sue and clive's big adventure...continued

when we last left our intrepid travellers, they had seen the flower market, the bird garden, the goldfish market (not to be confused with the FRESH fish market), and the fresh fish market.

there were also fruit and vegetable markets...'help! a lemon ate my pear!' no wait. 'help! a pear ate my lemon!' i have to tell you, these looked MUCH bigger than the photo shows. we wandered past chopping board shops, curtain shops, and eventually found what happens to giant preserving pans when they try to be russian dolls.

you'd make a lot of jam in the bottom one!

at one point the sun even came out. (see photographic evidence below)

we have discovered that hong kong comes to life slowly during the day. most stores don't open until well after lunch and stay open until late at night. the locals are far more animated during these hours than in the morning. we discovered this early yesterday when heading to the MTR (underground). gone was the collective chatter of late afternoon commuters. they had instead been replaced by sad, morose worker-bees. clive and i decided to have a game of sardines once on the carriage, but i think we were the only ones playing...

cute furry animal interlude

don't panic. this little guy wasn't for sale. or on any menu, even though he looks like he's trying to make a break for it.

the following paragraph is for all the OCD folks out there (i know you hear me my people)...

in new zealand we drive on the left, escalators go UP on the left and people walk on the left. there is order and calm and everything is right with the world. in america cars drive on the right, escalators go UP on the right and people walk on the right. same same. order, calm yadda yadda yadda.

BUT in hong kong...they DRIVE on the left, escalators go UP on the right and as for the walking... well, there's no order, there's no calm - there's just one great meandering mass! and when i say meandering i mean dawdling. and when i say dawdling, i mean "walk faster people, i'm on holiday and have places to go!!!!"

the place really comes alive after dark, although you wouldn't know it's dark because the streets are lit up like christmas trees. it has to be seen to be believed. the trams are a great way to get around. $2 for any ride. we always sit up the top at the front. the trams are barely 3 feet wide and are 10 feet tall!

if you want the road to yourself, this guy has the right idea (to a point). the trams actually have car horns on them! it sounds so ridiculous, but if you saw the close shaves, you'd know they are a necessity.

last night we took the star ferry across to kowloon to the avenue of the stars to see the 'symphony of lights'. this event is in the guiness world records for the largest permanent light and sound show, and lucky for us, last night the presentation was in english! clive took these pics (and lots more) - aren't they incredible? we have a canon 400D and he had it on ISO on 1600. if you want to know any of the other settings, just ask.

the chinese are taking every opportunity to plug their upcoming olympics.

i thought this was an interesting way to use rice paper. if they spent as much time improving their appalling human rights record as they didplugging the olympics, the world would be a much better place, but alas they are not.

if only it were that easy.

ok - that's enough for today! i'm so glad you are enjoying our journey with us.

tomorrow - big buddha, scary bus rides and awesome architecture on macau, rugby sevens and more!!!