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).