Cramped & Crowded I: Sparse to Dense

Divergence, swiped from williamnyk on Flickr.

My sister bought tickets to Hong Kong approximately one year ago. I wasn't too keen really, but what the heck, I've never been there. And it isn't mainland China, so I guess I shouldn't be phobic about it. A family trip with mum, bro, sis, BIL and little Cyan. On Tuesday, I woke up at 3:30am to prepare for the trip ahead. BIL's little brother sent us in an Avanza. Had to fit four at the back with all the luggage and all, so we had to do some 'hovering' for forty five minutes or so. An ass-numbing experience. Definitely not as enjoyable as having your ass plowed for the same amount of time. LCCT was actually quite busy even at that ungodly hour and I saw several cute twinks here and there. Perked me up better than a cup of kopi o. Our boarding gate was Y1, the infamous gate that is hidden at the domestic departure. Doesn't even have a toilet! So I went to the loo and was greeted by a PLU who was taking his sweet time powdering his nose. Hebat. The flight was quite pleasant. The in-flight fried rice was horrible. I think they over-dosed my meal with MSG. Definitely above the legal limit. Arrived at Chek Lap Kok Aiport twenty minutes ahead of schedule. Very large and the toilets were squeeky clean. Waited at the arrival hall for a Mr. Singh to pick us up, but there was no sight of him even after we had loitered around and settled our Octopus cards. Turns out that the arrival hall has two entrances! Really unexpected. He was waiting at the other side. He motioned us to follow him to the car park. He zoomed ahead at Warp Three, stopping a while to see if we were following. Mr Singh is a without a doubt a Hongkee. Hahaha. Rush. Rush. Rush. From the van, we had a great first glimpse of Hong Kong. Very scenic especially when we were crossing the bridge on the North Lantau Highway to the city.



In forty minutes or so, we reached Wan Chai, where our apartment was located. In my mind, I was thinking of a white building with a compound like we we have back home, but in reality, it's a nine-floor building with just an entrance from a busy sidewalk on Wan Chai Road. Getting down, I experienced firsthand the crampness and the crowds! Ugh. Felt like I was always in someone's way. And the surrounding buildings were really old, true to the wiki article that highlighted Wan Chai's urban decay as it's hallmark feature. Didn't know how to get into the apartment building (password required) as I had forgotten to print out the guide from the welcome kit. Luckily a resident let us in. At the lift lobby, we also hesitated on where to go as the lift controls looked very funny.

Caretaker: Where do you want to go?

Moi: Ninth floor.

Caretaker: Ninth floor!? Of course take the lift la, takkan take the stairs?!





After that little gift of Hong Kong sarcasm, the old man pressed a mysterious little button and the lif opened. We quickly rushed in. Up on the ninth floor, we were once again presented with many choices. Crap, the information didn't quite say which unit! Luckily the landlord's wife arrived not long after and opened the door just beside the elevator. They were still cleaning the place. Two rooms, two bathrooms and a kitchen. Fully-furnished. And there was a sofa bed in the living room. Paid cash to the landlord's wife to settle the six days of lodging and we left for lunch while they tidied the place up. Our first stop was actually Bowrington Road Market, one of the few open air wet markets left in Hong Kong. Bowrington Market is full of fresh fruits, vegetables (a beautiful green!), pork, waxed meat and live seafood (geoduck! scallops! jumping prawns! dancing fish!)! For some reason, poultry's rare. Bird flu? Very lively and colorful. Everything looked super fresh! Maybe it was the cold weather. Then we bumped into a hawker selling dried abalone.

Madam Abalone: Buy, buy, buy! This abalone is good and cheap! Only HKD160 per tael! Buy more, free more!



My mother gravitated towards her and was kinda sucked in by her marketing talk. At the table, there was also another woman choosing abalone. She had a big of abalone but wasn't quite done selecting. The seller encouraged my mum to buy six hundred grams of it, which translated to sixteen taels. That came to HKD2560. My mum did not quite gauge how much money that meant. I just told her that by buying so much, she would have zero spending money left for the whole trip and dragged her away. Further down the road, we saw another abalone seller. With also another woman at the table selecting abalone. Further observation revealed their modus operandi. They worked in pairs. The woman was a planted customer. We could see that they were muttering under their breathes and giving each other secret glances. And the 'customer' would be choosing and choosing and never ever finish. Ish. What a con job!



Lunch was at a place called Nam Kei. Had a sketch of a cute guy on the front, I was immediately sold. It was lunch time so it was very difficult to find a seat. Ordering was a also a challenge cause we did not know how it worked. Simply ordered some fishball-beancurd skin combination noodles and prayed that it was good. BIL paid at the counter and walked towards our table. Before he even had the chance to sit down, his number was called and our noodles were ready! HK efficiency is scary. But I suspect that they just want you to eat and leave as soon as possible. No dawdling! After filling our bellies, we went back to the apartment to rest. Later that night, we went out exploring Wan Chai again. Blindly walked up and down the streets until we settled on a dinner place that served roasted goose, roasted pork, vegetables and mapo tofu. The goose was quite a disappointment. Tasted just like duck (I was told it tastes the same, so what is the big deal?). The roasted pork wasn't good and the beancurd had a nauseating meat smell. Not a good meal at Hei. Tried a phut chai kou on the walk back, we weren't impressed. :P. Quite a mundane first day in HK right?