It's the William Hung of Guns

Hooray for Everbody!

Mong Kok is a shopping district in Hong Kong that is insane even on the quietest day. There is a weird blade runner vibe about this area just out of its sheer chaos. There are food stalls, restaurants, stores and pedestrians everywhere. It is literally like a mosh pit with people squeezed and assaulted by smells, sounds and visuals.

Mong Kok is also a bizarre microcosm of consumerism. It’s like the Disneyland of shopping. You’ll find electronics land barricaded down a single street. Running shoes land takes up four square blocks. Take out food stalls are sprinkled everywhere. There’s a street for flower sellers press close to the street where you can buy shimmering aquarium fish swimming in little plastic bags hanging like globes. There it is, laid out like an AIDS quilt. A patchwork of narrow desires side by side.

One of the most bizarre is the small mall carrying nothing more that hyper realistic BB guns. Guns are neatly displayed in stark cabinets like art exhibits. In the background are plasma screens showing grown men in full combat gear sweating it out in the desert. It’s too bad that these guns are illegal in Canada. Oh wait. I’m not 12. Never mind.

It's not like I’m so mature. My big weakness? Um. Limited edition action figures. Seriously, Hong Kong was ground zero for a huge resurgence of these small run action figures. My first week here I checked out the stores to find my Daft Punk set sitting in a display case. Come on! Both members of Daft Punk in perfectly replicated outfits with robot heads and hands! Plus, there was only a run of 250 of them! But the $200 Cdn price tag really made me think. So, I went home and a week later, decided to have a look at it again. Sold out. All I felt was an overwhelming sense of loss and disappointment. The lesson for you here is that if you find something that makes you happy, you shouldn’t be afraid to go for it. Lucky for me, action figure land is right beside sexy massage land.