The Find: Fortune Telling Gacha-Pon
Final price: $10
Where found: 7-11, Tai Po

The Japanese name capsule toys for the way they sound as they pop out from the machine. When you slip a $10 coin into the slot, “Gacha” lets you know you have pulled the crank while “Pon” approximates the sound the capsule toy makes as it drops from the vending machine. This particular Gacha-Pon is a white robot whose head is a set of MSN emoticons. When you push the button on the robot’s stomach, its face starts spinning. After the spinning head sees your future, it stops at an emoticon/face that tells all. Expect great prosperity and success if you get a large smile, but if you spot a shocking face, we guess tomorrow won’t be your day. To get your fortune told on Temple Street costs $50 at least but now, for a mere $10, you can now get a prediction any time you wish. We are firm believers in what is stated on the back of the robot where it reads, “Bring it on, however life will be like.”

Imagine a Hong Kong version of Pleasantville. That would be Tseung Kwan O. Unlike most areas around MTR stations in Hong Kong, there is plenty of room to roam (although not really much to roam around for) and an almost eerie atmosphere as the place is so empty. Similar to the newly developed town, the station itself is spick and span – arriving at the main concourse, you are greeted by a glass wall overlooking an extremely large and not very attractive car park.

Tseung Kwan O being one of the ‘new towns’ of the New Territories, the streets are clean and set up in a calculated grid, with back-to-back schools and housing estates. Main attractions would be the shopping centers Park Central and Tseung Kwan O Plaza – recently developed complexes with little more than a handful of restaurants and shops.

Every building around the station looks brand new, some even appear identical – perhaps the architect ran out of ideas when contemplating The Edge (part of the Tseung Kwan O Plaza) and Park Central even though they are on opposite sides of the station. So, if you are sucked in and spat out by the MTR at a place that is awfully – well, pleasant, chances are you’ll be between Hang Hau and Tiu Keng Leng stations at Tseung Kwan O.

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