Well, we’ve just settled back in our small, perfectly efficient hotel room after another  busy day.  Mr. T poured us a glass of Yellow Tail Shiraz, which we picked up from the Vintages section at the local 7-Eleven.  It’s cheaper than in Canada but of course Australia is a lot closer to Hong Kong than Toronto.

Before we came here we had visions of eating at small hole-in-the-wall restaurants off of alleyways where the locals ate, a la Bourdain, but it’s become a bit of a crap shoot.  Trying to find small restaurants that have English translations of their menus, AND vegetarian options has been virtually impossible.  We ended up Googling “Hong Kong Island vegetarian” and found a few places close  by, and we were delighted that one of them was in the Wan Chai Market, which we fondly refer to as the Dying Fish Market.  We found the address on Bowrington Rd. in the Prepared Food Mall, then went up a dodgy elevator to the second floor, full of hope.  We came into a large food court type of space with little outlets that resembled family kitchens serving food to people that resembled families.   We scoured the area for anything in English and had no luck – after our long day we needed easy and this wasn’t going to be.  Our next stop was Amy’s House  which was an interesting find.  Hennessy Road is a busy main thoroughfare with lots of retail and commercial type businesses so we were surprised to find the number 417 was called The Overseas Building.  Unsure of whether we had the right place, we went up  a long narrow stair that brought us to the second floor.  Several business signs for import/export companies were stuck on the wall in a haphazard way.  It looked like something Raymond Chandler would like.  We didn’t know where to find 13F until a grizzled old man came out of a tiny office and told us to take the elevator up to the 13th Floor.  Sure enough, we found Amy’s House.  It was in fact the house of a woman named Amy cooking for strangers in her little apartment.  Hong Kong is full of surprises.

Today was Kman’s day after miles of walking through the streets – what a trooper!  We went to Ocean Park which is located on the other side of the island.  It’s an amusement park like Disneyland without Walt Disney and all the marketing that goes with it.  This place has a sea aquarium, a zoo featuring native animals (pandas!) and an awesome gondola that takes you from the lower side of the park over the mountain (!) to the other side.  Of course there were rides and midway type games, etc.  Kman had a blast and in fact dragged us on to the water tube ride four times – this afternoon was the first dry time since we got here but we were soaked anyway.  No buying tickets either – once you’re in, you’re in.  We had a lot of fun.  So did the Buddhist monks (see picture right).  They were everywhere and were the loudest on the rides. When we were leaving we walked past a small group of nuns going in. We wished they were on the rides at the same time as the monks – what a picture that would’ve made!

This might be a good time to say something about this city and it’s people.  I’m not sure what we expected before we got here but since Hong Kong is so large and so densely populated we assumed that people would be indifferent and self-absorbed; the reality is anything but.  People are so warm and helpful!  And the city is spotless.  No garbage on the ground – I mean none.  No one litters here.  Even the narrow streets of the outdoor markets, while rich in smells and food that we’re having a hard time recognizing, are free of garbage.  There is a sense of civic pride and even during rush hour when the crowds are all on the street, no one ever bumps into you – people always move out of each other’s way.  When we’ve been stuck trying to figure out where we are (you know look – Conspicuous:  map in hand, eyes squinting and looking UP), we’ve been approached by people offering to give us directions.  And they love kids.  Kman is the only child around during the day because of course all children are in school, but we keep getting told we have a beautiful daughter (boys here don’t have long hair like our scruffy child).  He got a hug last night at the restaurant we ate at and the old toothless man in the Dying Fish market smiled and nodded at him.  Too bad we didn’t get a pic.

We only have two more days in Hong Kong and we’ll be sad to leave.  We travel to Guangzhou on Sunday, for the real reason we’re here in the first place.  Tomorrow, on to the antique markets.