Gem of Travel

Day two was market day. But first, it was picture time. I stopped at the bakery from yesterday and grabbed a few pastries to go. After reviewing my photos from the day before, I decided to go back to the Jeff Satur billboards and take some more polished pictures. I used my tripod with bluetooth remote for the first time and took a million pictures. There was definitely a learning curve to taking photos with a tripod, I recommend trying it before you travel if you have time.

Afterwards, I headed to Mong Kok Flower Market. There were so many flowers I had never seen before and the entire street smelled amazing. Many places did not allow pictures, a practice I found to be common in stores and booths throughout Asia. I did take some pictures of some trees I had never seen before, but were scattered throughout the city. The trees are made up of a bunch of small trunks twisted into a large trunk. No idea what kind of tree but I love them. The flower market led into the bird market. It was a street full of small bird cages filled with tons of different colorful bird species. There was constant bird songs. It was chaotic, but an interesting place. 

I went to lunch at a local dim sum spot. This was definitely not for tourists. There was no english menu and no staff spoke english. I used Google translate picture option and was able to point to what I wanted. I had shumai (steamed shrimp dumplings) and salted fish fried rice. I’ve had both before, but these were some of the best I’ve had. Of course, I had tea to go with it. Figuring out the process of ordering was tricky, I had to observe the person who was sat after me because I was lost. It was the lunch rush so everyone sat together at large round tables. I had to flag down a server once I was ready, they don’t come to you.

After lunch, I went to find a flower tunnel I had seen on Atlas Obscura. I walked there and got a bit lost but finally found it. Folks, pay attention to the seasons when you are going out of your way to view something. Shockingly, in January, in the middle of winter, the tunnel was not full of flowers. There were some withered vines to hint at the pictures I had seen. I took some photos anyway, because why not when I was already there.

I grabbed a latte at a western style cafe to regroup and rest, discovering prices were comparable to American city prices in the more trendy areas. I strolled through Kowloon park on my way to the harbor. The harbor had tons of statues and displays to explore, as well as the harbor view of Hong Kong Island. Then I went into a mall I saw, attracted by the large Alexander McQueen butterfly above the doors. The mall ended up having some really cool stores and art and displays and I spent a couple hours there. They even had a dog park on the roof. 

Then I headed back to the hostel and took a cold shower. Seriously, the worst hostel experience ever. At least the complimentary powdered pack of milk tea was delicious?