Day 11 - Buddhas, Beer, and Ho Lee Fook

Yesterday, Rich told me that today was my choice as to what we would do and where we would go. My immediate response was that we spend the day and evening in the Central district, which is my favorite part of the city. We decided to take our time and got there at late morning. Our first stop was to a relatively new shopping area that was formerly the “police married quarters”. These were the living quarters of the police and their families. Unfortunately, the shops were closed when we arrived but we returned later in the afternoon and strolled. The shops were modern and extremely artistic. This area has art galleries and antique shops, so the shops are geared to be artsy.

Next order of business for me was to find a Buddha. I noticed when we were here last week that Buddha shops filled every corner. Many of these statues are quite beautiful and unusual. My dream would be to purchase one of the large, stunning Buddhas for my garden, but obviously I had to look for a small one that will fit in my carry on. I stopped at a small shop and saw a very different Buddha that I wanted for my collection. The shopkeeper, an elderly Chinese man, said that the Buddha was old, unique and was $80 US money. Rich immediately bargained and tried to get the man down to $60. The man said that he would need to go to his boss, whom he said could not go that low for using credit, but would take $60 cash. We decided to look at other shops to make certain that this was “my Buddha”. We ended up going back and telling our shopkeeper friend that we did want this Buddha and would pay cash at $60. The man said the he was so embarrassed but that while we were gone the “real” boss, a woman, told him that he could not go that low! He laughingly said to Rich that the “empress” and not the “emperor” really rules! We did end up getting the statue for $60. The shopkeeper was a colorful character, and I think he and Rich would have enjoyed a beer together while looking at young Chinese women and discussing how women really rule! Just remember “Zhidao” (translation: Buddha knows).

Walking around Central district is an indescribable experience. There are so many interesting sights that it is difficult to take everything in. Thank goodness for phone cameras, and being able to snap a picture every minute if I desire. The tall vertical buildings are beautiful here, many are very colorful. And the mix of these with the small, old shops just amazes me! I could spend every day enjoying something new (or old) in Central.

Since we were getting hungry, we found a lunch pub that Rich had read about called Globe. The place was packed with businessmen working through lunch, and enjoying a beer! This place was heaven for Rich, as he finally found a place with IPA's and a huge selection of beers. The manager, an Englishman, said that the beer scene is improving in Hong Kong, and spent a great deal of time talking with Rich about this. The food here was great - I had a Moroccan dish, finished with a banana cream cheesecake. I realized that I am returning to my American habits now that we are taking more taxis and less trains- only 3 miles so far today – better lay off on the desserts for a few hours.

After lunch we walked more through Central and decided to take a train back to up our walking time. On the way back to our apartment, we saw a small group of protesters holding up signs in Chinese. We don't know if this had something to do with the protests several months ago. On another note, we had a light out in the shower, and a flickering light in the living room, so we had maintenance come. Question: How many Chinese does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: One with a ladder to reach the ceiling and the other to tell us that he would call the office so they could order the correct bulb for us!

Of course my day in Central also had to include a night in Central, as this is the place for people who live life off the wall, as I do. We went to a restaurant that had been recommended to us by several locals. The name of it is “ho lee fook”, which we assumed had at least one Chinese word. It does not, and is obviously used for shock value. This place was not a disappointment. It has everything going for it: great food, inlcluding pork belly and cabbage/pork dumplings. In addition, it had a colorful atmosphere, music that included the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix, and a group of young Aussie men hanging out at the bar.

We could have been happy ending the night here but we had wanted to go back to one of our favorite places from our last trip. The place is called Sevva, and it has an amazing roof top bar with gorgeous night views. Rich used his trusty GPS to find it. (last time one of Morgan's friends took us there). This place is totally awesome. We wanted to re-create a picture like the last one we got 5 years ago, so we brought our selfie stick, which we figured would not be outlawed here. We were correct on that count, but did not fare so well with our first attempt at using the selfie stick, as you can see. Finally got the waiter to snap a photo. Great evening! Will be going to zumba class tomorrow since we are slacking off on the walking. (Only 5 ½ miles today).