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.

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!)

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.

Unrefrigerated meat hanging outside doesn’t really work for me from a microbiology point of view.

On the the other hand, roasted meat I have no problem with.  Looks like bundles of pure goodness.

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!

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.

Near HK Park (might well have lifted this from a friend’s blog.)

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.