I'm feeling a little better today, so I ventured out for some shopping and exploration. First up was the flower market in Kowloon (across the bay on the mainland). Talk about a flower lover’s paradise… street after street of shops, their sidewalks overflowing with gorgeous flowers and plants.
I picked up some bamboo shoots and a beautiful vase for about $14, and a bunch of lotus flowers for a little over a dollar. The flowers are still closed up tight, but here’s a link to what they look like when open.
Later I headed to Causeway Bay, home of Hong Kong’s Times Square, along with boundless shopping and endless crowds. I was on a hunt for some basic household items, and once I learned there’s an IKEA in Causeway Bay, I knew that would be my one-stop solution. As with every IKEA experience, by the time I finished, I was ready to kill just about anyone who crossed my path. Thankfully, it had started raining just before I left the store, so everyone was huddled under awnings – while I beelined it through the rain to a taxi line and got the hell out of dodge.
While out and about, I noticed something rather disturbing. During the last couple weeks, over and over again, I keep hearing the song “Making Love Out Of Nothing At All” by Air Supply. I even woke up with the damn song in my head earlier this week. Anyway, today was probably about the 10th time I’ve heard it, and it finally registered – the universe must be sending me a message. But damned if I can’t figure out what the message is or why the universe would choose such a cruel mechanism to deliver it.
And while I’m on the subject of bad, repetitive music, I must note that the music in my apartment building’s elevator is a cruel joke as well. The elevator has a repertoire of four songs, one of which I like, three of which I am growing to hate. Sadly, I suspect it’s only a matter of time before the elevator drives me to hate the fourth song as well.
On the up side, the weather is starting to improve. As mentioned above, there are still sudden (and intense) rain showers now and then, but we've actually had a streak of decent weather this week. Here's hoping the trend continues.
As always, additional photos are posted at http://babas.typepad.com/photos/hong_kong/.