The problem: What do you do when you purchase a fancy umbrella, only to have it de-spoke on you in a sudden gust of wind? Or, what about that umbrella that you’re sentimentally attached to? The one you kissed under on your first date? Well, in most of the world, it gets tossed in the trash at first injury, but in Hong Kong you’ve got another option.
The solution: Climb the steep hill in Hong Kong’s Soho neighborhood and locate the small shack on Peel Street, just below Caine Road. The simple hand-lettered sign on the front advertises that he’s been doing umbrella repair since 1947 – now that’s old school!
Drop off your umbrella, demonstrate what needs to be done and return a few days later to pick it up. He may forget which one was yours, so help him out if he gets a little confused. The cost is minimal and you’re prolonging a fading vocation in a land where nearly everything is disposable.
