A jaunt around the block

Since it had been awhile since my last HK adventure, I decided to use Tuesday as a "Get lost in HK" day.

Emily and I ventured out to the big ol' island of HK to try and find the "Botanical and Zoological Gardens of Hong Kong." (Pictures are here.) My tour guide book merely described it as a 15 minute walk from the Central MTR station. They neglected to inform us that it was a 15 minute walk uphill on a freakin' mountain. To make matters worse, it was another hot and sticky day, so unsurprisingly, Emily and I were gasping for air by the time we reached the gardens. (Happily we managed to get there without getting lost - not bad for not knowing where the hell we were going - I just kept walking up the steepest road I saw.)

The gardens were pretty nifty! It was novel walking around a garden and being surrounded by nature, but still able to see the skyscrapers peeking out overhead. I was amused by a sign warning visitors that spitting in either a gutter or even into a garbage can was an offense and punishable by a fine of $1500HKD. Spitting into a garbage is fine-worthy??? What the hell man?! Better to spit in a garbage than on the street. The logic of these people eludes me.

The gardens had quite a few zoo displays. There were orangutans, lemurs, reptiles, birds, and even a jaguar. Emily was like a kid in a candy store - everytime I turned around, she had disappeared and at the next display. I could barely keep up! I think my fave part was the monkey/other arboreal creature areas. There was nothing special about it, I just had fun watching the little monsters.

After the gardens, we wandered over to Hollywood Road and walked along there. Hollwood Road is known for its antiques stores. It seemed more like a tourist area for those people who want to buy something seemingly authentic and be able to brage about the high price it was worth. We popped into a small art gallery and wandered around for a bit.

I had told Wen Li that I would meet up with her in Causeway Bay (she had never been there before) after she was done her exam, so Emily and I started to head in that direction. However, Emily decided to go home instead, so I ventured onwards. (All my instincts told me to go home as well - my legs were tired from our mountain climb earlier, and shopping with Wen Li is an endurance sport.)

I'm glad to didn't succumb to exhaustion though. I had a good time with Wen Li and Pei-chin. We just wandered around clothing stores and the like. I was their personal tour guide, even though I don't know Causeway Bay that well. I've always been lucky to have a good sense of direction in strange cities, so I'm able to guide people around and make sure they don't turn down the wrong street or something like that.

I've also discovered another food/treat thingie here that I'm unable to resist. At the roadside food stalls they sell waffle/eggo thingies. When you buy one, they smother it in butter, peanut butter, sugar and condensed milk then fold it in half and shove it in a bag. It's so yummy! I think I unconsciously drift towards stalls selling these things because I always manage to find them when I go shopping.

Another exciting thing that has happened recently is that I went to a classmate's birthday party last night. (Pictures are here.) His name is Morgan and he's in my Mandarin class. I had a lot of fun! He had chartered a boat to take us around the HK harbour for 4 hours, and also hired a caterer to provide us with food. Soooo yummy!

I got to meet a few of his friends including another Canadian. (It's always fun to start talking with a stranger, ask where they're from and suddenly realize you're both from Canada.) Don't know what to report about the party. It was just a relaxing night chilling on a boat with some random people.

Lani and I spent the last hour goofing around with her camera and trying to find a setting on it to take good pictures of the Hong Kong background. Most pictures we took look like we're on a wacky acid trip. :)



So tomorrow I'm headed to Shenzhen with Wen Li. Pei-chin wants to come with us, but she can't afford it - as a Taiwanese citizen, she has to pay $150 (dunno what currency) to cross the border into China each time.

I'll let you guys know how it goes tomorrow!

P.S.
Chinese billards! And Bruce Lee wristwatches!