Temple Street Experiences

Temple Street in Mong Kok, Hong Kong is an exciting fusion of trinket shopping, loud and heavy bargaining, and some great street food. We spent a few hours there (and yes, couldn't help but keep comparing it to similar experiences one has at the Sat night market in Baga!).

First, it was time for some grub, and the options were plenty! Some, we were adventurous enough to try, others had to be deferred for our next trip, pictures the only rememberance of what could have been.

Bargaining is a core experience in Hong Kong. And trust me, no matter how much you bargain, you will be ripped off. Siddha got into a very adventurous, very loud, and some really hard core bargaining with a lady for a tea set. From a starting price of 280 HKD, Siddha successfully brought it down to just 110 HKD (along with another 40-50 HKD to be spent on other goods), and we thought we had done well!

Except that, three shops ahead, the exact same tea set had a starting price of 100, and the moment we started to walk away, the shop keeper had brought it down to 80. I guess a round of bargaining would bring it down easily to under 50!


In Macau, I had bought a beautiful doll for 160, starting from 210. I found the same available in HK at a starting price of 50.

Morale of the story: Start at 10%, end up somewhere at 20%.