April, 2019
Todos Santos, BCS, Mexico
I worked at a startup in San Francisco 22 years ago. The number two at the company was a great guy my own age named Darrell. Over the next five years I worked directly for Darrell, or for the various companies he was in, a total of five times. We’ve kept in touch over the years and met up once in Southern California, maybe 8-10 years ago.
Christmas, 2018
New Territories, Hong Kong, China
I decided to head north in the New Territories, but had no set plan. So I consulted the guidebook and chose Fanling and Tai Po. Fanling was a little bit of a challenge as it required two changes on MTR trains.
I was at the first changeover station (Prince Edward) and had just finished staring at the system map, having figured out the not overly complicated plan when a beautiful 30ish Chinese woman touch my arm and asked in perfect, if accented, English “Do you need help?” I didn’t really, but she was so nice that I let her explain how to get where I was going. You think an American on, say BART, would ever offer help like that to a Chinese tourist?
I exited at Fanling and used Google Maps on my phone to guide me toward the temple I wanted to visit, the Fung Ying Seen Koon Taoist temple. My first impression was Whoa, look at all those massive apartment complexes. Shades of Seoul.
Way out in the burbs, skyscrapers still dominate the skyline
The temple itself was pretty, and pleasant, if not overwhelming. It seems to be as much a place for the cremated remains of the dead as a place of worship. At the main hall I saw a woman light about twelve sticks of incense, fan them out, the bow twice quickly in front of each of the three gods depicted in that hall.
Main hall at Fung Ying Seen Koon
Otherwise there were both indoor and covered outdoor pavilions of row after row of photos of deceased. The indoor ones were just photos, while the outdoor ones had a place (I presume) for ashes of the deceased. People would leave offerings of incense, tea, and/or fruit.
Indoor memorial hall
Outdoor memorial hall
The place is less than 100 years old, but offered an interesting mix of traditional architecture with modern aspects like A/C, visible plumbing, and, somewhat surprisingly, WIFI. I guess you might get an important text while paying respects to grandpa.
A/C and visible plumbing
Next was on to the Lung Yeuk Tau Heritage Trail. (Certain readers might appreciate a comparison of the LYTHT to the search for the famous Tandy Mine in Joshua Tree.) It was about a two mile walk from the train station which took me first through a residential apartment area, then a light industrial area, a good deal of which seemed closed. Then it got rural fast. Alternating rundown houses with chickens and gardens with low two-story apartment blocks. It all seemed odd, but Google Maps wouldn’t lie, would it?
In hindsight, this was the trail
No land seems to be wasted
After quite some time, and not a little walking back and forth on the same tiny road, I finally found a temple that was supposed to be on the “trail.” The temple was closed. Uh…for Christmas???
Closed Temple
I ventured on a little before giving up on the stupid trail and headed back by a slightly different route. Almost immediately I ran into two cute French girls who were staring at their phone with the same confused look I likely had. I asked if they were looking for the trail, which indeed they were. One said she thought it was something planned in the 80s, but that never really got developed. And she owed as that Google Maps kept getting them lost. We all agreed that it was, in any case, a nice day for a walk and that this was a different slice of life than in the more commercial areas of Hong Kong. We parted ways and I headed back toward the train station.
It was really an odd mix of housing. I could stand in one place and see rundown stuff like this.
Then turn 180 degrees and see nice apartments like these, with BMWs and Lexi parked near them.
Then 100 yards down the road, I could see the ever-present high rises looming overhead.
A long hike back to the train station and, after the walk down the escalator path from yesterday, and who knows how many miles today, my legs were feeling it. The MTR is pretty amazing and I only had to wait about 2 minutes for a train back the way I came. Two stops later was Tai Po.
I was looking for a large market there and needed only follow the crowds a short distance before finding it. I was starved, so was happy to see the sign indicated cooked food, but that was not what I found when I entered.
It was a huge building and the entire first floor was fish, meat, and chicken. Probable 50-60 vendors in all. Much of the fish was so fresh it was still flapping. At least one vendor had a small plastic box over a particularly flappy fish to keep it from wandering off, and she also had a stick like a roulette croupier to put them back in the right pile when they tried to make a break for it.
Fish…
Fish…
And more fish
Sausage, beeves, and porcine things
The second floor was equally large and given over to a small amount of clothes and houseware, but mostly dry goods, vegetables and fruit. Again 50-60 vendors.
One proprietress said in broken English that I should feel free to look around at here offerings. I asked about some odd looking eggs which had what looked like ash on them. The ones on the upper left are “preserved” but the ones with ash, as best she could communicate, were covered in something to make them “soft.” I’m not quite sure what that’s about, but want to try a tea egg before I leave here. [Edit: further research indicates these were probably century eggs.]
Odd eggs
Finally, the third floor was one huge food court with maybe 30-40 little places to eat. Cacophonous. I sat at a Thai place and ordered “sausage and vermicelli.” (Vermicelli is the local term for thin rice noodles.) This seemed safe, but the server seemed a little confused, even though I pointed right at it on the menu. Shortly thereafter I was served what was clearly sliced beef with noodles, lettuce, carrot, been sprouts, etc. Various sauces were on the table. It was good, though clearly not what I had ordered. But at least I managed to order just one dish, so I’m getting better.
Food court
The market was simply amazing. I would kill to have something like that in Spokane. Curiously the surrounding streets in all directions for a couple of blocks were made up of similar vendors. I guess that’s why Tai Po is also referred to as Tai Po Market.
The last stop was just a short walk away, though I found the Hong Kong Railway museum entirely underwhelming. Not so the squealing toddlers running around he grounds which apparently serves as a makeshift park for locals.
Back in Tsim Sha Tsui I had a good if very overpriced Italian dinner with some excellent wine and returned to my hovel for the evening.
24 December, 2018
Hong Kong, China
Finally over jet lag, this was a Good Day.
Having my bakery good from the previous day (closing the loop on foreshadowing) and having discovered the water cooler in the common area of my hotel has hot water, and subsequently purchased instant coffee, breakfast was had in my room. Dribbling crumbs on the bed, as there is nowhere else to sit.
I followed this up by walking around the block to Pacific Coffee, a largish place where one can get a good cup of coffee and sit casually in a quiet place, relaxing. This sort of place is uncommon here.
Then off to Hong Kong Island. I was going to head out the Museum of Coastal Defense, but it seemed like a long walk after a long MTR ride, so changed my mind and went to the Hong Kong Maritime Museum, instead. This was a wonderful place. It started with the history of trade with the U.S. and moved on through various periods up to the modern age of container ship and automated port facilities. Very nice and I spent almost three hours there.
Early in the exhibits they had a painting of King George III.
King George III
I found this amusing due to the inscription.
&c, &c, &c
They also had a ship’s medicine chest.
Ship’s Medicine Chest
The contents for which curiously contained nothing even remotely medicinal.
Non-medicinal medicines.
On the way to the museum I passed this by, then doubled back. A monument to Chinese Comfort Women and a plea for an apology from Japan. Which, it would seem, happened in 1994.
Monument to Chinese “Comfort Women” from WWII
Leaving there late in the morning I decided to go back to the MTR and head for Wan Chai to try to pick up a couple of my misses from yesterday. There is a rather huge series of elevated and covered walkways down near the harbor, all at the second floor level, that sort of weave in, around, and through buildings. I followed one into a mall to find a large rather high-end grocery store. I love grocery stores in other countries as they are a small window on the culture. Maybe not so much this one, which had about ten times as many caucasian expats as anywhere else I’ve seen here, but it was fun to walk around, anyway.
One of my fun pastimes here is searching for the cheapest, oddest, hopefully nutritionally void, and ideally curiously gross snacks I can find. Two neighbors are keeping an eye on my house and I intend to bring them back a gift bag of such stuff as a thank you. I spotted some mini hot cheese fish rolls that don’t need refrigeration and simply had to buy them. As I stood in line and listened to the eighth consecutive Christmas carol since entering the store I nearly dropped what I had and fled. Call me a Scrooge, but the only thing worse than non-stop incessant Christmas carols in the U.S. is non-stop incessant Christmas carols in a place like Hong Kong. Note to marketers and retailers: YOU DON’T HAVE TO MAKE CHRISTMAS CAROLS THE *ONLY* MUSIC YOU PLAY IN THE PRE-CHRISTMAS PERIOD. Rather than make me spend more, it likely makes me avoid your store and thus spend less. Oy.
Mini Hot Cheese Fish Rolls
Next I hopped the MTR back to Wan Chai where I hope to pick up on a couple of misses from yesterday. One was an eatery called Yau Wun Roast Meat. How can you go wrong eating at a place with a name like that? It had been closed when I went by yesterday. It was 12:30 on a weekday and the usual thronging crowds were larger than ever. Though some restaurants were empty, I walked by some that had a line of 30-40 people waiting to get in.
Forgive me for showing this many photos of what seems like a boring meal, but the whole experience was so comical I think it worth it.
Yau Wun Roasted Meats, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Roasted Goodness
There was a line of about ten people, so I queued up. Almost immediately a diminutive woman came charging out, pointed at me and said “One?” I hesitated and she said, louder, “One?” Yes. “Come!” Then pointing in the door, “Go! Back. Left.” She left no room for disobedience, so I squeezed my way to the back of this tiny, jam-packed place where I was seated at a tiny table with three others. Less than 30 seconds later a man took my order. There were no menus, and this wasn’t the kind of place to have a lengthy discussion with your waiter about the various possible things they offered, so I ordered roast pork, rice, and a Coke. Less than 60 seconds later I had my food. I later saw one of my table-mates had order some steamed vegetable side dish (bok choy maybe?) that looked good and would have made my plate look a little less bland, but I didn’t imagine you got do-overs here. The food was delicious.
Pork, rice, and a Coke
The comical thing was that we were packed in there so tight that my right arm was hard against the wall and I could barely move it to operate chopsticks. I got to laughing so hard I nearly choked on my food. Less than ten minutes from entering, I was leaving.
The kitchen
One curious thing I noticed is that space is so tight that they have nowhere to store supplies. A minivan parked immediately in front served as their pantry.
Next up was a return to the stinky tofu place. Which was closed. Double Stinky Tofu fail! I don’t know if he is closed for the holiday week or what, but this is the only place I know of here where one can get stinky tofu which is, in any case, apparently more popular as an oddity for tourists than it is with locals. I’m coming back later in the week. I’m gettin’ me some stinky tofu!
Stinky tofu place on right, with closed metal door. Dang!
From there back to Central on the MTR and I found the Central-Mid Levels Escalator. This is really a very cool solution to an urban planning problem. The area immediately adjacent to the harbor is flat, but the island very quickly crawls up steep slopes. The skyscrapers continue, to be sure, but most of the roads run east-west along the contours, the terrain making it difficult to create north-south roads. So how do you get people from Central to the Mid-Levels? You build a series of escalators, of course!
I took a time-lapsed video of the excursion up, but it failed to upload overnight. Those dying to watch a 5-minute video of me climb stairs and ride escalators will have to wait upon my return to the U.S. and faster Internet.
So, here’s the thing: If you ride a one-way series of escalators up for 20 minutes you then have to walk back down (or wait for the next morning, when they run the other way.) That’s a lot of down. I had noticed some really nice small restaurants on the way up, but was paying more attention to my camera. On the way down I spotted a bar that served nothing but Belgian beer. It was mid-afternoon, I was sweaty, tired, and my favorite beers in the world are Belgian Trappist Ales. The bartender dude told me they didn’t open until 3. It was 2:48, so I wandered up the street and found one after another really nice restaurants. This was clearly an upscale neighborhood. Within a single block I found:
Then, sadly, at the end of the block:
What I had discovered, without knowing it at the time, was Soho. All those places (except 7-11) had wonderful menus, though I nearly choked at the average of about $50 for mains.
Retreating to my Belgian beer pub…
de Belgie
I relaxed with a Westmalte Belgian duppel. It was excellent, as one would hope it would be at almost $15 with tip.
Westmalte Belgian Duppel
I beat a retreat back down the hill to Central and hopped the MTR back to Tsim Sha Tsui and my hotel where I edited a video that later failed to upload. Oh, well.
Dinner was another interesting dining experience. A slightly upscale (meaning not street food) place sporting a photo of Bruce Lee eating there sometime in the 70s. A large menu, I narrowed it down to two choices and attempted to ask my server, who apparently spoke zero English, which one she recommended. I pointed at one and she said “Yes.” Or maybe this one (pointing at the other)? “Yes.” Okay, I said, realizing this wasn’t going to work, and pointed back at the first. “Yes.” As she left I had a vague feeling I was missing something and was soon proved correct when I was very promptly served both dishes.
Could have been worse. The food was good and both dishes with a Tsingtao was only about $30.
22 December, 2018
Hong Kong, China
Up early and continuing to fight issues uploading photos to the blog.
The breakfast place spotted yesterday turned out to not be a western style buffet. Actually they did have one, but the very polite young guy in charge indicated that was not for me. His English was not good enough to explain why but, in any case, I got a cooked to order breakfast with bangers, eggs, toast, fruit, and the seemingly ubiquitous serving of breakfast baked beans. Must be a thing from their colonial past. Oh, and several cups of good black coffee. Ah.
It was raining lightly so I skipped the Star Ferry and took the clean, fast, efficient, and cheep MTR subway across the bay and exited at Admiralty before realizing I wanted Wan Chai. The funicular to the peak is a must-do, but I’m waiting for Wednesday when it is supposed to be clear, not raining. From Wan Chai there was not much open, so I hopped on a Ding-Ding trolley. I wanted one that went all the way east to Kennedytown, but it was jam-packed, so got one that only went as far as Western Market. At least this one had enough room so I could sit on the top deck with a view.
I spotted what looked a little like a couple of homeless camps. The one below seemed odd, a homeless camp under an Armani sign. It turns out they all built mini-shelters against the rain and were there for what I assume was a Christmas parade. Call me odd, but I’ve never enjoyed parades. Not even as a kid. I moved on.
Not homeless
A fantastic find just where I got off the tram was a bakery with all kinds of good stuff. Most bakeries here cater to sugary sweets, not to more western style baked goods. This one was fascinating and had some odd stuff. Tuna in a baked good is not something expected. Picked up something to nibble on immediate and something for later. (Foreshadowing!)
Baked goodness, if in somewhat odd packaging
Western Market turned out to be a very cool area with a few street vendors and loads of shops. Some with just trinkets and junk, but many with dried goods. Dried vegetables, nuts, legumes, dried fish, and dried just about anything. I love these kinds of places.
Dried stuff
More dried stuff
Shrimp in the background and in the foreground, dried, um, something
Unrefrigerated meat hanging outside doesn’t really work for me from a microbiology point of view.
Raw meat store, Hong Kong
On the the other hand, roasted meat I have no problem with. Looks like bundles of pure goodness.
Goodness hanging from above
I worked my way back to Hong Kong park with is lovely. The Chinese know how to do parks. This including a visit to the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware. Not super exciting, but interesting. I also wanted to visit the aviary at Hong Kong Park, but it was closed. Aviary fail!
Thwarted, again!
Hong Kong Park
For a country that is not particularly Christian, the Chinese certainly embrace Christmas. Like over the top. Not just the throngs of people shopping until late at night and the massive Christmas displays at and around malls which might just be the result of commercialism and marketing, but also public display like this.
Hong Kong Park
Near HK Park (might well have lifted this from a friend’s blog.)
Interesting architecture
Next up I wanted to try a roasted meet place, but it was closed on Sunday. But certainly the Stinky Tofu place would be open. How could it not? I cruised by about 12:45 at it was closed. So I went and had lunch elsewhere planning to circle back.
I passed by one place that look okay, but moved on and went into a place two doors down. I indicated one person for lunch. There were only four-tops available, so the server wrote something on a piece of paper (likely “gweilo sucker!”), handed it to me, and took me two doors back to the place I had passed by. I was seated and started to take a menu from a rack, but my new server indicated that was not for me and walked away. Okay…
She came back with a different menu with no pictures and exceptionally brief English descriptions. In the end I got a huge Tsingtao beer and bits of BBQ pork wrapped in thick gelatinous rice noodles, resembling small crepes. Bland, but they had hot pepper oil, so I could spice it up.
Next back to the Stinky Tofu place around 2 p.m., but it was closed. Clearly closed for the day. Stinky Tofu fail! Everything in Kowloon seems open Sundays. Not so much on Hong Kong Island.
Went out later in the evening and found a whole in the wall place for dinner. Simple stuff but cheap, spicy, and served with a cold San Miguel. Walked around and found the “temporary street market” I was looking for was the same place I had seen the first morning out, with the warning signs about rat poisoning. Skipped it.
Solid find, though. A coffee place similar to a Starbucks, but not a Starbucks. Starbucks exist here and there is one nearby, but they are not super common. I have no issue with Starbucks, but avoid them when in foreign countries, preferring local places. This one I’ll hit up in the morning.
22 December, 2018
Hong Kong, China
Up quite early and read until about dawn, then headed to Macau. No, not the former Portuguese island colony (maybe later in the trip), but an eatery just up from my hotel. Had some decent egg tarts and a toasted bun with butter and sweetened condensed milk drizzled on top. The later was a little sweet for my taste, but the breakfast satisfied. Oh, and coffee with cream (or at least milk). Oy.
On the way to the waterfront I passed an excellent looking breakfast buffet at a hotel. Tomorrow. For sure.
My plan was to work my way through museums along the waterfront but once I saw the view of Hong Kong Island from near the Star Ferry building I nearly changed plans and jumped a ferry for Hong Kong proper. “Stunning” doesn’t even begin to be adequate. Too hazy for photography, but 120 degree panorama of massive skyscrapers. Simply beautiful. Awe-inspiring.
I moved on, but both the Space Museum and Science Museum were not yet open, so took a long walk to the Hong Kong History Museum. I was confused about where to pay before learning it was free. The main floor had a nice exhibit of wood carving, much of it gilded. Beautiful stuff, very nicely displayed.
There was a massive permanent exhibition downstairs covering everything from the natural history of the area, the flora and fauna before the area was settled, early peoples and their ways of life, then various periods of civilization leading up to fairly modern times. It was huge and very well done. I spent over three our there.
Incredible carving, from a solid pice of wood, and gilded in leaf foil
Next on my list for the day was claypot rice for lunch. This is a traditional dish where rice is placed in a clay pot covered with various vegetables and/or meats, then baked with a lid so that the rice gets a little crispy on the bottom. A long hike back to Nathan Road where I caught to superb MTR subway to Yau Ma Tei. Some difficulty with Google Maps on my phone as the tall building sometimes block GPS signal, but finally found the place I was looking for. Closed. Ah, but I had a backup claypot spot in mind and it was nearby. Always prepared, that’s me! Also closed. Claypot fail!
A most curious business model
It was after 1 p.m., I was hungry, and tired, so took the MTR back to iSquare, the massive multistory shopping mall across the street from my hotel and ate at an overpriced Italian place. Still, a good pizza and a couple of San Miguels were just the ticket on a muggy day. Back to the room to rest and read.
I was thinking about heading out again about 6:30, but almost didn’t. Still tired and not very hungry, I thought about staying in. Finally headed out and found a funky area five minutes about that has a sort of youthful hipster vibe (making me out of place there entirely, but so it goes.)
I ate at Ebenezer’s. Ebenezer himself greeted me at the door. Ebenezer has somewhat multicultural (and Halal) food. The chicken tikka pita was good, though the chicken was not cooked Tandoori style. If you go to Ebenezer’s and order spicy, be prepared for spicy. Not outside my comfort zone, but certainly on the leading edge.
From kebab to pizza to Indian to “Cambell’s Soup of the Day” Ebenezer’s got you covered
There was a tap room on the walk back that promised local beer. Craft brewing is a relatively new phenomenon here but seems to really be taking off. The Back Kite Goden Ale was pretty good and the pop music decidedly western.
Beer selection at the Kowloon Taproom
If you look closely, you can see a sign for Yardly Brothers Llama Island IPA. “None of the watery shite.”
Headed the Central tomorrow on the island of Hong Kong.
21 December, 2018
Hong Kong, China
So I rolled the dice and flew United to Hong Kong. Most everyone I know shares my opinion that United sucks and is to be avoided, but they have direct flights from GEG to SFO which makes them a seemingly good choice for connections to Asia. Otherwise it’s Delta or Alaska to SEA, then usually another connecting flight somewhere in Asia. Flying United is a little like a game of Russian Roulette. The best you can hope for is for it not to end in disaster.
That said, the Economy+ flights to Hong Kong did not absolutely suck. The 18” wide seats would probably have sucked but I had the isle on one side and an inexplicably empty seat on the other. Food was mediocre at best. Still, a 15-hour flight is an endurance event in any class seat.
I had a little trouble finding my dive hotel. The reviews online said it was within a few hundred feet of the Tsim Sha Tsui Station. But that’s the local Tsim Sha Tsui station, not the airport train Tsim Sha Tsui station. Still a very friendly guy at the latter guided me to the former. Then a small bit of wandering around on surprisingly crowded streets for 9:30 at night on a weekday, I found the tiny door that serves, among other things, InnSight Hotel. Notice the prominent signage.
Extraordinarily friendly staff led me to the smallest room I’ve ever stayed in. Microscopic. About sixty square feet. The entire bathroom is just barely bigger than a standard tub. The toilet is in the shower. I had thought to pack hangers, knowing this was a cheap place, but needn’t have bothered – there is no place to hang anything. There is but a single outlet in the whole room.
This was not all entirely unexpected, however. I wanted to stay on the very southern end of Kowloon and this area, Tsim Sha Tsui, is extremely convenient. And expensive. What we would consider nice hotels run $300/night and up. This room was $67. It is clean, the bed is comfortable enough, and the staff is very accommodating and helpful.
Sleep the first night was, as it had been on the plane, illusory. Thin walls and noisy neighbors. I got to thinking there might be actual advantages to a $300/night room.
Before I get to the part of wandering about looking for breakfast, I should mention the shower. There is a switch near the door to turn on power to the German-made electric water heater. I turned it on shortly before shaving and it seemed to quickly provide adequate hot water for that purpose. I then (still standing at the sink and 12” from the toilet), turned on the shower itself. While at first this worked fine, I quickly became aware that in this place one must strike a balance between heat and flow with the water. Maybe I just need to be more conservative with flow with this tiny heater, or maybe I need to turn it on 15 minutes early. Experimentation is in the future. Blog post updates can be expected.
One of the breakfast options I had read about was the Australian Dairy Company, a place that has a reputation for good food and downright surly service. Think Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi, only in a Kowloon Breakfast theme. But there was a closer place that intrigued so I headed out at 7 a.m. to search for it. Never found it. Had a nice walk around 1881 Heritage House, though, which was kind of historic. At least they made it seem that way. From the outdoor signage, it appears historic things happened there at some point in time. Not unpleasant anyway, and zero crowds on nice 70 degree morning.
Gun at 1881 Heritage House that sounded at noon at a time keeper for fisherman
One hopes they don’t currently fire live rounds
So I walked on, rambling around in any direction, and came across a tiny door behind which was an indoor vegetable market with a sign promising hot food area. I didn’t find any hot food, and even the cold food seemed questionable.
Not Breakfast
Other signage made me decide to skip the place altogether.
Not even a good location to find breakfast
Shortly thereafter I found a small cafe with pictures in the window that promised something breakfast-like and another key quality – they were open. So I dove in. Communication with the server was challenging, but I think I ordered a plate that included scrambled eggs, sausage and coffee. Service was prompt and indeed I got about what I thought I had ordered. The coffee had cream, though. Why do non-Americans always automatically put cream in coffee? Oh, and the scrambled egg (singular) ended up having little strips of a gelatinous substance that at first appeared to be onion (nice touch!), but turned out to be of an ocean provenance. Who the hell puts fish in eggs???
I was amused, however, to find Tobasco. Everything tastes better with Tobasco. And, in the end, in very expensive Kowloon, breakfast was only HK$40, which is under six bucks. The day shift dude at the hotel desk has recommended a better place for tomorrow, otherwise I might try one of the pricey breakfast buffets at the many nearby high-end hotels.
On the way back to the room to take care of business, I passed this place half a block away. I kicked myself for the missed breakfast opportunity. It’s a little hard to read, but at this one convenient location you can get “spicy fish balls,” “fried intestines,” “fish balls with noodles,” and, my personal favorite, “Leaks, Pig Blood, and Curds with Intestines!” I’ve simply gotta go back later!
Lots of icky things
I wandered north and ran into Kowloon Park, a remarkable oasis of peacefulness smack in the middle of bustling city.
Kowloon Park
Adjacent to it I found the very nice Hong Heritage Discovery Center. It has a wonderfully well-conserved collection of antiquities with interesting display covering neolithic to modern Hong History. It is humbling to an American to see hand-made items possibly 4,000 years old.
Neolithic era pot.
The park and Discovery Center had taken up most of the morning and, after an okay Vietnamese lunch, I returned to the room at address lingering jet lag.
I headed out about sundown to find the Temple Street Night Market. Note to self: Before asking a local for directions, make sure that local can understand the question. After much walking I found the market which, while colorful and interesting, held nothing I wanted to buy. Mostly there for tourists, the ratio of gringo to Asian faces grew the closer I got to it. Kowloon is a cool place to walk around at night, though.
After more merely okay Vietnamese food for dinner and a quick visit to a local market, I repaired to my luxury digs for the night. I have one more day of somewhat mindless walking around before I start to look for the bigger attractions.
A shop that sells nothing but dried fish.
Nathan Road, the main north-south road through southern Kowloon
August 8th, 2018
Spokane, WA
No roadside fun this day. I uncharacteristically sleepy almost eight hours and got a late start. The $2 off coupon breakfast at the Holiday Inn did not intrigue, so I set off in search of…I…um… Okay, certain parties have used my affection for Panera to accuse me of being under the influence of Big Breakfast. It’s just not true! I can quit anytime I want, but a cross country road trip is no time to address one’s addictive nature.