Can anyone here recommend a good place to by a pair of binoculars or a small telescope? Preferably not one of those rip-off electronics stores.

Temple Street.

Apliu Street, the gadget flea market, in Sham Shui Po. There are a dozen stalls towards the south end selling everything from plastic monoculars up to huge astronomical telescopes.

Thank you Alan! I found that street once about ten years ago and have been unable to find it again!

I bought a pair of Chinese binoculars from Temple Street not so long ago, for two hundred dollars. You have to bargain hard but two hundred and fifty is the more common price.

For the telescopes, the Russian made ones are to be looked at, and through!

Champagne Arcade on 16 Kimberley Road, TST is another good place for optics. The Dick Chow Co at shop 17A has Japanese made Sigma 8X23 binos for 600 dollars. His number is 2367-3299. Next door to his shop is The Camera Service Center which services and repairs cameras.Their number is 2366-3002.

I would choose Temple st. over Ap Liu as the former have several Nepalese fast food restaurants which serve good, inexpensive curries, noodles and those delicious Nepalese dumplings called mo-mo's!