Hong Kong Day 5- Star Ferry

After my journey to the Peak, I returned to the city proper and made my way to the nearby port where all the ferries departed. By this point in my stay in Hong Kong, I pretty much had the route from Hong Kong station to the pier memorized! Not bad, I'd say. Despite how crowded the city is, it doesn't really take up much land mass, making it relatively easy to navigate, especially by bus and train, and great for walking if you know where you're heading. That being said, some areas were nearly impossible for me to navigate- especially near my hotel, due to my inability to read Chinese symbols and how I'd hit a point of sensory saturation that almost every street started to look the same. 

But onboard the Star Ferry, none of that matters. The city on one side grows slowly smaller and more distant, while Mongkok grows ever closer until it looms above. The lights of the city glisten off the glossy black water, reflecting the nightly light show in synchronized displays. It's truly beautiful, and easy to see why this ferry is world famous.

Once back in Mongkok I stopped for dinner at a claypot rice restaurant I'd passed many times. Sitting alone, awaiting my meal, the proprietor decided to hang with me and discuss the fame her small venue had attained, pointing out different photos of her with various guests over the years. She was certainly a character and when the time came, she returned to demonstrate to me how the rice in the bottom of the hot bowl had crisped into a cracker adding another element to the experience. As delicious as this meal was, I have to admit it put a real damper on the rest of my trip... I ended up cracking a tooth while crunching into that super crispy rice at the bottom of the clay pot, which resulted in one of my molars being extremely sore and angry. The pain persisted until I was able to visit a dentist back in Japan, which lead to it's own nightmare... Dentists in Japan, or at least my dentist, don't like to use much anesthesia. When he was replacing the filling with a crown, a week after clearing out the old filling to take a mold then stuffing in a temporary filling, I could feel EVERYTHING. It was awful, just absolutely awful. He'd force the crown into place putting pressure on the tooth and gums, then yank it out and file at it some, then shove it back in and repeat the process ad nauseum until I broke down in tears asking him to please, please just give me some more anesthesia. Not only am I 5'10-5'11" tall and weigh quite a bit more than the average Japanese lass, I have a high tolerance for pain killers and they don't effect me nearly as much or as long as they might normal people. As I was trembling with tears rolling down my face, the dentist rolled his eyes and told me to quit being such a baby so he could just wrap it up. As a result, I've had severe anxiety about going to a new dentist ever since. My most recent visit to a dentist, here in Seoul, was multitudes better. When I started wincing halfway through the procedure because I could feel things again, they didn't even need to ask or have me raise my hand- the dental assistant/hygienist went and grabbed another syringe of anesthesia and numbed me back out for the remainder. Thank you, kind lady.

Anyhow, for more photos, click below!

Hong Kong Day 4- Ladies Market

My nights sleeping in Hong Kong were spent at the Harbour Hotel, which was in conveniently close walking distance to the Mongkok Ladies Market. Within moments of disembarking the hotel elevator and stepping foot into the street, I'd find myself surrounded by a cacophony of sensory overload. Practically anything you could possibly want or need could be found somewhere among the winding, crowded streets, whether it be a baby carriage, seafood so fresh it still wriggles upon the tables or inside bins, clothing, traditional Chinese medicinal herbs and poultices, live chickens, American candy, booze, movies, etc. Vendor's carts, tables, vehicles and pedestrians all crowd the streets, moving at times like a singular entity.  People buy, butcher and bargain together in the open air. 

Navigating the winding corridors, crowded with vendors and items for sale, could be confusing at times. I figured it was easiest to just go with the flow, for the most part, and take in the sights and sounds as I went. Occasionally a small bit of respite would be found in a quieter alleyway off to the side, where I could more clearly see the merchants going about their day unobstructed. Many of the vendors get an early start and will keep working late in the afternoon and even into the evening hours. The market is still bustling with vibrancy and crackling energy late into the night, when neon signs blink into life and cast their odd illuminations into the midst. 

I can only imagine that some of these vendors have been doing this their entire lives, starting in early childhood. Perhaps they were perched upon their grandpapa's lap as he rang up sales, or were given chores to keep them busy as their once clumsy childish hands grew more deft and capable with age.

There was truly so much to see, many of it unrecognisable to me. Oceanic creatures of all shapes and sizes commingled upon tables or in buckets and bins. Tablescapes were coloured with brilliant shades of a wide variety of different vegetables and herbs, fruits and trinkets. This market, this place, has tainted my views of American Chinatowns ever since. While I can still appreciate and enjoy a visit to San Francisco's Chinatown, or Oakland's, it's hard not to compare it to the experience of walking through these streets, taking in the sheer volume of things available...only these original markets, overflowing into the streets, can fully satisfy me now. 

More photos after the cut!