Tueday 16th June.

What a boring title. Another relatively cruisey day by comparison.

I forgot to mention about the suitcase. That is literally two new suitcases we have purchased to take home gifts and shopping. Plus we have filled our suitcase (which left Australia only half full) and the kids' suitcase has had 2 1/2 packs of nappies removed from it.

Which gets me unusually onto the money topic. The trigger was remembering nappies. We had to buy a new pack, which, after scanning Wellcome's shelves (we went there to buy booze for Australia and some lollies for taking home, as well), led us to buy the local brand of whatever nappies with chinese writing and cow pictures on the bum. The reason is that huggies brand, was over $250 HKD! That is about $50 AUD. For a pack of 32 mid size nappies. To put into perspective, the same pack of nappies costs around $18 in Australia. If you get Aldi brand (Which are literally the best nappies on the market anyway), you pay $18 and get double the quantity.

Milk - like I said $3 a litre for Aussie UHT. So for a family that goes through, minimum, 1L a day, it isn't real cheap. Bread, $1.30 for a 1/3 of a loaf we'd get in Australia. The noodles (the add boiled water, seasoning, etc and soak for 3 minutes variety), are probably no cheaper than Australia. The brands we pay $1.30 for at Aspley Spice Mart are about the equivalent of that in HK. The variety is much the same too.

So whilst bottled water, alcohol of all varieties (except wine) and soft drink are cheap, as is eating out, with a minor amount of conservatism in selection - some basic staples aren't very cheap. Fruit and Veg seems to be rather expensive as well.

Anywho, I digress.

We went to the first place we went here for breakfast, again. Just because it kind of helped us out to realise that we weren't in the worst place on earth. Plus it is blinking cheap and the food is good. We ended up getting some nice noodle and pork soup (Jovia's was tender pork ribs and mine was pork and preserved vegetables), sandwiches for the kids, and iced tea, coffee (the coffee mentioned in the previous post that sent me skitzoid) and a frappe like thing of strawberry, garnished with pineapple pieces. Cost about $14 or $15 AU, which is great.

I don't think they'll want us back. Esther was crying constantly and whingeing and Sonali chucked a hooer screeching tantrum. I could have strangled her and shipped back the corpse duty free. Sometimes kids are just being kids and sometimes, they are being little poos, just to make your life miserable. She and Esther were in that mood yesterday.

We ended up wandering around the dragon centre for the hell of it. Plus Jovia wanted to find some shoes for Olivia.

Actually Jovia got her nails done. Not interesting for us blokes, but basically they bogged the existing nail, rather than glue acrylic onto it (meaning less chemicals for starters, plus it doesn't weaken the existing nail), and then had it painted nicely. Looks good, and took an hour. I used the time to take the kids to 7-11 and buy drinks and snacks, went to the ATM, the game parlour (they are gay here, sorry, 50 themed money trays are still gay money trays, whatever movie you put on it). Olivia chucked a spazzy in the toilet and distressed her sisters - you get the theme on that?

Actually, we went to Wellcome and picked up a bundle of booze up to our duty limit. I reckon we wouldn't have gotten it as cheap duty free, and since we were in HK, we got generally Asian varieties of booze, rather than bring in 4.5L of Johnny walker red, which no-one likes anyway.

The laptop battery is going to conk out, so I'll leave it at that. Will finish tuesday on what we ate, plus the computer arcade. And some photos of what we took.

More soon!

This catchup is getting silly

I am beginning to forget what we are doing.

I do know that I can't wait to get home for the weather. The humidity and heat are Brisbane-esque and starting to really affect us. The problem is that the toilets are never easy to find here, and so one doesn't drink too much to avoid having to suddenly find a toilet (even harder with kids). Trouble is, one ends up with a headache from dehydration.

And I would commit high treason for a decent coffee. Apparently Nescafe is brewed coffee. I had one yesterday and went skitz.

We actually didn't do too much on Monday initially. I've gone through the times being all different here, so we used the time to sleep, launder (clothes, not money) and give our feet a break.

But around 5pm we headed to the Temple Street Night Markets. I think we weren't in much mood for bargaining, which either made us better bargainers (because we just didn't tolerate much) or worse (couldn't be bothered fighting). We ended up doing extra shopping for gifts and I got a couple of shirts.

We went for food at a local restaurant (I use the term in much the same way as KFC or McD's is used - you sit down and have food, rather than in the Ciao Baby sense). The food was great, and cost us 2/3rd of nothing - actually we had a meal for the 4 of us and drinks (non-alcky), for about $28 AU - it wouldn't matter if you substituted alcoholic drinks for the non-alcoholic variety, it is much the same in price. In fact my favourite Munchenal Lager is on special at 7-11 for HK$10.50 for two 500ml cans - that works out at less than $1 AU per can. It is even Cheaper than export (green label) Tsingtao at the moment - make sense of that why don't you.

About 6:30pm when we had just started, it started to rain. Really belt down - a real typical tropical summer downpour. Trouble is, Jovia needed to go to the toilet. We knew where the toilet was (a couple of blocks away), and we were perched under a ledge, and the kids were carrying on (Esther especially). So Jovia took one umbrella, and the pram had the other (Olivia sat on Sonali's lap - the pram has been good, apart from accessibility issues), so I got satched.

We wandered through the markets a couple of times on the Temple Street area, whilst not going near Woosung Street. We ended up buying another suitcase (to put the rest of our shopping in) for around $22 AU, which wasn't bad. If it lasts the trip home, it has done its task of getting our stuff home. Some more souvenir-type items, but we weren't into it as much.

I think the thing you have to realise about Hong Kong is - there is a dense population and lots of people in your personal space all the time. It is a place that stimulates to the extreme, especially aurally and visually. It is kind of like being schizophrenic - sometimes you want all the noise to stop. With the kids being a tourist attraction (for the locals that is) in their own right, the problem is exacerbated considerably. Don't get me wrong, it is exciting, but man alive it is so intense, all the time.

We wandered back to Nathan road about 10ish, had some dim sum and soup, which cost us about $18 AU with drinks and caught a taxi home.

Again, I can't say enough about the taxis. They are cheap, and a good way to see things (well sightsee at speed), that you won't get the time to see otherwise, especially when you go from different places or they take a different initial route. The thing that has helped enormously, is being able to say the cantonese word for "street" and "road", and getting a better idea (or at least attempting) of how to pronounce the Chinese street names correctly. Now, I have no trouble with them knowing the name of the suburb, the name of the streets and the connecting streets there, even if I have to help them with directions.

Another riveting chapter written. Sorry, we are so tired, that we are taking things easier than we have. I'm glad we aren't in Tsim Sha Tsui, I think the stimulation would be worse. At least in the sticks, it is a little easier.

Photos - sorry none. We took photos of the markets, and the camera was out of batteries. We bought some more at the market, but the rain made it impossible to take photos.

Sunday, Ocean Park et al

Hiyawl, catchup almost done again. We are having another cruisy day, which we need, we are exhausted.

We went to Ocean Park yesterday, finally. The weather has been overcast, but didn't rain much during the day.

You can see why our book said Ocean Park was the locals' haunt, rather than Disneyland. It has replayibility. It had far less westerners than Disneyland, and some of the signs were in very slightly fractured Engrish and not all the staff spoke adequate English. Having said that, since Disneyland I've learned some numbers, thank you and "yes, three kids", it is a bit easier to get what we need.

It's situated on the Southside of HK Island at a suburb called Aberdeen and is split up into two parts - the Lowlands and the Headland. These two parts are separated by a thumping great Mountain (with a dragon head manicured from the trees in it, which you can see from miles away). There are two ways to get there - Shuttle bus between the two entrances (the Lowland and Highland ones) or cable car.

We took a taxi in, which cost all of about $22 AU, including the tolls for the cross harbour tunnel (much like our CLEM7 opening up) and the tunnel through to the southside of HK Island. After the poofight with walking to public transport and getting the kids, pram, etc on it - we saved our legs and stress. Plus you have to get the train into Central on HK Island, transfer to a connecting train to Admirality and then get out of the station and onto a bus to the park.

Given HK isn't particularly wheelchair or stroller friendly at all (stairs everywhere and few lifts), it wasn't worth it. And realistically, we spend about $6 AU just to get to the bus stop, plus whatever the bus cost, we would have saved, maybe $7 or $8 AU, and added too much tiring and stressful travel.

At the park, it was easy to get in on the lowlands. The cost was 50% less per person than Disneyland and the park was generally more compact. We also had a voucher we got at Wellcome (30% off one ticket - obviously aimed at locals, but since we have been picking up supplies there, we go it).

The lowlands is the kiddie rides and most of the wildlife related stuff, including Pandas, which are incredible. Some in one exhibit were sleeping and the other was wandering a little and then going away. We got some photos, though the glass made them hazy. It was still worth it to see them. We also went and saw some other animals, though many we couldn't see (must have been the weather). I made a joke to a Pom about the Chinese Salamander not being there because he was in the cafe as lunch instead.

There is also a goldfish exhibit there - there are 300 different types of goldfish! We also saw an acrobatics show, which we took some video of, which was very impressive. Like a Twenty/20 version of cirque de soleil.

As usual, the park prices were an issue. Coke and Water (of which we purchased plenty due to the weather) was 4 times what we pay in the suburbs, though we had hindsight to get some snacks and water and poppers to save time (so we saved by going to Wellcome and then we saved again by getting a cheaper ticket).

But because it is a not-for-profit conservation organisation that runs it, I don't mind so bad. And it was still cheaper than Disneyland.

We ended up going to Panda Cafe, and getting lunch there, which cost around $40 AU for a family (including a coke, water and Carlsberg), which is fairly good for decent food and at a theme park. The food was another reason you know they are catering to locals - it was the local fare, not western food (though you could get McDonalds at the other side of the park - no way, as we had Delhi Belly once from it - the only stomach ache has been from McD!).

So Jovia got Beef Brisket, veges and noodles (thick rice ones, which were like slippery clear spaghetti), I got BBQ Pork and Roast Duck with rice (which had a nice sauce in it), and we shared some pork dim sum and pork buns as well. We kinda did an all in share. We couldn't eat it all, there was so much - but it was really good food.

After going to the gift shop, we went on the Cable Car, which was really cool. The kids were fascinated by it, though Jovia was scared (mum would be too - it was really high). At the end, Sonali goes "it's only one more bump mummy and we'll be there". But the view was fantastic, and you could see the whole harbour, mountain, boats and everything from it. I'll post a couple of photos, but I took about 20 or 30, it was just incredible. They had stairs underneath and it was like one of those south american ziggurats, just a massive climb - you wonder how anyone could have climbed it, let alone was the distance to the headland.

The headland area had some good rides, though I only managed three, the bigger rollercoaster, the space wheel (like a faster Enterprise at Dreamworld) and the river rapids (the water was cleaner than Dreamworld's or Seaworld's). The problem with the park, especially the headland, is that it was poorly laid out (the map was inaccurate and misleading), and not wheelchair/pram accessible. Just to get to the exit on the Headland required us to take 3 very steep, long escalators down the hill, which is scary holding a pram, because if I'd slipped, it would have damaged a lot of people.

It is absolutely a park for able bodied people only. I wish I'd got to do all the thrill rides, as they were impressive looking. The rollercoaster I did go on was great - it had two loops like the corkscrew and a part where the car was upside down. A lot of sideways bends - just a lot of fun. The river rapids were great, and the drop got me very wet. The space wheel was so fast that it became a bit of a gravitron. If you wanted to go, you'd do it in a group where the people who wanted sedate rides and shows could go to the lower area, and those who wanted rides the top area.

We got a bit of attention at the park, though only one photo request, which was good. I can't wait to go back to where we appear as just another family of locals, rather than strange westerners with a blonde kid.

We'd decided that we'd try to get back to Tsim Sha Tsui for dinner and see if we had time for the symphony of lights on HK Harbour. We took a taxi in to TST - almost the eastern side, which is very nice - it has a street much like a beach street or the stretch along brisbane river at Hamilton. We ended up going to outback steakhouse, as we were well underdressed for another different steakhouse. I was trying to convince Jovia to go to the Martini place, but again, we were probably underdressed.

The food was brilliant, the dinner menu is far better - I got a massive rack of ribs and cheese fries (yum!) - I had credit because I pushed the pram up some extremely steep long hills at Ocean Park, Jovia got a rib fillet steak and the kids a kids meal each. Add in cokes and Stella on tap and it was our most expensive meal, but we needed some energy food.

We went and had a look at the harbour lights which were really nice, but we were on the the wrong side of the peninsula to get any view of the symphony of lights, more is the pity.

We got a taxi back, I caught up the blog and crashed. I finally figured out a level on my DS game (can't find a DSi card - it seems like the DSi hasn't been released here yet?). If Whitney's DS still worked, I'd buy a bundle of cute accessories and a nice case.

Photos:

1. View of the Peak on HK Island covered in cloud - looking from TST.

2. Part of the view from the Cable car to some of the harbour - it's higher than it looks!

3. View straight ahead from the Cable Car - actually those steps are about 60 degrees steep, but the photo makes them look flat.

4. View of dragon on mountain in the distance - you'll need to look at the full sized photo and zoom a little to see it - it even has a red eye.

5. Cross harbour tunnel entrance from TST to HKI.

Saturday - not much happening

Saturday, we ended up not doing a great deal.

After breakfasting at a place in the dragon centre, we had no idea what to do.

The breakfast was adequate, though my main, I was underwhelmed with - and the marrow was reddish (even though the chicken was white), so I left, just in case the law against blood wasn't quite kept (though, in my head, I think that the meat was more than adequately bled). My Satay malaysian was beautiful. Having said that, I think they tried too many cuisines and then were mediocre in all, but I can live with that. As a family man, I can live with paying not too much to feed all peoples.

We were in the Dragon Centre, and couldn't decide whether Ocean Park was an option, so pottered for a minute and then ended up deciding to go back to the ladies market to shop for some extra gifts etc (we asked the kids whom they would like to buy for, and other than family topping the list, older people in our cong were priority, which was heartwarming as to where the friendships lie).

As a side point, Esther has been calling for Mum heaps ("Noni" is a daily exclamation for her) and Sonali has been missing Whitney (in fact, at Disneyland, she got excited, not realising that Winnie the pooh, wasn't Whitney, so she was calling for Whitney a pooh" -cute, hai?).

We ended up in this nice "iced teahouse" in the vicinity of the markets (actually in the side streets). I think it was as close as possible to a "hole in the wall" as we've been and the food was magnificent. I had the nicest non-Indian (and somewhat spicy) curry, dim sum, Jovia has some nice noodles and beef, kids were happy with their chocolate sandwiches, and we had softdrink, beer and iced tea (which was served in a large beer stein!) for under $30 AU. We waddled out.

Pottering around the Ladies market was nice. I wasn't in the mood for bargaining (though I did make one purchase with a hard line of bargainging), but we picked up some bargains and I was happy with the processes. Jovia is a master - she is ruthless and doesn't mind looking like a cow for being so. She is the best bargainer hands down - though I researched it and picked up some really good deals, she is the most consistent buyer and a real good bargainer. It is fun, when one is in the mood.

After feeling like the usual "saam goa" tourist attraction, we headed back here. I can tell you, that figuring out (and I mean that quite literally - I had to pick it up by listening) how to say our street names, area and the Cantonese word for "street" and "road", to get back here, it has made it a bucketload easier.

Get this - I, me, l'il ol' me, directed a local Chinese cab driver to drive from Mong Kok to here, and which streets and left/right/straight to take. I was stoked.

Went to Wellcome (who have a "if you spend $HK150, you get 30% Off a ticket at Ocean Park" deal) to pick up some bits. The local spirits (and Chinese ones), I want to take back for you all, but I am going to end up inebriated, if I try them all out. The labels are basic, but I am sure that the local wines, rice wines, rice spirits and liquers will all be good. But for mum, I want to take back some Plum wine. If the request comes through, I can take back some Korean Ginseng wine as well.

You have lots of photos to see, if you want. Fun as fun could be.

Friday Catchup - yo shortie

Crumbs - it's sunday and I'm catching up friday.

Okey dokey. Friday, we basically had decided that, weather permitting, we would go to Ocean Park. So we decided to catch the MTR into Admiralty (on HK Island) and then the 629 into the park.

We figured out, retrospectively, as one does, that we are sitting betwixt two separate lines. If we go to the Nam Cheong Station, we are on the Orange line and if we go to Sham Shui Po station, we are on another line (light blue I think). So we walked to Nam Cheong and took a line in. It turned out to be one of those fortuitous 50/50 decisions, as the train was less clogged and we ended up where we needed to be anyway, albeit via train swap at central station.

So we ended up off at HK Island at Admiralty and it was pouring down. So upon jettisoning our plans to go to Ocean Park, we thought "let's potter around HK Island". We had no idea where to go, so I decided to get us a taxi (it cost $2 AU or something) to Causeway Bay, because we had a fair bit of our research printouts pointing that way. And decided to go to SOGO and work from there (the area SOGO is in, is nicknamed "Little Japan").

Whilst there were nice things, we were extremely underwhelmed and disappointed. Realistically, there was nothing to recommend it. You could have been in Tokyo, Singapore, Sydney or whatever, and felt the same - there was no life, and the people there were snobby. Whilst it was comforting to be less obvious (rain just started here, sounds great on the roof - the advantage of being on top floor), we were still the family with "saam goa" (three kids), so couldn't disappear.

But underwhelmed was our overall opinion of HK Island. Funnily enough our book said that Tsim Sha Tsui (and almost by extension, the Kowloon Peninsula) was the poorish sister of HK Island, and in another area said that, apart from the markets, it wasn't worth visiting. We found the opposite - TST was worth visiting (Lightning just struck - insert Qld summer to describe weather here) and the food far more reasonable and quite tasty.

So realistically, nothing much to write about friday - extreme disappointment in the more affluent area of Hong Kong, soulless, nothing worth worrying about. We did end up getting Whitney's Japanese favourite crepes (they have a branch here) and some lovely dim sum and food in a restaurant, though we paid for the privelege and the view (which was incredible). Don't get me wrong, there are some pretty impressive looking bits, but if you are looking for cheap (or even cheaper) shopping, don't go there. And as a rule, people are rude. The one upside is that one person at Admiralty station (which isn't quite as upmarket as Causeway Bay), helped carry our pram up 2 flights of stairs, for which we are eternally grateful.

But, after making a comment about this place having soul and feeling human, despite its obvious physical imperfections and then having the comparitive physical perfection but the lack of soul, we have become eternally grateful for the fact that we, by lucky chance, landed in Sham Shui Po. The people here and the place will be something in our hearts forever.

Mum (if reading this at all) - it is like your comment about Tokyo vs Hokkaido. In Hokkaido, you could barely converse with the people (because away from the main areas, people spoke no Engrish), but were extremely friendly and kind and real. And in Tokyo, it was fancy and nice, but the materialism and meh factor was there. All in all, I'll take the imperfections and genuine chinks over anything on HK Island. Irony being that we get more overt attention in the more affluent places, despite them seeing more westerners and her, people are more reserved with their affections, but happy to have a sign language and basic bilingual conversation.

Sham Shui Po is the most fortunate aspect of our trip. Despite everything, I love it here and I'm sure I'll get the same response from the family.

Love you all heaps, and will show videos (including, just for Deanie, Karaoke of Ricky Martin - many laughs to be had!)

Loud thunder and bright lightning - we have a reason for putting up with the heat.

Photos:

1. Jovia's crepe/cone - this is a Japanese import, popular in Little Japan. It was beautiful, I had some (hey, it's me, of course I did).

2. Coke advertising, live screens with some local idol Chinese girl on it. Visually impressive!!

3. Photo of signs to the station of Mong Kok. He he he.

4. Photo of the MTR at Nam Cheong - bare by comparison. In the other stations you are swimming in people, and kind of feel like this biological mass of humanity. At the quieter station, you can actually get onto a train on the first attempt and aren't pressed up against the doors.

5. The park ways outside Nam Cheong estate - I swear the only green area in HK or Kowloon. We are fortunate in Brisbane, we have really do a fairly good job of trying to maintain some sort of greenery (again, a reason I hate the uppity nature of people saying "oh, we are backward" - progress breeds pollution in most instances and getting a clear view with less pollution and greenery in a city - darnit I am thankful).

Thursday catch up

Actually, this shouldn't be too hard to write, though it does require an addendum to Wednesday.

Between lunner (late lunch/early dinner) and leaving, we went to a dessert place called Lucky Dessert. It was beautiful inside, really nice and we had this girl want photos (fairly normal) of the kids, particularly Sonali. We ordered this strawberry pudding, mango roll thing covered in dessicated coconut and a durian pastry. The first two were exquisite, and something you'd expect the Japanese to produce presentation wise. The third was awful.

You ever go through Chinatown and have this horrible smell like rotting fruit and garlic? And you think "This place is a grotbox place, because it smells like rotting fruit and garlic"? That smell is Durian. And it tastes like rotten custard apple crossed with stringy mango in texture, garlic and rotten banana in flavour. You ever see a combination of flavours and think "that is so wrong"? That is durian. Simply the worst thing grown out of the ground. The pastry was beautiful, but the durian was so awful and no amount of powdered sugar on top (and there was an abundance of it) could make it edible. Even sonali hated it, so that shows how really awful it is.

Thursday, we ended up deciding to go to another local mall we saw on the way to Kowloon proper. It actually works out to be closer than Golden Palace, and it is pretty new - I'd say it's only been built in the last 4 or 5 years. We had breakky (a fairly western affair of steak, pasta and ribs - though we make them significantly better in Oz), but it still only cost about $30 Australian (I can't leave Hamish's with change from $50 and he is the cheapest by miles.

We pottered around the shops. They have this shop called Citistore, which is pretty well a upmarket Myer style store. We saw tons of hello kitty stuff, japanese stuff (The HK Chinese are big Japanophiles), remote control cars and just junk really. Nothing cheap, but not expensive either by our standards. Again, the good exchange rate is probably the cause of it.

We bought this card game called Monopoly deal. Jovia and I have been pretty well playing it nonstop whenever we are in the suite. It's loosely based on monopoly and is a bit uno like - about 80% chance and 20% hedging so that if chance fails you don't get slaughtered. All the locations on the cards are here, so the yellow card for Sham Shui Po is like a "yay!" card.

Told you we did very little, hey?

But I had a thought, especially after wandering around wednesday night, that I've avoided taking too many photos of lots of Sham Shui Po, probably out of a fair bit of snobbery. And I said that on the way back. But the fact is that there is life and everything spilling out on these streets, people being people, business, stuff, and everyone is smelly. And yeah, the buildings are grotty on the outside, but we have a housekeeper here everyday mopping floors, taking rubbish, vaccuuming, cleaning, the whole lot. There are plastic covers that are sterislised on every lift button, sign, door, handle, whatever. They are OCD about it. But the life, the area, and the people aren't sterilised. I appreciate the lack of pretentiousness. This comment would prove strangely prophetic, once again.

The weather has been wreaking havoc with our plans. Basically insert a Brisbane summer - Thundery Showers and patches of heavy rain, and then it's clear, but not for long, and you are having to take cover again.

We had dinner at Watei in the Golden Palace again. I had the same meal - a rice combo with beef and kimchi (yum!), Jovia had a beef & rice thing and the kids a ramen combo. Had a couple of plum liquers on the rocks (and they fill the glass up well) and then pottered around the shops before heading back.

We'd decided to go to Ocean Park, weather permitting on Friday.

Photos:

1. The box from the cake shop in the shopping centre near here we went to.

2. A view of lights from Golden Dragon

3. Strawberry pudding from Happy Dessert.

Not on time.....again

That lasted long - not!!! I'm not on time, but that's life. Actually, since no comments were posted on the last entry, it probably isn't as big a deal as I thought (or maybe there isn't anything to write in comments, as except "hello, hope you are well" - I was like that with Steven's blog - I was hanging for each entry (bet you'd never thought that hey?), but actually had nothing of note to write myself), but I think I need to get some of the last few days down in writing, as some of it will disappear from memory, once I'm back in oz.

Again, I think that a day or two's grace, and some newer experiences are likely to make my opinions even more subjective (or introspective and possibly wordy, my apologies in advance).

Okey Dokey - I wrote about tuesday, and today is friday, so it must be Wednesday I was up to, right?

Wednesday was "Ladies market day". The ladies market is in Mong Kok (ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, okay, not funny anymore - well actually it is - I still laugh everytime I see/say it (or Fook Chan Street)), which meant that Taxi was worth the whole $4-5 AU or whatever the hell we paid. We had decided that we would buy Octopus cards when we got here, but taxis are so cheap (which I think has more to do with the strong AUD, than them being any cheaper on a proportionate level to the cost of living here).

The ladies market is in Tung Choi Street, as opposed to the Temple Street Night Markets (which were once the "Men's Market), but all markets are no longer sexist and a variety of fashions for all genders are there, plus other usual stuff. Actually, despite being considerably smaller than the Temple Street Night Markets, it is (again, subjectively), the better of the two.

I think the reason I say this, is that there is just less junk there and more clothing. So much so, that we managed to fill our new suitcase, we picked up the other day at Temple Street.

We are thoroughly thankful that our main suitcase left Australia only half full, and with the 3 packs of nappies we left Oz with, now halved, we will have some space. Having said that, we have one more suitcase's worth of baggage we are allowed on the flight, so we may end up back at Temple Street, just to pick up another "Genuine Copy" Polo suitcase.

I have to say, that the bargaining at this market is considerably more aggressive than Temple St. The sellers are less likely to budge lower than their price, but (again in retrospect), are more aggressive with trying to sell you something, so long as you are in their price range. Again, in retrospect, it is worth being super aggressive as a buyer, because they play poker, but in one fashion, so once the tricks are figured out, it is fairly predictable.

I also didn't do us a favour at one stage, because I went to the ATM to get money out. Trouble is the ATM gave me HK$500 notes (probably the equivalent to our $100 notes - I'd never seen one beforehand). One seller saw it when I went to pay a stallholder next door, and was firm as firm could be. Jovia got irritated, and I just said to her "it's what the ATM spat out - I cannot help it". Generally, I had been going with a couple of smaller notes in the top part of my traveller's wallet, and the balance in the lower part (deeper down).

The aggression - I can illustrate. I had a lady with men's clothing and I saw two shirts (together, almost a set, but two items that can be worn separate). Lady says "Special for you - normally $210, I do $190." I said "No way, $100", she says "$160", I say "No, $100", "$150", "No, sorry" shake head and start walking. She pulls my shirt "okay, okay $140", "no, sorry" - continue walking. "$130", "no, sorry", keep walking. "you hurting me, okay $120" and I say "$110, I give you, and you have your sale, or no". "Okay, $110". So I got them for $110, which at current exchange rates, gives me two shirts for less than $20 AU. The lady's assistant/friend says something in Cantonese, and the lady replies "hai, [words in Cantonese], he did good".

Jovia did some bargaining, when I was trying to get my notage sorted, and the stall holder was very unhappy with her.

Whereas, once I'd sorted it out, another stall holder, shook Jovia's hand and said she did very well at bargaining.

I also realised after Tuesday's post, that we'd taken few photos (especially meaningful ones) that day, so wanted to ramp things up. The say is "a picture tells a thousand words", and I can describe (probably poorly) how things are, but the photos will do better. I'll leave a footnote/addendum to say which photos are which.

Another good thing, is that the aisles between the stalls on the left and right are wide enough to get a pram through. In a place that doesn't seem to make life with prams/wheelchairs easier, it's a fair concession for us.

And because it is clothing and decent souvenir related - you don't get miles of junk and adult products being displayed in the open.

Another great thing, is that it starts at 12:30 and goes until around 9pm, rather than 4-11pm, which the temple street ones do. This means we don't sit around here twiddling our thumbs for a day, before going out.

But I feel sorry for Jovia. The clothes are made for women a good foot shorter than her - even the chubby ones are short, so nothing is long enough. We picked up a couple of dresses, that she can use as summer skirts (long at least). Tops, bras and pants - forget it. It's funny - there are quite a number of chubby chinese (there is no physical things to do here, other than walking), but no "big" clothing.

We ended up having lunch in a Japanese place we found in a side alley. Easily the best Japanese curry I've ever had, and I shared some of the potato with esther who was enthusiastic about it. Again, fed a family of 5 for around $30 AU, including drinks. It's pretty random what we eat outside Sham Shui Po, it's firstly "can we get the pram in" and secondly "are the prices reasonable". Once that complex criteria is met, we go in.

I'm finding another thing, other than a decent price, that is helpful. Generally, with the local food, especially the local cantonese staples - we are only eating 2 meals a day and drinking water/iced tea/coke/beer for the balance of the time. Considering that we are doing so much walking (therefore using the energy we put in) and the fact that we aren't hungry for a lengthy period afterwards, until we want the next feed, is impressive. Our bodies seem to also be no longer hungry in the morning, until around 11am (acclimatisation?), so a cup of tea (and a bowl of cereal for the girls) does the trick, until we are ready to have brunch.

The annoyances? The amount of staring and the fact that everybody wants to 1. Stop us to ask us about the girls, and/or 2. Take photos, and/or 3. Have a hug.

Steven made a comment about being a celebrity - we literally feel like it. We get swamped, especially in the markets.

The irony is, that they see more westerners in the market, than the Sham Shui Po locals do, yet we get more overt attention there. It cost us a bag with a dress in it (nicked/dropped/left behind? Don't know).

And if I had a dollar for everytime I've said "Hai, saam goa" (yes three kids), I'd have paid for this trip. Having said that the locals appreciate that I've figured out, and can at least, in broken cantonese, tell them that I have three kids, their order and their ages.

We did have a laugh, with a group of women who asked us (I can't remember how, with our non-existent cantonese and their equal amount of English) whether we wanted 4, a boy or had enough. They laughed at the fact that we were adament that we were having no more, and the fact that I managed to express that with a couple of Cantonese words and some fairly firm hand signals.

We finished up at the markets and ended up back here, via return taxi at around 7pm. So the girls had an early night. Jovia was playing DS (I downloaded Jewel Quest and a crosswords game) and I was updating Tuesday's blog. She felt peckish around 10pm, so I ducked out by myself to get her something (and my carbohydrate intake ;) as well). I wish I'd taken out the camera - it was just such a fascinating insight into the lives of people here. Absolutely incredible. Even then I don't think I could explain it all, or even that the photos could.

I've mentioned that nothing gets going until the middle of the day and everyone keeps going until almost midnight in some instances. To be honest - I think it is their way of dealing with the same problem in Brisbane summer. It is too hot to do anything in daylight, so doing it when it is cooler works better. In Brisbane, we do it in the wee hours of the morning (joggers at 4am in summer?), here people work at late hours doing things.

There were side streets (Pei Ho Street, Kwelin Street, Yee Kuk Street, Hai Tan Street), where people were unloading whitegoods, organising their shops/stalls, sorting out metals/recycling, buying/selling, making food - whatever. It was just this busy place where people were just being human beings in their own cultural way.

The other thing that has to be said. HK Chinese will sell/do anything, so long as they have a piece of concrete to do it (if it rains, they deal with that at the time - makeshift rooves and coverings are in vogue too). The buildings are all apartment blocks, with a rollerdoor at the bottom, which are all converted into shops. Those shops spill out onto the pavement, and then there are people having impromptu "markets" on the sidewalk, probably rent free. So the taxis/traffic are having to divert around all this junk (especially in the side streets). And people unloading goods (probably from the back of a truck - literally), selling things, conversing and doing their work on the sidewalk. If it was Australia, it would be a litigation (and governmental) nightmare, but here, people either don't have rules, or ignore them (I'm not sure which and in what proportions.

I ended up wandering around for a while - primarily because 1. I had to be able to honestly tell Jovia that the place I got her food from was anally hygenic and 2. Because nothing on any shop's menu was in English.

You see, Sham Shui Po, isn't a place that gets many Westerners. We have seen I think 2 or 3 lots, in the entire time we've been here. We saw some on the first day (when we'd got to the Golden Dragon Centre and figured out where to eat) - a German (with wife and one kid), who was as overwhelmed as us and just happy to ask an opinion in a language he and his wife understood "where to eat". And one lot in this hotel.

Our hotel is basically the only one in Sham Shui Po and the neighbouring suburbs. Most hotels are in Tsim Sha Tsui (in Kowloon Municipality) or on HK Island (Disneyland Hotels excepted). You do see Westerners there (more on that in another post). So we are 1. an anomale and 2. not able to communicate in English, since the locals have no need to understand it.

The hotel staff here are, in my opinion to date, the only people who can speak a sentence in English. Their English is quite good actually. But this hotel isn't a haunt for English speaking tourists, as a rule. It is generally Chinese from the mainland (presumably southern Cantonese speaking areas), or Chinese speaking business people who tend to come here. So when we come, and the occasional tourist, it is just an anomale - a blip.

Having said that, as a side point, they have given us a photocopy map with some places written on it in English, which I'd happily frame, when we get back to Australia, such as its usefulness has been.

Anywho, back to the story. I was looking around for a place to get something, and finally went to an eat-out below "Mr Beef Seafood Restaurant". Got to the front counter, and asked the gent if he speaks English. Stupid question, let's move on. Tried to ask whether they do takeaway. He had no idea was I was talking about and we ended up politely uncomfortable. He then calls out into this eat out (like a local haunt) if anyone can understand me. So a gent (customer) gets up and says "yes". He asks me (he was a bit of a smug git, but helpful. He says "are you dirty?" and then tells it to the bloke behind the counter) what I want. I ask firstly do they do takeaway. Yes. He asks, "But what would you want to eat". I said (under clear instructions) "Something with beef (braised preferably), noodles, veges and broth". He tells the guy and then the guys says "it's $23" in Cantonese, the guy goes to translate and I say "I got the amount", hand him the cash and thank the guy profusely for his help.

That afforded me time to sit down and people watch. This place was certainly nothing fancy, but the clientele were mostly loyal customers, judging by how much they joked with the waitresses (a couple of chubby 40ish women and a younger, ugly girl of around 30). People sitting around chatting in groups, eating, smoking (they were not adhering to the law, which stipultes a penalty of HK$5000 (around $850-$1000 AU) for smoking indoors in a public place). A couple of older men (5o's), sitting outside at a 2 person table - looking like they'd been mates for years, eating, having a smoke, drinking a bottle of beer together.

As another side point, I mentioned that HK Chinese don't drink much. Generally when a 640ml bottle (usually Tsintao or some other brewed under licence beer) is ordered, two glasses of a 200ml or so capacity (small glasses indeed) are sent out as a matter of course.

It was just so human, and such an insight into life, normal people, with normal relationships, in their community, being human beings. It was lovely to watch.

I went home via 7-o's, got a couple of cans of beer, and headed back to the suite.

Jovia was chuffed with her meal (I ended up "having" to help her, as it was way too much), and at a price of HK$23 (around $4 AU at current exchange rates), pretty good value.

Anywho, I was going to catch it up to today (Friday), but now that Friday has become Saturday, you'll have to suffice with just Wednesday. At least the post is detailed (or boring and wordy).

Love you all heaps, and miss you and can't wait to see you once again and give you lots of hugs. If mum doesn't read this, give her an extra big hug from me.

Appendix for photos:

1. Me and Jovia - Olivia took this photo

2. An Engrish-funny - actually, very few Engrish funnies are around, everything is generally written correctly - Tshirts being a noteable exception - these are hilarious.

3. Picture of Ladies market - daylight - yay!

4. Picture of a side behind the markets - we found our restaurant down this further up.