THE NONNATIVE

When I was a kid in elementary school I used to imagine that God Almighty was up in the clouds and was purposely torturing me via the weather. Monday through Friday it would be beautiful outside. Saturday and Sunday would usually be some shit storm of rain – ruining my weekend. Now that I don’t work (regularly) I can go enjoy the sun whenever I want, or so one would think! Noo, not in Hong Kong.

When you decide to go to the beach it rains, when you decide not to go to the beach everyone I run into says, “Wow wouldn’t today be a great day to go to the beach..?” I smile back. Inside I’m imagining blowing up the sun, pointing and laughing. This scenario has lead to my accumulation of about 10 bikinis. I usually wear 8 of them once and then deem them unworthy and “fat”, and wear 2 on repeat until they fall apart.

My most successful place to buy a bikini in Hong Kong is H&M, you can pick your tops and your bottoms separately. This is a constant issue for me, I have the curse of flat ass. H&M is a great place to go. My favorite of the H&M stores is actually the one located in Elements mall or the newly opened Canton Road location. While the store located in Central is convenient, it is the most picked over and has the most limited size selection.

If you are daring and feel that you don’t need to try on a bikini before you buy it, I cannot say enough good things about Victoria’s Secret. They have great bikinis for women of any size. I really can’t say the same for H&M, or in general most of Hong Kong. I think that Victoria’s Secret makes a lot of different swimsuits with everyone in mind, they’re relatively affordable and they’re durable. If I didn’t already have a million bikinis I would buy this one in a heartbeat ->

My favorite swimsuit to date is actually a bikini I bought in Boracay when I realized my current bikini was a crime against fashion. The difference between my hips and my ass is TWO INCHES. My parents are plastic surgery fans, they asked me if I could have anything what would I have done? I’d like butt implants. The bikini I’m wearing below is actually a young adult line by Vix’s called Sophia. I was so happy when I discovered this bikini, finally something that fit my butt! No droopy swimsuit, no fear of the bottom falling off in the wake of a large wave – sigh of relief.

The perfect swimsuit is out there, I know finding it in Hong Kong can be difficult… Shopping online is great option for expats. Marks & Spencer may not have the most fashionable of bikinis, but from what I hear simply having a more western option is a huge relief to some ladies. I have also browsed Seibu's (located: Pacific Place, TST, Langham Place) swimsuits, when they have a sale you can get great brand name suits for less. Then of course there is always Lane Crawford, if you have crazy sort of money to spend on a swimsuit. If you're shopping at Lane Crawford you're probably not checking this blog out!

If any of you HK ladies have some secret swimwear spots out there, do share.