Audacious Freedom Live anywhere. Travel everywhere.

Walking through a park on our way to the Heritage Museum, we were drawn by the sound of drums. Curious to know what was happening we followed the sound to the opposite side of the garden to find a Kung Fu ‘concert’ in full swing. Our first glimpse was of a long elegant dragon moving in time to the drum beat.

My favourite part was the ‘Dual of the Dragons’ – I was expecting a fight, however, these two beasts looked more in harmony with each other than at war. The flexibility and strength of the dancers kept my full attention on them – it also helped that they were dressed in a dragon suit that looked cute and cuddley!

The grand finale was demonstrations of various martial art moves by individuals ranging from 5 years old to over 60 years old. The highlight was a gentlemen in his late 60s that gave a demonstration in flexibility, strength, balance and spatial awareness – leaping, jumping, doing the splits – that none of the youngsters came close to matching.

We did get to the museum…. eventually!

For me, there is nothing more relaxing than waking up to the sound of birds singing or even taking a late evening break and hearing the birds chirp and call as they settle in for the night. Over the years I have owned various breeds of birds as pets enjoying their individual personalities and charactristics. When I heard there was a bird market in Hong Kong, I knew I had to visit it. On my second attempt I finally found the market…

I was expecting a street selling birds, I wasn’t expecting a charming Chinese style garden which doubles as a market and a place for humans and their pet birds to socialise.

With over 70 stalls, this is the place to come to buy anything that your pet bird needs to stay healthy and lively, from cages, to toys to yummy live grasshoppers, ants and over treats.

The sheer number of birds in tiny cages was overwhelming. I wanted to buy every single one of them and set them free or at least release them into a big aviary where they could fly around and have a ‘normal’ bird life.

I know that this is my own emotional response to what I saw and it isn’t really any different (except in scale and number of birds) to the pets shops I have bought my own birds from.

More Pictures

Seeing my food live in front of me is taking time to get used to. Truthfully, at this stage I have looked but not bought. The thought of choosing something that is living and watching it killed so that I can eat it, isn’t very appealing. I know, I know – when I buy meat or fish at the supermarket it was living and then killed for me – but at least it is not done in front of me!

A wet market in general sells live fresh creatures from fish to turtles, from sea urchins to prawns. In some wet markets you can even choose which live caged poultry will be suitable for dinner tonight. However,  it is not limited to live creatures – often there will stalls show casing freshly cut up meat from ‘normal’ cuts of meat to intestines, lungs and other unidentifiable ‘enticing’ meat…, vegetables and frozen fish. All of which are sold in different areas or floors to avoid cross contamination.

The wet market gets its name from the constant water being sprayed and splashed onto the floor, occasionally flooding the floor, during cleaning or refilling of tanks. The traditional rationale behind having wet markets in Hong Kong’s hot climate was to ensure food didn’t spoil or causing food poisioning, before refrigeration was invented. Because of higher standards brought in by supermarkets, wet markets now only operate within buildings and often supermarkets have a dedicated space for a fish ‘wet market’.

Catching the train

10 am in the morning on the MTR (Mass Transit Railway) and already the train is packed like sardines. We thought leaving mid-morning we could saunter down to the station, find a comfortable seat on the train and enjoy the half hour ride to town. Well, we did enjoy the ride – just not sitting down but standing the whole way.

When we took this photo we thought no one else could fit on the train. How wrong we were! At the next stop even more people crammed in. I have only once been in a train that crowded and that was on the London tube, late at night on Christmas Eve.

Out on the Hong Kong Streets

Stepping out the station our senses were overwhelmed by the sights. Choas as throngs of people crossed each others paths all heading purposefully to some secret destination. Side by side next to each other were modern shops, bustling markets, recognisable brand names and dried Chinese ‘medicine’. Huge billboards and adverts shouting for attention blocking out the sky.

We saw, experienced and flet the delights and wonders of this strange city. Our senses were overwhelmed with the sights and the smell. I was energised and exhausted by the constantly bustling crowds. And it was with a bit of relief that we returned to our ‘village’ on Lantau Island.