I didnt mind waiting for what seemed like a long time for the bus. It allowed me to get more of the fresh Hong Kong air. Yeah, I know its polluted, but its certainly better than the vile airplane air. The familiar subtle humid feeling was nice too. It wasnt hot out so the humidity was actually enjoyable.
The view from my aunts 18th floor apartment. Thats mostly fog you see, not smog.
Dim sum was in order. I dont even like eating Chinese food when I'm in Canada, but theres something about Chinese food in Hong Kong (or China) that makes it so much tastier. Take this BBQ pork bun. In Vancouver, ever time I've had this, the buns been dry and it sticks to the top of my mouth. Not in Hong Kong! Pure goodness.
I spent the rest day walking around the neighbourhood markets with my aunt. She didnt want me to come because she said it's dirty, but I feel like its these spots that have the most character and is a gold mine for street photography.
You can get a haircut in the alley seen on the right image. It was only $5CAD. I was tempted, but the cleanliness deterred me.
This is my aunt in her kitchen. I tried my best to get her entire kitchen in this photo to give you a sense of its size. The blurry light grey bar on the right is her fridge, which is half as wide as what we consider a "normal" fridge. Next to the fridge is a wall, on the other side is the living room.
This is my cousin's dog, Fat Bitch (in Chinese). Yes, that's its real name and my cousin didnt name her. She was adopted from a shelter and Fat Bitch is the dogs original name and my cousin kept it as it made it easier for her to transition into a new home. All she does is eat and sleep. When people are eating around her she will get right up to them, stare at them, and if you dont give her food, she will start to whimper, all the while drooling all over the floor. It's a comical sight.
Heres the view at night from my aunts place.
This is the corridor leading up to my aunts apartment. You can see that the walls and floor are damp and its because the walls are sweating from the humidity. I've heard about this from virtually everyone thats been to Hong Kong, first time I've seen it though.
I really wanted to visit the area where the Kowloon Walled City used to be. Although it doesnt exist anymore, I felt like that area really had a lot of history. It would have been an amazing opportunity to be able to shoot inside of it when it was around. There is a chance that I would have been mugged for my camera gear though...
Afterwards, we went to the Kowloon Fruit Market. Apparently, that area has a historical significance, but I'm not sure what it is, just wanted to go there for the photos. They had tonnes of exotic fruit there though my aunt told me everything there is overpriced and can be purchased at neighbourhood markets for less.
We finished the day off by going to this flower festival that my uncle really wanted me to go to. I dont really take photos of flowers outside of wedding details but we had the time so why not. This is the only shot I took there. It's of a bunch of people with their pro cameras and telephoto lenses with tripods taking photos of half bloomed tulips. Just thought that was funny.
The next day I shot a wedding so the day after I hung out with my friend Randy who came over from Vancouver to explore together. Our first stop was the Bird Garden. This place is crazy. Its basically like a pet bird warehouse.
We had a bit of time after so we went to this park near the Diamond Hill MTR Station. It's fairly large and made to look like and old Chinese palace, but in fact is really new.
For lunch we went to Yat Lok BBQ Restaurant which is supposed to have 1 Michelin Star. Its very much like a standard Hong Kong restaurant in that if theres room at a table, you sit there, joining whatever strangers that are already at that table. We had lunch with two other parties that we didnt know. I got the BBQ pork with rice. A simple, modest dish, but it was the best BBQ pork with rice that I've ever had, and all for less than $9CAD.
After lunch, we rode the Star Ferry to Central. The Star Ferry takes you across the water in about 10 minutes, all for less than 50 cents Canadian. Worthwhile ride for sure!
If youre wondering whats a Monk's choice for phones, its Samsung.
Walking around Central, one cannot help but notice the masses of mostly Filipino, but some Indonesian women walking around the streets. Many were just lounging around on the floor, sitting on cardboard and chatting with their friends. I didnt understand what was going on and had my ask my aunt to explain to me when I got home.
Turns out, they're all maids or something of the sort, and they get Sundays off and this is what they like to do on Sundays. This has been going on for a long time as my mom told me it was no different back when she lived in Hong Kong almost 30 years ago.
We wandered around Hong Kong Park for a while before heading to Lan Kwai Fong, which is an area with a lot more western shops and restaurants and is full of expats. There was even a Gordon Ramsay restaurant there! Instead of hanging around that area we elected to meander around the street markets until night fell. Dinner was had before calling it a day and heading home.
The next day was my cousins day off, and since he has a car, he offered to take us out. First on the list was Kam Shan Country Park, AKA, Monkey Mountain. It was my first time seeing real monkies so I was quite excited! If you look carefully, in the first picture you can see 10 monkies hanging out on/around the bridge.
Someone dumped a bag of bread crusts there and that little fella was having at it. The other monkies didnt seem to care for the bread crumbs at all.
After we went to Victoria Peak. I really wanted to get a shot of the cityscape at night, but it was just not in the cards. Next time! It was raining when we arrived and when we left but I managed to sneak in these two shots when the rain stopped briefly.
It really poured that night and I tried my best to capture what it was like to be in that rain, including the intentionally out of focus shot from the taxi cab at the end.
Just wanted to share one more image from the day. This is the view of the ceiling from where I slept. I slept on a sofa bed in the living room, next to the window. Being surrounded by highrises and skyscrapers, it never actually gets dark inside.
My friend got sick so I spent the last day hanging out with my aunt. We hit up Tim Ho Wan for lunch, which is a must. Tim Ho Wan is widely regarded as the cheapest Michelin Star restaurant in the world and judging by the amount of people there, it's no secret. Due to the restaurant's success, there are now five branches, three of which that hold a Michelin Star.
This was the best dim sum I've ever had by far. To put things into perspective, my aunt who works at a restaurant, lives in Hong Kong, and doesnt actually like dim sum said it was really good. Oh, and the price? It was around $20CAD total for the two of us and we got 10 orders of food. Amazing. Wish I would have taken some nicer photos, but I was busy stuffing my face.
After lunch we walked around the markets of North Point before heading home for dinner, and then to the airport. It was great to be back in Hong Kong. The city is just so full of life and character, with something always going on. I'll be back for sure!
