four generations talking animatedly at once. I loved the noodles, I loved the rice, I loved the whizzing trolleys, the clattering china, the whole eat, drink and be merry ambience.

At the end of each day we ended up at the Peninsula Hotel, the exotic East’s grande dame. The lobby with its soaring pillars, luxurious carpets and furnishings is the place to see and be seen. I listened to a string quartet while pondering the eternal to buy or not to buy questions.

Turned out Charles was pondering something bigger than that. One evening he stood framed by a large picture window facing out on Hong Kong Bay, the lights beyond him a Christmas fantasy of twinkling glitter.

“Will you marry me?” he asked.

There wasn’t much hesitation on my part. I grabbed his hand and walked him right down to the hotel jewellery store. By that time, I’d seen a lot of jade and I knew exactly what I wanted.

It was a special trip, a very special memory. How often to do you go to shopping heaven at holiday time with a man friend and return an engaged couple?

(Hopefully only once.)