This is going to one of those what “I went here, then I went there and then I ate that” kind of dry blog posts. Perhaps useful to someone about to come to Hong Kong but not to anyone who is living in this country.

Today was my first free day so after a relaxing morning in the hotel I decided to hit all the major market areas. I left the hotel around 10am and headed to Krispykreme. Yeah, I know this isn’t quite Hong Kong culture but Patrick said I had to go there and I don’t know what a traditional Chinese breakfast is supposed to be anyways. Congee? Believe it or not this was my first Krispykreme donut. We don’t have them in Japan. Yet. I ordered the original glazed and a chocolate cake donut. The coffee is size small but this is tall in Tokyo. The donut was very gooey and soft but too sweet for my tastes and I couldn’t eat more than one. I don’t understand what the hype was all about. At any rate, there’s nothing like deep-fried dough covered in sugar to jump start your day.

GOD, Goods of Desire (love the name) was just around the block so I waited around until it opened at 12pm. Thanks again Patrick for the recommendation. It’s like Ikea+Muji+Daichu with a dash of Conran shop. They had some cool cushions and nice chairs that I would have bought if it wasn’t for the fact I have no way of shipping furniture back to Japan.

I got onto the MTR and went to Sham Shui Po to check out the electronics market. HK markets are generally rows of stores along the first floor of what looks like really run down apartments and then another row of collapsable make-shift shops on the road in front of those shops. This makes it tiring for me because I have to walk the road at least twice if I want to see everything. It was also easy to get lost. There was nothing compelling enough for me to buy and I was stunned at how many mobile phone shops there were. In fact, it seemed like that’s all they sold here. Each shop looked exactly the same, selling the same handsets. I also found a car accessory shop which basically imported everything from Japan. It was like they brought an entire Autobacs here.

(1) I found myself looking up most of time. The buildings and signs are fascinating. HK apartments don’t have balconies. I haven’t seen one yet (2) This corner house was particularly interesting. Wonder what the inside looks like (3) I had snake soup for lunch…yeah, right.

After about an hour in Sham Shui Po I went to Mong Kok which is supposedly THE marketplace. It was bigger than I expected and very crowded. I followed the route in the Japanese tour guide and started at the Goldfish market. Lots of fish in plastic bags. Goldfish are a booming business judging by the sheer number of shops. I doubt if tourists would buy a fish in a plastic bag so it must be the locals.

(1) Spotted a nice black Smart Roadster (2) This guy got pulled over by the motorcycle cop for some violation although I couldn’t figure out why, he wasn’t speeding or illegally parking. The traffic cops here look like the ones in Japan, even the uniforms.

I spent a good 2.5 hours here because it took me that long to walk through the crowds. It would probably be better to come on a weekday.

(1) I’m sure the experience of this area is better at night with all the signs lit up (2) This sign is for a hotel with hourly rates. Local Love Hotel. Judging from the sign, I doubt the place would be very clean. I found a small park away from the crowds (and smell) to rest my feet. I used to be able to walk forever and never get tired but age catches up to you I guess.

After getting well rested, I headed down Nathan Road towards Temple Street and the night market. It’s about 1.5 kms from Mong Kok but not a particularly interesting walk. This area was much dirtier than Mong Kok but definitely more interesting, it reminded me of “Big Trouble in Little China” for some reason, although that was San Francisco. I’ll have to come back here at night time.

They use bamboo scaffolding when doing construction or repairing the outsides of buildings. Even on tall skyscrapers like the IFC.

After a whole afternoon of walking around market areas I decided that was enough and went to Tsim Sha Tsui to walk around. There was an electronic shop that I tried to go into to but the guy at the door wouldn’t let me in. They were only allowing caucasians or visible tourists into the shop. Did I look like a local or Chinese tourist maybe? Whatever, there was nothing I wanted to buy from them anyways. Is this common in HK?

Later, I went to the Harbour City Ocean Centre to just sit around and watch people (1) The weather was hazy today and you could barely see the skyline covered in pollution from China (2) In the evening, I went to the pier to wait for the laser show at 8pm (3) These high school boys started to gather in front of where I was sitting and I was expecting trouble. But then they all started to sing “Stand by me” and then “Yesterday.” Apparently, they were a choir or chorus and pretty good too.

Just before 8pm I found a spot amongst the other tourists and readied my GR. At 8 there was some music and then the buildings on the other side began lighting up, flashing one by one as someone was saying something on the loudspeaker. I believe they were introducing each building like members in a band. Some cheesy music started and the buildings on the other side shot lasers and spot lights into the sky. I expected something with more impact but it was still cool to see all those buildings light up in sync with the music. I’d like to know how they choregraphed them to do that. I’ll try to catch it again on a night when the sky is clearer.