The HMV store in Tsim Sha Tsui is one of my personal icons in Hong Kong. At a time when there were no Music Ones or Tower Records yet in Manila, this was the place where any audiophile can get their CD fix -- that included me.
Since the mid-90s, no trip of mine to Hong Kong would be complete without going to Haiphong Road in Kowloon to see that imposing silver tower with letters HMV written in fuschia. For me, it felt like home. It was a place to go whenever I was bored, whenever I wanted to escape, or simply to listen to something new.
Alas, those days are about to end very soon. When I dropped by to look for this cheezy CD that Keat and I saw at the Causeway Bay branch, I was shocked to see that HMV was surrounded by bamboo poles. In HK, that only means one thing - renovation - and moving out.
True enough, the store is going to move, and by the end of May, it'll be in a new location - which is just down the road. Knowing this country, it's either the rents are too high that they had to give up the space, or the owners are planning something new for the building. It's the 2nd major icon to close down in 3 months - the first being the Grand Hyatt Hotel Kowloon.
While the new store is just a stone's throw away from the old one, I must say i'll miss the original HMV branch in TST. After all, it was their first branch ever. It's the first branch that i've visited and known. And it's the first branch that i've learned to love.
Of course i'll visit the new branch when it opens, but i'm sure it won't feel so much like home.
2 comments:
We passed by HMV to buy some records when we were in kowloon. was surprised they got rare collections from the EU. =)
Yup, HMV does have a very good selection of music, movies and magazines. Though I wasn't able to find 2 of the CDs that I've been looking for. Sophie Ellis Bextor's first CD, and the soundtrack from Q Avenue. I'm checking out Hong Kong records for that.
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