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.