Hong Kong Days 7 & 8 (Kowloon & Sheung Wan)

I forgot to mention that one night  in Beijing Rich, my mom and Ryan went to the Beijing Circus. Technically, Ryan, my mom and dad should have gone (since we bought them the tickets for their anniversary), but my dad said Rich would enjoy it more (true) and insisted he chaperone the group instead. I wasn't interested because I'd already been to it and I wanted to read (and cough) instead. :-) BTW, I'm so glad we paid $$$ for Ryan's ticket (the circus has doubled in price since we last went)...since he passed out mid-performance and snoozed the last hour. ;-)

Our last breakfast feast in our pleasant Beijing digs...

I wish I took a picture of our first apartment in Kowloon. We had to get two different ones for 4 nights since the first one we booked for three nights on Hong Kong Island wasn't available for the extra night. But I couldn't copy pics off AirB&B's website (which I had planned to do because I'm lazy). That was the tiniest apartment I've ever seen in. my. life. There were three beds (for 6 people) with practically no other space to even set a bag down. The kitchen and bath were combined in a space the size of a double closet (the shower was one of those that you practically had to sit on the toilet to use it). I felt like human veal. The craziest thing is that a tiny studio like that (which visually, was pleasant to look at, just beyond cramped) would still run close to $500,000 or more. Hong Kong makes cities like Manhattan and San Fran seem positively reasonable.Our first few days were spent walking the areas of Kowloon and Sheung Wan (Hong Kong Island) around our two different apartments...

Our first meal in Hong Kong was at a cafe that breaks down at closing time

We try to make an effort to eat like the locals when we're out and about. So at least once a day we saunter into whatever crowded non-touristy restaurant/stand/stall we cocan find, figuring it must be crowded for a reason (this theory was dashed after that night's dinner). In many cases, the places were pretty sketchy by First World country sanitation standards. But you know, no biggie- it's part of the adventure, right? Our stomachs are built to handle a little bacteria! Bring on the questionable meals!

For this dinner, no one ended up sick, but it was unmemorable and overpriced, especially given the ah...'ambiance'. As we were waiting for our food, I noticed the staff 'rinsing' off the dishes by distractedly splashing water on them from a spigot on the ground, using their hand as the sponge. :-| Then I noticed the grill. Grills are fun and exciting in Benihana. But here the grill (which looked like a rusty trash can) was being manned by what looked like a few homeless men. :-|  The room was also smoke-filled and holy bat balls- LOUD. Everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs, yet no one appeared angry of course. I judge, but if I lived in a city of 24 million people and a country of over a billion, I'm sure I'd be human megaphone too to be heard.

I didn't want to photograph my dad and Rich's meal...partly because they were scary looking to me (I'm easily freaked out by bones), as well as half eaten. And I'm pretty sure food shots aren't supposed to include bone and half eaten entrees... But here's a shot of mine and my mom's, which were so so at best. And that's being generous. I had a tofu and veggie entree (I'm normally flexitarian, but when I travel, I go vegetarian).

Cruising the Temple Street Marketplace

 The one upside to our tiny first apartment? We were directly upstairs from the Temple Street Marketplace (an outdoor bazaar packed with vendors and surrounded by restaurants). We got a bunch of nifty gifts for people here...including these fun speakers for Keni & Riki which appear to be all the rage over there:

 A few pics cruising the Nathan Road area of Kowloon...a meat lover's paradise.

Poor little frogs...we saw them meet their fate with a giant knife and a cutting board.

Our first big excursion there was to walk over to Causeway Bay through Tsim Tsa Tsui...

At the famous, beautiful Causeway Bay, but sadly, you can barely see Hong Kong Island through the smog (unfortunately, it was as polluted there as Beijing due to factories coal fumes blowing over our way).

Much to Ryan's delight, our second apartment on Hong Kong Island (again, no pictures) was right next door to a small, beautifully redone park.

Hiding from Grandma...because it's sooo much fun to make your Grandma think she's lost her grandson in a foreign country! :-)

We were also right off of Hollywood Rd (aka 'Antique St') in Sheung Wan, so we could walk over to the well known Man Mo Temple within 10 minutes. It was built in the mid-1800s, is quite tiny and features over-sized coiled incense hanging from the ceiling. Because they emit a decent amount of smoke, when you combine that with the giant bundles of incense that worshipers also light up by the dozen, it's quite smoky inside.