No Fishing from Pier
It's very overcast here now. And smoggy. Pictures end up gray and I feel like I have a cold, but I don't really, it's just the pollution. Also, my shoes seem to be hurting my feet. I will look for a more comfortable pair today. Enough whining!
On a mission for find some HK Won Ton soup, we headed down to find the place that won "Best Won Ton Noodle Soup" from the HK Tourist Board in 2003. It was gone (or moved), but along the way we saw this cool marketplace. Instead, we went to a little divey place and had shrimp wonton with egg noodles. It was great. We decided to take a stroll and see the "Temporary Market" we passed by on the street earlier. For Americans who are used to having their animal products displayed for them in neat, plastic-wrapped styrofoam trays, this might be a little shocking.
Chicken before:
Chicken after:
The darker guy in the background kills the chicken and then he and some other guy pluck it. The guy in the foreground cleans out the insides and does some detail-level plucking and cleaning and then bags it up.
After the market, we went looking at the food section of a grocery store. You think fratboys are brave for "eating the worm" out of a bottle of Mezcal? I would like to see them fish THIS out and eat it: Think of the Police song.."Lizard in a bottle.." There was another selection that had hard liquor with three kinds of penis added. That's Friday night in a bottle for Richard Simmons! There were lots of teas and dried beef but we just looked at it all and passed.
We decided to go for a stroll by the Convention Center (Wanchai). A note about strolling in Hong Kong. You get assaulted by Indian guys trying to get you to go to a tailor shop and get custom-made suits. I was a particularly attractive target for these folks. Jeremy notes that there is little "pret a porter" for my size in HK which may account for it. Here is one of these guys: you can spot them a mile away. They sidle up to you like they are selling crack.
While strolling we happened upon a well-dressed feline. Well, it was dressed, anyway, even if not in the latest fashion. We got to the convention center and decided to take the obligatory picture in front of the gold thing (name forgotten). While we were doing this, we noticed that the other picture-takers were going about their tasks with a bit more zeal then we were. After a while (5 seconds?) it got funny to us. Funny + Jeremy + Camera is a good combination.
Afterward we decided to find a place to sit down and write some postcards. Before we got there, we saw an old man fishing through a grate in the sidewalk down into the harbor. First of all, Hong Kongs means "Fragrant Harbor", but, and excuse me if I said this already, it's not so nice a fragrance these days. Still, the amazing thing is that this guy is fishing through a grate with a little hand-held line. We could not figure out what he would catch or how he could pull it through the slats on the grate. Here are some pictures:
Nonchalant guy
The grate
Dinner on his mind
We stopped and had a couple of drinks and listened to a guy belt out oa series of the cheesiest 70s pop tunes ever on his casio keyboard. Yes, the real action is at the Ramada. We headed out to dinner and had a bad Japanese meal. This was due to awful planning. I took no pictures and would prefer to just forget about it.
Cutting through a building we saw this piece of art. Don't give horny nationalistic artists paintbrushes when they are drunk. For the sake of the kids, please!
The next day we only had a little time to get something to eat before we headed out to the airport. We thought another Dim Sum place would be fitting and had a quick snack before heading out to the Kowloon station airport check-in. These things are brilliant. You check in your bags and get a boarding pass in the city, then take a train into the airport and head to your gate. Tokyo has this too. It's a great system. Here I am with a real Hong Kong policeman. Not the Jackie Chan kind, but, heck, they were busy fighting the triads.
So it's "so long, Hong Kong" -- I am sure to be back. Lively place, nice and interesting people, great food. What's not to love?
On a mission for find some HK Won Ton soup, we headed down to find the place that won "Best Won Ton Noodle Soup" from the HK Tourist Board in 2003. It was gone (or moved), but along the way we saw this cool marketplace. Instead, we went to a little divey place and had shrimp wonton with egg noodles. It was great. We decided to take a stroll and see the "Temporary Market" we passed by on the street earlier. For Americans who are used to having their animal products displayed for them in neat, plastic-wrapped styrofoam trays, this might be a little shocking.
Chicken before:
Chicken after:
The darker guy in the background kills the chicken and then he and some other guy pluck it. The guy in the foreground cleans out the insides and does some detail-level plucking and cleaning and then bags it up.
After the market, we went looking at the food section of a grocery store. You think fratboys are brave for "eating the worm" out of a bottle of Mezcal? I would like to see them fish THIS out and eat it: Think of the Police song.."Lizard in a bottle.." There was another selection that had hard liquor with three kinds of penis added. That's Friday night in a bottle for Richard Simmons! There were lots of teas and dried beef but we just looked at it all and passed.
We decided to go for a stroll by the Convention Center (Wanchai). A note about strolling in Hong Kong. You get assaulted by Indian guys trying to get you to go to a tailor shop and get custom-made suits. I was a particularly attractive target for these folks. Jeremy notes that there is little "pret a porter" for my size in HK which may account for it. Here is one of these guys: you can spot them a mile away. They sidle up to you like they are selling crack.
While strolling we happened upon a well-dressed feline. Well, it was dressed, anyway, even if not in the latest fashion. We got to the convention center and decided to take the obligatory picture in front of the gold thing (name forgotten). While we were doing this, we noticed that the other picture-takers were going about their tasks with a bit more zeal then we were. After a while (5 seconds?) it got funny to us. Funny + Jeremy + Camera is a good combination.
Afterward we decided to find a place to sit down and write some postcards. Before we got there, we saw an old man fishing through a grate in the sidewalk down into the harbor. First of all, Hong Kongs means "Fragrant Harbor", but, and excuse me if I said this already, it's not so nice a fragrance these days. Still, the amazing thing is that this guy is fishing through a grate with a little hand-held line. We could not figure out what he would catch or how he could pull it through the slats on the grate. Here are some pictures:
Nonchalant guy
The grate
Dinner on his mind
We stopped and had a couple of drinks and listened to a guy belt out oa series of the cheesiest 70s pop tunes ever on his casio keyboard. Yes, the real action is at the Ramada. We headed out to dinner and had a bad Japanese meal. This was due to awful planning. I took no pictures and would prefer to just forget about it.
Cutting through a building we saw this piece of art. Don't give horny nationalistic artists paintbrushes when they are drunk. For the sake of the kids, please!
The next day we only had a little time to get something to eat before we headed out to the airport. We thought another Dim Sum place would be fitting and had a quick snack before heading out to the Kowloon station airport check-in. These things are brilliant. You check in your bags and get a boarding pass in the city, then take a train into the airport and head to your gate. Tokyo has this too. It's a great system. Here I am with a real Hong Kong policeman. Not the Jackie Chan kind, but, heck, they were busy fighting the triads.
So it's "so long, Hong Kong" -- I am sure to be back. Lively place, nice and interesting people, great food. What's not to love?
posted by Free Buffet at 4:48 PM
6 Comments:
HK's a gloomy woman...Wow... The chicken in the cages really reminded me of my childhood... i used to follow my mom to the local wet markets and cringe at the sight of fowls in these cages.... Of course times changed, we now have those birds dead in freezer compartments....
Looks like u enjoyed HK! Btw,the cat looks evil...
Hate to tell u this, but some of the links to the pictures don't work...
j'me(still waitin for thai boy).
Heh! Jayme, I am looking for a Thai boy for you, but I am being quite particular, as you deserve the highest quality the nation has to offer. I would *never* send you a less-than-excellent boy. So far I have seen either duds or else guys that were too old. Don't worry, I am on the job, camera in hand. As for the pics...try reloading. It works for me. I will get them hosted on our corp. servers soon. Ahh. This is the life. Fabulous Thai food, stellar view right on the river, wireless internet...life is good!!!
Hey Serge!
I love your little blog. :)
That cop looks so short next to you. It's good pic of you though. Wow. The chickens. Poor chickens. :(
Oh, I am so jealous.
oh, last comment was from me! Lisa!
that's what i thought about the police man pic, too!
miss alex
Serge, you're falling behind again. come on! How am I supposed to live vicariously through you if I don't know where you are or what you are doing? Get on it! Hope you're having fun....
Michael from WC
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