May 6 Hong Kong
 |
An ever worse night than yesterday. Just as well I planned a long bus ride as I doubt that my legs will work at all well.The coffee shop next door to the hotel, Pacific Coffee Co a local chain which now also has outlets in China and Singapore, provided jasmine tea, a sandwich and free internet, so I fed myself and caught up with my emails at the same time. The short walk to the MTR then indicated that any major exertion would not be a good idea. |
 |
|
|
|
|
This was put to the test at the other end as I walked along miles of corridors at Central Station before emerging into the black hole that is the Exchange Square bus station. It is strange that whilst so much of the public transport infrastructure is so good, the Island's main bus station is so horrible. After about a five minute wait I was on board a No 70 bus to Aberdeen. The trip took about 20 minutes, including three minutes inside the Aberdeen Tunnel. When we arrived, I can't say that I was particularly excited. |
 |
 |
|
|
|
Lots of shops, lots of chaos and lots of people. It's possible that my jaundiced view that was caused by my feeling very peculiar. Jet lag was doing very funny things to me.
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
There was an interesting piece of public sculpture under one of the many tower blocks and a very grand pair of arches at either side of Aberdeen Square. This open space was full of people sitting or strolling and chatting.The promenade offered good views over the many boats, to the tower blocks of Ap Lei Chau, the island across the water. The promenade is reasonably new and offered lots of spaces for the locals to exercise both themselves and their birds. |
 |
|
 |
Several people tried to inveigle me into having a harbour tour on their sampans. At one end was the fish market, there were fishing boats all over the place and some were drying their fish in the sun.Jumbo is the famous floating fish restaurant, with an impressive jetty welcoming potential visitors. Less welcoming was the amazing list of activities which were forbidden on the promenade. |
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
Jumbo floating restaurant |
 |
 |
|
|
With lunchtime approaching and as I was feeling distinctly shaky, I caught the bus home, disembarked quite close to the hotel and had a half hour lie down in the hope that it would re-invigorate me.
Just round the block from the hotel is Jo Jo Mess, an Indian restaurant on the second floor of a block, approached up a narrow corridor and a small lift. The interior was smart and the views through the windows (very grubby) of the general mayhem on the street beneath, excellent. There still lots of police vehicles parked around the poor folk trapped in the Metropark Hotel. The buffet was good and full of flavour, without being wildly hot, and there was a good variety of dishes. One of the best I have had. Next to me was a very confusing family. He was white, with an Ulster accent. She looked Indian but very pale. An older couple, presumably her parents, were obviously Indian and, judging from the number of phone calls they were receiving, must be locals. They also had two young children.
 |
 |
|
|
I had a short rest by the basketball court on the street and then returned to my room for a siesta. This lasted for about two and a half hours and I slept for quite a while. When I awoke, I felt a little better and a shower helped some more. At Reception, I asked for the times of the Airport Express Shuttle and arranged to keep my room for a couple of hours after normal check-out time. This was easy. Asking for the location of a post box resulted in the lady taking my cards and saying that the hotel would post them for me. Asking for a shop that sold kitchen knives and other utensils and crockery caused complete confusion. She rang someone and then told me about a supermarket in the basement of Time Square and another shop at Bowrington Street Market, both places that I had visited yesterday. Being a good boy, I did as I was told and hopped onto the MTR.
The supermarket was a wonderful place and sold everything - except kitchen toys. The food hall was amazing and even had a fair selection of New Zealand wines, including Hunters, Cloudy Bay, Villa Maria and Lawsons, all at about twice UK prices and four times those in New Zealand. The shop in the market also sold food so my question really had been completely misunderstood. I did find a place selling kitchen stuff but this was typical of what you could buy in The Warehouse, in New Zealand. |
 |
|
I thought of catching a tram back to the hotel but, in the middle of the evening rush, they were packed to capacity so I caught a bus, got off at Pacific Place and went to look at the China Arts and Crafts store that had been closed when I passed through yesterday. What a mistake!. The soldier on the door with the big gun gave the game away. This was the branch that sells jade, gold, antique ceramics, ivory and all manner of seriously expensive stuff.
I beat a hasty retreat and caught the MTR to Jordan, back on the mainland and, with the aid of an iced tea from a Chinese fast food restaurant, went in search of the famed Temple Night Market.
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
I only investigated the south end and it was only just starting up at about 6 pm. Peak time is from about 7 until 10. It was great fun, reasonably busy and full of junk, with the occasional nice thing to make it worthwhile. I looked reasonably seriously at some leather wallets but decided that my current one, bought in Bangkok, would last another year. Had I stayed longer, I'm sure that it would have become much busier.
 |
 |
|
|
After returning to Wan Chai on the MTR I decided to enter the Computer Centre. Lo and Behold, there was a Nikon 1.8 35mm lens. I asked the price and was told $1950 but $1900 for cash. I had a play, taking lots of photos inside the shop, with the salesman constantly trying to sell me filters and other things that I didn't want and giving me information that I knew was a load of £$%!. When I produced my credit card, he immediately raised the price by quite a lot and I left.
Returning to the hotel along Lockhart Road, I stopped to photograph The Dog House, a loud bar with, if I’m not mistaken, a Maori bouncer - not big but looking very hard!
 |
 |
|
|
I had a quick change and went to explore Jaffe Road, looking for a good Chinese restaurant which I visited last year, but it seemed to have vanished. The bookies’ nearby was exceedingly busy, even at this late hour. The Chinese have a reputation for betting on almost anything and this seemed to bear it out.
I settled for a cheap Chinese restaurant, which is in the Lonely Planet. I think I was the only white face and tea was served in a plastic mug immediately I sat down. A good sign. |
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
I'm sure I didn't get the Szechuan hot and sour soup that I ordered. Mine seemed to be cabbage and braised pork (almost bacon) and was very good. Unfortunately, I had ordered cabbage and shrimps as my main course. All in all, that's more than enough cabbage for one meal. It must have been healthy, though. The restaurant was busy when I arrived and got steadily fuller as I ate. Several parties ended up sharing tables, which was about to happen to me as I finished my meal. It was certainly a popular place - but then most of the restaurants here seem to be.
On the way home, all the pubs were packed. I looked into the Irish pub and there was cricket showing on the big screen TV. Feeling like a beer but not wanting to face too many crowds, I tried the bar at the hotel, which advertised that it sold dozens of different whiskies and also loads of European beers.
I walked into the gloom, found the cricket on TV and, whilst ordering my beer, was able to watch two wickets fall off consecutive balls. I had better not watch again! I saw some bottles of Kriek in the fridge, ordered one and was delighted to find that it was from Timmermans, the brewery that I used to visit when I worked in Brussels. It was excellent but not cheap, so I drank it slowly, continuing to watch the cricket. I then crawled up stairs to bed.