from left to right:

Sky, bar
I will buy her some roses.

Ms Choi, student
My mum isn’t in Hong Kong, but I may get her some underwear or perfume.

Jessica, student
I will try to buy everything she likes.

Mr Wong, catering
I can’t celebrate Mother’s Day because I need to work on that day.

Geoffrey, finance business
I will give her… a phone call because she is in the States and I live in China. But I think she will be happy for it.

The Find: Mini Pacifier Candy
Original asking price: $5.5
(Wellcome insists it is the best price already)
Where Found: 7-11

One of my fondest memories of primary school was gathering with other kids in recess and enjoying a pacifier candy. It wasn’t a lovely scene – sweaty kids sucking and licking a diminishing candy, their fingers so sticky with melted syrup that all ended up slurping greedily at their digits. Being ignorant of the importance of hygiene and washing our hands, it was natural that we would ‘clean’ our hands in the most convenient way – on our already dirty uniforms. Since leaving primary school, I have seldom come across stores selling the pacifier candy which made me so uncouth, but I recaptured some of my best memories when I saw this mini candy (yes, those we had in the past were much bigger) in a convenience store. My friends and I were born in the same year as people like ‘Super girl’ Li Yu Chun and Dutch left-winger Arjen Robben, and we sometimes wonder why they got so far and we just got stuck in life. (And did they ever suck one of these candies too?) But then I think having the chance to tell people a bit about my wayward childhood without them knowing who I am, isn’t too bad after all. Talking of nasty sweets, another of my favourites is lipstick candy. But I think it is now (or has it always been?) something you find in sex shops....

There’s nothing really royal about Prince Edward station, or the street it sits under and is named after; in fact the only noticeable thing about this station used to be the horrible stench it had – a mix of odours so foul, that you’d have to be superhuman not to feel the bile rising in your throat as you entered. Luckily the smell isn’t an issue anymore. However, the real aroma of the area surrounding the station is a mixed bag – it is simply what can only be described as a slice of Hong Kong. Within a short walk of the station’s entrance is the sterile smelling, imposing and incredibly ugly Mong Kok Police Station. The myriad of street markets nearby that run straight through to Mong Kok and Yau Ma Tei selling fruit, children’s clothes, women’s underwear and shoes offer a whiff of fruit, sweat, rubber and people; discerning the smells from each other, might be a difficult task. However you might be tempted by the sweet, fresh smells of the flower market - flowers from all over the globe are brought in on a daily basis and walking down this crammed street it’s amazing how many different scents of the world you can smell. Only a short walk away is the pong of Hong Kong’s history – fish. The Goldfish market, is a street filled with stores selling – you guessed it – fish of all kinds, all displayed in little plastic bags hung up for you to pick and choose from, just like candy.