It is perhaps not the right sequence, but after first looking at my agenda when I could have some time off, I then began to think what to do with this ‘earned’ free time. First I thought it could be a good idea to visit Austria, to read some books (on my new Sony E-reader of course), play some golf and be pampered in one of the most luxurious hotels in Tyrol: Stanglwirt in Going am Wilden Kaiser. But after being there this summer already I got a better idea.

I am a fan of City Trips and New York is still high on the list (yes really I have never been there!). But now working in the fashion retail, I have found out that we have to look to the East instead of the West. And after speaking to two colleagues I really got enthusiastic. One colleague has his home in Hong Kong so he knows all the details of that great city and the other colleague has visited Hong Kong many many times over the last 15 years and has even married a Hong Kong wife.

Hong Kong must be more or less like New York, but then a few times better, faster, more ahead. It is of course the combination of the East and the West and maybe the best of both worlds. It is a hundred times Rotterdam, so to say. Everyone who knows me a little bit knows I love the skyscrapers in my city, but the ones in Rotterdam are so small in number and height compared with the ones in Hong Kong. Probably better soil there, so they can grow faster and higher.

But we know Hong Kong of course from al the products that have the sign ‘Made in Hong Kong’ and nowadays from all the electronics you can buy there. The cheap bargains – so the books say – are no longer there, but it is still possible to buy for example counterfeit brand watches. Besides these kind of goods, Hong Kong is well known of their newest electronics. I already saw the Canon 7D on one of the sites I visited and at an affordable price (Compare Digicamshop (body € 1.699) and Phoenix Digital Pro Shop in Hong Kong (€ HK$ 13.480 = € 1.181); more than 30% cheaper). I have surfed many sites of the main electronic stores and found out that even Apple products were cheaper than here in Europe, although Apple states that the prices are more or less the same all over the world.

So now I am working on my shopping list. But I also have to take into account the Dutch Customs regulations. For an amount of € 430 I am allowed to bring in goods into the EC and may even buy and import 3 of those fake watches or designer clothes, as long as they are for personal use. More important: I have to collect all the invoices from the electronics I want to take with me to Hong Kong, like my MacBook Air, iPod and digital camera. The Customs on my way back could believe I bought this stuff over there.

Buying software is of course a piece of cake. Just ripping the software and send to my personal FTP server! There are still no Customs checking all the incoming Internet Data in this country and in Hong Kong you have wifi almost all over the city (if I may believe the stories told) and on top of that the wifi is almost everywhere for free.

So the customs could be a problem. I will have to make my calculations if the things I want to buy are still cheaper after paying the Custom Duties. Maybe that my transfer at Zurich (Switzerland) on my way back will help me to avoid the strict customs officials at Schiphol. They will spend their time to check al the passengers that took the direct flight straight from Hong Kong to Amsterdam.

Please let me know (as a comment on this site on this blog post) what I should put on my shopping list. Hard drives, newest iPod Nano, SD Card, Fountain Pen and maybe a custom made suit are already on my list. I don’t know if I stay under the € 430 limit. So I have to bargain a lot, although my Chinese is not very well; fortunately English is also one of the main languages. They are driving on the left side!

Did you like this? If so, please bookmark it, about it, and subscribe to the blog RSS feed.