The Canal Street Junk Market
Canal Street might be famous for its
villian hitting business, but what attracted me the most each time I walk to work are the junk stalls mended by several groups of old ladies, in their 70s with silvery hair and traditional blue san-fu. I marvelled at what they have on offer on their plastic mats, and how they see values in items we have discarded. Amongst the spread of merchandise, is an old magazine with a very young Cheong Mun Yik on the cover, grinning innocently revealing her two buck teeth. A red dino stuffed toy, a baby bath basin, belts of various designs, lady shoes with ornamented heels and a pair of sunflower flip flop, old umbrellas and many different types of tuppleware. Several morning ago I saw an old lady peddler examining a piece of lacy underwear she was offering for sale. May be she has never worn such a beautiful lingerie in her entire life.
I have a lot of admiration and respect for these ladies. In such a competitive world of Hong Kong, they found a way to survive. They could have chosen to be in the old folk's home or even beg. Instead they found their own community and a way to survive.
The Day of Legislative Council Election
It is a sunny Sunday afternoon, ideal for enrolling the public to a common cause. Just as well today happens to be an important day on the Hong Kong political areana - the Election of Local Legislative Council. However by 2pm, the voting rate was a meagre 12% at 8 hours before the poll close at 10:30pm. I am afraid this is a worldwide Chinese trait that political rights and idealogy are poisons to be stayed away from . As long as I have money, livelihood, family and jobs, you can do whatever you want - seems to be the general mentality.
A campaigner who is trying to solicit for last minute swing vote.The candidates are from all walks of life, from university professors to butchers, from business women to street peddlers. I watched the candidates speeches and debate on current issues on TV, they remind me of school council elections, and no difference from debates of the ceramah back home. However the media is much more transparent and independent in Hong Kong. The TV stations provide accurate analysis and summary on how each candidates propose to solve the issues and update the public on the progress of the voting diligently and fairly.
Chinese Lanterns
Even the adults are attracted by the rabbit lanterns
Mid Autumn Festival
Mid Autumn Festival is HUGE in Hong Kong. It is a public holiday in Hong Kong. Everywhere you see stalls selling mooncakes, MTR posters , TV jingles promoting mooncakes, suppliers streaming into the office with mooncake hampers. Alongside the mooncakes, cash registers are busy with sales on abalone, chin-hua chinese ham, mushroom and last but not least tea.
The Luk Yu Heritage
After a great meal of dim sum and a feast of the old Hong Kong ambience, I carried my belly down the stairs, past the old art deco window panels and yellow corridor lights, and out into the sunny and noisy streets of Central again. At least now, I can tell Cat Aunty, that I have been to Lok Yu, and I have been to Hong Kong.
Tai Kai Yum Cha
It is certainly not easy to get by in Hong Kong without knowing Chinese. In Luk Yu, we fill up this Chinese multiple-choice questionnaires for what we want. There is no food on trolleys being pushing push around here but strong muscular waiters and waitresses carring trays of house specialities walking up and down the three floors like pop-corn girls would in cinemas during the olden days.
I ordered
fun quo 潮州粉果 and 糯米雞
lou mai gai and a pot of
ti kung yiam. The
fun quo skin is thicker but a nice chewy texture. The filling is chopped meat, turnips and dried shrimps. The
lou mai gai is the alfamous sticky rice with diced chicken and mushroom wrapped in frangrant lotus leaves. The
lou mai gai came in half the size I remembered of the Lucky Restaurant's in Brunei. But that was 40 years ago. The public's eating habit has evolved a great deal since then.
Luk Yu Tea House
Finally I made my way to the Luk Yu Tea House, one of the oldest dim sum places in Hong Kong. The tea house is a favourite among the locals and long queue is common on Sunday morning. Though newly refurbished, it preseve many of its old heritage. The tea house has got three floors. I managed to peep into the ground floor just before The Bangladeshi doorman showed me to the side entrace. The ground floor seems to be for the locals. The second floor is for family. The third floor is for tourists.
A view into the 2nd floor
The Star Ferry
The Star Ferry shuttles passengers daily between Hong Kong and Kowloon across the Victoria Harbour. The ferries dorn its signature green overcoat and a double deck, and has a capacity for about 150 passengers. It is the earliest form of water MTR but unlike the modern day MTR the ferry seats are spacious and each bench has got a beautiful star design. Star Ferry began its oeprations since the early 1900s and today it still costs less than RM1 for a 15 min breezy ride and a priceless view of the Victoria Harbour.
Canal Street might be famous for its villian hitting business, but what attracted me the most each time I walk to work are the junk stalls mended by several groups of old ladies, in their 70s with silvery hair and traditional blue san-fu. I marvelled at what they have on offer on their plastic mats, and how they see values in items we have discarded. Amongst the spread of merchandise, is an old magazine with a very young Cheong Mun Yik on the cover, grinning innocently revealing her two buck teeth. A red dino stuffed toy, a baby bath basin, belts of various designs, lady shoes with ornamented heels and a pair of sunflower flip flop, old umbrellas and many different types of tuppleware. Several morning ago I saw an old lady peddler examining a piece of lacy underwear she was offering for sale. May be she has never worn such a beautiful lingerie in her entire life.
