Anyway, I usually see a lot of Japanese and Korean tourists along this stretch of road in Sheung Wan/Sai Ying Pun area. It's Connaught Road West, accessible by streetcar or a nice half-hour walk from Man Mo temple passing by antiques shops and art galleries.
You'll see a lot of dried food and herbs on this street. It's super crowded right now because of Chinese New Year, with people buying bags and bags of stuff to give to relatives. I read that instead of Hong Kong people going over to China to buy cheap dried food, now Chinese people come to Hong Kong to buy cheap stuff because our currency (pegged to the US dollar) is in the shits. I'm a bit scared now.
Mostly dried seafood.
Abalone and scallops.
This street was still uncongested.
Then it got super nuts here. I think it's the cheaper area.
Mushrooms.
So many old people crowding around! This is when Hong Kong is at its most dangerous because old people don't give a shit, and they push you around and stuff. And most of them are superhumanly strong because they've spanked their kids and grandkids for decades.
I wanted to get some sausages for my parents, but I didn't feel like fighting through the people. If you need to bring back some kind of gift or want to take home some delicacies, why not buy cured meat? These sausages are lovely when chopped up and put into your rice cooker (or pot) while you're making rice. It makes the rice so fragrant and delicious.
There's also cured chicken and other fowl.
Anyway, you could really spend one whole afternoon just walking around from Man Mo Temple to Sai Ying Pun and then pop into a restaurant for dinner, then take a streetcar back to wherever.
ps. I know there are enough pictures in this entry, but I wanted to decry the gradual warming of the weather. Last night, despite the warm temperature, I forced myself to wear my vintage lumberjacket, even though I started sweating and had to remove it eventually. I love mixing leopard print with plaid. Dammit, Hong Kong. Stay cold, Ponyboy!
