Deja Vu
So we’ve been getting around here by foot and by metro and I quickly discovered that the $10 pair of fake adidas shoes that I bought in the Philippines are pieces of crap. Both of my shoes were tight and my pinky toes felt like they were in a vice. Comfort was obviously another problem. Since if feels like I’m walking on cement, I’m going to throw them out soon I think. They’re not worth lugging around and luggage space is precious now.
So today wasn’t a whole lot different from yesterday. In fact, I ended up going to Mongkok again and spent most of my day there. We went because James and Christina hadn’t gone there yet. It wasn’t too bad. We spent hours wandering around the same few blocks and discovered a few new buildings and shopping areas. The strangest part of the night happened when we were walking down the street and suddenly about 150 people were standing in the street and sidewalk, and looking up at a giant screen. I found this to be extremely odd cause if you haven’t been here before, the streets are usually packed with people moving all over the place. Picture NYC Times Square, but covered with Chinese people. The news was on and people were really interested in a story about a bus that had rammed into a building. It was just a surreal moment to see all of these people stop dead in their tracks to watch the news. I guess most people in HK just don’t have the time to stop and watch at home or pick up the newspaper. It was a profound kinda silence and scene. I think Lisa might have taken a picture of it. I’ll check on it later.
There was this other strange crazy dude walking around on the street and he was cussing and swearing at the top of his lungs. He was standing on the corner and he was banging his sign on the street and yelling at someone (or possibly no one actually). You could see everyone sticking their heads out of the shops to take a peek. Then the deranged little man knocked the garbage can over and started walking down the street. People were fleeing and darting out of his path cause he was one angry SOB. A few minutes later, I got to the next interesection and I looked down the street and I could easily tell which direction the crazy man had gone. There were toppled garbage cans all over the place; oh the distruction! Why does this world have psychos?
We went to the Sino Center too. Last year, when I came, it was a building with several floors, all dedicated to fake DVDs. You name it, they had it. TV shows, movies, porno, chinese or english. It was store after store of this stuff. I guess they were raided one too many time by the police cause they weren’t fake DVD stores anymore. Most of the businesses were regular stores selling the typical junk you see in HK; shitty clothes, kids toys, hello kitty crap, jewelery, etc.. There was this one place that sold DS Lites and other gaming things. Well, most of us have DS Lites and JimmyT didn’t so he decided to buy one. The store priced the DS units based on colour and it was a package deal that came with the flash cartridge, memory card and all the other essential items needed to start playing downloaded games. Pink being the cheapest one and then white, and then black, then baby blue and the new navy blue from Japan. They haggled the pricing with the vendor and Wes ended up buying one too. We were already late for dinner and JimmyT, being the wishy washy guy he is, switched from Pink to White after the guy had started setting up the Pink unit for him. Geesh. Lucky for him, the vendor wasn’t too bothered by it. Damn you JimmyT!
Later tonight, we went to this outdoor restaurant. It was totally sketchy looking and the quality (read, cleanliness) was questionable, but we went and ate it anyway. To combat any kinda bacteria or potential food poisoning issues, I decided to take a sip of beer after each bite. We ate conche, fried pissing shrimp, and a bevy of other tasty items. It’s been 3-4 hours since and I don’t feel any stomach problems so I guess I’m all good. Let’s just say that I’m glad I took my Hep shots though.
Alright, it’s past 3 am here and I need my rest. This place, this weather, and the commuting is sucking the energy out of me. I think I’m sweating way too much. I’m out!!
~Anthony
