Wednesday, November 17, 2010

STARBUCKS gone RETRO!! ;) *Pic Heavy*

Hi girlies and the little curious tourist in you :) today I'm straying off a bit from the topic of makeup and onto food and history. I promise it won't be boring - because this Starbucks store I"m going to show you in this post, you won't see it anywhere else but Hong Kong, guaranteed. I have no affiliations with Starbucks, but I thought it'd be interesting to show how "Glocal" Starbucks have gone.
This particular Starbucks is located at the heart of the city - Central and adopts a Bing-Sutt (literally Ice-House) design. Ice-house is equivalent to ice-tea-house, the average local restaurant you go to and get your stomach cured. Fast and Cheaply. To see how 'glocal' this Starbucks have gone, click here for a glimpse of how local restaurants in Hong Kong *used* to look like :)
A poster that said "Chocolate and coffee is served - cold or hot".
You may wonder what food is sold at this Starbucks: egg tarts, cha-siu pastries etc. These are local snacks, they made it so awfully inedible. Please go to any other local restaurants to try typical Hong Kong fast food/snacks OKAY :)?
Old style clock and menu:
A sign that says "please take photos randomly/take as much photos as you want". (Since other Starbucks don't allow you to take photos inside their store. You will be given a crossed face if you do, haha) So this store is photographiles- and tourist-friendly.
Menu displayed on a column's wall. Yes, Chinese words can be written vertically and horizontally! The walls are made with old-style window-panes painted in navy green. Very 60s-70s.
Cooking utensils from the past:
Paper boardgames - used to play them when I was little.
Retro toys:
Retro stationary:
Tea cups and a cigarette-ash spinner:
Toys and bowls from the old days:


The good old days being brought here:
a hot pineapple bun (with a small piece of butter taken out from a fridge) and a cold milk tea. This bun is a famous local snack. It is the hotness and the coldness that earned its popularity.
Notice the hanging-fan on the ceiling - so retro but still in use (at least my high school had it)
The red sign far off: from a pawn shop. Pawn shops are where people bring valuable belongings and 'pawn' them for cash-ins when they're in financially difficult situations. When they got through the difficulty they will come back to the shop with more money than he has taken away, and 'pawn' for their belongings back. Basically, you bring a watch/gold necklace/jewelery there in exchange for money, and a while later you go back there with money and take away your stuff. (For those who're curious about this neon street sign, CNN has a special feature on this traditional pawning profession.)
Papercut figures - lives of people in all walks of life. The words painted in white at the background is the old style of street advertisement, you found them in lamp boxes on the street, walls, anywhere but not now. Haha the words represent the 'profession' (doctors, pipe-plumbers, etc) and the numbers represent the phone numbers you dial to call for these services.
Old style calendar (think my grandmother still uses this at her home), above the calendar is a plate painted with chinese drawings. And next to it is a small retro-style fan located above a cupboard storing kitchen utensils. Folded table on the left.
Menu in Chinese and English hid under the glass panel on the eating table :) like most menus which appear in any other local restaurants (even up to now!)
Old-fashioned standup electrical fan:
Layout of the chairs and tables:
Looking at the paper-cut cartoon figures mimicking life in Hong Kong in the past - social caricatures who reflect the colonial era. ( ^_^In case you didn't know, Hong Kong was under British colonial rule until 1997)
A birdcage hung on the ceiling - you will see this in old-fashioned chinese tea houses, but they don't allow birds /birdcages to be brought inside nowadays.
Look carefully at the last pic ;) if it isn't clear, click to enlarge, LOL!
This post is longer than I expected, if you have read up to here, thanks for your time! :D

I'm thinking of doing some posts on photos I took from traveling in Europe (city by city), and would love to know what all of you think!

(My previous travel post to Greece HERE, click this link and you won't regret it I assure you. I highly recommend you to check this island out!)

33 comments:

  1. This post is one of the best I've read so far in beauty blogging community! It's always fun and exciting to read posts of travels and foreign places, every once in a while. It feels like I've learned a bit about Chinese culture, just by looking at these lovely pictures.

    Consider me a big fanatic reader of your travelling posts!

    xx

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  2. This post makes me wanna pack up ma shit and go travel somewhere cool! : D haha..

    Oh girl, please. Why would you envy a Danish person? -_-" There's nothing to envy.. Haha! And I don't start University till next year. I'm only self-taught in reading and writing - which I'm not that good at. But I try : D

    Uhm, actually most people here keep labs or golden retrievers. O_O' My parents have Newfoundlands tho (cause they're SOOOO much more awesome, haha!) and go to dog shows as well : D

    No problem : D I never win.. but the chances of winning are a bit higher when u actually participate. XD haha

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  3. This is so interesting.I love learning about different cultures so to have a comparison of Starbucks is fantastic. I never knew that you couldn't take photos in their shops...Thanks for posting! xx

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  4. Love you telling us about diffenrt places you have been!

    And thank you so much for being my new follower sweety <3 will post an amazing outfitpicture tomorrow with my acne boots!

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  5. I love this post and pictures!! I agree with cbsg5861, one of the best beauty post I've read in a long time (hehe).

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  6. Oh my god! This post is AWESOME!! thanks for posting! ( :

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  7. AMAZING!!!
    I miss HK SO much! So going here when I get back xx

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  8. LOL this all pretty RANDOM old school stuff! Haha I miss HK tooo ahhh I miss the food and all the night life! Thanks for sharing these photos with us :)

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  9. Yeah well, my country does have it's great sides. But the whole free doctors and free school thing really isn't that great. Our elementary-school teachers are SO bad. If there's a lack of teachers throughout a period of time, they'll hire substitutes. ANY moron (even pedophiles) can get jobs at a daycare, kindergarten or childrens' school. Nobody checks you. Our regions throughout the country have to cut back on expenses ALL the time that it keeps them from doing their job properly. I honestly think that our Prime Minister and more 'important' minsters should be paid for the results they come through with. Those brainless morons make SO much money - but they don't have to bring anything to the table to get that paycheck. It's disgusting.

    And honestly.. Our income taxes here lye between 40-70%. The more you make - the higher the percentage goes up. My mom worked 70+ hours a week at one point. Government took 69% of her income in taxes - in the end she got less money per month than my dad who works 40 hours. SO SO lame.

    When I move to Copenhagen, you're absolutely and very welcome to come visit : D

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  10. Hi!
    Yes, I would recommend the Estee Lauder eye creams. I find them really good. They are suitable for people 35+. I have very sensitive eyes and they work perfectly on me!

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  11. Wow, talk about blast to the past! @_@ I'd seriously love to visit this place. I love to eat hot pineapple bun!

    (Hee hee...I don't make the royal milk tea. I go out for it :)

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  12. COOL!
    this place is awesome!! i will for sure visit it next time i go to hong kong!!

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  13. OMG I need to go visit this place, for the hot pineapple bun with the cold piece of butter, n for the cold "yin-yeung" drink in a see through plastic cup!
    I love this post!
    n ewwww ppl in last photo busy "dah keh-lun" xDD

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  14. HI Jennifer!

    I looove this post, I' such a fan of Travel channel and they did a global look at McDonalds that I really liked. Global Starbucks is much better though haha. This Hk Starbucks is really cool and old school, reminds me of movies. You should totally post your travel pictures form Europe. :)

    Thanks for entering my giveaway. I don't speak Chinese. My mom is Chinese and my dad is Cambodian so I only understand the latter sadly.

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  15. OMG wow!!
    I need to find this place when I go back to HK!
    We still use those calenders, my dad loves them XD

    I love these kinds of post, do post your Europe adventure! :) xxxx

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  16. What a very interesting design for a Starbucks! I wonder if they do this in other countries as well..

    Hmm even though I don't drink coffee, I need to visit this when/if I go to HK :P

    My grandma still have some of those old calendars!

    You should do more posts like this! :D

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  17. Hello Jen! this post couldn't have come at a better time! :P where in central can i find this exactly? i bet my friend would love to take pictures in there! :)

    as for me, i like the retro floor tiles, very vintage! ;)

    haha we still use those kind of calendars, i enjoy ripping the outdated page off everyday. LOL

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  18. Oh wow. the deco of the tea house, looks amazing. Is it like a normal hk one with egg tarts available at 3.15pm?

    I miss HK egg tarts. =) How's adjusting back to HK life? Will you be back in the Uk soon?

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  19. Hi jennifer, thanks for your compliment ^_^

    I dont think I have tall nose, haha, maybe it is because of the angle when I took the photo.

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  20. heyy thanks for this post! This starbucks seems so interesting :) I will definitely check it out next time I visit Hong Kong!! And for sure we can have a bloggers meet up at that time also :D The unfortunate thing is that I don't know when this "next time" would be... But I'll keep you posted!!!

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  21. wow! great pics i definitely want to go to HK one day hehe and i looove the MHH blush so pretty! thanks for dropping by my blog!

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  22. in the forbidden city?! then it must look pretty extravagant lol must do some googling over the weekend xD

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  23. This is a fancy Starbucks. It's definitely not like ours... hehe~

    Tobey is a sharpador. Can you guess what a sharpador is?... lol~ :X

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  24. Haha, that's not exactly what I meant. Usually people who don't make that much have to pay about 40-50% in taxes. If you make a LOT of money (more than $100,000 a year approx) you pay a higher percentage. So generally the more you make, the higher a percentage you have to pay - so in the end it doesn't really pay off at all to work a lot and be good at it. Cause our 'social state' takes everything you make.

    And currently I live about 450km. from Copenhagen. xD lol. So yeah... that's pretty far away.

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  25. Geez, How much was the egg tart?

    and thank you so much for the comment. I'm actually still studying, got a few months til I graduate! I was only at BBC for a month, I really miss it. =) I'll probably go back there after I graduate.

    I might be heading HK next year if you're still around though. =D

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  26. No, as long as you're in an Asian neighborhood. ;)

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  27. I LOVE THIS POST! ;) love reading people´s views on cities they´ve traveled. ;) i have a lot of hong kong pictures in my laptop. might consider doing something like this!

    xoxo Mode Junkie ♥

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  28. Hee hee...you're so cute. *^_^* I have a Blackberry and the hubs has an iPhone and to be honest, his browser is way better. Oh yeah, Cantonese style dumplings with noodles in soup...yummy!

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  29. Thank you for this wonderfully informative post!! I am so heading there sometime while I'm here in HK! =D

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  30. yes post pictures of your europe trip!!! <3
    where did you go ???
    I didn't see that starbucks store when I was in Central :(:(:(

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  31. Wow I love the pictures! And that place looks amazing :D Altho I can't read anything that's written ;) I love the feel of the unique style..:) wish more would try this concept out! :D

    And I so want to go to Greece! Oh and new follower!!

    x0x0

    lifelittlesurprises.blogspot.com

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LOVE to hear what you think <3 I'll try my best to respond to every comment!