So.. onto my Hong Kong trip! It was a whirlwind few days of packing in as many meetings as possible during the day, then dashing off at about 7pm to grab some dinner. Frankly, I wasn’t in a huge shopping mood (I know, SHOCKER!) because it was just so frantic and busy during the day, so all I wanted was to go home and sleep every evening. Still, managed to get some shopping in 😉 I bought a few bits and bobs here and there, and on Saturday morning, I was determined to go for a huge shop and get my hands on whatever I couldn’t find in China (or which was exorbitantly) priced.

So off I went to Tsim Tsa Shui (geez it is near impossible to pronounce it properly… I wish they’d rename it something a little easier on the tongue!) where the huge megamalls and 13623432 side shops are. I went into the huge Harbour City mall (which is joined to 2 other malls, and combined is the biggest one I’ve ever seen), and SHOPPED UP A STORM. I mean, really shopped. I had a huuuuuge load and got ready to pay and passed over my Australian credit card (because I still can’t figure out how to get a China credit card). A moment later, the cashier said “Errr Miss, your card says Declined.”

WHAT!?!

My credit card limit is definitely not low or reachable (I didn’t ask for it to be so high, my bank just keeps raising it for the heck of it?) and I’ve not once not paid off my monthly credit card bill 100% in full (I cannot STAND only making partial repayments, being in ‘debt’ to a bank is my pet hate). So I was sure it had nothing to do with my account or whatever. But of course, the cashier didn’t, and gave me the shifty eye. Worse yet, the shoppers behind me gave me a sad look, like a “Wow.. this girl shops so much her bank cancelled her credit card”, or something. Major embarassment, not to mention piss annoying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Grr 🙁

Unbelievably, I had to give everything back and go back to the hotel empty handed. This also meant I didn’t have cold hard cash on me, and couldn’t even catch a cab to the airport, so the hotel had to do some fancy thing and give me a cash advance. *facepalm*

So later when I called my Aussie bank, grumpy as all hell, I was told that they blocked my card because of some fraud risk. Apparently I was one of the UNLUCKY ones that had my credit card number compromised.. so the bank shut down all these compromised cards. I’m cool with that, in fact, that’s a great service… but WHY OH WHY do they have to give the message “Declined” on the casher’s control panel?? Why can’t it say “Security – please call bank” or something? Well, that kinda sounds dodgy too. Hmm.. I can’t think of a non-dodgy message? Haha.

Sooo the long and short of it is, I didn’t end up buying all the stuff I wanted to in Hong Kong. Possibly a blessing in disguise because I probably saved an extraordinary amount of money (part of which included savings of a Chanel lambskin bag that I was eyeing but couldn’t buy). Still, depressing! Looking forward to going back to shop properly 😉

Red and gold interior of the Hotel Kan Kwai Fong in Hong Kong

Corner desk in the Hong Kong office, overlooking the city

These prawn noodles I found downstairs. They look a bit blah
but man they were good! The best I’ve had in ages…. *slurps*

Crazy nightlife with shops and pubs all mushed together.
As you can see, it’s like an expat hotspot..

Random beauty stuff from Sasa, one of my favourite skincare/cosmetic stores

Hello Kitty lipbalm, for MAC Cosmetics. Tooooo cute, and it looks great on!

Aerosoles – yes, an American brand but they’re not available here. Soft sueded lining on
extra cushioned footbed and a flexible rubber sole. What more could you want?!?!

This one’s good for work. Yes, I’m fully aware I threw out 2 cartons of shoes
so you don’t need to remind me! These two pairs were totally necessary 😉