It’s quite a funny feeling living in my first home again after 20 years’ of absence; it’s a mix of familiar and new experiences, and those new experiences can be ‘fascinating but sometimes bizarre’ as quoted from an interview that I read from a newspaper last Sunday. After all I’ve spent most of my life in Western societies!
回到離開了二十年的家定居，既覺熟悉也有點新奇，那種新奇也可上星期日前在報章一篇訪問中那句fascinating but sometimes bizarre（引人入勝卻奇異）來形容——畢竟我在西方社會浸淫太久了！
Then let me begin from my experiences shopping in the pharmacies, occasionally still called dispensaries here in Hong Kong.
那就先從我到藥房（藥店）購物的遭遇說起吧！
I arrived in the bright hot days at the end of July. Having lived in Australia for ages, sunny summer days naturally reminded me of sunscreen lotion. I decided to buy a couple of bottles from a local small shopping centre as I didn’t bring any with me. The shopping centre had two pharmacy chain stores and 4 smaller independent pharmacies. I first poked my head into those smaller pharmacies, and they all had piles of shampoos, infant formula milk, a great variety of cosmetics and even Chinese medicine, but sunscreen lotion was so difficult to spot with a meagre choice of 2 or 3 brands which I have never heard of before. Then in the chain stores, the choices of shampoos and skin care products were even more staggering, but sunscreen lotions were all hidden in an inconspicuous corner and all the familiar brands were unexpectedly expensive. I’ve always thought that personal care products are universally cheaper in Hong Kong than in Australia, but obviously sunscreen lotion is an exception! In the end I just picked up a couple of bottles that were supposedly made in Australia at a somewhat more reasonable price. What really puzzled me was how it could be so difficult to buy sunscreen lotion in the middle of summer. Maybe Hong Kong people are not aware of the health benefits of applying sunscreen lotion – just in June a group of Australian researchers have shown that the continual application of sunscreen lotion helps retard skin ageing. Or maybe Hong Kong people would rather fool themselves that expensive cosmetics would always work better than the humble non-cosmetics.
剛來的時候，正值七月底的大暑天，每天烈日高照，在澳洲居住多年，很自然就想起要添置太陽油（防曬油），寒舍附近有家小商場，而且大熱天時，心想總不難買到一兩瓶合用的吧。商場內有兩家連鎖藥房和四家獨立經營的小藥房，我先到那些小藥房打探價錢，祇見店內堆滿洗髮水、奶粉、林林總總的化妝品甚至藥材，但防曬油卻少得可憐，祇得兩三種，而且牌子一點也沒聽過；到了那些連鎖藥房，洗髮水、護膚品更是多得眼花瞭亂，但防曬油卻可憐得縮在不顯眼的地方，就算有熟悉的品牌也貴得令我吃驚——我一直以為香港藥房的個人護理用品都會比澳洲便宜，原來防曬油恰巧相反！我最後跑回一家小藥房買兩瓶比較划、看似是澳洲製造的防曬油用一下了。我最大惑不解的是，為甚麼盛夏時防曬油偏偏這麼難買到？今年6月便有澳洲研究人員證實，常塗防曬油有助延緩皮膚衰老，比甚麼護膚品都靠譜，如果防曬油和護膚品的存貨比例如實反映市場需求的話，又是不是顯示港人迷信護膚名牌，而不相信（或不知悉）客觀科學結果？
A few days later one of my brothers recommend an ‘anti-fall shampoo’ (i.e. anti hair-loss) to my mum and me, and I volunteered to hunt of it in the local shopping centre again. I could only spot it in one out of the 6 pharmacies, and based on the Chinese-only label I thought that I’ve bought the right thing. But I’ve only found out what it really was as soon as I opened the bottle to use it and turned the bottle to the back to double-check against the English description: it was actually a conditioner! Mum started lecturing me that I needed to read the label really carefully, and since there are too many different Chinese translations for shampoos and conditioners, I should always read the English description on the back to be absolutely sure. I thought to myself what kind of world is this when I couldn’t even buy the right stuff with my mother tongue but have to rely on the description in foreign language?! I finally found out how the shampoo really looked a couple of weeks later, and the Chinese words for shampoos were in so tiny font that many would need a magnifying glass to read them! No wonder not only I had problem buying the correct item. My sister-in-law and my other brother also said that they would check the English description before buying hair care products.
過幾天胞弟介紹我和家母用某品牌有「防掉髮配方」的洗髮水，我又自告奮勇到那家商場的一眾藥房打探了，那隻洗髮水並不易找，在六家藥房和超市之中祇在一家藥房找到正面包裝寫有「防掉髮配方」的「護髮精華」，滿以為買對貨，豈料回家後開瓶一用、再翻到瓶後看到英文字conditioner才知買錯了，還給家母囉嗦了一會，說買東西也不看清楚，那些中文名稱五花八門，得看背後的英文方可作準！我很是訥悶，心想在香港用自己最熟悉的母語買東西原來也不及看外語靠譜，香港究竟是個甚麼世界？！後來某天逛街時，總於讓我看到那瓶「防掉髮配方」的「洗髮水」的「真面貌」，包裝正面沒有了「護髮精華」這四個字，但「洗髮水」這三個字卻細小得可憐，年長的或視覺差的不一定看得出，如此不清晰的包裝（還幸背面仍有寫明是shampoo！）真的是對消費者的一種視力考驗，怪不多後來弟婦和另一個胞弟也說，他們買洗髮水和護髮素前必會先看清楚背面的英文產品名稱！
Spot the difference - or rather, spot the words 'shampoo' and 'conditioner'
哪瓶是洗髮水、哪瓶是護髮素？
However, these shopping experiences also helped me appreciate one big advantage of shopping in Hong Kong: heavy competition and a large variety (at least for mainstream products). I live in a northern fringe of Hong Kong called Tin Shui Wai, which was already well-known as one of the districts least competitive in shopping, as most shopping centres are owned by the same corporation which is notorious for chasing after fancy chain stores as new tenants at the expense of current small-business owners. But this small shopping centre alone has 6 pharmacies plus a supermarket, which always ensures good selections and prices for personal care products. It pays to shop around to buy the items that you want at the best price. This is almost impossible to do in Australia when there is oligopoly by the large players on so many sectors of retailing, and in Germany the small independent pharmacies are usually restricted to sell medications only.
不過，藥房購物正是香港購物優勢的一個寫照：選擇多（除小眾貨品外），價格競爭大。寒舍位處的天水圍，已是全香港有名壟斷最高的地區之一（因為區內商場基本上由同一機構控制，該機構側重引進名牌連鎖店而往往把小本經營者趕入窮巷），但觀乎這個小商場，藥房加超市就已有七家，於是買些常用個人護理用品時可先小心格價和比品質，然後擇優而買，這種樂趣，在小型藥房難獨立生存的澳洲，或小型藥房一般祇售醫藥的德國都難以比擬。
When I’m more practised in art of shopping around and checking the product labels, buying ‘anti-fall shampoo’ or even trickier rarer goods will no longer pose a problem for me!
待我習慣了這種購物模式後，以後要以最優惠的價錢買到防掉髮洗髮水或更刁轉的產品，再不應難到我了。
回到離開了二十年的家定居，既覺熟悉也有點新奇，那種新奇也可上星期日前在報章一篇訪問中那句fascinating but sometimes bizarre（引人入勝卻奇異）來形容——畢竟我在西方社會浸淫太久了！
Then let me begin from my experiences shopping in the pharmacies, occasionally still called dispensaries here in Hong Kong.
那就先從我到藥房（藥店）購物的遭遇說起吧！
I arrived in the bright hot days at the end of July. Having lived in Australia for ages, sunny summer days naturally reminded me of sunscreen lotion. I decided to buy a couple of bottles from a local small shopping centre as I didn’t bring any with me. The shopping centre had two pharmacy chain stores and 4 smaller independent pharmacies. I first poked my head into those smaller pharmacies, and they all had piles of shampoos, infant formula milk, a great variety of cosmetics and even Chinese medicine, but sunscreen lotion was so difficult to spot with a meagre choice of 2 or 3 brands which I have never heard of before. Then in the chain stores, the choices of shampoos and skin care products were even more staggering, but sunscreen lotions were all hidden in an inconspicuous corner and all the familiar brands were unexpectedly expensive. I’ve always thought that personal care products are universally cheaper in Hong Kong than in Australia, but obviously sunscreen lotion is an exception! In the end I just picked up a couple of bottles that were supposedly made in Australia at a somewhat more reasonable price. What really puzzled me was how it could be so difficult to buy sunscreen lotion in the middle of summer. Maybe Hong Kong people are not aware of the health benefits of applying sunscreen lotion – just in June a group of Australian researchers have shown that the continual application of sunscreen lotion helps retard skin ageing. Or maybe Hong Kong people would rather fool themselves that expensive cosmetics would always work better than the humble non-cosmetics.
剛來的時候，正值七月底的大暑天，每天烈日高照，在澳洲居住多年，很自然就想起要添置太陽油（防曬油），寒舍附近有家小商場，而且大熱天時，心想總不難買到一兩瓶合用的吧。商場內有兩家連鎖藥房和四家獨立經營的小藥房，我先到那些小藥房打探價錢，祇見店內堆滿洗髮水、奶粉、林林總總的化妝品甚至藥材，但防曬油卻少得可憐，祇得兩三種，而且牌子一點也沒聽過；到了那些連鎖藥房，洗髮水、護膚品更是多得眼花瞭亂，但防曬油卻可憐得縮在不顯眼的地方，就算有熟悉的品牌也貴得令我吃驚——我一直以為香港藥房的個人護理用品都會比澳洲便宜，原來防曬油恰巧相反！我最後跑回一家小藥房買兩瓶比較划、看似是澳洲製造的防曬油用一下了。我最大惑不解的是，為甚麼盛夏時防曬油偏偏這麼難買到？今年6月便有澳洲研究人員證實，常塗防曬油有助延緩皮膚衰老，比甚麼護膚品都靠譜，如果防曬油和護膚品的存貨比例如實反映市場需求的話，又是不是顯示港人迷信護膚名牌，而不相信（或不知悉）客觀科學結果？
A few days later one of my brothers recommend an ‘anti-fall shampoo’ (i.e. anti hair-loss) to my mum and me, and I volunteered to hunt of it in the local shopping centre again. I could only spot it in one out of the 6 pharmacies, and based on the Chinese-only label I thought that I’ve bought the right thing. But I’ve only found out what it really was as soon as I opened the bottle to use it and turned the bottle to the back to double-check against the English description: it was actually a conditioner! Mum started lecturing me that I needed to read the label really carefully, and since there are too many different Chinese translations for shampoos and conditioners, I should always read the English description on the back to be absolutely sure. I thought to myself what kind of world is this when I couldn’t even buy the right stuff with my mother tongue but have to rely on the description in foreign language?! I finally found out how the shampoo really looked a couple of weeks later, and the Chinese words for shampoos were in so tiny font that many would need a magnifying glass to read them! No wonder not only I had problem buying the correct item. My sister-in-law and my other brother also said that they would check the English description before buying hair care products.
過幾天胞弟介紹我和家母用某品牌有「防掉髮配方」的洗髮水，我又自告奮勇到那家商場的一眾藥房打探了，那隻洗髮水並不易找，在六家藥房和超市之中祇在一家藥房找到正面包裝寫有「防掉髮配方」的「護髮精華」，滿以為買對貨，豈料回家後開瓶一用、再翻到瓶後看到英文字conditioner才知買錯了，還給家母囉嗦了一會，說買東西也不看清楚，那些中文名稱五花八門，得看背後的英文方可作準！我很是訥悶，心想在香港用自己最熟悉的母語買東西原來也不及看外語靠譜，香港究竟是個甚麼世界？！後來某天逛街時，總於讓我看到那瓶「防掉髮配方」的「洗髮水」的「真面貌」，包裝正面沒有了「護髮精華」這四個字，但「洗髮水」這三個字卻細小得可憐，年長的或視覺差的不一定看得出，如此不清晰的包裝（還幸背面仍有寫明是shampoo！）真的是對消費者的一種視力考驗，怪不多後來弟婦和另一個胞弟也說，他們買洗髮水和護髮素前必會先看清楚背面的英文產品名稱！
Spot the difference - or rather, spot the words 'shampoo' and 'conditioner'
哪瓶是洗髮水、哪瓶是護髮素？
However, these shopping experiences also helped me appreciate one big advantage of shopping in Hong Kong: heavy competition and a large variety (at least for mainstream products). I live in a northern fringe of Hong Kong called Tin Shui Wai, which was already well-known as one of the districts least competitive in shopping, as most shopping centres are owned by the same corporation which is notorious for chasing after fancy chain stores as new tenants at the expense of current small-business owners. But this small shopping centre alone has 6 pharmacies plus a supermarket, which always ensures good selections and prices for personal care products. It pays to shop around to buy the items that you want at the best price. This is almost impossible to do in Australia when there is oligopoly by the large players on so many sectors of retailing, and in Germany the small independent pharmacies are usually restricted to sell medications only.
不過，藥房購物正是香港購物優勢的一個寫照：選擇多（除小眾貨品外），價格競爭大。寒舍位處的天水圍，已是全香港有名壟斷最高的地區之一（因為區內商場基本上由同一機構控制，該機構側重引進名牌連鎖店而往往把小本經營者趕入窮巷），但觀乎這個小商場，藥房加超市就已有七家，於是買些常用個人護理用品時可先小心格價和比品質，然後擇優而買，這種樂趣，在小型藥房難獨立生存的澳洲，或小型藥房一般祇售醫藥的德國都難以比擬。
When I’m more practised in art of shopping around and checking the product labels, buying ‘anti-fall shampoo’ or even trickier rarer goods will no longer pose a problem for me!
待我習慣了這種購物模式後，以後要以最優惠的價錢買到防掉髮洗髮水或更刁轉的產品，再不應難到我了。
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