The day started off with breakfast (or brunch) at a very famous baker/café (that has even been featured on CNN) in Prince Edward (oh gosh that sounds wrong, just know that it’s a district name). Prince Edward is on kowloon island (so NOT Hong Kong island) and this was clear, as the air, the people and even the buildings were all slightly different from Hong Kong Island (I must admit that I prefer Hong Kong Island). We got half a bun and a apple tart each and I got to taste the famous Hong Kong milk tea. I expected it to be like English tea, but really it was nothing like it and I couldn’t help but think that it tasted just a bit like coffee mixed with tea (which surprisingly wasn’t a bad taste). Just like the Dim Sum restaurant yesterday, here too people sat next to strangers and casually read their newspapers while eating their breakfast.
A street full of Kei’s small friends: Goldfish street,
While crossing all of these various streets I discovered two special items: mini watermelons and moon festival lanterns (only sold during the moon festival month).
It didn’t take me long to finish the electronics market, and I then decided to head to Tsim Sha Tsui a bit further down on Kowloon Island. I had looked forward to going to that part of town, but I must admit that out of all the places I’ve been this far it has been the most disappointing, and the least safe (Nathan road, especially around Chung King Mansions is very dangerous, and to think that I almost booked at hostel in that area..!).
In Tsim Sha Tsui I hence headed away from the city and out towards the water front, out to the Avenue of the Stars. Where many Hong Kong-nese celebrities have put their handprints in the floor, the only ones I really knew were Jet Li and Jackie Chan though.
After I had walked down the entire avenue I felt so tired that I sat down on a bench for around 20 minutes. About a minute after I sat down two girls come over towards me and say: ‘photo?’, assuming that they want me to take a photo of them in front of the beautiful skyline I nod and say yes. Then the girl closest to me sits down next to me and takes my arm, as to pose for the camera. They didn’t want me to take a photo of them, but wanted to take a photo with me. Judging by how surprised I was, it certainly has been a long time since I’ve been in Asia.
I still had one and a half hour before meeting Kei and her brother for dinner, yet I had no energy left in my feet, so I just walked a bit up and down the water front, taking long bench-breaks every 50 meters…
After stretching my legs for a bit I met up with Kei and her Brother for dinner at a famous Taiwanese restaurant. I tried a lot of new foods and it was all delicious. Now that I’ve met her brother and her Grandmother too, the only people in Kei’s family that I still haven’t met are her parents, but I’ll probably get around to that too.
After dinner we went to a bookstore where I found a ‘learn Cantonese’ book so that I can practice after I come back to Europe. Kei’s English and Korean is getting worse and worse so sometimes I worry that we won’t be able to talk in a near future, so that gives me good motivation to learn Cantonese, haha.
After the bookstore visit Kei and I headed towards the ferries to come home. And right there, were 100 different Doraemon’s. For those of you who don’t know: Doraemon is a famous japanese cartoon, a classic, and in celebration of its anniversary 100 Doraemon figures were made and are currently exposed in Hong Kong.
There really were a lot of people so Kei and I quickly blended in and took photos with our favorite Doraemon figures trying to pull the same faces as the character (not always successfully).
We hoped on a bus when we reached Wan Chai but as soon as we reached Causeway Bay and I was about to get off, it started pouring down, and really pouring. Kei lent me her umbrella (so I had a chance of protecting the camera and then I ran for it). It’s still pouring down, so much that the sound of the rain almost matches the loud sound of the air conditioner (which is quite a conquest considering that the air conditioner completely drowned the sound of my alarm clock signaling me that it was time to leave this morning…).
And while we’re on the subject of buses, Kei wrote to me and said that she got a shock when I exited the bus because I went out the wrong set of doors… I had no idea, I thought one could go in and out of any of the two doors, but no, no. Now I know for next time.
Tomorrow it’s weekend so Kei doesn’t have to work and we have hence decided to take a trip out to one of the smaller islands, much looking forward to it.