Odds and Ends, Day 1

Up to this point I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do every day and where I was going to go.  Thanks to the efficiency of HK public transport, combined with everything being so much closer than it seemed, and a slight case of not being able to stay in bed past 7a, I got ahead of my schedule.  So today I just kind of made stuff up as I went along.

I will not say that I got lost. I will say only that I thought I was on a different street going a different direction for a bit this morning.  Having no plans for the rest of the day, I decided to go with it.  This led me to the Goldfish Market. Almost.  It definitely led me to the statue for the Goldfish Market which I will include below.  Either I did not venture far enough in the proper direction or the market was closed on Sunday, but I did not run across any stray Koi.  I chose to believe the closed excuse. 

As fish proved elusive I went for the birds.  The Bird Market and the Flower Market were both very close and looked interesting so away I went.  The Bird Market was full of old men buying birds in small, semi-elaborate cages.  There were lots of different types of birds and they were all chirping away in different tones and tunes, but surprisingly the cacophony was not awful.  It was just kind of happy and loud. 

After the birds, the Flower Market was wonderfully still. Cool, as well.  Between the people spraying plants and cuttings with water on one side and the little bursts of cold air from the better funded (i.e. air conditioned) store fronts on the other side it was a welcome relief from the mugginess of HK in general.  Pretty too.

Getting back to the MTR, I headed to Causeway Bay to check things out.  Interesting point about Causeway Bay – there is a World Trade Center AND a Times Square.  They are both malls.  Remember what I said about Hong Kong and shopping?

My first point of order was to get to the Noon Day Gun.  This is a small cannon that has been fired every day since 1860, with the exception of the 6 years of Japanese occupation.  The Japanese are such killjoys.  It was “made famous” by Noel Coward in the song Mad Dogs and Englishmen.  I had never heard of it.  But I thought “it’s a cannon, it can’t be lame”.  I made it with 10 minutes to spare.  As a special Mother’s Day present I will not post a picture of the sketchy, poorly marked alley entrance to the tunnel that takes you there, through an underground garage.  It was totally worth it.  Picture below.

Window shopping at Times Square.

My next mission was of course a pub.  Near a racetrack.  Below where my map cut off.  Flying by the seat of my pants!  (Mom, you still there?)  Robyn from work had suggested a pub her husband had frequented when last he was in HK and so I stopped by.  I have a photo of the sign to prove it.  Once I found the place (I went the long way round the racetrack, past the cemetery, past the tunnel to Aberdeen) it was of course closed.  Luckily there was an awesome ramen place next door so the effort was not wasted.

Other than a little more window shopping that was pretty much my day.  Tomorrow is my last full day in Hong Kong and I feel it will be more odds and ends.  I just can’t bring myself to go to Hong Kong Disney.

And then...(insert plot point from Finding Nemo)

Hey Tiffany, I'll give you a dollar to hold this bag of "bird food" for 5 seconds.

Flowers for Mothers Day (love you mom)

Ilya Seperich, this gun is for you.

Because it just wouldn't be China without at least one golden dragon statue.