Monday, March 12, 2007  3:54 PM
H&M madness
Once upon a time there was the grand opening of H&M in Hong Kong, 10th March at 11am was the long-awaited hour. The girl had been looking forward to it for four months Ever since the day she learnt she was heading to Hong Kong on exchange and was trying to figure out her shopping possibilities in the foreign land She had been following news of the H&M fashion world religiously ever since. Rumours of free Madonna autographed trenchcoats for the first 20 customers reached her ears, Excited, ecstatic and ever hyper she became at 3am in the morning She ran around campus trying to look for similar crazy people, And found them in her two American friends June and Ly. With her faithful and favourite roommate, the four of them cabbed down to H&M at 4.30am 68 Queen's Road Central was her new address, she swore as she stared in awe at the sight that beheld her. It was a mall on its own, she believed, and she never expected it to be so massive, Alas, they were number 21, 22, 23 and 24. But still the hope of free glamourous Madonna shades for the next hundred people kept her going. She spent the first half an hour peering into the glass windows, swooning over the window displays and quickly mapping a route in her head to get to her desirables in the quickest possible time. Dresses, shoes, accessories, tops, bags - they seemed never ending to her as she felt the familiar rush of adrenaline whenever she saw beautiful new clothes. She remembered how crazy she went over H&M in London just half a year ago, and wondered if she would have the same experience here. The next six hours were spent sleeping by the roadside, with the sight of shoes walking past and minibuses beginning their morning journey. In between sleep, the four girls played rounds of 'dai dee', talked, had Macdonalds breakfast and listened to their trusty iPods. She finally knew what time the sun rose in Hong Kong, because she had never seen 6am before. Although it wasn't much of a sunrise, just the sky becoming blue amidst the skyscrapers in Central. When morning came, she called her best friend in UK and they talked for ages, with the bestie screaming incredulously into her ear, but not without the fervent "Buy me stuff from H&M!" She gently reminded the bestie that H&M is located at practically every corner in the UK. Then the interviews started as reporters and journalists from everywhere flooded the area They stood around and looked eager, and that got them interviews and their picture taken by TVB, South China Morning Post, Cable Channel 13 and a German newspaper. The moment was drawing nearer, She could feel it as the security tightened and more and more people were walking past on a bustling Saturday morning and wondering what the commotion was about. Then the ribbon was cut and suddenly they were ushered into a grand reception with the staff lining both sides of the store making a walkway for the customers It was loud clapping and cheering and she felt like a celebrity as the lightbulbs flashed and cameras rolled right in her eyes. Two and a half hours she spent in there, it was pandemonium everywhere and in the dressing rooms even with four huge storeys to boast of Two floors for ladies, one for men and one for kids, it was a dream come true She emerged HK$666 poorer, And would have been even more in debt if she hadn't dropped a dress (which she really wanted) and a t-shirt somewhere in the labyrinth of a store because she was holding a mountain of things. A new summer dress, shorts, a striped jacket, a necklace, gorgeous earrings and her free Madonna shades later, She suddenly looks forward to spring and warmer weather to display her new buys. After doing quick mental calculations, she realises that H&M in Hong Kong is much cheaper than the one in UK, and also costs less than her favourite Topshop store back home She knows that H&M will be one of the biggest factors that will prevent her from wanting to leave Hong Kong in May, You ask what's in a store? She says everything her life revolves around.
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