Hong Kong: Sure to deliver the goods

By Shandelle Battersby
Five pairs of shoes, three handbags, three watches and assorted tat for friends back home - all in the space of two hours of driving rain and 35C heat - and all for under $200.

An impressive feat by anyone's standards. Exhausted but sated, I felt I had well and truly conquered Hong Kong's Ladies' Market.

Of course, I was doing all this shopping in the name of journalistic research _ one of my reasons for being in Hong Kong was to experience the tail-end of their Shopping Festival, showcasing the city as a shopper's paradise. The 10-week festival is held annually between late June and August.

A visit to the much lauded market, open daily from noon to 11.30pm in Mong Kok on the mainland, is one of those "must-dos" on the agenda of any stay in Hong Kong.

As my shoes, bags and I made our way along the two blocks it occupies, the cries of the stall operators got more and more irritating. "Missy, missy ... you want watch? You want bag? You want shoe? Come back missy, come back. I give you good price. Oh missy, pleeeease. I need to feed my family missy. Pleeease missy ..." followed by indecipherable muttering under breath if you failed to stop.