Hong Kong pt 1

I have decided to split my blog about my time in Hong Kong into two parts rather than give you a day by day account or one long list or ramblings. It will take a while to get through it all so grab a cup off coffee or tea and pull up a comfy chair.

Hong Kong is an amazing place and in the time I was there I have been all over the place. I started my first day, Monday, with a sleep-in and tried to catch up on some much needed sleep. I ended up not getting much sleep at all but lay in bed till 10am anyway.

After recommendations from people at work back in Adelaide I decided to walk up to the markets in Mongkok… The markets were amazing and full of variety. As I was there in the morning it was quiet although I didn’t realise this until I went back the next day during peak hour how popular the markets were. The streets get closed off and it becomes a mass of people. It was amazing.

I was asked if I could buy a particular type of bag for someone back in Adelaide, so armed with a picture I went looking… and after walking the first quarter of the ladies market I decided to show the picture to one stall owner and see if I could get pointed into the right direction. I was asked to follow her and I was lead up so stairs into an apartment block, through a secure door, up an old lift to the 7th floor, through another secure door and then to a room that had padlocks on it. Inside the room, the size of a standard Hong Kong apartment, was a full range of fake bags and watches. It was amazing. I didn’t buy anything that time but the did go back to another place later to get what was wanted and saw 2 Aussie couples in the same room, we all looked at each other and chuckled!

The smells in Hong Kong were amazing, from both extremes! I love Asian food but wasn’t game enough to try any off the street in Hong Kong. I was actually quiet tired most of the time as I hadn’t caught up on sleep so took the easy food option most times, junk food! (although I did eat a big salad once a day before you start telling me off!). Unfortunately not all smells were nice, on one walk I came across some cooking that just smelt foul… but the locals seemed to be enjoying it!

On my first day in Hong Kong I worked out from the maps that I walked nearly 15km, I quickly decided that was enough exercise and decided to try Public transport for the next two days. The public transport system here is amazing, but I guess you could expect that considering that Honk Kong has 7 million people with very few who own transportation. The trains I caught were very clean, efficient and fast! I’m not sure how often they do run but I don’t think I waited more than 5min to catch a train.

One downside to Hong Kong would be the watch and suit hawkers on ever street corner. I ended up getting really sick of them and possibly ended up being a bit rude and said no ever before I got to them… they could see me coming as I was about 1 foot taller than most people around me! On Tuesday morning I went to Wanchai on Hong Kong Island and had a much more relaxing time… why… no street Hawkers!

Wanchai is an older area of Hong Kong and you did notice it when walking around. But after walking off the main street I came across a fresh food market and also a clothing market. There was lots of fish and red meat up for sale as well as fresh fruit and veggies. The butcher did his work on the street right in front of you. In some stores there were fresh animals ready for him to do his work! Most of the meat for sale was fish… and most of it was freshly stored in tubs full of flowing salt water. The prices seemed to be really good as well!

"Fish Mungler" (I think thats what they are called)

Butcher

One of the markets in Wanchai

Hong Kong Island also has traditional tram cars which were a sight. I took this picture mainly because of its destination… “Happy Valley” which is where I live in Australia. On my tour the next day I found out that Happy Valley is were all the rich people live in Hong King!

If you look closely you can see it says Happy Valley on the destination bord