So, after a bit of sleep, let's see if I can get some more photos up from last night's trip to Cowloon. We took the train into town from the airport, then walked up and down some market streets, looking at the goods for sale and grabbing some dinner.
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| Wandering the streets of Cowloon with Dr. Hugo, our fearless leader |
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| Neon signs are everywhere, flashing messages in Cantonese, Mandarin, and occasionally English. Definitely not an epilepsy-friendly city, but it was pretty enough in small doses. |
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| Entrance to the main shopping street we explored. |
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| Hanging flags and lanterns strung between the buildings overlooking the street. |
One thing I found really interesting was the use of bamboo as a scaffolding material. I suppose it is fairly ubiquitous, strong, and lightweight, which lends it to the application, but it was still a bit different from what I'm used to at home.
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| Bamboo scaffolding - in most places, it's used to hold up awnings, but here, it actually appears to be supporting a raised walking platform. |
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| Bamboo connections and "cross bracing (?)" |
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| Underside of bamboo scaffold deck |
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| More bamboo - bamboo for all! |
There were plenty of interesting shops and vendors to check out. We did a lot of browsing, but I don't think anyone made any major purchases just yet - it's a bit early for that. Didn't stop us from seeing what was on offer.
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| Fauve peruses the jewellery on display |
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| The group heads into a store selling a bit of everything. |
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| Dan on the quest for an iPhone 4 |
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| Dan showing off his absolutely gorgeous camera. I will freely admit to being jealous of it and the pictures it takes - I'm pretty sure everyone wants copies of Dan's photos once this trip is done. |
There is a bit of everything on sale in the market...
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| From fanciful phones... |
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| To piles of bracelets... |
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| To carved pendants... |
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| To Disney knockoffs that speak in Cantonese and flash coloured lights as they waddle around on tables. |
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| It's Snoopy!!! |
It's also very interesting to see the food, and soon-to-be food products on sale:
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| Live shrimp |
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| Squid steaks |
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| Assorted shellfish |
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| Live crabs |
The last thing we did was head down to the harbour, to take a look at downtown Hong Kong over the water. It was pretty spectacular to see.
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| Downtown Hong Kong |
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Harbour lights - I thought this looked pretty neat.
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We'll be checking in for our third and final flight in the next few hours. Next stop: Shantou! Beds! Profit!?
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| Rock on! |
Wow, what awesome pics Kim! Looks like you're already having an amazing time, and you're doing me proud in the picture department =). I can't wait to read about and see pics of your upcoming adventures!! Miss you lots, and stay safe!
ReplyDeleteMeg