There's a particular queue I'm curious about - one that I've seen on Mody Road a couple of times I was there. Upon asking one of the people in the line what was going on they said they were there to buy - cookies! I sure would like to see what kind of scrumptious cookies they are and see how people get mad enough just to queue just for them.

About the Filipinos around Chater Road, the World Wide House nearby hosts a lot of shops that sell Filipino goods, as well as handle box deliveries to the Philippines. I guess the people you saw there with boxes were there to buy stuff or send gifts back to their families back home.